Using a blend of auto-archaeological, critical, and queer approaches, I descriptively and performatively articulate the position of my sexual identity when entrenched in the familial and organizational structures of scouting. Throughout this piece, I expose the intersections of father-son turmoil and organizational oppression along with offering defiant modes of queer resistance(s) and becoming(s).


E-government has become play an important role in improving government services, and increase effectiveness and efficiency in providing services. Many countries have become aware of the importance of adopting e-government project in improve services, reduce costs, and save time by providing the services anywhere at any time. E-government has become a tool to improving the economic aspect, administrative organization, and increase and trust between the government and beneficiaries. The adopting of e-government requires a clear vision, and identifying all factors that contribute to its success. This paper will give an overview of e-government concept, and e-government around the world, also the paper will discuss the e-government domains, and egovernment development life-cycle, as well as discussing the benefits and the challenges of adopts e-government project.


This brief publication contains a series of papers dealing with the subject of leisure. It encounters the predictable problems when a committee sets itself the task of writing about a topic that its members can not define. The ambiguities of leisure coupled with the ambiguities of mental health quite naturally lead to a somewhat diffuse presentation. Specific papers are devoted to distinct subtopics. However, there is frequent overlap of content among the papers. This could be viewed as consensus or as redundancy, depending upon your preferred frame of reference. The focal objective of the publication is to bring leisure under the purview of psychiatrists. The authors "hope to stimulate their (psychiatrists') interest and to increase their (psychiatrists') participation in developing a deeper understanding of the uses of free time." Historical antecedents of the author group can best be understood by reading first the last chapter


Context: This thesis examines how organisations create and maintain their web pages with particular focus on ensuring pages are accessible. It also investigates the potential for using a Tree-Map based tool to support such web maintenance and process improvement. Novel process improvement recommendations are given and an adaptation of a class web publishing model is presented. Methods: To supplement a review of current literature, 20 accessibility specialists and 79 large organisations were surveyed. This identified web accessibility best practices and whether these practices were implemented in the reality. A subsequent assessment of the accessibility of each organisation's web site tested if certain activities could be linked with better accessibility. Finally, a controlled experiment tested the accuracy and efficiency of a Tree-map based tool for web maintenance. Results: The survey results suggested a wide variety of web accessibility awareness amongst web developers and accessibility specialists. Best practice appeared to be implemented by many organisations with the exception of training provision. It was found that when the best practices aimed specifically at web accessibility were implemented there was a significant improvement in web accessibility. The Tree-Map based tool was proved to be more efficient than and as accurate as report based tool for web maintenance activities. Conclusions of the study: Web accessibility awareness is now reasonably high amongst web developers but the extent to which it is addressed varies. Organisations which take a systematic and mature approach to accessibility have more accessible web sites. As such, accessibility should be integrated into web publishing. Better tools are also required to facilitate this systematic integration


In this paper, the influence of recycled aggregates volume fraction (Fra) on chloride induced permeability of recycled aggregates concrete (RAC) was investigated. Finite element analyses of single modeled RAC with regular aggregate arrangements were performed. The recycled aggregate fraction (Fra ) was varied between 0.38 and 0.63. The finite element method (FEM) were based on a mass diffusion approach in which RAC were simplified as three-phase cylindrical inclusions with 1 mm thickness. The analysis results were interpreted by change of permeability. The results show that the chloride concentration on the corresponding boundary vary wavely in a wide range from from 0.00196603 (mg/mm3) to 0.00238315 (mg/mm3) and increase entirely with the increasing Fra due to the influence of old adhered mortar. The effective chloride diffusivities of RAC and the value of chloride amount increase linearly with the increasing Fra.


Broiler farming is a complex system involving various elements from upstream to downstream. This study aimed to determine the multiple factors and their relationship in broiler chicken farming with a partnership pattern. The research was conducted using a survey method. The samples were determined through census data of 76 open house, semi closed house and closed house farmers who are members of partnership patterns in Kebumen district. Data analysis was performed qualitatively using Causal Loop Diagram (CLD) modeling. The results showed that various factors influenced the broiler farming business with partnership patterns, such as the quality of cages (open house, semi closed house and closed house), farmer skills, technical know how, business motivation, willingness to follow programs, the effectiveness of information, power of investors, turnover, grade day old chick (DOC), output price, feed convension ratio (FCR), mortality, and bonus. This article extensively discussed the systemic linkage and relationship between these elements and how those interactions affected the performance in a broiler chicken farm with a partnership pattern.
Keywords: broiler chickens, partnership, qualitative modeling, quality of cage


We present an optical/inertial data fusion system for motion tracking of the robot manipulator, which is proved to be more robust and accurate than a normal optical tracking system (OTS). By data fusion with an inertial measurement unit (IMU), both robustness and accuracy of OTS are improved. The Kalman filter is used in data fusion. The error distribution of OTS provides an important reference on the estimation of measurement noise using the Kalman filter. With a proper setup of the system and an effective method of coordinate frame synchronization, the results of experiments show a significant improvement in terms of robustness and position accuracy.


Summary form only received: Atrial fibrillation is the most prevalent arrhythmia in the world occurring in 0.4% of the general population and 2 to 5% of the patients over the age of 60. Although generally not considered dangerous arrhythmia, atrial fibrillation can cause significant morbidity due to its associated symptoms of palpitations and its thrombo-embolic complications, including stroke. For that reason, a variety of strategies have been pursued to suppress or eliminate atrial fibrillation. It has been demonstrated surgically that long linear regions of block (in these cases created with surgeon's scalpel) can prevent the "critical mass" of atrium required for re-entrant rhythms to occur. It has been the goal of this investigator to try and emulate the surgical maze operation by creating long linear lesions in the atria.


SUMMARY The pressure of returning to and locating the nest after a successful foraging trip is immense in ants. To find their way back home, ants use a number of different strategies (e.g. path integration, trail following) and rely on a range of cues (e.g. pattern of polarised skylight, landmark panorama) available in their environment. How ants weigh different cues has been a question of great interest and has primarily been addressed in the desert ants from Africa and Australia. We here identify the navigational abilities of an intertidal ant, Polyrhachis sokolova, that lives on mudflats where nests and foraging areas are frequently inundated with tidal water. We find that these solitary foraging ants rely heavily on visual landmark information for navigation, but they are also capable of path integration. By displacing ants with and without vector information at different locations within the local familiar territory, we created conflicts between information from the landmarks and information from the path integrator. The homing success of full-vector ants, compared with the zero-vector ants, when displaced 5 m behind the feeder, indicate that vector information had to be coupled with landmark information for successful homing. To explain the differences in the homing abilities of ants from different locations we determined the navigational information content at each release station and compared it with that available at the feeder location. We report here the interaction of multiple navigation strategies in the context of the information content in the environment.


A cross-sectional study was conducted on 86 medical students between the ages of 18 to 25 years studying at the Combined Military Hospital (CMH) in Lahore, Pakistan. They were assessed for height, weight, digit length of the 2nd and 4th fingers of both hands and reaction time (response time to auditory stimulus as measured by BIOPAC). Of the 86 students, 42 (49%) were male and 44 (51%) were female, with a mean age of 19.55±1.017 and 19.86±0.905 years, respectively. There was a significant difference in the height, weight and Body Mass Index (BMI) of the students. The mean 2D:4D ratio for males on the left hand was 0.958±0.029 and for females it was 0.979±0.363 (p=0.004). The ratio for the right hand for males was 0.958±0.031 and for the females it was 0.977±0.035 (p=0.011). There was a significant correlation between the 2D: 4D ratio in the left hand with the reaction time in the dominant hand at random intervals (r= -0.240, p= 0.027) and with reaction time in the non-dominant hand at fixed intervals (r= -0.232, p= 0.03). Our results concluded that there is a negative correlation between the digit ratio and the reaction time. Those individuals who had lower digit ratios had faster reaction times than those who had higher digit ratios.


This paper presents an electromagnetic (EM) vibration-to-electrical power generator which can efficiently scavenge energy from low-frequency external vibrations. The reported generator up-converts low-frequency environmental vibrations to a much higher frequency through a novel electro-mechanical frequency up-converter using a magnet, and hence provides efficient energy conversion even at low frequencies. Power is generated by means of electromagnetic induction using a magnet and coils on top of resonating cantilever beams. The expected maximum power from a single cantilever is 2.5 /spl mu/W in vacuum. The proposed system has been tested in milliscale and the frequency up-conversion technique has been verified.


The impact of acidification on marine ecosystems has become a topic of priority research, following realization of unabated ocean acidification (OA), derived from globally-rising atmospheric CO2. Many coastal and estuarine ecosystems have historically been acidified through various processes, and it is possible that we can learn and make predictions about OA impacts from the ways estuarine species and communities adapt and respond to acidified water. Studying estuarine acidification, nonetheless, aids understanding of the processes that affect ecological structure and functioning, important for coastal conservation and management. A broad-based research programme was implemented at UBD between 2011 and 2015, to investigate how variation in acidity and salinity affected assemblages and species in the Brunei Estuarine System (BES), an ecologically and economically important natural system in the region. This review summarizes studies that investigated for the BES, (i) the physical habitats and water physicochemistry, (ii) responses of planktonic and benthic microbial and faunal assemblages to exposure to variable and potentially highly acidic water, (iii) effects of acidification on ecological processes, such as barnacle dispersal and recruitment, (iv) behavioural and physiological mechanisms of organisms to cope with highly fluctuating and extreme pH water, with special reference to the gastropod, Indothais gradata, and (v) contaminant uptake by Indothais gradata under acidified conditions. The significance of the findings to the ecology of the BES, gaps that need addressing, and how estuarine acidification may contribute to predicting responses to OA are evaluated and discussed.


