Few-shot image generation (FSIG) aims to learn to generate new and diverse samples given an extremely limited number of samples from a domain, e.g., 10 training samples. Recent work has addressed the problem using transfer learning approach, leveraging a GAN pretrained on a large-scale source domain dataset and adapting that model to the target domain based on very limited target domain samples. Central to recent FSIG methods are knowledge preserving criteria, which aim to select a subset of source model's knowledge to be preserved into the adapted model. However, a major limitation of existing methods is that their knowledge preserving criteria consider only source domain/source task, and they fail to consider target domain/adaptation task in selecting source model's knowledge, casting doubt on their suitability for setups of different proximity between source and target domain. Our work makes two contributions. As our first contribution, we re-visit recent FSIG works and their experiments. Our important finding is that, under setups which assumption of close proximity between source and target domains is relaxed, existing state-of-the-art (SOTA) methods which consider only source domain/source task in knowledge preserving perform no better than a baseline fine-tuning method. To address the limitation of existing methods, as our second contribution, we propose Adaptation-Aware kernel Modulation (AdAM) to address general FSIG of different source-target domain proximity. Extensive experimental results show that the proposed method consistently achieves SOTA performance across source/target domains of different proximity, including challenging setups when source and target domains are more apart. Project Page: https://yunqing-me.github.io/AdAM/


Undoubtedly, Khorram-Abad Country has been considered as one of the most beautiful, scenic and pleasant weather areas of Iran because of many natural, cultural, historical, etc attractions. Despite the great potential for ecotourism development in this country, it has not been implemented a good plan for ecotourism development in this area. This study intends to identify the effective criteria and sub-criteria in ecotourism evaluation with respect to the area conditions and suggest the suitable areas for ecotourism development. For this regard Geographic Information System (GIS) and Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) have been used. At the first step, effective criteria and sub-criteria in the evaluation process determined and the weight of each criterion and sub-criterion determined using the Delphi technique and experts' knowledge. Then, the required maps were prepared. After that, with the integration of maps and their corresponding weights the capability map for ecotourism was prepared. The results showed that 7.80, 60.75, 46.37 and 5.50 percent of the study area has excellent, good, moderate and poor potential respectively and 2.35 percent of the area is not suitable for ecotourism at all.


This version: April, 2018 Abstract: This paper presents new large sample evidence on the role of corporate culture in mergers and acquisitions (M&As) and how corporate culture evolves over time. Our starting point is the most often-mentioned values by the S&P 500 firms on their corporate Web sites (Guiso, Sapienza, and Zingales 2015): innovation, integrity, quality, respect, and teamwork. Using the latest machine learning technique and earnings conference call transcripts, we obtain corporate cultural values for a large sample of firms over the period 2003–2017. We find that firms score high on the cultural value of innovation are more likely to be acquirers, whereas firms score high on the cultural values of quality and respect are less likely to be acquirers. In terms of merger pairing, we find that firms closer in cultural values, particularly, of innovation, quality, or teamwork, are more likely, whereas firms further apart in cultural values are less likely, to do a deal together. Moreover, we show that firm-pairs sharing the dominant culture of teamwork take a shorter time to complete an announced deal and are associated with fewer post-merger integration challenges, whereas firm-pairs dominant in different cultural values of quality versus teamwork are associated with poor stock market performance and more post-merger integration challenges and retention issues. Finally, we show that post-merger, acquirer cultural values are positively associated with pre-merger target firms' cultural values, suggesting acculturation. We conclude that corporate culture plays an important role in M&As and corporate culture itself is also shaped by M&As.


Human Tid-1 (hTid-1) is a DnaJ chaperone protein with homology to the Drosophila tumor suppressor Tid56. We report the first case of a tumor-associated mutation at the human TID1 locus, which was identified in the SF767 glioma cell line giving rise to aberrantly high levels of a hTid-1L mutant variant. In this study, we set out to determine whether this change in hTid-1 status influences the response of glioma cells to adenoviral (Ad)-mediated delivery of the two major isoforms of TID1, hTid-1L and hTid-1S. Ad-hTid-1S induced apoptosis in hTid-1 mutant SF767 cells, while causing growth arrest in wild-type hTid-1-expressing U373 and U87 cells. By contrast, Ad-hTid1L infection had no apparent effect on glioma cell growth. The apoptosis induced by hTid-1S was accompanied by mitochondrial cytochrome C release and caspase activation and blocked by stable overexpression of Bcl-XL. Our findings suggest that the status of hTid-1 in gliomas may contribute to their susceptibility to cell death triggers. 2004 Federation of European Biochemical Societies. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.


Deep neural networks based methods dominate recent development in single channel speech enhancement. In this paper, we propose a multi-scale feature recalibration convolutional encoder-decoder with bidirectional gated recurrent unit (BGRU) architecture for end-to-end speech enhancement. More specifically, multi-scale recalibration 2-D convolutional layers are used to extract local and contextual features from the signal. In addition, a gating mechanism is used in the recalibration network to control the information flow among the layers, which enables the scaled features to be weighted in order to retain speech and suppress noise. The fully connected layer (FC) is then employed to compress the output of the multi-scale 2-D convolutional layer with a small number of neurons, thus capturing the global information and improving parameter efficiency. The BGRU layers employ forward and backward GRUs, which contain the reset, update, and output gates, to exploit the interdependency among the past, current and future frames to improve predictions. The experimental results confirm that the proposed MCGN method outperforms several state-of-the-art methods.


The paper aims at assessing how, for a porous material whose pore size distribution is experimentally known, the variation in pore deformation with pore size might affect predictions of drying shrinkage. Unsaturated poroelasticity is first revisited in a general macroscopic thermodynamic framework irrespective of any morphology of the porous space. Saturation is shown to be a state function of capillary pressure governing the change in the solid-fluid interface energy; it can be experimentally obtained from a knowledge of pore size distribution only. Unsaturated poroelastic properties are then determined under three homogenization schemes: the standard Mori-Tanaka scheme, the self-consistent scheme, and the differential homogenization scheme extended to unsaturated conditions. Except for the Mori-Tanaka scheme, the function weighting the fluid pore pressure in the poroelastic constitutive equations is found to depart from the pore volume fraction the liquid occupies. As a result the pores do not deform uniformly. This departure roughly accounts for the difference in deformation between pores of different sizes and subjected to the same pressure, and it is found to significantly affect predictions of drying shrinkage, in particular for cement paste.


The valley pseudospin is a degree of freedom that emerges in atomically thin two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides (MX2). The capability to manipulate it, in analogy to the control of spin in spintronics, can open up exciting opportunities. Here, we demonstrate that an ultrafast and ultrahigh valley pseudo-magnetic field can be generated by using circularly polarized femtosecond pulses to selectively control the valley degree of freedom in monolayer MX2. Using ultrafast pump-probe spectroscopy, we observed a pure and valley-selective optical Stark effect in WSe2 monolayers from the nonresonant pump, resulting in an energy splitting of more than 10 milli–electron volts between the K and K′ valley exciton transitions. Our study opens up the possibility to coherently manipulate the valley polarization for quantum information applications. The optical Stark effect is used to control the valley degree of freedom in a transition metal dichalcogenide. Using light to manipulate atomic valleys The electronic structure of atomic layers of transition-metal dichalcogenides, such as WSe2, has two distinct valleys with equal energies. Knowing which valley an electron comes from can make it a carrier of information. Kim et al. used optical methods to distinguish between the valleys. They shone circularly polarized light on a sample of WSe2, which caused the energy needed to create an exciton—a bound state of an electron and a hole—to shift in one valley but not the other. The method may enable the manipulation of the valley degree of freedom for use in quantum information processing. Science, this issue p. 1205


Tax policy as a part of economic and social policy is directed to state institutions' harmonized acting through public revenues' collection with the production, distribution, exchange and consumption in a serration period of time and space in the context of social acceptable aims and tasks. The state, e.g. its bodies from central to local ones, as the basic subject of tax policy has the right to introduce the tax and the other public revenues' collection, as well as to determine the scope of their collection and the other parameters concerning the fiscal policy. The subject of this research reefers to observing the rural developments' changes and the whole agro-complex' structure in the light of new tax collection as well as various implications of other fiscal forms' changes on agriculture development' s effects. Tax stimulus and tax exemption which might have positive as well as the negative effects on rural development in economy in general, especially in agriculture's development in the countries in transition could not be ignored as far as this complex field of activities is concerned. Moreover, the whole economic and social structure of the countries in transition is influenced by rapid changes deriving from their own environments. Therefore the agriculture production sector has not been evaded by those changes too.


During the past few years, a great deal of effort has been devoted to the anchoring of catalysts into solid coordination networks in order to achieve heterogeneous catalysts. In this sense, an innovative approach consists in using the coordination-network synthons both as structural units and as catalysts. Regarding the latter, metalloporphyrins are suitable candidates for synthons. In fact, a few studies report on coordination compounds based on metalloporphyrins exhibiting these features. On the other hand, highly distorted di-iron oxo dimers containing electron withdrawing groups rank amongst the most effective catalyst models. Thus, the aim of this work was to obtain coordination networks based on iron porphyrins exhibiting those characteristics. In this way, this work reports on the synthesis and characterisation of the μ-O-[FeTCPP]2·16DMF compound (H2TCPP = meso-tetra(4-carboxyphenyl)porphyrin, DMF = N,N-dimethylformamide). This compound is the first example of a μ-oxo dimer with TCPP. The inter-dimer connections give rise to a laminar structure. The structural, spectroscopic and magnetic properties of this compound are consistent with the presence of high-spin Fe(III) ions, exhibiting a strong antiferromagnetic coupling in the μ-oxo dimer (J = -132 cm(-1)). An unusual superhyperfine structure has been observed in EPR that is related to the high accessible volume of the compound. The structural features of the dimers and the accessible network are responsible for the excellent behaviour of the compound as a heterogeneous catalyst for different oxidations of alcohols. Therefore, this compound is one of the very few examples of metalloporphyrins where structural units act as catalysts.


