This report presents an algorithm for computing an ensemble of p solutions of the Navier-Stokes equations. The solutions are found, at each timestep, by solving a linear system with one shared coefficient matrix and p right hand sides, reducing both storage required and computational cost of the solution process. The price that must be paid is a timestep condition involving the timestep and the size of the fluctuations about the ensemble mean. Since the method is a one step method and the timestep condition involves only known quantities, it can be imposed to adapt the next timestep. The report gives a comprehensive stability analysis, an error estimate, and some first tests.


Proteolytic enzymes of the male genital tract have important functions in the reproduction process. The sperm enzyme acrosin is of particular significance for the penetration of the zona pellucida. Proteinases are involved in coagulation and liquefaction of human semen. The kallikrein-kinin system has an important role in stimulation and regulation of sperm motility. In addition, semen proteinases seem to be involved in the penetration and migration of spermatozoa through the cervix uteri. Disturbances of the proteolytic potential of human semen may be the cause of subfertility or infertility. Specific inhibition of proteinases participating in the fertilization process could be an approach for an effective antienzymatic contraception.


In any problem, accurate and, so far as practicable, concise statement is essential to proper consideration and correct solution. The economic problems which present themselves when the complex and far-reaching subject, Conservation of Natural Resources, is considered, can be approached best by first stating and defining them with reference solely to physical and economic facts and relations without reference to political boundaries or limitations. To approach the subject by considering, first, real or supposed difficulties imposed by the respective rights and duties of states and of the nation is to discuss method of treatment before diagnosis. We should consider the problem first as if there were no such thing as states within the union, assuming, for the time being, within the federal boundaries the existence of one central and absolute authority. The question what, upon this assumption is economically desirable, is that which the engineering profession should first agree upon and, if possible, state in a manner which will be understood by the general public.


Multicultural sensitivity both theoretical and empirical needs to be owned by counselors in the counseling service. Multicultural sensitivity is important in the counseling process because of its multicultural sensitivity counselor at counseling services can be predicted to be more effective. Counselors are required to have a multicultural sensitivity as access to better know, understand and appreciate the whole cultural experience that is owned by the counselee as well as exploring the potential counselee with a fixed packing uniqueness. The counselor with a keen sensitivity better understand and appreciate the cultural bias between the counselor and counselee which is predicted to be able to direct the counselee to develop optimally


The present investigation aims at studying and modelling the flow behaviour of the AZ31 magnesium alloy by means of torsion tests performed in extended ranges of temperature and strain rates. Two types of rheological models were considered. The former is based on the power law equation, whilst the latter is based on the Sellars and Tegart approach. The effectiveness of the two constitutive models in describing the flow behaviour of the AZ31 magnesium alloy under investigation was evaluated. It was observed that both the equations are able to predict the flow behaviour of the material at different temperatures and strain rates. In particular, the former is very effective in predicting the hardening stage of the flow curve, whilst the latter allows to fit the softening stage. The models were used for the finite element analysis of a complex extrusion process and the results, in terms of the load-stroke curves, compared to each other.


Indonesia is a country with a variety of regional languages that characterize the nation. Every region in Indonesia has its local language and with its dialect and is characteristic of the region. Regional languages have become a long-established identity. Unknowingly, Indonesia is experiencing an increasingly rapid cultural change in which young generations are already in a condition where many require them not to use their local language. Also, data collected by UNESCO shows that there are approximately 30 regional languages that are endangered and, on average, are in eastern Indonesia. Facing the existing problems, this study aims to help young people to get to know their local languages through mobile applications. The local language used in this research is the "lamaholot" language, which is one of the native languages of the people of East Flores Regency and uses the user-centered design method. The design will be tailored to the user so that it can be more attractive and according to user needs. Respondents were taken as many as 147 children with an average age between 10 years to 14 years who are people in East Flores Regency. Keywords—Mobile Application, user-centered design, children education.


Markov Chains are a fundamental tool for the analysis of real world phenomena and randomized algorithms. Given a graph with some specified sink nodes and an initial probability distribution,we consider the problem of designing an absorbing Markov Chain that minimizes the time required to reach a sink node, by selecting transition probabilities subject to some natural regularity constraints. By exploiting the Markovian structure, we obtain closed form expressions for the objective function as well as its gradient, which can be thus evaluated efficiently without any simulation of the underlying process and fed to a gradient-based optimization package. For the special case of designing reversible Markov Chains, we show that global optimum can be efficiently computed by exploiting convexity. We demonstrate how our method can be used for the evaluation and design of local search methods tailored for certain domains.


Introduction
122,129 dives by 10,358 recreational divers were recorded by dive computers from 11 manufacturers in an exploratory study of how dive profile, breathing gas (air or nitrox [N2/O2] mixes), repetitive diving, gender, age, and dive site conditions influenced observed decompression sickness (DCSobs). Thirty-eight reports were judged as DCS. Overall DCSobs was 3.1 cases/10⁴ dives.

Methods
Three dive groups were studied: Basic (live-aboard and shore/dayboat), Cozumel Dive Guides, and Scapa Flow wreck divers. A probabilistic decompression model, BVM(3), controlled dive profile variability. Chi-squared test, t-test, logistic regression, and log-rank tests evaluated statistical associations.

Results
(a) DCSobs was 0.7/10⁴ (Basic), 7.6/10⁴ (Guides), and 17.3/104 (Scapa) and differed after control for dive variability (p ≺ 0.001). (b) DCSobs was greater for 22%-29% nitrox (12.6/10⁴) than for 30%-50% nitrox (2.04/10⁴) (p ≤ 0.0064) which did not differ from air (2.97/1010⁴). (c) For daily repetitive dives (≺12-hour surface intervals (SI)), DCS occurred only following one or two dives (4.3/1010⁴ DCSobs; p ≺ 0.001) where SIs were shorter than after three or more dives. (d) For multiday repetitive dives (SIs ≺ 48 hours), DCS was associated with high multiday repetitive dive counts only for Guides (p = 0.0018). (e) DCSobs decreased with age at 3%/year (p ≤ 0.0144). (f) Males dived deeper (p ≺ 0.001) but for less time than females (p ≺ 0.001).

Conclusion
Collecting dive profiles with dive computers and controlling for profile variability by probabilistic modeling was feasible, but analytical results require independent confirmation due to limited observed DCS. Future studies appear promising if more DCS cases are gathered, stakeholders cooperate, and identified data collection problems are corrected.