Acute and transient psychotic disorders (ATPDs) include short-lived psychotic episodes with a high probability of developing psychotic recurrences. Clinical care for ATPD is currently limited by the inability to predict outcomes. Real-world electronic health record (EHR)-based retrospective cohort study STROBE/RECORD compliant included all individuals accessing the South London and Maudsley NHS Trust between 2006 and 2017 and receiving a first diagnosis of ATPD (F23, ICD-10). After imputing missing data, stepwise and LASSO Cox regression methods employing a priori predictors (n = 23) were compared to develop and internally validate an individualized risk prediction model to forecast the risk of psychotic recurrences following TRIPOD guidelines. The primary outcome was prognostic accuracy (area under the curve [AUC]). 3018 ATPD individuals were included (average age = 33.75 years, 52.7% females). Over follow-up (average 1042 ± 1011 days, up to 8 years) there were 1160 psychotic recurrences (events). Stepwise (n = 12 predictors) and LASSO (n = 17 predictors) regression methods yielded comparable prognostic accuracy, with an events per variable ratio >100 for both models. Both models showed an internally validated adequate prognostic accuracy from 4 years follow-up (AUC 0.70 for both models) and good calibration. A refined model was adapted in view of the new ICD-11 criteria on 307 subjects with polymorphic ATPD, showing fair prognostic accuracy at 4 years (AUC: stepwise 0.68; LASSO 0.70). This study presents the first clinically based prediction model internally validated to adequately predict long-term psychotic recurrence in individuals with ATPD. The model can be automatable in EHRs, supporting further external validations and refinements to improve its prognostic accuracy.


Most of the methane that rises toward the surface of the ocean floor vanishes before it even reaches the water. On page
 484
 of this issue, a team of researchers provides the clinching evidence for where all that methane goes: It is devoured by vast hordes of mud-dwelling microbes that belong to a previously unknown species of archaea. These methane-eating microbes--once thought to be impossible--now look to be profoundly important to the planet9s carbon cycle.


Background & Aim In randomised clinical trials, the type II anti-CD20 antibody obinutuzumab has been shown to be more effective than rituximab for therapy of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and follicular lymphoma (FL). However, this enhanced efficacy was linked with elevated rates of high-grade adverse events. The aim of this study was to assess the tolerability and toxicity profile of obinutuzumab treatment in routine patients with CLL and FL, of whom the majority had experienced toxicity or resistance to rituximab. Methods This retrospective cohort study investigated fifteen obinutuzumab-treated patients, eight with CLL and seven with FL. The course of the disease, comorbidities and treatment-related toxicities were recorded. All patients with CLL and all but three FL patients had any form of pre-treatment with rituximab. Results Between October 2014 and August 2017, 15 patients were treated with obinutuzumab at the University Hospital Krems. In the CLL-cohort, 1 patient (12,5%) developed pneumonia, 2 (25%) febrile neutropenia, 6 (75%) anemia and 7 (87,5%) thrombocytopenia, respectively. One patient exhibited an infusion-related allergic reaction. In the FL-cohort, 6 patients (85,7%) presented with thrombocytopenia, 3 (42,9%) with anemia and one patient with neutropenia. No sepsis or consecutive solid tumors were seen in any of the patients. Conclusion Obinutuzumab was mostly well tolerated in mild to heavily pre-treated patients with CLL and therapy-naïve or pre-treated patients with FL. The frequency and profile of adverse events and toxicity was comparable to data from previous clinical studies and could be managed adequately in the setting of a University Clinic.


Objectives: The present study reveals the existing coping mechanisms in West Bengal Police to develop an instrument (scale) suitable for measuring the validity of the coping factors adopted by police personnel and suggest various measures to combat against work related stressors more effectively. Methods: Brief COPE (28 items) has been applied to identify the coping mechanisms adopted by police personnel. Exploratory Factor Analysis method (EFA) is being conducted by using SPSS 23 that reveals ten coping mechanisms and further Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) is being applied by using AMOS 22 to confirm the construct. The Regression Analysis identifies the significance of each coping mechanisms for combating with different stressors at work. Spatial survey method has been applied for conducting the survey. Findings: Ten unique coping mechanisms such as Positive Planning, Self blame, Behavioural disengagement, Self-distraction, Instrumental support, Religion, Active coping, Humour, Substance use and Acceptance have been identified as highly relied coping mechanisms among West Bengal Police force. Various measures have been suggested to deal with stressors more effectively like periodic interaction with superiors, encouraging employees for hobby persuasion, promoting team spirit, frequent arrangement of yoga and meditation classes and providing sensitization training in dealing situational crisis etc. The finding shows the absence of three coping mechanisms such as use of emotional support, denial and venting which are mentioned in the questionnaire administered. Several shortages that include infrastructural problems, political pressures, manpower shortages, excessive work load etc have been identified as major contributory factors of occupational stress among the force. The researchers get an exposure to interact with the respondents face to face where that have detailed conversations with the respondents about their problems, prospects and also respondents' suggestions on how to deal with occupational stressors more effectively adhering to the present situation. Improvements: The study comprises limitations with respect to time constraint, bureaucratic instructions and perceptual blockages of respondents during the survey. The researchers faced reluctance, rejections, refusals and trust issues while dealing with confidentiality.


Arrangement of on- and off-discharge centres in the receptive fields of the 1st and 3d classes of the frog retina was determined by means of moving bars of different length. Three groups of fields are found. On- and off-centres of the 1st group receptive fields coincide, those of the 2nd group are divided spatially; in the 3d group fields the central position is occupied by the discharge centre of the same contrast sign, and in the periphery the discharge centres of the opposite sign are arranged to the right and to the left of the discharge centre. Thus the frog retina receptive fields possess features resembling concentric receptive fields of geniculate neurons and visual cortex field of the cat. The asymmetry in responses was found: with a bar moving in opposite directions the distance between discharge centres "changed"; with a bar moving in one direction only one of peripheral centres was revealed and with a bar moving in another direction--the second centre on the opposite side of the receptive field was detected. This asymmetry in space-time relations in the receptive fields is analogous to that which is found in the fields of the cortex neurons and is connected with their directional properties.


Colicins E1 and K inhibited a whole series of energy-dependent reactions in Escherichia coli cells, including motility, biosynthesis of nucleic acids, proteins and polysaccharides, and the conversion of ornithine to citrulline. Respiration was only partially affected, and substrates such as glucose continued to be catabolized through the normal pathways, albeit with reduced CO2 production. The soluble products of aerobic glucose catabolism by colicin-treated cells were analyzed. Pyruvate replaced acetate as the major excreted product, and the following intermediates of glycolysis were excreted in significant amounts: glucose-6-phosphate, fructose-1,6-diphosphate, dihydroxyacetone phosphate, and 3-phosphoglycerate. Anaerobically growing cells manifested a somewhat enhanced tolerance to the colicins. This protection by anaerobiosis appeared to depend on the exclusion of oxygen more than on the extent of fermentative catabolism versus catabolism of the respiratory type. These results are interpreted in terms of possible functions of colicin in lowering the adenosine triphosphate (ATP) content of the cells and in terms of the role of lowered ATP levels in inhibiting many of the energy-requiring reactions.


Purpose: The purpose of this article is to explore the main theories as to the corporate governance subject, and focus first on Shareholders and Stakeholders Value theories in order to identify their shortcomings. Next, the advantages and disadvantages of Enlightened Shareholder Value; including future perspectives on Enlightened Shareholder Value in light of the UK company Act 2006. Methodology /approach: This article describes and compares the main theories with regard to the corporate governance subject. The following materials were referenced as part of this article: books, journal articles, cases, reports, legislations. Findings: Based on the outcomes of the article there are advantages and disadvantages to Shareholders and Stakeholders Value theories. The former is considered a very narrow vision because its main aim is to gain profits for shareholders, it ignores stakeholders, there is a possible risk since managers and directors may abuse their delegations, and it costs more to monitor directors. Similarly, this article has been found that there are shortcomings to the Stakeholders Value theory; for example, there is no clear hierarchy of stakeholders' interests, there is no one goal to achieve; it seems to demand less accountability from directors. Moreover, this article highlighted that the Enlightened Shareholder theory seems a better theory at present. Apparently, the success of this theory will depend on many factors: first, how the directors will apply the discretionary power with regard to section 172 (1) of CA 2006. Secondly, the interpretation of the courts about the duty of directors. Thirdly, the role of scholars improving this theory. Fourthly, how civil society will observe the application of this theory. Finally, recommended that further study should be done according to the recent practice. Originality/value: This article contributes to increase the understanding of the theories of corporate governance and discover the best one for the time being.