We consider the optimal asset allocation problem in a continuous-time regime-switching market. The problem is to maximize the expected utility of the terminal wealth of a portfolio that contains an option, an underlying stock and a risk-free bond. The difficulty that arises in our setting is finding a way to represent the return of the option by the returns of the stock and the risk-free bond in an incomplete regime-switching market. To overcome this difficulty, we introduce a functional operator to generate a sequence of value functions, and then show that the optimal value function is the limit of this sequence. The explicit form of each function in the sequence can be obtained by solving an auxiliary portfolio optimization problem in a single-regime market. And then the original optimal value function can be approximated by taking the limit. Additionally, we can also show that the optimal value function is a solution to a dynamic programming equation, which leads to the explicit forms for the optimal value function and the optimal portfolio process. Furthermore, we demonstrate that, as long as the current state of the Markov chain is given, it is still optimal for an investor in a multiple-regime market to simply allocate his/her wealth in the same way as in a single-regime market.


The implementation of new transit lines is some times dogged by concerns that such lines may increase crime rates in station neighborhoods. Affluent communities have often complained that transit lines transport crime to the suburbs. This study focuses on the Green Line transit system in Los Angeles and examines its effects on crime in the adjacent areas. The Green Line light rail system passes through some high-crime inner city neighborhoods and terminates at its western end in affluent suburban communities. The study examines neighborhood level and municipality-wide crime trends for five years before and five years after the inception of the line. A piecewise regression model is developed to evaluate the impact of the opening of the line in the station neighborhoods. GIS analysis is also utilized to identify spatial shifts in crime hot spots for municipalities abutting the Green Line. At the end, the study establishes that the transit line has not had significant impacts on crime trends or crime dislocation in the station neighborhoods, and has not transported crime from the inner city to the suburbs.


This paper investigates the failure modes of serially connected isolation system that the rubber bearing connected with the basement column, under large deformation. Base on Haringx theory and Timoshenko beam modal, the geometrically non-linear equations of serially connected isolation system with one end clamped and the other glided, subjected to a terminal force, are formulated. By using differential quadrature element method (DQEM), the non-linear equations are solved numerically and the configurations of the deformed column are presented. The results show that the large deformation of serially connected isolation system mainly occurred in the rubber bearings. The buckling of rubber bearing is the main failure mode of the serially connected isolated system.


The effects of an altered pathway of bile flow upon fat metabolism and gastrointestinal hormone release were investigated in patients undergoing biliary reconstruction procedures or external biliary drainage. After ingestion of a fat-enriched meal, patients with jejunal interposition hepaticoduodenostomy showed the same patterns as controls, with similar levels of plasma triglyceride and gastrointestinal hormones. On the other hand, patients with Roux-Y hepaticojejunostomy or external biliary drainage revealed the impairment of fat metabolism, although the response patterns were different. As for the changes in gastrointestinal hormones in the two groups, both gastric inhibitory polypeptide (GIP) and insulin levels were reduced, whereas glucagon-like immunoreactivity (GLI) levels rose, especially in the external biliary drainage group. It is considered that the disturbance of fat metabolism, in cases of internal or external biliary diversion, is closely related to change in GIP, insulin, and GLI release, in addition to the impairment of mixed micelle formation by bile and of hydrolysis by pancreatic enzymes.


Much of the scholarship on boards of directors has examined either the control (i.e., monitoring) role or the resource dependence role that boards fill. Relatively little has examined the service role, wherein directors provide advice and guidance to management. This study builds on recent work exploring director expertise by asking how operational expertise on boards impacts firm performance. We find that having external COO/presidents on a board of directors positively impacts firm performance when the firm's operational efficiency is declining, but negatively impacts performance when the firm's operational efficiency is improving. We also find that other types of external executives serving as directors exhibit the opposite relationship, suggesting that the value of director expertise is context-dependent. We discuss the implications of these findings for director selection. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Pless has proposed a stream cipher based on J–K flip-flops that uses 8 linear shift registers with feedback, having a combined length of 97 bits, 4 J–K flip-flops, and a 4-stage cycling counter. The cipher has 2.54 × 1051initial states (keys), and generates a presumably pseudorandom stream whose period is 1.52 × 1029bits. Despite these impressive statistics, it is computationally feasible to solve such a cipher with a known-plaintext attack, using as few as 15 characters


Ecolabels are regarded as an exceptional marketing and advertising tool that informs contemporary consumers about the green traits of a product. They provide information that motivates consumers to exhibit a positive attitude and actual behavior towards a green product purchase. Despite the growing interest in the relationship between green attitude and the corresponding green purchase behavior, studies that investigate the influence of ecolabel features on this relationship are rather scarce. In the present study, a survey carried out in Greece with a sample of 571 participants, examined the direct and indirect effects of ecolabel credibility and ecolabel involvement on attitude and actual behavior about green product purchase. A multiple mediation model about green purchase behavior was developed. Results highlighted the crucial role of ecolabel credibility that positively influences attitude towards green product purchase as well as ecolabel involvement. Moreover, emphasis was given on the concepts of attitude towards green product purchase and ecolabel involvement that proved to be significant mediators of this model. Findings can provide useful guidance to green marketers so that they can generate effective strategies based of ecolabels and favor a positive attitude towards green product purchase that ultimately will enhance green product purchase behavior.


In this paper, we demonstrate a very efficient electrical spin injection into an ensemble of InAs/InGaAs quantum dots at zero magnetic field. The circular polarization of the electroluminescence coming from the dots, which are embedded into a GaAs-based Spin Light Emitting diode reaches a value as large as 20% at low temperature. In this device, no external magnetic field is required in order to inject or read spin polarization thanks to the use of an ultrathin CoFeB electrode (1.1 nm), as well as p-doped quantum dots (with one hole per dot in average) as an optical probe. The electroluminescence circular polarization of the dots follows the hysteresis loop of the magnetic layer and decreases as a function of bias for large voltages. In a reverse way, we have also investigated the possibility to use such a device as a photodetector presenting a photon helicity-dependent photocurrent. We observe a weak asymmetry of photocurrent under right and left polarized light that follows the hysteresis cycle of the magnetic layer, and the effect decreases for increasing temperatures and can be controlled by the bias.


Article history: Received 15th Nov 2019 Accepted 6th Jan. 2020 Available online 28th Feb. 2020 Using photo data of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) for building 3D models has been widely used in recent years. However, building a 3D model for deep open pit coal mines with the mean height difference between surface and bottom of mines to over 500 m, there has not been researched mentioned. The paper deals with the assessment possibility of developing 3D models for deep open pit mines from UAV image data. To accomplish this goal, DJI's Inspire 2 flying device is used to take the photo at Coc Sau coal mine. The flying area is 4 km2, the flight altitude compared to the takeoff point on the mine surface is 250 m, the overlaying coverage is both horizontal and vertical is 70%. The average errors of the horizontal and height elements of the reference points photo correlates are 0.011 m, 0.017 m, 0.016 m, 0.049 m, and 0.051 m. The maximum error on the X-axis is 0,025 m, and the Y-axis is 0.028 m, the maximum horizontal error is 0.034 m, the maximum error on the Z-axis is 0.095 m, and the position error is 0.095 m. These results show that the 3D model established from photographic data by Inspire 2 device has satisfied the requirements of the accuracy of establishing the mining terrain map 1: 1000 scale.


The activity of an agricultural enterprise is run within an ecosystem, it being characterized by intertwining and integration of the two components. The achievement of this relationship depends on the resulting performance, which requires organization policies and strategies to be adopted for the biotechnical and economic processes. The agricultural ecosystem is essentially rendered artificial; therefore, it should be monitored and run according to welldefined rules, in order to preserve and improve not only biodiversity but also quality and profitability of production. Considering the above mentioned subject matter, this paper proposes an ambitious undertaking, i.e. an interdisciplinary approach to issues regarding the sustainable development management of grasslands in the context of biodiversity conservation and improvement. This approach is not easy, despite the relevant interrelation between economic and biotechnological elements; nevertheless, it is supported by a successful management of the resources specific of pasture agro-ecosystem. The paper leads to the general conclusion that the promotion of eco-technical practices within the grassland agro-ecosystem results in a multifunctional meadow, primarily focused on obtaining a pastoral value with a corresponding loading expressed in livestock units per hectare of pasture, i.e. biodiversity conservation and improvement of known, as Romanian grasslands are known for their varied floristic composition of high biodiversity indices.


Empirical evidence demonstrates many benefits of Big data analytics (BDA) in supply chain management (SCM), including reduced operational costs, improved SC agility, and increased customer satisfaction. However, reports show that the BDA adoption of companies in SCM is relatively low, and the main reason for this is lack of understanding of how it can be implemented to address specific business problems.