The West Bank and Gaza suffer from severe environmental degradation, including deterioration of groundwater and uncontrolled dumping of solid waste. These problems have been addressed in Gaza with the assistance of bilateral donors, but until the design of the Solid Waste and Environment Management Project (SWEMP) in 2000, they were largely neglected in the West Bank. Solid waste management practices in the West Bank are characterized by infrequent and inadequate waste collection services, improper disposal at open dump sites, and open air burning. Hospital and household waste are mixed together at sites that are only marginally controlled. Litter and waste are dumped in open lots, on the roadside, and in small village dumps. Odors from these sites discourage tourism, thus depriving residents of a possible source of income. Moreover, runoff and leachate threaten to pollute groundwater aquifers, the West Bank's main source of water supply. These environmental and public health problems are compounded by weak infrastructure and lack of institutional capacity.


We produce novel empirical evidence on the relevance of output volatility (vol) shocks for both currency and international quantity dynamics. Focusing on G-17 countries, we document that: (1) consumption and output vols are imperfectly correlated within countries; (2) across countries, consumption vol is more correlated than output vol; (3) the pass-through of relative output vol shocks onto relative consumption vol is significant, especially for small countries; and (4) consumption differentials vol and exchange rate vol are disconnected. We rationalize these findings in a frictionless model with multiple goods and recursive preferences featuring a novel and rich risk-sharing of vol shocks.


Abstract Engine mount rubber (EMR) is an important vehicle component to isolate the vehicle structure from engine vibration. The paper deals with optimal design of EMR considering the material stiffness and fatigue strength of a rubber. The objective is to minimize both the weight and the maximum stress of EMR, and to maximize the fatigue life cycle subjected to constraints on the static stiffness of the rubber. A hyperelastic rubber model with a high strain range is used to accommodate the non-linear behaviour of EMR in the stress and fatigue analysis. In the context of approximate optimization, a back-propagation neural network is used to construct global response surfaces between input design variables and output responses of objective functions and constraints. A microgenetic algorithm (MGA) is adopted as a global optimizer in order to consider the inherent non-linearity of analysis model as well. A multi-objective optimization result shows improved design performances regarding the reduction in the maximum stress and the increase in the life cycle with acceptable material stiffness.


Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to examine whether stock dividend announcements create value for companies traded on the Nigerian stock market and to ascertain the nature of the information such announcements convey. Design/methodology/approach - A standard event study methodology, employing the market model, is applied to determine the abnormal returns both on and surrounding the stock dividend announcement date. A sample is broken down based on the timing of announcements and on the frequency with which the announcing companies' shares are traded. The authors also examine the information content of stock dividends by applying the Findings - The findings suggest that companies that choose their own announcement date outside the Nigerian stock exchange announcement window experience positive abnormal returns if their stock is more frequently traded and negative abnormal returns if their stock is less frequently traded. In addition, support is found for both the cash substitution hypothesis and the signalling hypothesis as explanations for the information stock dividends convey to shareholders. Research limitations/implications - The small number of companies in the "early announcement" group may not permit a definitive view to be established about the stock market reaction to early stock dividend announcements for this group of companies. Practical implications - The findings are of practical relevance to researchers, practitioners and investors interested in companies listed on the Nigerian stock market as they reveal the extent to which the shares reflect fundamental information from corporate announcements. Originality/value - This paper adds to the very limited academic research on the stock market reaction to stock dividend announcements in Nigeria.


THE ONE AND ONLY: THE BALLET RUSSE DE MONTE CARLO tells the story of one of America's most important and now neglected ballet companies. Alexandra Danilova, Frederic Franklin, Alicia Markova, Mia Slavenska, Nathalie Krassovska, Tamara Toumanova, Andre Eglevsky, Leon Danielian, Ruthanna Boris, Maria Tallchief, Alicia Alonso, Igor Youskevitch, and Nina Novak were among the stars who led the company on its grueling tours of American cities, great and small. For more than two decades it pioneered the appreciation of ballet throughout the United States, becoming one of the most beloved companies in history. The Ballet Russe was founded in 1938 by Sergei J. Denham and Leonide Massine, who choreographed for it Gaite Parisienne, Seventh Symphony, Saint Francis, Rouge et Noir, and, in collaboration with Salvador Dali, the controversial Bacchanale and Labyrinth. It made Agnes de Mille famous with Rodeo and brought George Balanchine back from Broadway to create Danses Concertantes, Night Shadow, and Raymonda. Other choreographers included Frederick Ashton, Bronislava Nijinska, Ruth Page, and Valerie Bettis. Like thousands of other dance lovers, noted critic Jack Anderson was introduced to ballet by the Ballet Russe. Here are accounts of the "Ballet Wars" in London and New York, and the controversies over Massine's symphonic ballets and Balanchine s abstract works. Here, too, are stories of the rigors and excitement of touring, the life back-stage, the personalities who provided the backbone of this trailblazing company. Drawing on interviews with many of its dancers, newspaper reviews, and company files, this chronicle of the Ballet Russe helps fill in the story of how American ballet grew up. The Ballet Russe pioneered the use of American choreographers in an international company. It was the first to include a work by a modern dancer in a ballet company. It was the first touring ballet troupe to hire a black dancer. The One and Only is the story of how a great Russian-French ballet company became an American institution. JACK ANDERSON has written extensively on ballet and modern dance for the New York Times, Dance Magazine and Ballet Review, and is the New York correspondent for The Dancing Times of London. For thirty years he was also co-editor of Dance Chronicle. His books include Dance, Choreography Observed, Ballet and Modern Dance: A Concise History, The American Dance Festival, The Nutcracker, Art Without Boundaries: The World of Modern Dance, an international history of modern dance, and ten books of poetry. He first saw the Ballet Russe in his native Milwaukee on 21 January 1950, when Danilova and Franklin danced Coppelia.


This paper proposes a hybrid approach of ontology and image clustering to automatically generate hierarchic image database. In the field of computer vision, "generic object recognition" is one of the most important topics. Generic object recognition needs three types of research: feature extraction, pattern recognition, and database preparation; this paper targets at database preparation. The proposed approach considers both object semantic and visual features in images. In the proposed approach, the semantic is covered by ontology framework, and the visual similarity is covered by image clustering based on Gaussian Mixture Model. The image database generated by the proposed approach covered over 4,800 concepts (where 152 concepts have more than 100 images) and its structure was hierarchic. Through the subjective evaluation experiment, whether images in the database were correctly mapped or not was examined. The results of the experiment showed over 84% precision in average. It was suggested that the generated image database was sufficiently practicable as learning database for generic object recognition.