We study the problem of recovering a hidden binary $k$-sparse $p$-dimensional vector $\beta$ from $n$ noisy linear observations $Y=X\beta+W$ where $X_{ij}$ are i.i.d. $\mathcal{N}(0,1)$ and $W_i$ are i.i.d. $\mathcal{N}(0,\sigma^2)$. A closely related hypothesis testing problem is to distinguish the pair $(X,Y)$ generated from this structured model from a corresponding null model where $(X,Y)$ consist of purely independent Gaussian entries. In the low sparsity $k=o(p)$ and high signal to noise ratio $k/\sigma^2=\Omega\left(1\right)$ regime, we establish an `All-or-Nothing' information-theoretic phase transition at a critical sample size $n^*=2 k\log \left(p/k\right) /\log \left(1+k/\sigma^2\right)$, resolving a conjecture of \cite{gamarnikzadik}. Specifically, we show that if $\liminf_{p\to \infty} n/n^*>1$, then the maximum likelihood estimator almost perfectly recovers the hidden vector with high probability and moreover the true hypothesis can be detected with a vanishing error probability. Conversely, if $\limsup_{p\to \infty} n/n^*<1$, then it becomes information-theoretically impossible even to recover an arbitrarily small but fixed fraction of the hidden vector support, or to test hypotheses strictly better than random guess.
Our proof of the impossibility result builds upon two key techniques, which could be of independent interest. First, we use a conditional second moment method to upper bound the Kullback-Leibler (KL) divergence between the structured and the null model. Second, inspired by the celebrated area theorem, we establish a lower bound to the minimum mean squared estimation error of the hidden vector in terms of the KL divergence between the two models.


This study considers the national adoption and implementation of international norms,
focusing on how actors named by the researcher "Transnational Expertise and Experience
Networks" and Local Content Policies affect a norm's chances of reaching compliance. While
Constructivists have thoroughly explored the reasons behind the creation and diffusion of
international norms, the implementation phase remains understudied with few explanations
offered as to why some norms reach compliance domestically while others do not. Going
beyond the idea that compliance levels are determined by the strength of the international
norm (Sikkink & Finnemore, 1998), the ability to overcome value conflicts (Young, 1998)
and the influence of small, specialised lobby groups (Rosen, 1991/2018), this study suggests
that TEENs and LC policies may be more relevant to understanding a norm's final outcome.
Through two case studies, the researcher follows the evolution of the international norms on
world-class universities and combatting the flaring of Associated Petroleum Gas through the
different stages of their life-cycle: from inception and diffusion on the international stage to
their adoption by the Russian government and domestic implementation with project 5-100 on
Excellence in Higher Education and Decrees 7 and 1148 on APG utilization. The cases are
explored through two research questions: "Why do governments adopt and implement
international norms?" and "How do transnational actors and Local Content policy affect the
chances of a successful outcome in the national implementation of international norms?" The
main findings are that successful norm implementation is associated with a high level of
involvement of TEENs, which help to adapt the international norm to the local context, by
increasing motivation levels and sharing best practices. The LC policies in both case studies
did not correlate with lower compliance rates; their impact was found to depend on their
design, their degree of formalization and on whether they impeded the work of TEENs.


Alteration of natural flow regimes is generally acknowledged to have negative effects on native biota; however, methods for defining ecologically appropriate flow regimes in managed river systems are only beginning to be developed. Understanding how past and present water management has affected rivers is an important part of developing such tools. In this paper, we evaluate how existing hydrologic infrastructure and management affect streamflow characteristics of rivers in the Central Valley, California and discuss those characteristics in the context of habitat requirements of native and alien fishes. We evaluated the effects of water management by comparing observed discharges with estimated discharges assuming no water management ('full natural runoff'). Rivers in the Sacramento River drainage were characterized by reduced winter–spring discharges and augmented discharges in other months. Rivers in the San Joaquin River drainage were characterized by reduced discharges in all months but particularly in winter and spring. Two largely unaltered streams had hydrographs similar to those based on full natural runoff of the regulated rivers. The reduced discharges in the San Joaquin River drainage streams are favourable for spawning of many alien species, which is consistent with observed patterns of fish distribution and abundance in the Central Valley. However, other factors, such as water temperature, are also important to the relative success of native and alien resident fishes. As water management changes in response to climate change and societal demands, interdisciplinary programs of research and monitoring will be essential for anticipating effects on fishes and to avoid unanticipated ecological outcomes. Published in 2009 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


This study concerns the experiences of Italian digital historians and their implications for historical scholarship. The present and future of the profession of historian, in academia and outside it, are inextricably linked to the digital revolution that is pervading society. This research brings to light some of the issues this connection between history and the digital has created in the Italian higher education environment and also the opportunities for resolving them, from the point of view of the minority of scholars who have worked and are working to develop this connection. Through grounded theory methodology and a set of in depth semi-structured interviews, the digital historians' considerations, evaluations and strategies emerge and are organised and analysed in a conceptual framework that highlights focal points and critical junctures in the fields of research, education and professional development. The interviewees paint the picture of a passionate commitment to experimentation and innovation, set against a much bleaker background of complex institutional and professional relations that are not often conducive to productive, sustainable and well integrated digital historical scholarship.


The aim of this study was to identify and define the multiple benefits that Ekşisu Wetlands (Upper-Euphrates Basin) provides to its local stakeholders, and the major problems and sectors/stakeholders in conflict that shape the area in order to inform the collaborative landscape planning process for the wetlands. Landscape value mapping and analysis of the stakeholders and conflicts between them were employed, as were statistical analysis of the linkages between the perceived benefits of the landscape and land use/land cover characteristics. Stakeholder analysis showed that the governmental institutions have more decision-making power than user group of the wetlands. Drainage control, over grazing, abstraction of sand-gravel from the river bed, environmental pollution and the lack of will to use the available legislative and administrative mechanisms are the primary factors that threaten the Ekşisu Wetlands and its multifunctionality. Among the landscape values examined, future value was considered the most important by the stakeholders. Two sets of landscape service bundles were identified; use and non-use landscape values; option landscape valuesthat are linked to Ekşisu Wetlands. Conflict between the nature conservation and agriculture sectors and, conflict between the stakeholders over provisioning, regulatory, and cultural services are two primary conflict issues that were identified in the drainage basin of the wetlands. Habitat protection and improvement, and protecting and improving the area's regulating and cultural functions were proposed as priorities for the collaborative management of


ABSTRACT Although organizations use a variety of interventions to improve group functioning, getting people to work effectively with each other remains challenging. Because the presence of a dog has been shown to have positive effects on mood and dyadic interaction, we expected that the presence of a companion dog would also have positive effects on people in work groups. One reason for this is that a companion dog is likely to elevate positive emotions, which often promote prosocial behavior. In study 1 (n = 120) and study 2 (n = 120), participants were randomly assigned to either a dogpresent or dog-absent four-person group. Three friendly companion dogs were randomly assigned to the dog-present groups; only one dog at a time was used during any given experimental session. In study 1, groups worked on an interactive problem-solving task; participants in the dog-present group displayed more verbal cohesion, physical intimacy, and cooperation. Study 2 was identical except that participants worked on a decision-making task requiring less interaction; participants in the dog-present condition displayed more verbal cohesion and physical intimacy and gave higher ratings of trustworthiness to fellow group members. In study 3, we examined behavioral indicators of positive emotions in dog-present and dog-absent groups. Naïve observers (n = 160) rated silent, 40-second video clips of interaction in groups where either a dog was (1) present but not visible or (2) not present. Behavior in dog-present groups was rated as more cooperative, comfortable, friendly, active, enthusiastic, and attentive. We discuss areas for future research and implications of our findings for work and educational settings.


A pattern classification method called neural tree networks (NTNs) is presented. The NTN consists of neural networks connected in a tree architecture. The neural networks are used to recursively partition the feature space into subregions. Each terminal subregion is assigned a class label which depends on the training data routed to it by the neural networks. The NTN is grown by a learning algorithm, as opposed to multilayer perceptrons (MLPs), where the architecture must be specified before learning can begin. A heuristic learning algorithm based on minimizing the L1 norm of the error is used to grow the NTN. It is shown that this method has better performance in terms of minimizing the number of classification errors than the squared error minimization method used in backpropagation. An optimal pruning algorithm is given to enhance the generalization of the NTN. Simulation results are presented on Boolean function learning tasks and a speaker independent vowel recognition task. The NTN compares favorably to both neural networks and decision trees. >


Over the last decade, young Australian's rates of chlamydia infection have been steadily increasing with notable differences between young men and women (Kirby Institute, 2018). We explore the impact of gendered scripts on chlamydia and safe-sex on young heterosexual men and women's performance of gender and sexual responsibility. We examine findings from a Foucauldian discourse analysis (FDA) of key Australian public health websites, alongside in-depth interviews, and qualitative survey responses of students from an Australian university. The FDA identified gendered scripts in public health resources that generally avoided focussing on men in favour of encouraging women to take responsibility for couple's safe-sex behaviour. Interviews revealed heteronormative gendered scripts framed many sexual practices with stronger focus on unwanted pregnancy than STIs, disproportionate targeting of women for STI testing by doctors and more open discussions on sexual health among women. Interviews also highlighted the absence of a normative 'formula' – or script – for safe-sex discussions.


The influence of initial concentrations, ionic strength, viscosity and temperature on the substitution reaction of 125I‐triiodothyronine (T3) (M) by unlabelled T3 (Q) in the immunocomplex PM (P = anti‐T3 antibody) has been studied, and a kinetic model is proposed. The apparent rate constant is dependent on the initial concentration of labelled and unlabelled T3, viscosity and temperature, and independent of ionic strength. The reaction is endothermic and is not controlled by diffusion. The results obtained are in line with the proposed model. We propose some modifications for optimizing the technique.


To improve the efficiency of surgical trajectory segmentation for robot learning in robot-assisted minimally invasive surgery, this paper presents a fast unsupervised method using video and kinematic data, followed by a promoting procedure to address the over-segmentation issue. Unsupervised deep learning network, stacking convolutional auto-encoder, is employed to extract more discriminative features from videos in an effective way. To further improve the accuracy of segmentation, on one hand, wavelet transform is used to filter out the noises existed in the features from video and kinematic data. On the other hand, the segmentation result is promoted by identifying the adjacent segments with no state transition based on the predefined similarity measurements. Extensive experiments on a public dataset JIGSAWS show that our method achieves much higher accuracy of segmentation than state-of-the-art methods in the shorter time.