Therefore, the aim of this thesis is to explore new applications of BDA to support the data-driven decision making in SCM. Particularly, the thesis addresses four research objectives: (1) to conduct a literature review that summarises what and how BDA has been applied within the SCM context. As a result, several research gaps are revealed, which leads to future research directions; (2) to develop a comprehensible, data-driven demand prediction of remanufactured products. Validated with a real-world Amazon dataset, the result shows that the proposed approach can produce a highly accurate and robust prediction of product demand, as well as providing insights into the non-linear effect of online market factors on demand; (3) to develop a prescriptive price optimisation model by extending the proposed demand prediction with a mixed integer linear programme to optimise promotional pricing decisions. The result shows that the obtained optimal promotional price solution could increase both sales and revenue; (4) Finally, the thesis proposes a data-driven prescriptive approach for large-scale optimisation problems, based on the hybrid approach combining association rule mining and complex network theory. For validation, the proposed model is applied to optimise the large-scale dry port location problems in Mainland China in the context of the Belt and Road Initiatives (BRI). The dry port solution obtained from the model is realistic and applicable as it accurately pinpoints key locations in the real BRI development plans.

The contribution of this thesis is multifaceted. Theoretically, the thesis serves as a good starting point for researchers to build up the foundation of BDA, which enables to develop a machine learning-based approach to tackle the established research problems. Practically, the thesis facilitates the data-driven decision making across industries such as online marketing strategy development for remanufactured products, daily promotional planning for retailers, and logistics network design for dry port planners.


Background/Objectives: The regularities of adsorption 99mТс on activated nanoscale powder gamma-oxide Al2O3 were investigated. Methods/Statistical Analysis: As object of examination nanopowder low-temperature (cubic) modification of gamma-oxide Al2O3 is used. The area of specific surface of aluminum oxide was 320 m2/g. According to submicroscopy, the particles had the improper shape and a rough surface. For obtaining of an initial drug 99mTc (eluate) in the form of a sodium pertechnetate solution, 99mTc was produced with the chromatographic generator of "99mTc-GT-TOM" productions of PTI TPU. The stability of the complex was determined by measuring the RCP at room temperature (24°C) at different time points (0, 1, 2, 4 h) after preparation. Findings: It is shown that sorption capacity of aluminum oxide essentially depends on its acid treatment. Experimental research of process of adsorption 99mTc in the presence of reducing agent of tin (II) is made. It's necessary and sufficient amount providing full "reducibleness" 99mТс in a reaction mixture is spotted. For yield rising nanocolloids with particle size less than 100 nanometers and risings of radiochemical purity of drugs additives of sodium pyrophosphate, ascorbic acid and gelatine were used. Pre-award medicobiological tests of nanocolloids preparate 99mTs-Al2O3 on the observational animals to define the functional operability for scintigraphic visualisation of lymph nodes are conducted. Applications/Improvements: Is of practical importance for carrying out of diagnostic researches in cardiology, oncology and other fields of medicine.


The objective of this paper is to highlight the importance of taking engineering geological characteristics and structures into account in land use planning. There have been a number of studies world-wide dealing with this issue. However more extensive implementation into land use planning practice still remains a task for the future in many places. A case study analyzing the geological environment in relation to the sites assigned for future development according to an existing land use plan was conducted in the Doubrava Region (North-east of the Czech Republic). Here, the geological conditions have been mostly influenced by anthropogenic processes connected with black coal mining. The engineering-geological zones, the pre-Quaternary basement and rock workability classes in the localities where future development is proposed on land use plans were evaluated using overlay analysis in a Geographic Information System (GIS). Landscape factors were also taken into account. Significant variability was identified in the investigated geological factors that have a bearing on safe cost effective development. Use of the results in future land use planning would have considerable financial benefits in implementation of future built development and these important conditions should be used by architects and designers, builders, land use planners, developers and scientists.


This study illustrates a methodology to measure empirically household food vulnerability. Food vulnerability is defined in terms of the probability now of being undernourished in the future. The empirical analysis is based on panel data from northern Mali, collected in 1997-98. Our empirical results clearly show that even though the groups of currently undernourished and food vulnerable households overlap, they are far from identical. Female-headed households appear less vulnerable to drought shocks, partly due to community solidarity. Households with good harvests are also less vulnerable, though greater dependence on agriculture attenuates this effect. Official food aid and family food gifts are important insurance mechanisms. Simulations indicate that food vulnerability can be significantly reduced through off-farm employment generation in the area and greater access to irrigation infrastructure.


Every year, many dental restoration methods are carried out in the world and most of them do not succeed. High cost of these restorations and rejection possibility of the implants are main drawbacks. For this reason, a regenerative approach for repairing the damaged dentin-pulp complex or generating a new tissue is needed. In this study, the potential of three-dimensional cellulose acetate/oxidized pullulan/gelatin-based dentin-like constructs containing 10 or 20% bioactive glass nanoparticles was studied to explore their potential for dentin regeneration. Three-dimensional nano biocomposite structures were prepared by freeze-drying/metal mold pressing methods and characterized by in vitro degradation analysis, water absorption capacity and porosity measurements, scanning electron microscopy, in vitro biomineralization analysis. During one-month incubation in phosphate buffered saline solution at 37°C, scaffolds lost about 25–30% of their weight and water absorption capacity gradually decreased with time. Scanning electron microscopy examinations showed that mean diameter of the tubular structures was about 420 µm and the distance between walls of the tubules was around 560 µm. Calcium phosphate precipitates were formed on scaffolds surfaces treated with simulated body fluid, which was enhanced by boron-modified bioactive glass addition. For cell culture studies human dental pulp stem cells were isolated from patient teeth. An improvement in cellular viability was observed for different groups over the incubation period with the highest human dental pulp stem cells viability on B7-20 scaffolds. ICP-OES analysis revealed that concentration of boron ion released from the scaffolds was between 0.2 and 1.1 mM, which was below toxic levels. Alkaline phosphatase activity and intracellular calcium amounts significantly increased 14 days after incubation with highest values in B14-10 group. Von Kossa staining revealed higher levels of mineral deposition in these groups. In this work, results indicated that developed dentin-like constructs are promising for dentin regeneration owing to presence of boron-modified bioactive glass nanoparticles.


The factor structure of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Fifth Edition (WISC-V; Wechsler, 2014a) standardization sample (N = 2,200) was examined using confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) with maximum likelihood estimation for all reported models from the WISC-V Technical and Interpretation Manual (Wechsler, 2014b). Additionally, alternative bifactor models were examined and variance estimates and model-based reliability estimates (&ohgr; coefficients) were provided. Results from analyses of the 16 primary and secondary WISC-V subtests found that all higher-order CFA models with 5 group factors (VC, VS, FR, WM, and PS) produced model specification errors where the Fluid Reasoning factor produced negative variance and were thus judged inadequate. Of the 16 models tested, the bifactor model containing 4 group factors (VC, PR, WM, and PS) produced the best fit. Results from analyses of the 10 primary WISC-V subtests also found the bifactor model with 4 group factors (VC, PR, WM, and PS) produced the best fit. Variance estimates from both 16 and 10 subtest based bifactor models found dominance of general intelligence (g) in accounting for subtest variance (except for PS subtests) and large &ohgr;-hierarchical coefficients supporting general intelligence interpretation. The small portions of variance uniquely captured by the 4 group factors and low &ohgr;-hierarchical subscale coefficients likely render the group factors of questionable interpretive value independent of g (except perhaps for PS). Present CFA results confirm the EFA results reported by Canivez, Watkins, and Dombrowski (2015); Dombrowski, Canivez, Watkins, and Beaujean (2015); and Canivez, Dombrowski, and Watkins (2015).


Background: Clomiphene citrate is very successful in inducing ovulation; there is usually a discrepancy between ovulation and pregnancy rate. If treatment is started early in the cycle this negative effect is reduced. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of the time of administration of clomiphene citrate on follicular growth, endometrial thickness and ovulation and pregnancy rates in PCOS (Polycystic ovary syndrome) patients. Methods: This randomized controlled trial study was performed on 115 PCOS (Polycystic ovary syndrome) women in Fateme Zahra Fertility and Infertility Research Health Center in April 2012. Patients randomly divided into two groups. Patients in the early group (No. 55) received 100 milligrams of clomiphene citrate tablet daily starting the next day after finishing medroxyprogesterone acetate tablet for 5 day, whereas the patient in the late group (No. 60) received 100 milligrams of clomiphene citrate tablet daily for 5 day starting on day 3 of the menstrual cycle. Then on follicular growth, endometrial thickness and ovulation and pregnancy rates by SPSS software, version 16 (Armonk, NY, USA) were compared in two groups. Results: 36.4% of patients of early administration of clomiphene and 60% of patients in the later administration of Clomiphene were able to build dominant follicle. This difference was statistically significant (P<0.011). There was no statistically significant difference between the two groups on age, body mass index, duration of infertility. Findings showed that in the early group 14 (63.6%) and in the late groups 8 (36.4%) women who made dominant follicle, were pregnant. There was significant difference between these two groups (P<0.001). But, in the number of follicles, endometrial thickness and pregnancy rate, there were no significant difference. In the early administration of clomiphene, the pregnancy rate was 25.5%. However in the later administration of clomiphene it was 13.3% (P=0.882). Conclusion: According to the results of this study, if the dominant follicle was made, with administration of clomiphene citrate in luteal phase the incidence of successful pregnancy is higher. Abstract f