This manuscript documents the alteration of the heart model of the three-dimensional (3D) mathematical cardiac torso (MCAT) phantom to represent cardiac motion. The objective of the inclusion of motion was to develop a digital simulation of the heart such that the impact of cardiac motion on single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) imaging could be assessed and methods of quantitating cardiac function could be investigated. The motion of the gated 3D MCAT's (gMCAT) heart is modeled using 128 separate and evenly spaced time samples from a blood volume curve approximating an average heart cycle. Sets of adjacent time samples can be grouped together to represent a single time interval within the heart cycle. Maximum and minimum chamber volumes were selected to be similar to those of a normal healthy person while the total heart volume stayed constant during the cardiac cycle. Myocardial mass was conserved during the cardiac cycle and the bases of the ventricles were modeled as moving towards the static apex. The orientation of the 3D MCAT heart was changed during contraction to rotate back and forth around the long axis through the center of the left ventricle (LV) using the end systolic time interval as the time point at which to reverse direction. Simple respiratory motion was also introduced by changing the orientation of the long axis of the heart to represent its variation with respiration. Heart models for 24 such orientations spanning the range of motion during the respiratory cycle were averaged together for each time sample to represent the blurring of the heart during the acquisition of multiple cardiac cycles. Finally, an option to model apical thinning of the myocardium was included. As an illustration of the application of the gMCAT phantom, the gated heart model was evaluated by measuring myocardial wall thickening. A linear relationship was obtained between maximum myocardial counts and myocardial thickness, similar to published results. Similar results were obtained for full width at half maximum (FWHM) measurements. With the presence of apical thinning, an apparent increase in counts in the apical region compared to the other heart walls in the absence of attenuation compensation turns into an apparent decrease in counts with attenuation compensation. The apical decrease was more prominent in end systole (ES) than end diastole (ED) due to the change in the partial volume effect. These observations agree with clinical trends. It is concluded that the gMCAT phantom can be used to study the influence of various physical parameters on radionuclide perfusion imaging.


Detection of explosives has the flavor of those mathematical problems that are not invertible. It is easier to hide explosives than to find them. Many approaches have been proposed and executed for the remote detection of explosives, contraband materials, weapons of mass destruction, currency, etc. Most detection technologies suffer from a common problem: the features they look for, such as discontinuities in electrical conductivity, are not unique properties of the target but are contained, to some degree, in the more benign surroundings. Such a degeneracy leads to "clutter" in the response. For example, resolving the false alarms generated by this clutter can determine the rate of advance of a conventional electromagnetic metal detector employed as a landmine detector. One approach that provides a "unique" signature is nuclear quadrupole resonance (NQR) (the technique is also called QR, to avoid confusion with strictly nuclear techniques). This paper outlines the important physical principles behind the use of NQR for remote detection, indicates areas of applicability, and presents results of field trials of a prototype landmine detection system.


BACKGROUND: Terrorism leads to adolescent depression, but little is known about protective factors. We investigated 90 adolescents (in grades 7–9) residing in Dimona, Israel, before and after their exposure to a suicide bombing. OBJECTIVE: To examine the prospective effect of social support from friends, parents, and school personnel on the link between bombing-related perceived stress and adolescent depression. METHODS: Seven months prior to the suicide bombing, adolescents completed questionnaires as part of an ongoing investigation of youth risk/resilience under stress. The focus of the present study was on the Perceived Social Support Scale. One month subsequent to the suicide bombing, participants were interviewed by telephone about their bombing-related perceived stress (a 1-item measure) and depression (the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Child Depression Scale). RESULTS: Bombing-related perceived stress was associated with an increase in continuous levels of depression from before to after the bombing (β = .29; P = .006). Prebombing social support from friends buffered against this effect (β = −.29; P = .010). Adolescents reporting high bombing-related perceived stress evinced an increase in depression if they reported low levels of friends' support (β = .61; P < .001) but not high levels of friends' support (β = .00; P = .98). In addition, social support from friends predicted an increase in adolescent depression over time when bombing-related perceived stress was low (β = .34; P = .026). CONCLUSION: In adolescence, social support from friends might protect against the depressogenic effect of terrorism-related perceived stress.


The purpose of this programme of study was to construct a theory of resilience in volunteer firefighters, a population that, despite facing intermittent and at times intense work-related stressors, is underrepresented in the resilience literature. Using a constructivist grounded theory (CGT) perspective, the study engaged a purposive sample of 8 firefighters from a single volunteer fire rescue service (FRS) in Canada, conducted in-depth interviews, and analyzed the data using CGT methodologies. The findings offer unique insight into the resilience of firefighters and demonstrate that resilience in the volunteer FRS is multidimensional, complex, dynamic, and contextual. The CGT asserts that within a volunteer FRS there are a number of concepts that inter-relate to construct resilience: relationships, personal resources, meaning-making, leadership, culture, and knowledge. Recently some researchers have noted relationships between concepts such as social support, adaptive health strategies, etc. (see for example: Almedom et al., 2010), and others are recognizing cultural influences on resilience (see for example: Panter-Brick & Eggerman, 2012), however, there is a dearth of literature linking all of the components together within a theory of resilience in high-risk professions such as the FRS. As well, many of the extant theories/models are linear whereas this theory is multidimensional and more patently represents the complex nature of resilience in volunteer firefighters. The findings further offer concrete strategies for practical integration of resilience theory into policies and actions to mitigate risks and enhance resilience in high risk professions such as the FRS. The outcomes of this programme of work have implications for volunteer firefighters, but there are also more global implications for career firefighters and other emergency service, disaster and humanitarian aid workers, and any organization or business that responds to emergencies, humanitarian crises or disasters.


In this issue of The Journal of Thoracic Disease (JTD) Jonathon Spahr and Shawn West from the Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh and the University of Pittsburg School of Medicine have presented a perspective on paediatric heart-lung transplantation based on data from their own institution, the Organ Procurement and Transplant Network and supported with data from the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation (ISHLT). They have provided a detailed and succinct overview of progress to the current era including indications, contraindications, outcomes and potential future possibilities largely based on the US experience. This editorial aims to extend the review by elaborating on the global perspective of paediatric heart-lung transplantation, particularly in relation to changes in volume and indications over the past 30 years and the influence of organ allocation policies internationally.