Purpose: The strategic selection of projects deals with the determination of a strategic fit and prioritization. The impact of the project selection process obviously shows on the future profits and growth of an organization. Since the organization is much relied on that growth, this study is initiated to present the case study that the projects can set the plan to prioritize and allocate the resource of an organization. Design/methodology/approach: The budgeting method i.e. "the Zero Based Budget (ZBB)" can be a tool to prioritize projects and allocate those scare resources to the project at the top list. Findings: The article shows the case study of a company from a rapid environment's industry that needs fast development in their projects. The case provide lesson learn that a technology company should practice the six steps process to maximize their project contributions and deliver results using all available resources. Originality/value: The article shows the key to success for practicing good prioritization for project management at high technology companies. The practical guidelines of Zero Based Budget (ZBB) are also useful for selecting projects.


The work is dedicated to the creation of new ceramic-composite materials based on boron carbide, nickel and using a laser welding in order to obtain three dimensional objects henceforth. The perspective way of obtaining which has been suggested by the authors combined two methods: cold spray technology and subsequent laser post-treatment. At this stage, the authors focused on the interaction of the laser with the substance, regardless of the multi-layer object development. The investigated material of this work was the metal–ceramic mixture based on boron carbide, which has high physical and mechanical characteristics, such as hardness, elastic modulus, and chemical resistance. The nickel powder as a binder and different types of boron carbide were used. The ceramic content varied from 30 to 70% by mass. Thin ceramic layers were obtained by the combined method and cross-sections of different seams were studied. It was shown that the most perspective layers for additive manufacturing could be obtained from cold spray coatings with ceramic concentrations more than 50% by weight treated when laser beam was defocused (thermal-conductive laser mode).


Introduction: Vitamin B12 deficiency is most commonly associated with autoimmune disorders. However, at present there is increased incidence of B12 deficiency among diabetics particularly in type II diabetes mellitus patients. This may be influenced by the control of the disease based on Fasting and postprandial blood sugar levels and also glycosated Hb levels. If our study demonstrates the presence of low serum B12 levels association with these control parameters then a recommendation for regular screening and supplementation of vitamin B12 could be considered in these uncontrolled diabetic patients. Aims and Objectives: To evaluate the serum vitamin B12 levels in in type II diabetes also to evaluate the influence diabetic control on B 12 levels. Materials and Methods: This was a cross- sectional study. 50 diabetic patients were randomly selected based on inclusion/ exclusion criteria from the patients attending diabetic OP in GMKMC, Salem. Serum vitamin B12 level and parameters for diabetic controls were assessed using fully automated methods. All statistical analysis was carried out using SPSS version 21. Results: The study showed that 24% of the diabetics had low B12. There was no significant difference in B12 levels between males and females (mean difference = - 14.3: P > 0.05). The study did demonstrate positive significant correlation between vitamin B12 levels with diabetes control statistically but there was no significant effect of duration of disease. Conclusion: Results of our study shows the presence of low serum B12 levels in diabetics which very much low in poorly controlled diabetic patients. These findings merits further research on a larger population to investigate into the cause of deficiency and the benefit of B12 supplementation in these patients who have uncontrolled DM.


Learning and Transfer from an Engineering Design Task: The Roles of Goals, Contrasting Cases, and Focusing on Deep Structure. Laura Malkiewich As maker spaces, engineering design curricula, and other hands-on active learning tasks become more popular in science classrooms, it is important to consider what students are intended to take away from these tasks. Many teachers use engineering design tasks as a means of teaching students more general science principles. However, few studies have explored exactly how the design of these activities can support more generalized student learning and transfer. Specifically, research has yet to sufficiently investigate the effects of task design components on the learning and transfer processes that can occur during these kinds of tasks. This dissertation explores how various task manipulations and focusing processes affect how well students can learn and transfers science concepts from an engineering design task. I hypothesized that learning goals that focus students on the deep structure of the problem, and contrasting cases that help students notice that deep structure, would aid learning and transfer. In two experimental studies, students were given an engineering design task. The first study was a 2x2 between subjects design where goal where goal (outcome or learning) and reflection (on contrasting cases or the engineering design process) were manipulated. A subsequent second study then gave all students contrasting cases to reflect on, and only the goal manipulation was manipulated. Results showed that learning goals improved student performance on a transfer task that required students to apply the deep structure to a different engineering design task. In the second study, learning goals improved student performance on a transfer test. Transfer performance in both studies was predicted by the ability to notice the deep structure during the reflection on contrasting cases, even though noticing this structure did not differ by goal condition. Students with a learning goal valued the learning resources they were given more during the engineering design activity, and this perceived value of resources was linked to greater learning. A qualitative case study analysis was then conducted using video data from the second study. This case study investigated noticing processes during the building process, partner dialogue, and resource use. This analysis showed how high transfer pairs were better able to focus on the deep structure of the problem. Results suggest that what students noticed didn't differ much between the various pairs. However, high transfer pairs were better able to focus on the deep structure through establishing a joint understanding of the deep structure, sustaining concentration on that deep structure during the cases reflection, referencing resources to identify features to test, and then systematically testing those features to identify their relevance. These processes are discussed in relation to how they differ in low transfer pairs. This dissertation consists of four chapters: an intro, two standalone journal articles, and a conclusion. The first chapter provides a conceptual framing for the two journal articles, and discusses the findings from these articles in conversation. The second chapter describes the two empirical studies investigating how task goals and contrasting cases affect learning, and transfer from an engineering design task. The third chapter describes the comparative case study of how mechanisms of focusing on the deep structure differ between high and low transfer pairs. Finally, the fourth conclusion chapter discusses the implications of the work from both of these papers.


Nano-size unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), with few centimeters of diameter and sub-10 Watts of total power budget, have so far been considered incapable of running sophisticated visual-based autonomous navigation software without external aid from base-stations, ad-hoc local positioning infrastructure, and powerful external computation servers. In this work, we present what is, to the best of our knowledge, the first 27g nano-UAV system able to run aboard an end-to-end, closed-loop visual pipeline for autonomous navigation based on a state-of-the-art deep-learning algorithm, built upon the open-source CrazyFlie 2.0 nano-quadrotor. Our visual navigation engine is enabled by the combination of an ultra-low power computing device (the GAP8 system-on-chip) with a novel methodology for the deployment of deep convolutional neural networks (CNNs). We enable onboard real-time execution of a state-of-the-art deep CNN at up to 18Hz. Field experiments demonstrate that the system's high responsiveness prevents collisions with unexpected dynamic obstacles up to a flight speed of 1.5m/s. In addition, we also demonstrate the capability of our visual navigation engine of fully autonomous indoor navigation on a 113m previously unseen path. To share our key findings with the embedded and robotics communities and foster further developments in autonomous nano-UAVs, we publicly release all our code, datasets, and trained networks.


The aero-thermodynamic design and performance of a compressor need to conquer many vital challenges like it is a gas-driven turbo-machinery component, involvement of extensive iterative process for the convergence of the design, enormous design complexity due to three-dimensional flow phenomena, and multiflow physics embedded within a dynamic state-of-the-art. In this chapter, a strong attempt is made to address the above-cited techni- cal issues to achieve an optimized design and performance of a centrifugal compressor with backward swept blade profile producing total pressure ratio of 5.4 with an ingested mass flow rate of 5.73 kg/s. A mean-line design methodology was implemented to configure sizing of the compressor. An optimum grid size was well validated by carrying out compu- tational analysis with three different mesh sizes within the same framework. Finally, a detailed three-dimensional numerical simulation was performed using Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations based on finite volume discretization method (RANS-FVDM) scheme. Consequently, the polytropic efficiency, total-to-total efficiency, stagnation pressure ratio at a fixed rotational speed, and the overall design and aero-thermodynamic performance of the centrifugal compressor are validated.


An experimental vaccine prepared from influenza virus strains propagated in bovine kidney cell cultures, purified by zonal centrifugation, and further treated with ether was studied in man for the incidence of clinical reactions and hemagglutination-inhibition antibody levels induced. The results were equivalent to those obtained in a simultaneous study made with a commercially licensed influenza vaccine derived from viruses propagated in the embryonated egg and also purified by zonal centrifugation, but not treated with ether. Comparison of the macromethod and the micromethod for determination of hemagglutination-inhibition antibody titers revealed that lower initial titers and lesser increments in antibody levels following vaccination were obtained by the microtechnique.


The paper reports on the preliminary evaluation of a transparent structural silicone adhesive (TSSA) developed for point fixing in glazing, which combines high transparency, strong adhesion performance, thermal stability, and excellent weatherability. The transparent film adhesive is a heat curing one-part material that shows strong bonding to glass, metals, ceramics, and even plastics typically without primer. The paper presents information on the durability and physical properties of the new material and suggests a methodology for deriving static and dynamic design strength values for the new material based on creep rupture experiments as well as nondestructive dynamic load experiments using the stress whitening phenomenon observed with this material as the limit state. The paper further discusses material characterization and hyperelastic modeling used in the finite element analysis based on finite strain theory.