Ultra-wideband (UWB) technology is rapidly developing as a high speed, and high data rate wireless communication mode. There are many challenges in dealing with this new emerging technology. One of these challenges is how to design an antenna ele-ment that can operate effectively in the entire UWB frequency range. Another big chal-lenge is to design UWB antenna beamforming systems including suitable UWB compo-nents such as feed networks, transitions, crossovers, hybrid couplers and phase shifters to meet the UWB requirements.
This thesis is primarily focused on designing UWB antenna elements and other microwave components for UWB wireless communications applications. The thesis starts with designing and implementing different new UWB disc monopole and hybrid anten-nas with discussions covering their operation, electrical behavior and performance. An-tennas are developed using microstrip technology to achieve low profile and compatibil-ity with printed circuit board (PCB) technology. Different techniques for obtaining a bandstop function in the 5.0-6.0 GHz frequency band to avoid interference with other ex-isting wireless local area network (WLAN) systems are numerically and experimentally presented. A UWB feed network prototype based on a modified two-section Wilkinson power divider is then developed. The designed feed network has been used in construct-ing two-element and four-element antenna arrays. The two-element antenna array has a total directive gain of about 5.5–8.5 dBi within the whole UWB frequency band while for the four-element antenna array, the achieved total directive gain is about 7.5–11.5 dBi.
Two different UWB slot-coupled microstrip-to-microstrip vertical transitions are also addressed. The proposed transitions utilize trapezoidal- and butterfly-shaped mi-crostrip patches at the top and bottom layers. The broadside coupling between microstrip-coupled patches is achieved by cutting a rectangular-shaped slot in the mid-layer ground plane. The designed transitions are used to develop 3dB/90° hybrid couplers with good return loss, insertion loss, coupling and isolation characteristics across the desired fre-quency range. Then two different 45° phase shifters are developed to be used in building 4 × 4 Butler matrices for UWB beamforming applications.
Finally, two compact and inexpensive multiple beamforming network (M-BFN) prototypes are developed. The developed microwave components using multi-layer mi-crostrip PCB technology are used to design 4 × 4 Butler matrices. These matrices avoid using any crossing lines or crossovers and exhibit large bandwidth for UWB applications. To validate the proposed design, experimental prototypes of the proposed 4 × 4 matrices are designed, fabricated and tested. A four patch antenna array is connected to these ma-trices to form multiple beamforming array systems. Simulations are carried out on these beamforming systems and the obtained radiation characteristics are also presented and discussed.


ABSTRACT Objective: The objective of this study is to investigate the relationship between sources of work-related stress (WRS) for pilots, effects on wellbeing, and coping mechanisms. Background: Recent studies have measured depression levels in pilots but not the relationship between depression levels and coping strategies. Methods: An anonymous web-based survey was conducted with commercial pilots. A regression model was advanced to analyze the relationship between each frequency level of each coping strategy and PHQ-9 Scores, and the Odds ratio was interpreted. Results: Sources of WRS impact on the physical, social, and psychological health of pilots. Not all pilots are suffering. Over half met threshold for mild depression. Nearly 60% are using coping mechanisms to manage WRS and its impact on wellbeing. Pilots using coping mechanisms such as sleep management, taking physical exercise, and diet management were found to have lower depression severity levels. The findings of this study underscore the need to advance new tools to enable pilot self-management of their health and wellbeing. This includes new training tools, enhanced checklists, and new digital tools to support wellbeing awareness, stress coping, and risk identification both inside and outside the cockpit. Conclusions: Airlines and pilots need the right tools to safeguard the wellbeing and mental fitness of pilots and ensure flight safety. Pilots, airlines, and aviation regulators can learn from the existing use of coping strategies by pilots.


We report a rare association of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) with incidental pulmonary and muscle sarcoidosis. A 63-year-old woman presented with slowly progressive weakness and atrophy of the extremities starting from the left leg. The biopsy of a small mass in the left gastrocnemius revealed a typical sarcoid nodule. She was treated with corticosteroid for possible sarcoid neuromyopathy. In spite of the treatment, her clinical course was relentlessly progressive and she died of bulbar palsy. Autopsy revealed a loss of motor neurons in the anterior horn, vacuolar degeneration of the lateral funiculus, and noncaseating granulomas in paratracheal lymph nodes and lungs. No granulomatous lesion or cellular infiltration was found in the spinal cord. (Internal Medicine 40: 822-825, 2001)


An integrated treatment of technological advances in power electronics Add this article to private library Remove from private library Submit corrections to this record View record in the new ADS and ac drives is presented. The topics include: power semiconductor devices, ac machines, phase-controlled converters and cycloconverters, voltage-fed inverter drives, current-fed inverter drives, slip powercontrolled drives, control of induction and synchronous machines, and microcomputer control. Both practical and theoretical aspects of the technology are addressed, and numerical examples are given. Bibtex entry for this abstract Preferred format for this abstract


In this paper, we open up the organizational attributes that significantly influence the adoption of data mining (DM) technique for financial service industry. The technique of factor analysis was employed to explore the features and multivariate data analysis technique t-test to investigate the hypotheses. Based on the data collected from medium-to large-sized firms, the empirical results confirmed that the organizational size, attitude of data resource, and style of decision-making significantly influence the DM adoption. In addition, it was found that the DM adoption did not significantly affected by the types of both marketing orientation and information orientation in terms of organizational culture. Research implications were also discussed in this research. 1. Introduction Information Technology (IT) has been extensively used in a multitude of applications within various industries, in particular the enhancement of organizational intelligence and decision-making. Many studies have addressed that the organizational features play a fairly important role in the adoption of IT [Thong et al., 1995; Fletcher et al., 1996; Fink, 1998, Chengalur-Smith et al., 1999, Cabrera et al., 2001; Dewett et al., 2001]. These features mainly include size, culture, competition, specialization, functional differentiation, and external integration. While a variety of studies looking at the relation of organizational features and IT adoption have presented that a noteworthy one showed significantly in some specific conditions, but not in all cases, a particular technique of Data Mining (DM) is hardly ever revealed, and thus becomes the motivation of this research. DM with a descriptive and predictive ability can elicit patterns that are not predictive, but meaningful and decision-supportable in historical data [Fayyad et al., 1996, 1997; Chen et al., 1996]. Basically, the DM mainly consists of five major phases: data collection, data cleaning, data mining, knowledge formulization and knowledge application. The data collection deals primarily with gathering the concerned data such as bank transactions, retailer transactions, Web shopping transactions, etc. The data cleaning is concerned with the consistency of multi-typed datasets, elimination of redundant attributes, refinement and reconstruction of collected datasets, and discretisation of continuous contexts. The DM returns the outputs that entail association, classification, regression, clustering, or summarization. The knowledge reorganization is conducted in the phase of formulization while practical use in the application. Data mining is one of the important techniques of IT and has been employing in support of management decisions via the discovery of patterns in large databases [Bigus et al., 1996; Chen et al., 1996; Fayyad et al., 1996, 1997; Han et al., 1998; Han et al., 1999]. Pitta (1998) highlights the DM as an important tool that marketers can rely on to reveal patterns in databases while emphasizing the marketing one-to-one strategy. More importantly, the applications in various areas of business depicted in literature in the past few years have also witnessed the increased use of DM. Referable works can be viewed in hotel data mart [Sung et al., 1998], personal bankruptcy prediction [Donato et al., 1999], customer service support [Hui et al., 2000], and the special issue edited by Kohavi et al., [2001] of an underlying journal. Bigus (1996) and Adriaans et al. (1996) also provides a fundamental concept for the applicability of DM in business problems covering marketing segmentation, customer ranking, real estate pricing, sales forecasting, customer profiling, and prediction of bid behavior of pilots. It is believed that many industries have been adopting DM as an important management tool to help management decisions. However, it may be more relevant for the DM adoption if an industry can produce tremendous transaction data through organizational activities. …


Background There has been rapid urbanisation in China over the past few decades. Urbanisation may influence development of non-communicable disease through adoption of detrimental health behaviours. With a large population in China, and many other low and middle income countries following a similar trajectory, investigation of how health behaviour changes with rural to urban migration will increase understanding of future disease burden and opportunities for intervention/prevention. Our objective was to examine the difference in non-communicable disease risk factor prevalence in urban, rural and rural-to-urban migrant participants in the Chinese portion of the WHO Study of global AGEing and adult health (SAGE). Methods Study participants were adults aged 18+ within SAGE-China, surveyed 2007–2010 (Wave 1), and designed as a nationally representative sample. Participants were coded as urban, rural or migrant based on responses to questions on current and past home locations. Outcome measures included health behaviours (tobacco smoking, alcohol consumption, physical activity and fruit and vegetable consumption) and physiological risk factors (obesity, raised waist circumference, hypertension and doctor diagnosed diabetes). Odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated using logistic regression. Other variables included in the analysis were age, sex and income quintile. Results 13,628 participants were included in this study (5878 urban; 1215 migrants; 7207 rural). Adjusting for age and gender, migrant participants were more likely to have smoked during their lifetime than urban participants, OR 1.29 (95% CI 1.08–1.53), although the prevalence of current smokers was not significantly different. Migrant participants were also more likely to drink alcohol regularly. Rural participants had a very different risk factor profile to urban participants; they were more likely to smoke and to drink alcohol regularly, less likely to consume five portions of fruit and vegetables per day, OR 0.73 (95% CI 0.65–0.82) and more likely to have hypertension, OR 1.22 (95% CI 1.14–1.31). However, rural participants were less likely to be overweight, or have a high waist circumference. Rural participants are also less likely to have diabetes, OR 0.29 (95% CI 0.24–0.34), however this may be due to lower rates of diagnosis or a lower true prevalence. Conclusion In China, urbanisation appears to increase the risk of obesity and possibly of diabetes. However, it is also associated with increased fruit and vegetable consumption and lower prevalence of smoking and drinking and hypertension. In our study, rural to urban migrants had a similar risk factor profile to urban participants


Access to safe breast-feeding alternatives for HIV-infected mothers and their infants in many settings is limited. We compared the rates of early postpartum hospitalization of infants born to HIV-infected mothers using different infant-feeding practices in a large government hospital in Pune, India. From March 1, 2000 to November 30, 2001, infants born to HIV-infected mothers were followed in a postpartum clinic. All mothers had received a standard short course of antenatal zidovudine. Infant-feeding practices were assessed within 3 d of delivery, prior to postpartum hospital discharge. Sixty-two of 148 mothers (42%) were breast-feeding their infants. Eighty-six of the mothers (58%) were providing replacement feeding, primarily diluted cow, goat or buffalo milk (top feeding). Twenty-one of the 148 participating infants (14.2%) born during the study period required hospitalization within the 1st 6 mo of life and 6 infants required repeat hospitalization. All hospitalized infants were receiving replacement feeding with a rate of 0.093 hospitalizations per 100 person-days (95% CI, 0.062 to 0.136). The reasons for hospitalization included acute gastroenteritis (48.1%), pneumonia (18.5%), septicemia (11.1%) and jaundice (11.1%). A high risk for early postpartum hospitalization was seen in replacement-fed infants born to HIV-infected mothers in Pune, India. In settings such as India, where access to safe replacement feeding is limited, interventions making exclusive breast-feeding safer for HIV-infected mothers and infants are needed. Such interventions would be valuable additions to the very effective national prevention programs that currently rely on the provision of short-course zidovudine and nevirapine.