This work shows that in many aspects of colloidal systems there exists a coupling between hydrodynamic and electrostatic interactions. For charged particles immersed in a polar medium, there is a pronounced influence of the electric field upon the motion of the particle in the fluid. Experimentally, this leads to electrokinetic effects , which may influence the coagulation of colloid particles and their adsorption at surfaces. These effects can be
described by extending the equations of motion by an additional electrostatic term.
This work also gives evidence of the existence of the hydrodynamic phenomenon of slip between hydrophilic bodies in an aqueous medium. Recently, more general boundary conditions, differing from the no-slip boundary condition , have been proposed. Due to the experiments presented here, the more general boundary conditions have to be considered only for shear stresses, which the liquid experiences in the vicinity of the solid interfaces.
In order to carry out these measurements using the colloidal probe technique , new types of rectangular tipless cantilevers have been designed and fabricated. These have the advantage, with respect to commercial triangular cantilevers, of affecting less the hydrodynamics of the microsphere in vicinity of the flat surface. These home made cantilevers have also a higher sensitivity in the specific range of forces of our interest (0.1 ÷ 10 nN).


: According to C. S. Peirce, abduction is a rational attempt to locate an explanation for a puzzling phenomenon, where this is a process that includes both generating explanatory hypotheses and selecting certain hypotheses for further scrutiny. Since inference is a controlled process that can be subjected to normative standards, essential to his view of abductive rasoning is that it is correlated to a unique species of correctness that cannot be reduced to deductive validity or inductive strength. This irreducibility claim is of considerable importance for the logical and epistemological scrutiny of scientific methods, but it is not clear that Peirce produced a convicing argument for it. To the contrary, when the full structure of abductive argumentation is clarified, especially as presented in Peirce's later writings on the topic, a good case can be made for viewing every inferential step in the abductive process as dissolving into familiar forms of deductive and inductive reasoning. Specifically, hypothesis-selection is a special type of practical inference that, if correct, is deductively valid, while the creative phase, hypothesis-generation, is not inferential at all. Once this is understood, it emerges that the familiar descriptions of abduction as "inference to the best explanation" or as a process of "belief revision" are, at best, misleading.


System of organism defense is an important complex of interrelated cellular, molecular, genetic, and other components, which regulate homeostasis of host. Experimental and clinical data show that immune system functions are significant, but also a complicated question in cancer development. It is very important to investigate and understood how immune system coordinates the response to cancer cells. Our understanding about innate and adaptive immunity functions and interaction with transformed cells is constantly changing. Different responses of these system components can promote, reduce, or inhibit tumor development. It is established that malignant cells develop into invasive cancer with interaction with tumor microenvironment, which is influenced by inflammation. Clinical and experimental studies have revealed the link between inflammation and cancer risk. Many cancers develop in the sites of inflammation. Activation of humoral and cellular immunity may predispose to neoplastic or cancer development. Despite the scientific progress, understanding of the immune system mechanisms responding to malignance remains insufficient.


Access to resources can contribute to social progress in extremely impoverished communities. The introduction of cyber-physical systems for electricity, water, and irrigation facilitates greater fulfillment of needs. Yet, the availability of resources may be inconsistent or lacking. The social dynamics of the community can provide insight into how the available resources support well-being. Thus, the cyber-physical system requires the addition of a social consideration to become cyber-physical-social systems. However, the social considerations typically include qualitative parameters. This prompts the need for integrating qualitative and quantitative information.
 In this paper, we present a method for mathematically representing qualitative and quantitative relationships. This is achieved by connecting Bond Graph Modeling and System Dynamics. The Bond Graph model is used to mathematically represent relationships between qualitative and quantitative elements. These relationships are used in the System Dynamics analysis. The method is anchored in expanding cyber-physical to cyber-physical-social systems through incorporating both qualitative and quantitative information in the systems analysis.
 The mathematical connectivity of qualitative and quantitative information is a key feature of this approach. A test problem in resource allocation is used to demonstrate the function and flexibility of the method. This is anchored in connecting qualitative and quantitative information in the analysis.


Purpose During medical residency programs, physicians develop their professional identities as specialists and encounter high expectations in terms of achieving competencies. The responsibilities of medical trainees include caring for patients, balancing work with personal life, and weathering stress, depression, and burnout. Formal academic mentoring programs strive to ease these burdens. The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has altered the trainee–academic mentor relationship, and solutions are needed to address these challenges. The present study aimed to evaluate the formal academic mentoring process through trainees' perceptions and expectations of formal mentoring programs during COVID-19 in Indonesian cardiology residency programs. Methods This cross-sectional study used a self-administered online questionnaire to capture trainees' perceptions and expectations regarding academic mentoring programs in 3 cardiology residency programs in Indonesia from October to November 2020. The questionnaire was developed before data collection. Perceptions of the existing mentoring programs were compared with expectations. Results Responses were gathered from 169 out of 174 residents (response rate, 97.3%). Most trainees reported having direct contact with COVID-19 patients (88.82%). They stated that changes had taken place in the mode and frequency of communication with their academic advisors during the pandemic. Significant differences were found between trainees' perceptions of the existing mentoring programs and their expectations for academic mentoring programs (P<0.001). Conclusion Despite the challenges of interacting with their academic mentors, trainees still perceived academic mentors as a vital resource. Study programs need to consider trainees' expectations when designing academic mentoring programs.


This analysis of British imperialism in the south Pacific explores the impulses behind British calls for the protection and "improvement" of islanders. From kingmaking projects in Hawai'i, Tonga and Fiji to the "antislavery" campaign against the labour trade in the western Pacific, the author examines the subjective cultural roots permeating Britons' attitudes toward Pacific islanders. By teasing out the connections between those attitudes and the British humanitarian and antislavery movements, this text reminds the reader that 19th-century Britain was engaged in a global canpaign for "Christianization and civilization". Using official and unofficial records, this text shows how British Naval officers and their humanitarian supporters responded to a variety of Pacific encounters, developing their own interpretations of culture and contact in the islands. The book aims to overturn traditional historical treatments of Britain's naval operations in the islands, particularly on the issue of "gunboat diplomacy". It reveals how deeply divided British opinion was about the use of force against islanders and the unpredictable responses of the islanders.