The 2015 Counter-Terrorism Act placed a legal duty on all 'specified' English public bodies, including local authorities, to take due regard to prevent terrorism and extremism. Kirklees local authority in West Yorkshire responded by creating, with their own resources, a 'Prevent Engagement Team' that aimed to engage young people, both in schools and in the wider Kirklees community, in preventative anti-extremism work. This report provides analysis of the first year of the team's operation, based on qualitative research with the Prevent Engagement team and wider stakeholders carried out by the University of Huddersfield research team; the University team also devised and delivered a bespoke training course for the Prevent team and a wider group of colleagues engaged in Prevent work.


We present results of a planar process development based on the combination of electron-beam lithography and dry etching for fabricating high-quality superconducting photosensitive structures in the sub-100 nm regime. The devices were fabricated by the application of an intrinsic proximity-effect suppression procedure which makes the need for an elaborated correction algorithm redundant for planar design layouts which are orders of magnitude smaller than the backscattering length. In addition, we discuss the necessary considerations for extending the fabrication spatial scale of optical contact-lithography with a mercury arc-discharge photon source down to the order of the exposure photon's wavelength (sub-μm), thereby minimizing the writing time on the electron-beam lithograph. Finally we developed a unique and novel technique for controlling the undercut during a planar lift-off fabrication procedure without cleaving the wafer.


Policymakers often consider temporarily redistributing income from rich to poor households to stimulate the economy. This is based in part on the idea that poor households spend a larger share of their income than rich ones do. However, ample evidence suggests that the difference in spending between these groups is significantly smaller than commonly assumed. A second assumption is that redistribution through policy is more efficient than through capital markets. Whether this is true is important to consider when proposing this type of stimulus policy.


Gene therapy trials using adenoviral vectors for gene delivery are currently underway. A clinical trial based on retrovirus-mediated gene transfer resulted in the development of leukaemia in some of the subjects due to insertional mutagenesis. This experience highlights the importance of an evaluation of the biosafety of gene transfer vectors prior to their use in humans. The overall aim of this research was to quantitatively and qualitatively analyse recombination between vector DNA and chromosomal DNA in vitro and in vivo following HC-Ad vector-mediated gene transfer. To study the rates, at which HC-AdV DNA underwent homologous recombination with chromosomal DNA following gene transfer in vitro, the Hprt model, a classical system in recombination studies, was utilized. A vector was designed to target exon 2 of the human Hprt gene by introducing a stop codon upon homologous recombination. In these experiments, which were performed in primary cells and in established cell lines, the frequency of homologous recombination of the HC-AdV DNA with the HPRT locus was found to be, depending on the cell type, between 2x10-5 to 1.2x10-6. In a different set of experiments and using a selection marker strategy, the rate at which HC-AdV DNA integrated randomly into the chromosomal DNA was determined to be between 5.4x10-3 to 1.1x10-4. To more closely mimic the situation following therapeutic gene transfer, in vivo experiments were performed. The use of the FahDexon 5 knockout model allowed to study homologous and heterologous recombination events following in vivo gene transfer to the liver. Correction of the pathological phenotype was achieved either by targeting exon 5 with an HC-AdV carrying a 12.3 kb targeting sequence (homologous recombination) or by measuring integration frequencies following gene transfer with an HC-AdV expressing the FAH cDNA (heterologous recombination). The targeting frequency of exon 5 was estimated to be 5.6x10-7, and the rate of random integration was found to be 4x10-5. This study is the first to document evidence of recombination between HC-AdV DNA and chromosomal DNA in vivo. The analysis of the vector integrates following transduction of primary cells and cell lines indicated that HC-AdV DNA integrated as an intact molecule and via the termini in most cases. About half of the vector DNA integrations took place inside genes and none were observed in protooncogenes. Analysis of the junction sequences suggested that the HC-AdV DNA had integrated in a random manner throughout the genome without an obvious preference for any particular chromosomal regions. Patchy homologies between the vector termini and the chromosomal DNA were observed at the site of integration. Though the majority of the integrations had occurred without causing any mutations in the chromosomal DNA, cases of substitutions and insertions of nucleotides too were observed. This study has established quantitative data on in vitro and in vivo recombination frequencies of adenoviral vector DNA with genomic DNA and has provided a molecular characterization of observed integration events. These results may contribute to a risk-benefit assessment of adenovirus-mediated gene transfer.


We thank Daly-Smith et al. for taking the time to read the results of our pilot research study, describing it as an important and welcome contribution. Nonetheless, the authors argue six points against our conclusion. We contend that we addressed three of these points in our original discussion and disagree with their remaining points. Overall, their Commentary adds little to the topic of research into the Daily Mile ™ that we had not already raised in our discussion. Additionally, they attribute statements to us that we did not make and ignore the raising of key issues in our original article. Given this, we stand by our original peer-reviewed conclusion that introducing the Daily Mile ™ to the primary school day appears to be an effective intervention for increasing levels of moderate to vigorous physical activity, reducing sedentary time, increasing physical fitness and improving body composition, and that these findings have relevance for teachers, policy-makers, public health practitioners and health researchers.


Crucial performance metrics of a caching algorithm include its ability to quickly and accurately learn a popularity distribution of requests. However, a majority of work on analytical performance analysis focuses on hit probability after an asymptotically large time has elapsed. We consider an online learning viewpoint, and characterize the "regret" in terms of the finite time difference between the hits achieved by a candidate caching algorithm with respect to a genie-aided scheme that places the most popular items in the cache. We first consider the Full Observation regime wherein all requests are seen by the cache. We show that the Least Frequently Used (LFU) algorithm is able to achieve order optimal regret, which is matched by an efficient counting algorithm design that we call LFU-Lite. We then consider the Partial Observation regime wherein only requests for items currently cached are seen by the cache, making it similar to an online learning problem related to the multi-armed bandit problem. We show how approaching this "caching bandit" using traditional approaches yields either high complexity or regret, but a simple algorithm design that exploits the structure of the distribution can ensure order optimal regret. We conclude by illustrating our insights using numerical simulations.


For all their progress, computers are still pretty unimpressive. Sure, they can pilot aircraft and simulate nuclear reactors. But even our best machines struggle with tasks that we humans find easy, like controlling limbs and parsing the meaning of this paragraph. It's a little sobering, actually. The average human brain packs a hundred billion or so neurons-connected by a quadrillion (1015) constantly changing synapses-into a space the size of a cantaloupe. It consumes a paltry 20 watts, much less than a typical incandescent lightbulb. But simulating this mess of wetware with traditional digital circuits would require a supercomputer that's a good 1000 times as powerful as the best ones we have available today. And we'd need the output of an entire nuclear power plant to run it.


IMPORTANCE
Early androgenetic alopecia (AGA) is patterned hair loss occurring before age 30 years. Early AGA in men is frequently reported as the phenotypic equivalent of polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) in women, which carries the risk of developing obesity, metabolic syndrome, and cardiovascular diseases. Very few studies have been conducted to evaluate this.

OBJECTIVE
To study the hormonal profile of men with early AGA and to evaluate if early AGA in men can be considered as the phenotypic equivalent of PCOS, the associated risks of which are well known.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS
This case-control study was conducted from January 1, 2014, to March 31, 2015, in a tertiary care government hospital. Fifty-seven men aged 19 to 30 years presenting with patterned hair loss were recruited as study participants. Thirty-two age-matched men with no evidence of hair loss were recruited as controls. Men who had any established endocrine disorder, diabetes mellitus, or cardiovascular disease and those who took any oral medication or hormonal treatment for hair loss were excluded from the study. The serum concentrations of total testosterone, sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG), dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS), luteinizing hormone (LH), follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), prolactin, fasting plasma glucose, and insulin levels were measured. Insulin resistance (IR) and free androgen index (FAI) were calculated and compared with age- and sex-matched controls.

MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES
The primary outcome was to measure the clinico-endocrinological profiles (LH, FSH, SHBG, DHEAS, and testosterone levels) of men with early AGA and to compare it with the PCOS profile; the secondary outcome was to establish a relationship between this endocrinological profile and IR.

RESULTS
Compared with the 32 controls, the 57 participants with AGA showed significantly increased mean (SD) levels of testosterone (24.61 [7.97] vs 20.57 [4.9] nmol/L; P = .04), DHEAS (3.63 [2.19] vs 2.64 [1.49] µg/mL; P = .02), LH (7.78 [3.19] vs 4.56 [2.01] mIU/mL; P < .001), and prolactin (14.14 [9.48] vs 9.97 [3.12] ng/mL; P = .01) and decreased mean levels of FSH (4.02 [2.69] vs 5.66 [1.93] mIU/mL; P < .001) and SHBG (35.07 [11.11] vs 46.41 [14.03] nmol/L; P < .001). The mean FAI and LH/FSH ratio were was also increased in the AGA group. These hormonal parameters resemble the well-known profile of women with PCOS. The mean (SD) insulin levels did not show any significant difference between the cases and controls (6.34 [3.92] vs 5.09 [3.38] μIU/mL; P = .07). There was no statistically significant association between hormone levels and AGA or IR grade severity.

CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE
Men with early AGA could be considered as male phenotypic equivalents of women with PCOS. They can be at risk of developing the same complications associated with PCOS, including obesity, metabolic syndrome, IR, cardiovascular diseases, and infertility.


Transcranial magnetic stimulation is a safe and painless non‐invasive brain stimulation technique that has been largely used in the past 30 years to explore cortical function in healthy participants and, inter alia, the pathophysiology of movement disorders. During the years, its use has evolved from primarily research purposes to treatment of a large variety of neurological and psychiatric diseases. In this article, we illustrate the basic principles on which the therapeutic use of transcranial magnetic stimulation is based and review the clinical trials that have been performed in patients with movement disorders.