Multicasting is emerging as an enabling technology for multimedia transmissions over wireless networks to support several groups of users with flexible quality of service (QoS) requirements. Although multicast has huge potential to push the limits of next generation communication systems; it is however one of the most challenging issues currently being addressed. In this survey, we explain multicast group formation and various forms of group rate determination approaches. We also provide a systematic review of recent channel-aware multicast scheduling and resource allocation (MSRA) techniques proposed for downlink multicast services in OFDMA based systems. We study these enabling algorithms, evaluate their core characteristics, limitations and classify them using multidimensional matrix. We cohesively review the algorithms in terms of their throughput maximization, fairness considerations, performance complexities, multi-antenna support, optimality and simplifying assumptions. We discuss existing standards employing multicasting and further highlight some potential research opportunities in multicast systems.


ABSTRACT This paper explores the current views and experiences of university students towards issues of race and racism in England. A decade into the UK's Equality Act (2010), we have witnessed a proliferation of support for minority rights and movements, especially from the younger generation, often praised as progressive and liberal. Yet, in UK higher education, there is growing evidence and concern about racial and ethnic inequalities in the experiences and outcomes of minority ethnic students. Drawing on in-depth interviews with 42 undergraduates in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) degrees, the authors explore the nuances in racial perspectives as they highlight three contemporary student discourses of racism: the naïve; the bystander; and the victim. Implications for policy and practice are suggested.


This is an environmental assessment for the Second Agricultural Technology Project for Nicaragua (supporting PRORURAL), which strengthens the Government's inter-institutional and technical capacity to coordinate a sector-wide approach (SWAp) to the agriculture and forestry sector, and promotes enhanced agricultural/forestry technology innovation and adoption, with a focus on smallholders. This report assesses potentially negative environmental impacts and proposes measures to mitigate them. Risks and mitigations include: Using integrated pest management, naturally occurring fertilizers, cultural practices, and a variety of resistant species to reduce insect pests while ensuring that toxic substances or pesticides are avoided in seed processing or other project activities; identifying critical habitats and ensuring their protection; involving the local community in conservation work and environmental management; and implement any other recommendations that surfaced in the environmental audit.


Despite the success of fully-supervised human skeleton sequence modeling, utilizing self-supervised pre-training for skeleton sequence representation learning has been an active field because acquiring task-specific skeleton annotations at large scales is difficult. Recent studies focus on learning video-level temporal and discriminative information using contrastive learning, but overlook the hierarchical spatial-temporal nature of human skeletons. Different from such superficial supervision at the video level, we propose a self-supervised hierarchical pre-training scheme incorporated into a hierarchical Transformer-based skeleton sequence encoder (Hi-TRS), to explicitly capture spatial, short-term, and long-term temporal dependencies at frame, clip, and video levels, respectively. To evaluate the proposed self-supervised pre-training scheme with Hi-TRS, we conduct extensive experiments covering three skeleton-based downstream tasks including action recognition, action detection, and motion prediction. Under both supervised and semi-supervised evaluation protocols, our method achieves the state-of-the-art performance. Additionally, we demonstrate that the prior knowledge learned by our model in the pre-training stage has strong transfer capability for different downstream tasks.


The paper examines the issue of designing and implementing policy measures to control complex agricultural externalities. Complex externalities refer to the situation where a production (firm on firm) externality coexists with a detrimental (firm on society) externality. The paper identifies the optimal solution for complex externalities, which is a combination of spatially differentiated taxes. However, severe information requirements render the first-best policy infeasible. Finally, a likely voluntary scheme based on firm self-report is examined which may enforce firm compliance with the optimal policy.


As a young ethnographer, I was weirdly obsessed with closed doors and what was going on behind them. To some extent I still am. How come? Starting from my own obsession with closed doors and secrets in a fieldwork setting particularly prone to secrecy and mutual spying, namely the Nigerien gendarmerie, this essay is as an investigation into the practical, not just theoretical, problem of knowledge in anthropology, as called for by Johannes Fabian, by way of exploring the practical, not just theoretical, problem of ethnographic epistemophilia—the ethnographer's will to know. What emerges is an uncanny resemblance between my own and the gendarmes' performances of epistemophilia and concealment (real or imagined). The general point is this: If knowledge in anthropology is relational, then so is the ethnographer's will to know. And this has implications for who we think we are—as anthropologists.


Robust, quantitative comparisons of environmental effects across energy sources can support development of energy planning strategies that meet growing demand while managing and minimizing undesirable effects on environmental resources. Multicriteria analyses of energy systems often use a suite of indicators to make such comparisons, but those indicators and their units of measure vary among studies. We reviewed 179 papers that described or applied energy indicators to compare environmental effects of different primary energy sources to answer four questions: (1) what environmental indicators have been used in multicriteria energy-source comparisons? (2) across studies, how consistently are these indicators used to quantify effects? (3) to what degree are different effects accounted for across energy sources and locations? and (4) how comprehensive are indicators in terms of assessing known environmental effects? For reviewed studies, we quantified the number of unique indicators and the diversity of indicators used to measure different effects. We also recorded the specific measurement units applied to quantify each indicator, the energy sources evaluated, and the continent where each study was conducted. While we found that many environmental effects of energy development have been analyzed across multiple sources, indicators were frequently measured, interpreted, and applied in ways that are not directly comparable, and some known environmental effects were infrequently assessed. We also found an emphasis on applying indicators to renewable energy sources; assessing current and potential energy sources, both renewable and nonrenewable, would greatly clarify the full suite of tradeoffs among sources and can inform energy development strategies that minimize adverse environmental effects. Overall, our review indicated that making comprehensive comparisons of the effects of energy development across sources may require efforts to standardize how effects are measured, synthesize effects literature into an open-source database, expand the range of environmental effects analyzed, and establish consistent frameworks for comparison.


The results of sympathectomies depend on the degree of regeneration of the sympathetic nerve trunk: the quicker the onset of regeneration the less remarkable the effect of operation. The aim of our experimental study WPS to examine the rate of regeneration of sympathetic nerve fibers softer different sympathectomy techniques (resection, electrocoagulation and cryodestruction of the part of the sympathetic nerve trunk) following 6 and 12 months. Nine random-bred rabbits were used (Central Research Laboratory, Urals State Medical Academy) to examine the rate of regeneration of the sympathetic nerve trunk contained by the vascular-nervous bundle of rabbit ear. Altogether 18 nerve sympathetic trunks were examined. The rate of regeneration was measured by morphometry. While examining the processes of reparative regeneration of the nerve fibers after resection, electrocoagulation and cryodestruction, account was taken of the changes in their quantity, diameter and degree of myelinization over time. The study of the morphologic picture during comparative analysis of regeneration made on different models of nerve derangement has demonstrated that after resection and electrocoagulation of the sympathetic trunk the process of regeneration proceeds most slowly. On cryogenic injury to the nervous tissue when only nerve fibers are damaged and connective tissue membranes preserve their anatomic integrity, there are created most favourable conditions for regeneration. Toward 12 months after cryodestruction the bundles of nerve fibers acquire an identical diameter, with predominance of the population of thick nerve fibers, and appear mature enough. After electrocoagulation the fibers contained by the bundles are different in diameter, with the predominance of medium-diameter fibers whereas the thick nerve fibers are not many. After resection the thick nerve fibers are lacking whereas the medium-diameter bundles contain myelinated nerve fibers, with the maintenance of the selective decay of the myelin membrane.


Adipokines secreted by adipose tissue are recognized to be crucial for the regulation and maintenance of energy homeostasis. Leptin is the best characterized adipokine involved in energy metabolism and inflammatory status, being associated with the development of a number of diseases, including atherosclerosis, diabetes, certain cancers and immune-mediated processes. Recently leptin was found to exert neurotrophic effects and neuroprotective activity slowing down neuronal damage after acute brain injuries as well as during long-term neurodegenerative processes. Moreover there are the evidences that leptin influences receptor signalling as well as the synthesis and releasing of several neurotransmitters. The aim of this review is to discuss the role of leptin in the neuroprotection and the regulation of diverse neuronal functions in the health and disease.