Using a two generational model of investment in education, this thesis shows that school quality enhancement is very highly valued by the average rural Pakistani family, and by those below the official poverty line. Corollaries are that quality enhancement will be an effective policy for boosting school attendance and that subsistence poverty is not a major reason for keeping children out of school.
The empirical strategy is to demonstrate (chapter 4) that school quality variables influence perceived child cognitive achievement. Parental perceptions are critical rather than objective performance (if they diverge) because it is parents that decide whether their children should attend school. These results provide support for the finding in the following chapter (5) that some school quality variables also significantly influence school attendance. Note that the empirical focus of this study is on the more important attendance rather than the commonly discussed school enrolment.
The data source, the 2004-5 Pakistan Rural Household Survey, PRHS-II, is the only one currently available for Pakistan that makes available a multitude of school quality measures. Identification in the empirical models of school attendance and cognitive achievement is achieved first by establishing and utilising a distinctive feature of the Pakistani environment; the arbitrary and random allocation of resources to state schools economy and society. The quality variable library is confirmed exogenous with the only instrument in the data set suitable on grounds of relevance (correlation with library), community population. If school resources were adjusted to school need, school attendance would not influence the staff-student ratio. But instrumenting this ratio changes its sign in the predicted fashion. For cognitive achievement, cmp (conditional (recursive) mixed process estimator) (Roodman 2009) is implemented to endogenise staff-student ratio in ordered probit models. Since we have either controlled for endogeneity or established the exogeneity of the quality measures in the attendance and cognitive achievement equations, we can be confident that the parameter estimates correctly capture the impact of school quality variables. The possibility that other variables, not instrumented in the school attendance or cognitive achievement equations, are endogenous does not bias these estimates. Nor does including a range of extra community characteristics in the school attendance and cognitive achievement equations affect the school quality parameter values estimated.
School quality measures must be measured at the community/village level to capture the options for school non-attenders. This reduces the precision with which the standard errors can be estimated. Normally it is appropriate to cluster standard errors at the village level, and these results are presented.
Judging by parental assessment of child performance, in rural Pakistan private schools achieve better outcomes than state schools. Despite comparatively low private school fees, the average rural household with three children is unable to afford to send their children to private schools. Simply expanding private schooling provision then is not a solution to the currently poor education available to these households. In any event such expansion is not without its problems because there are typically arbitrary political or regulatory barriers to establishing private schools. Therefore this thesis suggest that improving (perceived) state school quality may be the most effective strategy for improving human capital in rural Pakistan.


, , , , i,  Heat treatments of steels consist in a modification, in hot conditions, of the initial crystal lattice of such alloys and represent one of the most delicate step in the industrial production of forgings. In this frame, one of the most critical stages is quenching, which consists in rapid cooling of steel pieces at high temperature, in water or oil or in a polymer water solution (aquaquench). It is a process which is intrinsically unstable, complex from a physical point of view, which can be hardly predicted without using suitable simulation software. If not carefully carried out, this heat treatment can be inefficient or even harmful, causing fracture triggering, or, worse, directly the breakage of the piece. Of course, the bigger the forging, the greater the importance of estimating the process dynamics and, consequently, designing the plant configuration to obtain the expected final results, in order to avoid heavy economical losses deriving from a bad treatment. In this work a study of the water quenching process of large industrial forgings, made of SA 508 steel and intended for nuclear applications is presented. This is carried out by means of transient thermo-fluidsimulations in CFD environment (Computational Fluid Dynamics). The models have been validated by comparing the numerical results with the ones obtained by experimental trials carried out on steel test samples, having suitable dimension and properly instrumented: the results have shown that the average error is below 3%, while the maximum error is below 10%. These results confirm that the chosen method suitably simulates the physical phenomenon and so it can be extended to study a wide range of cases, in order to provide a valid and reliable support for large forgings Manufacturers.


It is commonly assumed that compiled simulation will provide significant performance improvements over interpreted event-driven simulation. This paper demonstrates that for a new algorithm called the Inversion Algorithm that this assumption is not true. The Inversion Algorithm can be run in either compiled or interpreted mode with only a slight difference in performance. Experimental data confirms this, and also demonstrates that first simulation results can be obtained much faster using the interpreted form of the algorithm.


Cold and cryogenic temperatures are used for treating cancer and other pathological conditions in various fields of medicine. Cryosurgery, which resides at the interface of medicine and engineering, has attracted the interest of engineers, scientists, and medical doctors. Recently, particularly since the end of the 1980s, technological developments in cryotherapy equipment and enormous advances in imaging techniques, such as computed tomography and ultrasonography, have allowed surgeons and interventional radiologists to precisely guide cryogenic probes into tumors while avoiding damage to surrounding tissues. Extensive studies have allowed us to conclude that the use of cryogenics facilitates the successful treatment of solid tumors in various organs such as lung, liver, bones, kidneys, prostate, etc. Its simplicity of use, effectiveness, low cost, and limited demand on hospital infrastructure and personnel have made cryosurgery particularly suitable for the treatment of patients of socio-economically deprived populations.


Author(s): Harris, Lauren Nicole | Advisor(s): Stanton, Annette L | Abstract: OBJECTIVE: Emotional expression and receipt of social support can promote psychological and physical health in women diagnosed with breast cancer. Communication between breast cancer patients and their social network can be challenging, however. Study 1 of the current research aimed to characterize the experience of women who participated in the intervention arm of Project Connect Online (PCO), a randomized controlled trial for breast cancer patients to create personal websites to facilitate emotional expression and communication with supportive others. Study 2, a comparative effectiveness trial of PCO for women with metastatic breast cancer (MBC), examined the potential psychosocial and physical health-related benefits of sharing personal websites with other MBC patients, family, and friends (PCO PLUS condition) versus sharing with family and friends only (PCO ONLY condition). METHODS: Study 1 examined the 46 women in the intervention arm of PCO, a three-hour workshop for creation of personal websites with a journal function. Participants completed assessments at baseline, one month, and six months. In Study 2, 30 women with MBC were randomly assigned to PCO PLUS (n = 14) or PCO ONLY (n = 16) and attended a similar workshop. General and cancer-specific psychosocial and physical functioning was assessed at baseline, two months, and four months. Multilevel models examined comparative effectiveness of the two conditions, potential mediating variables, and predictors of change in outcomes. RESULTS: Women in Study 1 found the websites useful for telling the story of their experience and expressing emotions. Greater use of positive and negative emotion words on the websites was associated with improved psychological functioning at six months. Women with advanced cancer were more likely to use their websites than women with early-stage disease. In Study 2, significant increases in life appreciation, MBC-related altruism, and cancer-related physical symptoms and worsening physical functioning were observed across conditions. Anxiety decreased significantly in PCO PLUS and did not change in PCO ONLY. No significant mediated effects of PCO PLUS versus PCO ONLY on outcomes were observed. CONCLUSIONS: Personal websites can help women with breast cancer, and, in particular, MBC, construct a narrative of their experience and receive support. For women with MBC, personal websites to communicate with family and friends may improve cancer-specific psychosocial adjustment. Communicating with other MBC patients via personal websites, even infrequently, may confer additional psychosocial benefits.