The Katherina Ring Complex (KRC) in the central Sinai Peninsula, Egypt, was formed in three consecutive stages: volcanic, subvolcanic, and plutonic. The outer Katherina ring dike, about 30 km in diameter, marks the contour of a paleocaldera. Volcanic ignimbrite extrusions representing the earliest stage of the KRC were followed by emplacement of subvolcanic peralkaline microgranite bodies. The ring dikes are composed mainly of porphyritic quartz monzonite and plagioclase-rich quartz syenite, with less abundant alkali feldspar quartz syenite and peralkaline granite. The central alkaline granite pluton (ca. 210 km2) was emplaced at ∼595 Ma. The quartz monzonite–syenite group is characterized by positive Eu anomalies (Eu/Eu* = 1.1-1.6), which is consistent with its enrichment in accumulated plagioclase crystals (xenocrysts). These features, along with the positive εNd(T) values in quartz monzonite (up to +5.6) suggest that the initial silicic magma was hybridized by plagiclase-rich mafic magma. Mineral geothermometry and melt inclusion studies point to the formation of the silicic magmas at high temperatures, up to 900 to 1000 °C. Oxygen and Sr-Nd isotope data suggest that the source of the magmas was moderately depleted mantle or young juvenile crust. The trend of compositional change from quartz alkali feldspar syenite to alkali feldspar and peralkaline granite is consistent with a fractional crystallization model. A specific feature of the magma differentiation process is that the residual melt separation could occur when the magma was ∼55 percent crystallized ("rigid percolation threshold") and clusters of crystals formed a rigid skeleton in the magma. At this stage, residual melt flowed pervasively through the pore space. The suggested model of melt separation alleviates the problem of a differentiation process since it does not require crystal settling that seems unrealistic in highly viscous silicic magmas at shallow depth. Chemical and Nd isotopic distinctions between the leucocratic volcanic–subvolcanic rocks (εNd(T) = 4.2-4.6) and the Katherina pluton granite (2.6-3.9) suggest that the silicic magmas of the volcanic-subvolcanic and the plutonic stages were probably produced from different mantle-derived sources.


Objective. To study the potential impact of health screening, with or without a motivational health dialogue, on the risk and morbidity of cardiovascular diseases (CVD) and diabetes (DM). Design. Two cross-sectional studies with an interval of 11 years. Setting. The community of Härnösand, Sweden. Subjects. In the first study, 402 men born in 1934, 1944, or 1954 underwent health screening for CVD prevention in 1989. In the second study, 415 men (of the same ages) completed a questionnaire in 2000 (11 years later). Main outcome measures. Odds ratio (OR) for self-reported CVD and DM. Results. The odds ratio of self-reported CVD and DM was more than doubled among participants in the health screening without a health dialogue (OR 2.5; 95% CI 0.8–7.4) and threefold for those not participating (OR 3.0; 95% CI 1.0–8.8) compared with those who reported participation in health screening that included a structured health dialogue. Conclusions. Health screening for the prevention of CVD and DM benefits from inclusion of a structured, motivational health dialogue.


The paper deals with the Stress Intensity Factor assessment of cracks at the intersection of holes loaded by internal pressure. Triangular flaws are considered at the intersection of two holes inside a specific specimen. The research examines the influence of hole diameter ratio D1/D2 and the angle between their axes ?. Numerical analysis is performed to determine the Stress Intensity Factors (SIF) of mode I in many different geometric configurations. The actual shape of a real crack nucleated at the intersection of two cylindrical holes is subject to variable internal pressure and is usually geometrically complex. The Stress Intensity Factor changes along the crack contour and the crack shape development is controlled by its local value, e.g. during a fatigue loading. In general, the estimation of the Stress Intensity Factors of cracks with a complex shape is made by means of numerical methods since closed form solutions in literature are limited. However, in order to solve the problem of crack propagation more quickly, in the case of a crack corner at the intersection between two cylindrical holes, we can assume, in agreement with scientific literature, a symmetrical triangular crack shape and the Stress Intensity Factor are only calculated at the middle of the crack. Obviously, this is a strong approximation, but this allows a reduction in the computation effort for crack growth rate assessments and safety evaluation. In this paper, the weight function technique is used by integrating the actual stress field evaluated in the uncracked model. The method of the weight function is of general validity and the weight function is related to the displacement components close to the crack front, as proposed by Bueckner and Rice. From a computational point of view, the use of the three-dimensional weight function is complex and in scientific literature a weight function of general validity is not available. Nevertheless, thanks to the work conducted by Petroski and Achenbach, Shen and Glinka, an efficient generalised weight function has been adopted and then developed by Sha and Yang [9], which considers a series expansion of non-singular terms. In this way, the integration of the weight function, multiplied by a nominal stress, is made along a line and not in a two-dimensional domain. In this preliminary work, according to Herz et al., we consider a weight function with three terms by assuming a priori the coefficients of the second and third non-singular terms. This contribution is essentially an extension of a previous paper by Herz et al. They only considered the case of D1/D2=1 and ?=90° (Di are the diameters of the two cylindrical holes and a is the angle between their axis). Here, we extend the analysis to D1/D2 equal to 2, 4 and 8 with an ? of 60 and 45 degrees.  With the aid of three-dimensional modelling, an accurate FE model of a triangular corner crack at different crack depths has been made. Subsequently, by using ANSYS finite element software, it is possible to employ the command KCAL that evaluates the Stress Intensity Factors in the middle of the crack. Subsequently, a comparison between numerical FE results and the analytical results, giving the values of the unknown coefficients of the weight function (the unknown coefficient is indicated in the paper as M1). As reported in the tables, the accuracy of the weight functions in SIF predictions is about 5% despite the strong simplification previously introduced in the model. This result is considerable because it is possible to determine the Stress Intensity Factor of a triangular shaped crack by a line integral of a stress profile in a model without considering the crack.


Carcinogenesis is an evolutionary process; establishing the prognosis for a cancer therefore requires predicting the future course of cancer evolution.  The same is true in pre-cancerous conditions: the risk of developing cancer is determined by how the pre-cancerous lesion is evolving. The level of diversity within a population largely determines how fast that population will evolve. If there is no diversity natural selection cannot operate, whereas diverse populations are likely to contain well-adapted individuals that can prosper in changing environments.  Consequently, quantification of within-tumour diversity is likely to be a proxy-measure of the rate of the underlying evolutionary process that drives carcinogenesis. In this talk, I will describe how we have measured within-tumour diversity, both genetically and phenotypically, and used these measures to successfully determine prognosis in both established cancers and in premalignant lesions.  I will focus particularly on lung cancer and the premalignant condition Barrett's Oesophagus.  I will also describe how we have modelled the accrual of genetic diversity during cancer development.  Building upon this work, I will present the case for the quantification of within-tumour diversity as a universal biomarker for cancer prognosis.


�� ! �� !"# �� ! �� ! Mitochondrial myopathy is an important but uncommon cause of respiratory insufficiency in adults. We report the first case of respiratory insufficiency associated with adult-onset mitochondrial myopathy seen in a Chinese adult in Hong Kong. The patient presented with peripheral oedema and shortness of breath over 2 to 3 days. There was a history of gradual progressive limb weakness over approximately 2 years, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, intermittent diarrhoea, and weight loss. The diagnosis was made by skeletal muscle biopsy and molecular study, which revealed the A3243G point mutation.


Many aquatic ecosystems, such as lagoons or lakes, are increasingly vulnerable to climate changes and human pressure. The environmental and economic costs of anthropogenic eutrophication are high as well as the applied methods to counteract eutrophication This chapter analyzes the variation in abundance (and biomass) of several phytoplankton families in one of the most well-known volcanic lagoons in the Archipelago of the Azores-Portugal (Furnas Lagoon) and the dynamic correlation between groups of different types of algae that have been established seasonally between 2003 and 2018. For that purpose, the principal component analysis (PCA) technique was used in data series on biomass and abundance of phytoplankton and chlorophyll a, in the time interval considered. The application of PCA techniques in natural phytoplankton populations offers the possibility of making rapid qualitative diagnoses of the trophic state in natural lakes. On the other hand, the fluorescence properties of phytoplankton microorganisms are strongly affected by the physicochemical properties of natural waters. The fluorescence emission and the lifetime of the different water samples were obtained by photon counting with time correlation (TCSPC), allowing to establish the fluorescent signature of these phytoplankton groups under certain conditions.


The Internet of Things (IoT) has become a promising technology for addressing societal challenges by connecting smart devices and leveraging Big Data analytics to create smart cities worldwide. As the IoT scales up, it's important to provide interoperability among different devices. Yet current simple standard protocols lack sufficient openness and interoperability. IoT for smart cities needs to guarantee the accessibility of open data and cloud services to allow industries and citizens to develop new services and applications. Here, the authors provide a case study of the GreenIoT platform in Uppsala, Sweden, to demonstrate the idea of interoperability and open data for smart cities.


Myopes of low degree commonly report that their vision seems poorer upon removal of their spectacles compared to that after a period without spectacle wear. Notably, this difference in vision can be appreciated after distance fixation. In this paper, we propose and test several alternative hypotheses to explain the phenomenon: an accommodative response to spectacles, sensory adaptation, or altered criteria for blur of psychological origin. We measured visual acuity (VA), refractive error, and lens thickness on 10 subjects with less than 2.00 D of myopia. Testing was performed after two 90-min sessions viewing at distance. At one session, the subjects wore their current spectacle correction and, at the other session, no correction was worn. VA underwent a slight but significant decrease (0.4 of a line) after the session in which spectacles were worn, but no difference in refractive error or lens thickness was found. The change in acuity in the absence of a refractive shift suggests sensory adaptation to blur. However, the demonstrated change in VA appears to be less than that which is subjectively reported; accordingly, psychological input cannot be ruled out.