This dissertation revisits the question of the temporal constitution of sociality. What is the role of subjective time-experience in the understanding of other people and the formation of communicative environment? This problem is considered in a generative phenomenological context. The investigation traces analytically the "stages" of communicative constitution: from the explicit intentional modes of interaction back to the pre-affective and habitualized social sense-accomplishments.
The task is approached through a systematic exposition of Edmund Husserl's generative concept of communication proper (Mitteilung, Kommunikation). A widespread view in the classical and more recent phenomenological scholarship is that Husserl's concept of communication must be derivative of the more fundamental categories of empathy and intersubjectivity (Einfühlung and Intersubjektivität; Schütz 1957; Held 1972; Zahavi 1996). The theoretical potential of the concept of communication for a phenomenology of sociality has thus been largely overlooked. The dissertation challenges this long-established model and attempts to reaffirm the central constitutive role of communication, to redefine its function in contradistinction with that of empathy. It does so by considering Husserl's later "genetic phenomenology" where temporal experiences are construed in the background of the sphere of "primal flowing living present" (urströmende lebendige Gegenwart). On this basis, the notion of communication is
uncovered as transcendentally rooted in the structure of pre-conscious instinctual Ineinander. This perspective is radicalized and validated through an extensive analysis of Levinas's implicit debate with Husserl regarding the temporal constitution of alterity and also translated into a problem of the ethical meaning of objective forms of social communication.
The central argument of the dissertation is that an interpretation of Husserl's concept of communication in connection with the notions of primal temporal flow, instincts, and pre-intentional passive synthesis affords the elaboration of a generative phenomenological concept of "intermonadic communication" which grounds empathy rather than deriving from it. Such an interpretation might further prove productive for the study of both nonverbal interaction (also in relation to treatments of autism) and the developmental basis of social behaviour. Its potential to validate an ethical theory of interpersonal understanding is also affirmed through a comparative analysis of Husserl and Levinas's concepts of subjectivity, sensibility and common time.


Introduction: A congenital anomaly affecting the male penis is an extremely rare incident, especially when presented as a case of supernumerary penis (diphallus) with no other anomalies affecting the other systems or organs, as in our case. (Approximately 100 cases have been reported since the first case report by Wecker in 1609. There are broadly three types of diphallus, viz. true diphallus with two independent penises, bifid phallus that may be glandular or complete and pseudodiphallus having a rudimentary phallus in addition to the normal penis. Numerous associated genitourinary and gastrointestinal anomalies have been described with diphallus.) KK Sharma1 Reviewing medical literatures, nearly all reported cases of Diphallia were accompanied by at least one other congenital anomaly such as another urogenital, an imperforated anus, vertebral deformities or a gastrointestinal anomaly1, 2, 3, 4
Method: A 19 year-old man was presented to our surgical clinic in May 1979, complaining of dripping of urine from a small bud at the ventral surface of his mid- penile shaft. The problem, which he had had since birth, proved to be a small Supernumerary penis, originating from the ventral surface of the main penile shaft. On examination, the small bud on the ventral surface of the penile shaft was seen to resemble a tiny penis of 1.5cm length. It consisted of a small glans about 5mm in length and diameter with an external urethral opening and a small shaft measuring about 10mm in length with a retracted prepius or foreskin.
Result: Reconstructive surgical removal of the supernumerary penis was done. The post-operative course was uneventful and the patient was discharged home next day. The stitches were removed on the 7th post-operative day. The gross appearance of the surgical specimen was clearly a small penis of 1.5cm in length. No histopathological study of the surgical specimen was done at the time, but the specimen was preserved and saved and is still available for inspection.
 Conclusion: Such a rare condition should be managed by an expert surgeon in the urogenital field. It should be born in mind that the most urgent and any possibly life threatening anomalies if present, should be treated first. The type of anomaly will determine the surgical treatment which will be needed.


Adolescents who engage in regular physical activity experience increased academic performance and grades, improved academic behavior, such as time on task, as well as an increase in other factors that influence academic achievement. Despite physical activity recommendations, regular engagement in physical activity is still an issue among American adolescents. Furthermore, physically inactive lifestyles are highest among minority populations, lower socioeconomic groups, and women. Self Determination Theory provides a basis for investigating the cognitive, affective and motivational processes of physical activity. At present time, there is a dearth of research exploring motivation of physical activity among minority female college students. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the type of motivation that is most strongly related to moderate physical activity, vigorous physical activity, strength training and stretching among college-aged African American females in an effort to consider ways to improve physical activity promotion efforts on a college campus. Students enrolled in a required basic studies physical education and wellness course at a southeastern state university were invited to participate in data collection activities. Participants were invited to complete the modified Behavioral Regulation in Exercise Questionnaire (BREQ-2), a 19-item questionnaire designed to measure motivation for physical activity. Of the 1422 college students that agreed to participate, 54 identified themselves as a non-Caucasian female. Results offered limited support for the hypothesis that those who are extrinsically motivated would engage in more physical activity. Nevertheless, a required physical activity class for college students could potentially provide an opportunity for those who would otherwise be amotivated for physical activity to engage in regular physical activities.


This thesis considers a range of sixteenth-century literary texts in order to trace the evolution of the public image(s) of Thomas Cardinal Wolsey (c.1470-1530), Henry VIII's chief minister from 1515 until 1529. The aim of this thesis is to demonstrate and explore the genesis and subsequent evolution of literary characterizations of Wolsey. This process in turn reveals much about the individual authors, editors, and playwrights who generated these images; the readers and audiences who received them; and the social, political, and religious events to which they responded and with which they interacted. Moreover, this thesis argues that through analyzing case studies (like Wolsey's), we can better understand how sixteenth-century authors conceptualized and represented history itself, as well as the uses to which these histories might be put. To explore this concept, this thesis creates a framework of 'mimetic', 'poetic', and 'documentary' representations of history to better distinguish how Tudor authors organized and created their respective histories.
In order to identify common themes and highlight evolving textual features, this thesis moves chronologically through a diverse corpus, looking at early satires in doggerel poetry and drama; biography and de casibus verse; Elizabethan historiographies (both religious and secular); and Jacobean drama. This approach demonstrates how the public images of Tudor political figures were constructed in a web of interconnected texts, and how authors constructed and adapted representations of history over the course of the sixteenth century. In addition, this thesis considers how characterizations of Wolsey in particular demonstrate the means by which a particular image could be adapted to interact with a rapidly changing public sphere.


Alarin is a newly identified peptide hormone. It is implicated that alarinplays roles in regulation of energy metabolism and hypothalamo-pituitary-gonadal axis. Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) is a common reproductive and metabolic disease in women during reproductive ages. Over-secretion of Luteinizing Hormone (LH) causes hyperandrogenism in women with PCOS. The purpose of the study was to determine the comparison of alarin levels in women with or without PCOS as well as to investigate the relationship between alarin and LH. Eighty-four women with PCOS and 84 ageand BMImatched controls were recruited in this cross-sectional study. Circulating alarin levels were assessed via ELISA method. The hormonal and metabolic parameters of the recruited subjects were also determined. The circulating levels of alarin in PCOS subjects were higher than controls (6.11 ± 1.91 vs. 3.93 ± 1.60 ng/ml, P <0.001). Alarin showed a positive correlation with insulin resistance marker, BMI, LH and androgens. Moreover, alarin levels were elevated in women with PCOS having insulin resistance compared to those PCOS women without insulin resistance. In both control and PCOS groups, overweight subjects showed an elevation in circulating levels of alarin with respect to normal weight subjects. In the present study, Alarin level with the highest tertile dosage comparing to alarin level with the lowest tertile dosage could highly increase the probability of PCOS risk prevalence in women. Elevated alarin levels in women with PCOS were associated with not only LH and metabolic parameters but also high probability of Research Article ISSN: 2637-4617


Acceptor and donor doping is a standard for tailoring semiconductors. More recently, doping was adapted to optimize the behavior at ferroelectric domain walls. In contrast to more than a century of research on semiconductors, the impact of chemical substitutions on the local electronic response at domain walls is largely unexplored. Here, the hexagonal manganite ErMnO$_3$ is donor doped with Ti$^{4+}$. Density functional theory calculations show that Ti$^{4+}$ goes to the B-site, replacing Mn$^{3+}$. Scanning probe microscopy measurements confirm the robustness of the ferroelectric domain template. The electronic transport at both macro- and nanoscopic length scales is characterized. The measurements demonstrate the intrinsic nature of emergent domain wall currents and point towards Poole-Frenkel conductance as the dominant transport mechanism. Aside from the new insight into the electronic properties of hexagonal manganites, B-site doping adds an additional degree of freedom for tuning the domain wall functionality.


This paper aims to critically analyze the implications of the new managerialism in the public service through ethical, democratic and professional values. It assumes the contradictions between the values that seek to promote the public service under the model of managerialism and the reality of its implementation. The method used is analytical-descriptive-normative from the critical perspective of the parallel developments of managerialism and public service. The theoretical and methodological framework that serves as a reference for this critical analysis is provided by the theories of organizational economics and public choice. The discussion concludes that there is a necessary conflict between ethical, democratic and professional values of these new organizational forms promoted by managerialism through the theories of economics and organizational public choice and traditional values of public service.


The role of the agriculture sector in the economic development of Barbados has been substantially reduced as the country has continued on a path of economic diversification. Policy initiatives aimed towards this notable structural change in the economy, however, have subsequently resulted in a significant decline in output from the agriculture industry. However, recent global and national challenges have brought the need to rethink the relevance of the agriculture to the fore. This paper reviews some of the prevailing literature pertaining to the role of the agriculture on economic growth and development. In doing so, the potential scope of the industry for the overall economic growth and development of Barbados should be revealed. The paper also highlights two key agricultural issues that could potentially threaten economic development in Barbados. These are: the rising level of imports and rising food prices. Strategies that may be deemed beneficial to the local agricultural industry, if it is to remain a viable tool for national economic growth and development, will also be presented.