Abstract Phototrophic biofilms are ubiquitous in freshwater and marine environments where they are critical for biogeochemical cycling, food webs and in industrial applications. In streams, phototrophic biofilms dominate benthic microbial life and harbour an immense prokaryotic and eukaryotic microbial biodiversity with biotic interactions across domains and trophic levels. Here, we examine how community structure and function of these biofilms respond to varying light availability, as the crucial energy source for phototrophic biofilms. Using metatranscriptomics, we found that under light limitation‐dominant phototrophs, including diatoms and cyanobacteria, displayed a remarkable plasticity in their photosynthetic machinery manifested as higher abundance of messenger RNAs (mRNAs) involved in photosynthesis and chloroplast ribosomal RNA. Under higher light availability, bacterial mRNAs involved in phosphorus metabolism, mainly from Betaproteobacteria and Cyanobacteria, increased, likely compensating for nutrient depletion in thick biofilms with high biomass. Consumers, including diverse ciliates, displayed community shifts indicating preferential grazing on algae instead of bacteria under higher light. For the first time, we show that the functional integrity of stream biofilms under variable light availability is maintained by structure–function adaptations on several trophic levels. Our findings shed new light on complex biofilms, or "microbial jungles", where in analogy to forests, diverse and multitrophic level communities lend stability to ecosystem functioning. This multitrophic level perspective, coupling metatranscriptomics to process measurements, could advance understanding of microbial‐driven ecosystems beyond biofilms, including planktonic and soil environments.


Twenty‐one states and the District of Columbia require youths to wear helmets when riding a bicycle, and there has been a push to extend such laws to adults. We provide new evidence on helmet laws by studying Canada using difference‐in‐differences models and restricted area‐identified public health survey data with information on cycling and helmet use for nearly 800,000 individuals from 1994 to 2014. We first confirm prior patterns from the United States that laws requiring youths to wear helmets significantly increased youth helmet use. We then provide the literature's first comprehensive evidence that "all‐age" bicycle helmet laws significantly increased both adult and youth helmet use by 50%–190% relative to pre‐reform levels, with larger effects for younger adults and less‐educated adults. All‐age helmet laws had modest effects at reducing cycling and increasing in‐home exercise during winter months among adults but did not meaningfully affect weight. Overall, our findings confirm that all‐age helmet laws can be effective at increasing population helmet use without significant unintended adverse health consequences. (JEL I18, I12, K32)


INTRODUCTION: In Portugal, private hospitals increased in number from 89 in 2009 to 107 in 2013, and its available beds increased from 7803 to 10 500 in the same period. There has been also a 33% increase in specialist doctors working exclu-sively on private sector, which reflects the increasing offer of this kind of health care offer in our country. Are future doctors willing to work in private healthcare? The objective of the study was to identify preferences of Faculty of Health Sciences – Beira Interior University medicine stu-dents concerning future employment on public healthcare, private sector, or both. METHODS: We performed a cross-sectional study, carried out in 3 moments in each year, 2016, 2017 and 2018. A question-naire was applied to 6th year medical students, our study population. The results were treated by descriptive statistics, using SPSS, version 23.0 for Windows.RESULTS: The majority of the future physicians plan on working simultaneously in both health sectors. This option was selec-ted by 77.3%, 90% and 75.6%, in the three years of the study, accordingly. Several reasons that justify the students' options were found. More than 80% do not approve the possibility of the government to impose exclusive dedication to public health care. The contingency coefficient took the value of 0.14, 0.289 and 0.123 for the variables under study. The students also reported general population insatisfaction about public healthcare service.CONCLUSION: There is a preference for working simultaneously in both health sectors, a position maintained throughout the three years in which the study was conducted, and exclusive dedication to public health care is strongly rejected. There is no strong association between analyzed variables and the desire of working in any sector.


A numerical model has been developed to investigate the thermally triggered release kinetics for drug delivery using phase change material as shell of microcapsules. Biocompatible material n-Eicosane is used as demonstration. PCM shell of microcapsule will remain in solid form after the drug is taken, so the drug will be encapsulated by the shell, and will not be released until the target body part of lesion is exposed to external heat source, which will thermally trigger the release kinetics, leading to solid-to-liquid phase change. The findings can lead to better understanding on the key effects influencing the phase change process for drug delivery applications. The facile approach to release drug from core/shell structure of microcapsule can be well integrated with organic solvent free fabrication of microcapsules, using double emulsion as template in microfluidic aqueous two phase system. Keywords—Phase change material, drug release kinetics, double emulsion, microfluidics.


Prolactin-secreting pituitary adenomas are common spontaneous lesions in aging FVB females. Prolactin-secreting pituitary proliferations play a significant role in mouse mammary tumorigenesis generally producing adenosquamous carcinomas. Since genetically engineered FVB mice are frequently used to study mammary tumor biology, we have examined a cohort of 64 aging wild-type FVB/N females to establish the prevalence and the nature of spontaneous mammary and pituitary tumors. Tissues from mammary and pituitary glands were studied by histopathology and immunohistochemistry. Of the 64 examined mice, 20 had pituitary tumors and 20 had mammary tumors. Mammary and pituitary tumors were associated in 17 mice. All pituitary tumors were prolactinpositive by immunohistochemistry and classified as prolactinomas. Fourteen mammary tumors, including 12 cases with and 2 without concurrent prolactinomas, were adenocarcinomas with different combinations of epithelial growth patterns. Five mice with prolactinomas had mammary tumors characterized by the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) phenotype. Estrogen receptor alpha (ERa)–positivity was observed for 14 of the 18 mammary tumors tested, including both adenocarcinomas with nuclear immunoreactivity and EMT-phenotype tumors with both nuclear and cytoplasmic immunoreactivity. No immunoreactivity for the progesterone receptor was observed. This study confirms that spontaneous prolactinomas and mammary tumors are both common and significantly associated lesions in FVB mice. Parity and age represented risk factors for the development of these tumors. Compared with previous reports, prolactinoma-associated mammary tumors displayed a broader morphologic spectrum, including cases with the EMT phenotype. The elevated number of prolactinoma-associated and ERa-positive mammary tumors opens intriguing possibilities concerning the role of ERa cytoplasmic localization during EMT tumorigenesis.