Abstract: Dairy calf welfare concerns are growing and new evidence suggests that the early life environment influences appropriate physical, behavioral, and cognitive development lasting into adulthood. This review highlights key evidence for the impacts of housing, diets, and painful procedures on calf welfare. We argue that these topics are currently critical welfare concerns, but are not the only points of concern. In addition to environmental requirements to maintain optimal health, dairy calves experience other challenges including social and nutritional restrictions. Individual housing is associated with impaired behavioral development and cognitive ability. Pair and group housing can mitigate some of these negative effects and should be encouraged. Restrictive milk allowances (<15% of body weight) lead to poor growth and hunger; these welfare concerns can be addressed with proper enhanced milk allowances and gradual weaning programs. Finally, dehorning is a critical animal welfare issue when pain control is withheld; calves show negative behavioral, physiological, and emotional responses during and after dehorning. The combined use of local anaesthetics and analgesics can mitigate these effects. An industry shift toward providing social companionship, enhanced milk allowances, and pain control during painful procedures would help to improve the welfare of dairy calves in intensive commercial rearing facilities.


This collection seeks to complement and advance recent studies on regionalism in Africa and the implications that this has for the continent's development. The two case studies on cross-border micro-regionalism in the borderlands of Mali-Burkina Faso and Niger-Nigeria are part of the work of the West Africa Borders and Integration (WABI). WABI is a research institute that looks at cross-border developments in West Africa, particularly at the convergence between political will and regionalisation on the ground. Providing a challenge to the considerable number of state-centric, formalistic and not seldom overly idealistic studies in this field, the two cases show quite clearly that formal borders either essentially do not exist in the Westphalian sense, being ignored by local populations and traders, or, are strategically used by (often self-styled) representatives of the state to extract resources and rents. In either case, the Eurocentric notion of fixed boundaries and bordered delineations has little purchase in the West African Sahel.


ABSTRACT The SDGs mark the clearest global acceptance yet that the previous approach to development was unsustainable. In VET, UNESCO has responded by developing a clear account of how a transformed VET must be part of a transformative approach to development. It argues that credible, comprehensive skills systems can be built that can support individuals, communities, and organisations to generate and maintain enhanced and just livelihood opportunities. However, the major current theoretical approaches to VET are not up to this challenge. In the context of Africa, we seek to address this problem through a presentation of literatures that contribute to the theorisation of this new vision. They agree that the world is not made up of atomised individuals guided by a "hidden hand". Rather, reality is heavily structured within political economies that have emerged out of contestations and compromises in specific historical and geographical spaces. Thus, labour markets and education and training systems have arisen, characterised by inequalities and exclusions. These specific forms profoundly influence individuals' and communities' views about the value of different forms of learning and working. However, they do not fully define what individuals dream, think and do. Rather, a transformed and transformative VET for Africa is possible.


While soccer playing a 19 year old man suffered from acute onset of severe pain in the anterior part of the iliac crest. A CT-scan confirmed the unilateral avulsion of the anterior superior iliac spine. Due to only minimal fragment dislocation and still open apophysis we decided to treat this injury conservatively with crutches and partial weight bearing. There were no complications and already three weeks after the accident the young man was nearly painfree. Avulsion of the anterior superior iliac spine most commonly occur in adolescents. The fracture is often missed and treated as muscle injury or hip pain and therefore received a symptomatical therapy. Later a typical hypertrophic callus formation confirms the avulsion fracture. The avulsion occurs by sudden pull of the sartorius muscle to the anterior superior iliac spine. The pull of the muscle dislocates the loose fragment caudally. In most of the cases a conservative treatment is successful.


Cobalt-doped dicalcium zinc germanate, synthesized by slow cooling from the melt, is monoclinic and has a layered structure, which is different from the modulated melilite-type structure of Ca2ZnGe2O7. The monoclinic form has two different Ca, one Zn and two Ge sites, and seven independent O-atom positions; all are in general position 4e of the space group P21/n. The topology of the structure is described and compared with that of Ca2ZnGe1.25Si0.75O7.


Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship among cognitive function, depression, social support, and self-care in elderly with hypertension. Methods: The subjects were 132 elderly with hypertension living in Seoul, Korea. Data were collected through face-to-face interviews using the Korean version of Mini-Mental State Examination(MMSE-K), Short form geriatric depression scale, social support questionnaire 6, and hypertension self-care scale. Results: Thirty-four percent of the subjects had questionable dementia and forty-two percent of the subjects were depressed. Means for social support were 2.40 for network size and 4.07 for satisfaction. The mean score of hypertension self-care was 60.34, indicating that the subjects took care of themselves moderately well. Cognitive function was negatively related to depression. Social support network and satisfaction were negatively related to depression. Self-care was negatively related to social support network. Conclusion: Programs are needed for elderly with hypertension to improve their cognitive function, depression, and social support. Also further studies are needed to confirm the factors related to self-care in the elderly with hypertension.


The subject of this thesis is the Bristol artist, Bartram Hiles (1872-1927) who lost both arms in a tram accident at the age of eight and subsequently taught himself to draw and paint by mouth. Using the themes of art, modernity and disability, this thesis recovers Hiles' career as a mouth-painting artist, not as biography but as a focused study located in nineteenth and early twentieth-century culture. Using disability studies as a principle point of reference, it does not draw on traditional medical and social models associated with this discipline. Instead, it employs a culturally located framework as its point of departure that also gives historical context to Hiles' disability within the late Victorian and Edwardian period in which he was active as a professional artist.

Hiles is little known today and the study has been driven by primary archival research into his formal art education and professional career as a mouth-painting artist. Employing an inter-disciplinary approach, each chapter is structured as a specific historical, cultural and physical context in which to locate Hiles' art practice and professional career. Such contexts include medicine and science, the periodical press, agency and support, art and design practice, celebrity culture and the Edwardian artists' club. The thesis employs discourse and representation but also draws on material and visual cultures of both medicine and art for its analysis.
The study frames Hiles' art practice within the modernity of the late nineteenth century as a transforming space to locate him as a modern subject who sought to re-interpret the act of painting. The thesis argues for Hiles to be seen as a modern man who used the opportunities afforded by modernity for individuals to re-make and re-fashion themselves, and to pursue new pictorial forms and spaces to exhibit his art. Negotiating the complexities of strategy and self-presentation, it positions Hiles as a figure of an increasingly commodified celebrity culture rather than a disabled man who led a life of marginalization.

From this analysis Hiles emerges as a man and an artist fully able to navigate the modern world, and whose disability and unconventional method of painting illuminates the ambivalences of the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century towards difference, otherness and perceptions of normality.


Make in India is an initiative launched by the Government of India to encourage national, as well as multi-national companies to manufacture their products in India. It was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 25 September 2014. India emerged, after initiation of the programmed in 2015, as the top destination globally for foreign direct investment(FDI), surpassing the United States of America as well as the People's Republic of China. In 2015, India received US$63 billion in FDI.


In this paper, we present the quantum key distribution (QKD) network designed and implemented by the European project SEcure COmmunication based on Quantum Cryptography (SECOQC) (2004–2008), unifying the efforts of 41 research and industrial organizations. The paper summarizes the SECOQC approach to QKD networks with a focus on the trusted repeater paradigm. It discusses the architecture and functionality of the SECOQC trusted repeater prototype, which has been put into operation in Vienna in 2008 and publicly demonstrated in the framework of a SECOQC QKD conference held from October 8 to 10, 2008. The demonstration involved one-time pad encrypted telephone communication, a secure (AES encryption protected) video-conference with all deployed nodes and a number of rerouting experiments, highlighting basic mechanisms of the SECOQC network functionality. The paper gives an overview of the eight point-to-point network links in the prototype and their underlying technology: three plug and play systems by id Quantique, a one way weak pulse system from Toshiba Research in the UK, a coherent one-way system by GAP Optique with the participation of id Quantique and the AIT Austrian Institute of Technology (formerly ARCAustrian Research Centers GmbH—ARC is now operating under the new name AIT Austrian Institute of Technology GmbH following a restructuring initiative.), an entangled photons system by the University of Vienna and the AIT, a continuous-variables system by Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) and THALES Research and Technology with the participation of Université Libre de Bruxelles, and a free space link by the Ludwig Maximillians University in Munich connecting two nodes situated in adjacent buildings (line of sight 80 m). The average link length is between 20 and 30 km, the longest link being 83 km. The paper presents the architecture and functionality of the principal networking agent—the SECOQC node module, which enables the authentic classical communication required for key distillation, manages the generated key material, determines a communication path between any destinations in the network, and realizes end-to-end secure transport of key material between these destinations. The paper also illustrates the operation of the network in a number of typical exploitation regimes and gives an initial estimate of the network transmission capacity, defined as the maximum amount of key that can be exchanged, or alternatively the amount of information that can be transmitted with information theoretic security, between two arbitrary nodes.