Study Design:Survey approach and explorative survey design was used to study the prevalence of Low Back Pain among student nurses.
Objectives:To determine the prevalence of low back pain among students of selected nursing institutions.
Summary of background data:Low back pain has been considered a wide spread public health concern. Early identification of workers at high risk for disability would facilitate intervention strategies.
Methods:Questionnaires on knowledge, disability and pain & selected factors were distributed to 284 undergraduate nursing students who have reported to have Low Back Pain out of 829 students.
Results:Prevalence of LBP was 34.25% & was more in 21-24year age group. Majority of the students had moderate amount of pain. Around 60.91% of the students were underweight. About 56.6% of the students reported that LBP has affected their academic performance in classes occasionally and 31% of the students reported that few occasions they were absent due to LBP. Majority of the students possess average amount of knowledge regarding LBP. There is significant association between LBP and age group, gender, year of study and BMI.
Conclusions:There is an urgent need for health promotion programs to increase awareness and reduce risks of Low Back Pain in nursing profession.


A total of 14 viral haemorrhagic septicaemia virus (VHSV) isolates obtained from Greenland halibut Reinhardtius hippoglossoides caught at the Flemish Cap, a fishing ground in the North Atlantic Ocean near Newfoundland, were characterised using restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) and nucleotide sequence analysis. RFLP analysis was performed on a 1259 bp fragment of the glycoprotein (G) gene, and a 305 nucleotide region within the nucleoprotein (N) gene was used for sequence analysis. Representative strains of the 4 established genotypes were employed for comparative purposes. Sequencing analysis indicated that the Flemish cap isolates grouped in Genotype 3, which also includes isolates from wild fish caught in the North Sea and coastal waters of the UK and Ireland, isolates derived from outbreaks of VHS in turbot farms in the British Isles, and an isolate from European eel Anguilla anguilla caught in northern France. Characterisation using RFLPs resulted in the development of a simple and reliable method of typing VHSV at the genotype level using a 2-step restriction analysis (2-SRA) assay.


OBJECTIVE
To determine the willingness of parents of children visiting a pediatric emergency department to have a physician assistant (PA) assess and treat their child and the waiting time reduction sufficient for them to choose to receive treatment by a PA rather than wait for a physician.

METHOD
After describing the training and scope of practice of PAs, we asked caregivers of children triaged as urgent to nonurgent if they would be willing to have their child assessed and treated by a PA on that visit: definitely, maybe, or never. We also asked the minimum amount of waiting time reduction they would want to see before choosing to receive treatment by a PA rather than wait for a physician.

RESULT
We approached 320 eligible subjects, and 273 (85.3%) consented to participate. Regarding whether they would be willing to have their child receive treatment by a PA, 140 (51.3%) respondents answered definitely, 107 (39.2%) said maybe, and 26 (9.2%) said never. Most respondents (64.1%) would choose to have their child seen by a PA instead of waiting for a physician if the waiting time reduction were at least 60 minutes (median 60 minutes [interquartile range 60 minutes]). Respondents' perception of the severity of their child's condition was associated with unwillingness to receive treatment by a PA, whereas child's age, presenting complaint, and actual waiting time were not.

CONCLUSION
Only a small minority of parents of children visiting a pediatric emergency department for urgent to nonurgent issues are unwilling to have their child treated by PAs.


Highly turbulent environment of dynamic job-shop operations affects the shop floor layout problem as well as other areas. Due to frequently altering needs of layout, essential requirements such as adaptability and proactive responsiveness to the dynamic changes need to be considered in addition to the materials handling and machine relocation costs when a shop floor is reconfigured from one layout to the next. Targeting the autonomy and adaptability of dynamic and distributed job-shop assembly operations, this paper proposes to incorporate function block methodology to deal with the layout issues of the frequently changing environment. This is an extension to the authors' previous work.


We analyzed the local variation of fish assemblages in four coastal lagoon systems surrounded by mangroves, draining into the Gulf of Tehuantepec (Pacific versant of Mexico), and determined the spatial patterns of alpha, beta, and gamma diversity. Fish were sampled between 2004 and 2016 at 63 sites using cast nets. The collected data were supplemented with information obtained from published works for three other coastal lagoons for the regional analysis. Local richness was high (89 species in a total of 19,017 specimens in four systems). Locally, dissolved oxygen, depth, and distance to mangrove were variables that significantly affected richness and abundance of fish in one or more systems. The Chantuto-Panzacola system showed the highest richness, significantly different from the other systems, although the trophic groups were similar. Regionally, two, Istmo and Soconusco complexes were identified, whose turnover rate (0.36) and gamma diversity (176) increased from north to south. Fish species richness and abundance increased with growing mangrove area, both locally and regionally, making this a highly explanatory variable. The Gulf of Tehuantepec is an environmentally heterogeneous region, with ecological patterns defined according to the spatiotemporal scale, which should be considered in the delineation of ecoregions and coastal management planning.


Liu GC, Oudit GY, Fang F, Zhou J, Scholey JW. Angiotensin-(1–7)-induced activation of ERK1/2 is cAMP/protein kinase A-dependent in glomerular mesangial cells. Am J Physiol Renal Physiol 302: F784 –F790, 2012. First published December 21, 2011; doi:10.1152/ajprenal.00455.2011.—The renin-angiotensin system (RAS) plays an important role in renal physiology and kidney injury. Although the cellular effects of the RAS activation are generally attributed to angiotensin II (ANG II), the recent identification of angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 has shifted the focus to other peptides including Ang-(1–7). The G protein-coupled receptor for Ang(1–7), mas, is expressed by mesangial cells (MC) but the signal transduction pathways activated by Ang-(1–7) in MC have not been fully elucidated. Accordingly, we studied the effect of Ang-(1–7) on extracellular signal-related kinase (ERK)1/2 activation in rat MC. Ang-(1–7)-induced ERK1/2 phosphorylation in MC is timeand concentration-dependent. Pretreatment of MC with the mas receptor antagonist A-779 but not the AT1 antagonist losartan or the AT2 antagonist PD123319 abrogated ERK1/2 activation. Neither pretreatment with the NADPH oxidase inhibitors diphenyleneiodonium and apocynin nor pretreatment with the epidermal growth factor (EGF) receptor antagonists AG1478 and PD158780 attenuated Ang-(1–7)induced activation of ERK1/2. Even though each of these compounds abolished ANG II-induced activation of ERK1/2. Ang-(1–7) increased intracellular cAMP levels and activated protein kinase A (PKA) and inhibition of either adenylyl cyclase or PKA activity attenuated Ang-(1–7)-induced ERK1/2 activation. In conclusion, Ang-(1–7)induced activation of ERK1/2 is cAMP/PKA-dependent in MC, but independent of NADPH oxidase and the EGF receptor.


Abstract: This paper applies a two stage estimation procedure that accounts for a sample-selection bias and firm-level heterogeneity in order to estimate a gravity model of exports at industry level of aggregation for 119 exporting countries and 142 importing countries in 2002-2006. It further projects the estimation results on nine CIS countries in order to compute "out-of-sample" predictions of exports and compare actual and predicted degree of export diversification along industry and space dimensions. The results show that all CIS countries lag behind the region leaders in terms of the degree of export diversification. In particular, the CIS countries that are extensively engaged in exports of raw materials have the most concentrated exports among all transition countries in terms of their industrial composition. The lack of diversification makes CIS countries vulnerable to unfavorable terms of trade shocks. For example, out of all transition countries, Ukraine was hit the most by the current global crisis due to its reliance on exports of metals - a commodity that suffered a devastating collapse in trade volumes during the last quarter of 2008. As another example, Belarus lacks geographical diversification of trade which makes this country vulnerable to trade disputes with Russia.


ABSTRACT The study presents the first quantitative description of whistles (N = 1,017) recorded from free-range short-beaked common dolphins D. delphis ponticus, an endemic subspecies from the Black Sea. The dolphins produced high-pitched frequency-modulated whistles with the fundamental frequency of 1.6–33.2 kHz, the median values of minimum and maximum frequencies being 8.6 kHz and 16.0 kHz, respectively. Whistle duration varied from 0.16 to 2.94 s, with a median value of 1.04 s. Whistle contours with inflection points were the most common (74% of the whistles), followed by simpler whistles: downsweep (13%), upsweep (12%), and flat (1%). Stereotyped repeated frequency-modulated whistles registered in this and previous studies may serve as individual distinctive 'signature whistles' in common dolphins. Whistle parameters of the Black Sea subspecies correspond to those reported for D. delphis recorded in neighbouring regions: the Mediterranean Sea and Central–Eastern North Atlantic Ocean. Maximum whistle frequency in common dolphins exhibits a relationship with the body size, similarly to some other dolphin species. Together with minimum frequency, these are parameters with the least coefficients of variation; thus, they may be species-specific acoustic characteristics. This information can be used to distinguish between sympatric dolphin species during their passive acoustic monitoring.


EFA6A, or Pleckstrin and Sec7 domain protein, is a member of guanine nucleotide exchange factors for ADP ribosylation factor 6 (ARF6). Whereas EFA6A is specifically expressed in the brain, little is known about its function in glial cells or glioma. Here we show that elevated EFA6A expression is detectable in both low-grade and high-grade human glioma tissues samples. To investigate the role of EFA6A in glioma carcinogenesis, we generated a human glioblastoma cell line which conditionally overexpresses EFA6A (U373-EFA6A). We showed that overexpression of EFA6A had no effect on cell proliferation, apoptosis, or cell cycle control. However, as shown by wound healing and in vitro cell invasion assays, it significantly enhanced the cell motility and invasiveness whereas silencing EFA6A by its dominant negative mutant EFA6A(E242K) produced opposite effects. We further showed that ARF6/extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) signaling is required for the EFA6A-mediated cell invasion because both EFA6A(E242K) and ARF6 dominant negative mutant ARF6(T27N) markedly reduced the phosphorylated ERK level and EFA6A-mediated invasive capacity. Consistently, mitogen-activated protein kinase/ERK kinase inhibitor U0126 could abolish the EFA6A-induced cell invasion. These results suggest for the first time a potential role of EFA6A/ARF6/ERK signal cascade in glioma cell migration and invasion.