Nigerian businesses, federal and state governments alike have historically tended to look abroad to fund large projects. Facts on the outstanding values of bonds, loans and equity confirm that Nigerian capital markets are thin, compared with the sub-Saharan African average; some segments have even become thinner in the last two-and-a-half decades. The current global liquidity glut however offers Nigeria an easy opportunity to transit from a net origin of capital to a net destination of capital. We identify fiscal, monetary, and balance of payment leakages from the Nigerian financial system, and suggest that these leakages can be plugged to make capital more available to government, businesses and consumers in Nigeria. Specifically, we uncover and discuss two main problems that could explain the lack of depth in the Nigerian financial system: a.) Inadvertent but substantial diversion of government owned financial resources away from the domestic financial market by the government and the central bank as they tried to achieve some other policy objectives. With broad money (M2) amounting to a mere 17.6 percent of GDP in 2005, while government kept idle deposits of 21 percent of GDP at the central bank in the name of liquidity management, and 25 percent of GDP in external reserves abroad in the name of fiscal stabilization, we do not need to travel far to see what problems need to be fixed, and by who, to substantially ease the capital scarcity in Nigeria. Nigerian financial system can easily be much deeper, than it has been at any point in the past, if the government manages the re-injection of these dearly needed loanable funds carefully. b.) Negative real interest rates that drive private financial resources away from Nigeria towards positive real returns abroad. Net private capital outflow of 14 percent of GDP in 2005 alone, compared to total domestic bond market of 7 per cent of GDP in the same year, or 12.5 percent of GDP in bank loans, shows that Nigerian financial system could be deeper if it could retain capital originating from it by offering attractive positive real returns on domestic bank deposits and bonds, and perhaps attract some of the surplus liquidity in other emerging markets as well.


Historically, physicians have chosen to consider medical ethics rather than patient rights, as well as preferring responsibility for the individuals seeking their help rather than for the health of populations. Protests against planning for war, and discussions about sustainment of global well-being, were received within the medical profession with both encouragement and hostility. Against the mounting threat of nuclear war, International Physicians for Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW) was created, bringing up to 70 national affiliates together into a global federation which spoke with a single voice to oppose the grim reality of nuclear war. IPPNW sought to concentrate its concerns on collective issues rather than individual rights, and on changing ways of thinking rather than on saving individual lives. To this end it has enlarged its agenda to the establishment of more equitable distribution of resources, protection of the global environment, and non-military ways of building regional and global security. IPPNW seeks to promote rights through discussion, education, and non-partisan collective advocacy and consensus-building. This paper traces the evolution of medical groups that formed to promote peace and prevent war.


The application of Raman spectroscopy for the identification and characterization of minerals and related materials has increased appreciably during recent years. Raman spectroscopy has proven to be a most valuable and versatile analytical tool. Successful applications cover virtually all the mineralogical sub-disciplines, and have become more numerous in geochemistry. We present a general summary of present applications, illustrated by selected examples. In addition, we briefly point out several aspects of spectral acquisition, data reduction, and interpretation of Raman results that are important for the application of Raman spectroscopy as a reliable analytical tool.


This Expert Level Scientific Award is given to the prestigious logical staff who have contributed their administrations with an enthusiasm, devotion and duty for the human turn of events and recognized specialists who have made huge, supported and proceeding with commitments in the field of Mechanical and Aerospace. It is considered as the most regarded grant of the whole gathering. His/Her commitment could be long haul, total or single, especially smart, trial, pertinent, or deciphered thoughts. This renowned honor could be given for the candidate who had shown critical, autonomous commitment in their chose region of exploration with a min of 20+years of involvement with Aerospace innovation and gainfully occupied with individual driving edge innovation. The achiever of the honor more likely than not finished MD or PhD, or proportionate. The acknowledgment of the honor will be contemplating for the freedom of thought, innovation and centrality of disclosure, and effect on his/her region of exploration. Qualified chosen people can transfer their Research Portfolios online with their most recent 10 distributions, milestones got during their exploration.


Introduction The Plan-Do-Study-Act cycle method is a common approach taken in improvement initiatives to test changes in a pragmatic and scientific fashion. The effectiveness and application of the method, however, is varied with a recent systematic review outlining a lack of adherence to key functions of the methods approach. To understand how to achieve good quality use of the method it is necessary to assess the attainment of these key functions of its use in frontline improvement initiatives, opening the method's "black box". This research aims to further develop and apply a theoretical framework to assess the conduct of improvement initiatives: understanding both the conduct of the PDSA method and the improvement context of an organization that supports its use. Methods A qualitative study of three separate healthcare organizations is underway to assess the PDSA cycle conduct of improvement initiatives, including iterative development, prediction-based tests of change, use of regular data over time, starting on a small scale and collaborative working. Semi-structured interviews with improvement initiative members and senior organizations leaders are being conducted and complemented with participant observation and document analysis of initiatives' day-today work to gain an in-depth understanding of how PDSA methods are applied and perceived by healthcare professionals and to gain an understanding of broader organizational context for improvement work. Results The study is due for complete in early 2014, however, initial findings can be highlighted. Whilst the recognition of the functions of PDSA is widespread in the improvement initiatives observed, be it implicitly or explicitly, the achievement of these is varied. The utilization of regular data over time to influence progression of PDSA cycles is a key challenge when using the PDSA cycle approach, both in collecting the data and collaboratively critiquing it to iterate a change. This leaves teams stuck in the Plan-Do stages of the cycle and prevents effective cycle completion. Whilst the concept of testing change is supported by most individuals involved directly in improvement initiatives not all participants are necessarily aware or engaged with the PDSA cycle approach and tests of change of occur without using the 4 stages or are retrospectively documented as PDSA cycles. Discussion This work presents a framework to assess the effective application and supporting context for improvement initiatives using the PDSA cycle approach. Whilst the benefit of testing change in a scientific and pragmatic manner is evident in the views of healthcare staff the improvement of organizational learning mechanisms to support this is necessary. Both internal and external support to an organization can benefit from reflecting on the framework and address data and staff training needs to ensure patient care is improved in an effective and efficient manner. Declaration of competing interests None.