Machine-to-machine communications is characterized by involving a large number of intelligent machines sharing information and making collaborative decisions without direct human intervention. Due to its potential to support a large number of ubiquitous characteristics and achieving better cost efficiency, M2M communications has quickly become a market-changing force for a wide variety of real-time monitoring applications, such as remote e-healthcare, smart homes, environmental monitoring, and industrial automation. However, the flourishing of M2M communications still hinges on fully understanding and managing the existing challenges: energy efficiency (green), reliability, and security (GRS). Without guaranteed GRS, M2M communications cannot be widely accepted as a promising communication paradigm. In this article, we explore the emerging M2M communications in terms of the potential GRS issues, and aim to promote an energy-efficient, reliable, and secure M2M communications environment. Specifically, we first formalize M2M communications architecture to incorporate three domains - the M2M, network, and application domains - and accordingly define GRS requirements in a systematic manner. We then introduce a number of GRS enabling techniques by exploring activity scheduling, redundancy utilization, and cooperative security mechanisms. These techniques hold promise in propelling the development and deployment of M2M communications applications.


The globalized world with historically diverse inheritance has carried with it 'not so good' side of gender discrimination. Women continue to be 'unequal half' of men due to the psychological barrier of patriarchally-structured society that has covertly institutionalized male supremacy and male hegemony. Through the journey of women empowerment, the world has been struggling to offer a gender-free life. This article attempts to analyze the status of women empowerment and highlights the related issues and challenges. This study is a content analysis of literature from secondary source. It reveals that women are relatively disempowered and continue to hold the 'subordinated statuses compared to men in spite of loud propaganda of the efforts undertaken to achieve gender equality in real life. The article suggests holistic ways to rethink context-driven women empowerment and concludes that changes in social norms and beliefs, access to life-skill education, and equal participation in decision making are the major enabling factors for this.


The surroundings of the Algiers's citadel in the nineteenth centuryThe major works undertaken between 1817 and 1830 transformed the citadel of Algiers into a most important place of sovereignty and power, boasting different administrative, economic and religious centres. However, today, the physiognomy of the surroundings of this palace-fortress is marked by the upheaval of the French colonial period between 1830 and 1870. The creation of the Boulevard de la Victoire and the demolition, for security reasons, of the surrounding buildings, definitively altered the landscape and urban typology of the Ottoman period. This article examines the urban fabric of the ancient surroundings of the Citadel and their transformation during the nineteenth century. It traces back the development of the surroundings, and explains the reasons behind their demolition. The study tries also to give an assessment of the principle characteristics of the architectural components within their urban fabric.


OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the validity of three criteria-based methods of quality assessment: unit weighted explicit process-of-care criteria; differentially weighted explicit process-of-care criteria; and structured implicit process-of-care criteria.

METHODS
The three methods were applied to records of index hospitalizations in a study of unplanned readmission involving roughly 2,500 patients with one of three diagnoses treated at 12 Veterans Affairs hospitals. Convergent validity among the three methods was estimated using Spearman rank correlation. Predictive validity was evaluated by comparing process-of-care scores between patients who were or were not subsequently readmitted within 14 days.

RESULTS
The three methods displayed high convergent validity and substantial predictive validity. Index-stay mean scores, using explicit criteria, were generally lower in patients subsequently readmitted, and differences between readmitted and nonreadmitted patients achieved statistical significance as follows: mean readiness-for-discharge scores were significantly lower in patients with heart failure or with diabetes who were readmitted; and mean admission work-up scores were significantly lower in patients with lung disease who were readmitted. Scores derived from the structured implicit review were lower in patients eventually readmitted but significantly so only in diabetics.

CONCLUSIONS
These three criteria-based methods of assessing process of care appear to be measuring the same construct, presumably "quality of care." Both the explicit and implicit methods had substantial validity, but the explicit method is preferable. In this study, as in others, it had greater inter-rater reliability.


The Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) site HAUSGARTEN is located in Fram Strait, representing one of the most sensitive regions with regard to Climate Change in the North. The unique long-term record assessed at the observatory is one of the best data sets available to study Arctic marine ecosystem dynamics.
HAUSGARTEN represents a network of 20 sampling sites arranged along a bathymetric transect (1000-5500 m) and along a latitudinal transect following the 2500 m isobath. Annual water and sediment sampling as well as the year-round deployment of moorings and free-falling systems, which act as local observation platforms, has taken place since 1999. Multidisciplinary research activities at HAUSGARTEN cover almost all compartments of the marine ecosystem from the pelagic zone to the benthic realm.
Time-series studies at HAUSGARTEN already exhibited trends from which, at the moment, we do not know whether these already indicate Climate Change induced lasting alterations of the system or simply reflect natural variability on multi-year time scales, e.g. in relation to variations in the Arctic Oscillation.
Water temperatures in the Fram Strait generally increased over the last years. For the period 1997-2012, there was a positive linear trend in Atlantic Water mean temperature of 0.1°C per year. A massive temperature increase was observed within the upper 500-1000 m of the water column between the summers of 2005 and 2008. Records from moored instruments at the central HAUSGARTEN site (2500 m) between 1999 and 2013 showed a similar overall increase in water temperature at 2 m above the seafloor.
Water temperature as well as sea ice transport and melting showed to be the main factors influencing the amount and occurrence of the phytoplankton in Fram Strait. During the last decade, chlorophyll a biomass has slightly increased in the eastern part of the passage, whereas it was relatively constant in the colder western parts. Microscopic and molecular studies revealed a shift in micro- and nanoplankon populations from diatoms to Phaeocystis pouchetii and smaller flagellates. For the zooplankton, we observed a decrease in polar species and an increase in boreal species.
Alterations in planktonic assemblages affect the flux of organic matter (food/energy) to the seafloor. Analyses of various biogenic sediment compounds between 2000 and 2005 revealed a generally decreasing transfer of detritus to the seafloor and subsequently decreasing microbial biomass and bacterial richness in the sediments. A comparison of footage between 2002 and 2007 demonstrated a parallel decrease in megafaunal densities at 2500 m water depth. Since then, we observed a reverse trend with increasing food availability at the seafloor and again increasing microbial biomass in the sediments. First results from photo/video surveys in 2011 showed again rising megafauna densities, probably reflecting a direct effect of (again) enhanced organic matter availability for the benthos.
The remarkably rapid response of the benthic community to variations in food/energy supply is in contrast to earlier assumptions on the sensitivity of deep-sea ecosystems and obviously involves shifts in the species composition, thereby affecting benthic biodiversity as well as the functional diversity at the deep seafloor.


Entrepreneurs within the SME sector using large format digital printing (LFDP) face specific decision-making problems, because of the changes in technology that influences the decision-making processes of the entrepreneur in the purchasing of a new LFDP. Rapid changes in technology are likely to continue and can cause current technologies to become obsolete overnight. The entrepreneurs within the LFDP industry are faced with rapid changes and are therefore faced with a dilemma. On the one hand, they need to make sure that the technology used produces consistent and quality products.

The literature and the findings of this study, proposes an adaptation to an existing decision-making model, introducing consultant involvement in the purchase of high technology products, which is then adapted to integrate resource-forecasting areas together with timing, the type of information required, as well as external environment scanning. The existing model's focus is on the entrepreneur's ability to make decisions based on his/her own knowledge.


Purpose
A better understanding of the attitudes of audiologists toward teleaudiology and their willingness to use teleaudiology is required to progress the application of teleaudiology technologies and services into clinical practice. Audiologists around the world were surveyed on their attitudes toward teleaudiology and their willingness to use it.

Method
An online survey was sent to audiologists through professional associations' mailing lists. The survey included questions on the use of computer and video-conferencing technologies, awareness and previous use of teleaudiology, and willingness to use teleaudiology.

Results
Responses were provided by 269 people from 28 different countries, representing a wide cross-section of experience, qualification, and work settings; 77.8% of respondents were women. Almost all respondents had used PC-based video-conferencing; most had used related technologies and reported positive attitudes toward using these. However, less than 25% had used teleaudiology.

Conclusions
Despite positive attitudes toward telehealth and associated technology, the low number of audiologists who have used teleaudiology for services indicates limited clinical adoption.


The aim of this paper is to propose a new network measure of systemic risk contributions that combines the pair-wise Granger causality approach with the leave-one-out concept. This measure is based on a conditional Granger causality test and consists of measuring how far the proportion of statistically significant connections in the system breaks down when a given financial institution is excluded. We analyse the performance of our measure of systemic risk by considering a sample of the largest banks worldwide over the 2003–2018 period. We obtain three important results. First, we show that our measure is able to identify a large number of banks classified as global systemically important banks (G-SIBs) by the Financial Stability Board (FSB). Second, we find that our measure is a robust and statistically significant early-warning indicator of downside returns during the last financial crisis. Finally, we investigate the potential determinants of our measure of systemic risk and find similar results to the existing literature. In particular, our empirical results suggest that the size and the business model of banks are significant drivers of systemic risk. (This abstract was borrowed from another version of this item.)


This paper investigated the heat evolution of pastes containing inert and active materials with different particle sizes. Ground river sand was used as an inert material while ground granulated blast furnace (GGBF) slag was used as an active material. Ground river sand (GRS) and GGBF slag were ground to have the same particle size and were used separately as a replacement of Portland cement type I at rates of 50 – 70 % by weight of the binder. Heat evolution of pastes containing GRS and GGBF slag was measured using an isothermal conduction calorimeter up to 72 h. The results showed that GRS with different particle sizes had a slight effect on the heat evolution of pastes. GGBF slag with median particle size d50 of 4.4 µm and d50 of 17.8 µm had a small effect on the heat evolution of pastes during the first 24 h, and the pastes also had very low heat evolution for up to 72 h. At the same replacement rate of Portland cement, however, the heat evolution due to the slag reaction was slightly increased when the particle size of the GGBF slag was decreased. Finally, the higher is the cement replacement by GGBF slag, the higher is the slag reaction.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.ms.23.1.13579