This article explores the changing nature of twenty-first-century capitalism with an emphasis on illuminating the political coalitions and institutional conditions that support and sustain it. Most of the existing literature attributes the changing nature of the firm to developments in markets and technology. By contrast, this article emphasizes the political forces that have driven the transformation of the twentieth-century consolidated firm through the firm as a "network of contracts" and toward the platform firm. Moreover, situating the United States in a comparative perspective highlights the distinctive ways US political-economic institutions have facilitated that transformation and exacerbated the associated inequalities.


Jet quenching has become a fundamental tool to study the hot QCD matter produced in heavy ion collisions. While important theoretical and experimental advances have been made in the last two decades, the extraction of the medium properties and the comparison with finite temperature QCD is still particularly worrisome. In this work we show that improvements in the calculation of the medium-induced gluon spectrum are required for a correct extraction of the parameters without temperature issues. In particular, we employ an improved numerical implementation of multiple hard scatterings that resums all terms in the opacity expansion beyond the Gaussian approximation. We find significant differences in the extracted medium parameters when comparing with two of the most used approximations in phenomenological analyses to date, the first order opacity expansion and the Gaussian approximation. We also make a first attempt to compare the extracted medium parameters with lattice results.


A combination of optical trapping and frequency combs is used to precisely probe an extraordinarily weak transition in atomic helium. The essence of precision measurement is to investigate elusive physical phenomena by achieving high accuracy, or observing very weak events, or both. This normally requires a system sufficiently simple that quantitative comparisons with theory are possible. On page 196 of this issue van Rooij et al. (1) present results of a study that encompasses all of these elements. They report on a precise measurement of laser-driven transitions between the singlet and triplet metastable excited states of atomic helium, 2 1S and 2 3S, a transition so strongly forbidden by spin and parity selection rules that even 10 years ago, its excitation would have been regarded as impossible. The transition is weaker by 14 orders of magnitude than a typical fully allowed electric dipole transition (see the figure) (2) and is one of the weakest optical transitions to be measured with accuracy. This feat is accomplished not by resorting to high laser powers but by using modest powers in conjunction with long interaction times and very narrow linewidths.


Highly successful afforestation applications and good performance development is linked to adoption of correct afforestation techniques, quality of seedling material, selection of appropriate origin, seed material, and treatment of seedlings. One of these treatment processes is subjecting seeds to a magnetic field. The aim of this study is to determine the effects of magnetic field on the germination of seeds and growth of seedlings of stone pine (Pinus pinea L.). For this purpose, seeds (Aydın-Koçarlı origin) were used in nursery garden beds (Isparta, Turkey) with three replications based on completely randomized design. A magnetron tube setup was used to generate a magnetic field. A 220V AC magnetron tube was positioned 15 cm above the seed container, and 280, 336, 462, and 595 W output for 15, 30, and 60 s was applied, respectively. As a result of being subjected to the magnetic field, stone pine seeds experienced changes in seedling morphological characteristics and positive effects on seedling growth and development. It is believed that application of 280 W microwave of 160 micro Tesla intensity for 60 s could suppress live plants by encouraging quick seedling development, help seedlings benefit from water and nutrient elements in the earth, and contribute to the economy of the country by reducing development time.


The most usual solution in order to improve the performance of a Web server is based on building a distributed architecture, in which the Web service is offered from a set of multiple nodes. The most widespread distributed architecture is the Web system based on cluster or switch Web. The switch Web is the responsible of deciding which of the nodes of the site must attend to each request. In this article a solution of storage based on dynamic partial replication and the architecture of this mechanism of distribution based on agents and emergent techniques are presented.


Over a hundred years has elapsed since carcinoma of the pancreas was first described as a clinical entity. In this period a considerable number of data have been accumulated relative to the course of the disease. However, as yet one is only rarely able to recognize it in its early phase. Furthermore, little progress has been made in the therapy of the condition; thus, carcinoma of the pancreas at present is one of the more discouraging medical problems. With the renewed interest in the cancer problem as a whole, the less common tumors become important problems for reconsideration. It is for this reason that we present this paper, in which we briefly review the development of the present knowledge of the disease; report on a series of patients, dealing in particular with the clinical course and the morbid anatomy as revealed at operation and autopsy, comparing our experiences with those


Abstract : This thesis identifies and analyses the main aspects and challenges that have occurred to Georgia's National Security after regaining independence. Economic Security is the initial subject of analysis. The thesis examines the Ministry of Defense as a public sector agency; the problems in government institutions resulting from the old Soviet mentality and the lack of leadership skills in a democratic society which led to Georgia's political crisis and economic decline, as occurs to most countries in transition; specifics about the distribution of financial power in an unstable economic environment decline and the negative effects of instability on defense reform processes, particularly in the implementation of the PPB(E) System. The intent of this research is to explain the interrelationships of harmonious, sustainable growth and PPB(E) as an established system for transparency. The thesis provides a record and explanation of events that caused the current problems in defense planning and the budgeting process as well as recommendations for future improvements to the PPB(E) System in the Georgian Armed Forces (GAF). The main focus is on policy formulation and budget execution; performance; accountability; fiscal discipline; and transparency. The conclusion summarizes the paper, which presented the arguments for successful reforming processes in the GAF, particularly in its medium-term budgeting cycle.


We examine the effect of banks' interventions on corporate innovation and firms' value via the lens of debt covenant violations. Banks' interventions have a significantly negative effect on the quantity of innovations but no significant effect on their quality. The reduction in quantity is concentrated in innovations that are unrelated to the violating firm's core business, which leads to a more-focused scope of investment in innovation and ultimately an increase in the firm's value. Human capital redeployment appears to be a plausible underlying mechanism through which banks' interventions refocus the scope of innovation and enhance a firm's value. Our paper sheds new light on the real effect of bank financing.


This article conceptualises animal liberation direct action in green-cultural criminological terms. To do this, it draws on Johnston and Johnston's methodological approach and undertakes qualitative content analysis of animal liberation communiqués published on the website, Bite Back. Whilst a significant body of scholarly literature has discussed animal liberation struggles, this article develops an understanding of these often-criminal acts and events within a cultural criminological context. Findings from this analysis reveal three themes. First, activists variously resist and embrace the state and media's 'terrorisation' and discursive delegitimating of animal liberation struggle. Activists wilfully play on the framing of themselves as terrorists. Second, activists are also able to re-contextualise what might otherwise be seen as minor, apolitical events into a much broader liberation struggle. Third, animal liberation activism is frequently and explicitly connected to other emancipatory struggles. To conclude, the article argues that animal liberation activists engage in direct action on a local level, and strategically promote hyper localised instances of direct action globally through online communiqués. In doing so, animal liberation activists engage in a 'prefigurative integration' of what might otherwise be dismissed as isolated hyper local 'petty events' within a global struggle against violence, exploitation and oppression.


In the present article, we propose a new approach for the segmentation of the MR images of the Multiple Sclerosis (MS). The Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) allows the visualization of the brain and it is widely used in the diagnosis and the follow-up of the patients suffering from
 MS. Aiming to automate a long and tedious process for the clinician, we propose the automatic segmentation of the MS lesions. Our algorithm of segmentation is composed of three stages: segmentation of the brain into regions using the algorithm Fuzzy Particle Swarm Optimization (FPSO) in order
 to obtain the characterization of the different healthy tissues (White matter, grey matter and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF)) after the extraction of white matter (WM), the elimination of the atypical data (outliers) of the white matter by the algorithm Fuzzy C-Means (FCM), finally, the use of
 a Mamdani-type fuzzy model to extract the MS lesions among all the absurd data.


Present changes in religion as a school subject and Religious Education as a research field are generally, and also by most of the authors in this volume, explained by changes in the subject matter of religion, due to increasing religious pluralism. In a functional perspective, the school subject of religion contributes to the legitimizing function of school education for society and its institutions. With religion being a central moral negotiation ground in society, moral debate in society (and not only religious subject matter), and its constitutional role for Religious Education as a research field can explain further diversity of approaches to research in Religious Education. This also raises questions about the field's vulnerability to public instrumentalization and about moral negotiation and its place in religious education didactics.


Travelers' diarrhea (TD) has historically been a common illness among visitors to developing nations. Although recent studies indicate decreasing incidence of TD among short-term travelers, a systematic review of illness among long-term travelers, including deployed military personnel, has not been conducted in more than 10 years. We conducted a literature search of studies published between 2005 and 2015 that evaluated TD in populations of deployed military personnel or similar long-term travelers (travel ≥1 month) to developing nations. Our literature search identified 28 studies for inclusion. We found that the incidence of TD remained high (10% clinical incidence, 30% self-reported incidence), with variability depending on region of travel and similar rates in both military and civilian long-term travelers. Bacteria (Escherichia coli, Campylobacter, Shigella, and Salmonella species) were the most commonly identified enteropathogens. Fifty percent of affected individuals experienced lost ability to work and 5% required hospitalization. This systematic review demonstrates that among deployed military personnel and long-term travelers, TD remains a prevalent disease that can significantly impact individual readiness for duty. These data demonstrate that to maintain operational readiness among deployed personnel, a focus on vigilance for disease and early treatment of cases is vital.