This multicentre, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group study assessed the efficacy and safety of using Emla (lignocaine/prilocaine) anaesthetic cream to achieve pain control during sharp debridement of chronic leg ulcers of arterial, venous or arteriovenous aetiology. A total of 101 patients (51 Emla, 50 placebo), aged 29-99 years, who had experienced pain associated with previous debridement were included. Patients with an amide anaesthetic allergy, anaesthetic diabetic ulcers, or ulcers > 50 cm2 were excluded. Debridement was initiated approximately 30 minutes after the application of a thick layer of Emla or placebo cream to an ulcer occluded with a plastic wrap. The patient and investigator assessed the pain associated with debridement on a 100 mm visual analogue scale (VAS). The median patient VAS scores were 18 mm and 53.5 mm in the Emla and placebo groups, respectively (p < 0.0001). The corresponding investigator values in the two groups were 20 mm and 49.5 mm, respectively (p = 0.004). Local reactions were mainly transient and mild, and were observed in roughly the same percentage of placebo and Emla-treated patients. After a 30-minute application Emla cream significantly reduced the pain of debridement compared with the placebo.


Trade with differentiated goods normally provides a form of insurance against disasters, such as floods and fires, through an increasing relative price of goods from the afflicted country. With open access renewable resources this is reversed. A country hit by a negative shock recovers faster if trading with fewer countries and, if trading with many, shocks affecting also the trading partners are preferred over idiosyncratic shocks. Trade thus increases economic vulnerability to disasters and local disasters will be worse than global. Furthermore, world markets transmit shocks so a natural disaster in one country can cause man-made disasters in competitor countries. These results are particularly relevant for developing countries due to high renewable resource reliance, more problems of open access and more economic vulnerability to disasters. A calibration suggests these concerns may apply to around 60 percent of world fisheries and that around 20 percent risk collapsing following small idiosyncratic shocks.


Asphyxial deaths are a common phenomenon. The stressful life with financial burden, poor socio-economic status, homicidal intentions, industrialisation, psychiatric disorders, human errors, estranged relationships, accidents etc had contributed to a tremendous increase in asphyxial deaths. Hanging is second or third most popular method of suicide. Hanging has been employed as the method of suicide since time immemorial. Usually all hanging cases are suicidal. Accidental hanging is un-common and homicidal cases are rare. Moreover there is great diversity related to marital status of victim and place of hanging which provides a rough clue for investigating authorities. The present study is based on the autopsies conducted in the mortuary of Forensic Medicine Department, situated in central India. A total number of 1833 postmortem examination were conducted during 1st August 2011 to 31st July 2016 and amongst these 121 cases were due to asphyxial deaths.

Keyword: Asphyxia, Hanging, Marrietal status, lndoor, Outdoor


Stemmatology studies relations among different variants of a text that has been gradually altered as a result of imperf ectly copying the text over and over again. Applications are mainl y in humanities, especially textual criticism, but the methods ca n be used to study the evolution of any symbolic objects, including ch ain letters and computer viruses.We propose an algorithm for stemm atic analysis based on a minimum-information criterion and stoc hastic tree optimization. Our approach is related to phylogenetic reconstruction criteria such as maximum parsimony and maximum li kelihood, and builds upon algorithmic techniques developed f or bioinformatics. Unlike many earlier methods, the proposed metho d does not require significant preprocessing of the data but rather , operates directly on aligned text files. We demonstrate our method on a realworld experiment involving all 52 known variants of the lege nd of St. Henry of Finland, and provide the first computer-generat ed family tree of the legend. The obtained tree of the variants is su pported to a large extent by results obtained with more traditional m ethods, and identifies a number of previously unrecognized relation s.


Recess is often a topic overlooked in pedagogical theory due to its presumed simplicity. The essence of recess connects with play as a physical counterpart to a well-rounded education. In this article we explore the relationship play has with recess and well-being and explore its pragmatikos (systematic usefulness) as regards schooling in lieu of deep ecological frameworks of systems (wholism) theory and systemic, nonlinear dynamics. We argue that recess in its current conceptualisation—in contradistinction to work or study—is a counterfeit to metaphysical play based on the writings of Ananda K. Coomaraswamy who sheds light on its spiritual premise. By bringing to the forefront metaphysical Ideas of play we encounter similitudes between the Platonic doctrine of ēdūcere and anamnesis with Buddhist phenomenology, especially regarding the practice of Mindfulness (sati); both extol a "recollection" as opposed to a "memorisation" which arguably occupies much of Westernised curriculum. Finally, in traditional, premodern education, emphasis was placed on Spirit and heartfelt intuition, a remembrance of who we are, our Buddha-nature or Christhood, not on cerebral ratiocination whose mental operation, according to Plato, was tenebrous and illusory. Our aspiration is not an education that includes mindfulness, rather, a mindfulness-based education.


Large language models, such as ChatGPT, have great potential to enhance learning and support teachers, but they must be used with care to tackle limitations and biases. This paper presents two easy-to-implement examples of how ChatGPT can be used in physics classrooms to foster critical thinking skills at the secondary school level. A pilot study (n=53) examining the implementation of these examples found that the intervention had a positive impact on students' perceptions of ChatGPT, with an increase in agreement with statements related to its benefits and incorporation into their daily lives.


The self-fertile nematode worms Caenorhabditis elegans, C. briggsae, and C. tropicalis evolved independently from outcrossing male-female ancestors and have genomes 20-40% smaller than closely related outcrossing relatives. This pattern of smaller genomes for selfing species and larger genomes for closely related outcrossing species is also seen in plants. We use comparative genomics, including the first high quality genome assembly for an outcrossing member of the genus (C. remanei) to test several hypotheses for the evolution of genome reduction under a change in mating system. Unlike plants, it does not appear that reductions in the number of repetitive elements, such as transposable elements, are an important contributor to the change in genome size. Instead, all functional genomic categories are lost in approximately equal proportions. Theory predicts that self-fertilization should equalize the effective population size, as well as the resulting effects of genetic drift, between the X chromosome and autosomes. Contrary to this, we find that the self-fertile C. briggsae and C. elegans have larger intergenic spaces and larger protein-coding genes on the X chromosome when compared to autosomes, while C. remanei actually has smaller introns on the X chromosome than either self-reproducing species. Rather than being driven by mutational biases and/or genetic drift caused by a reduction in effective population size under self reproduction, changes in genome size in this group of nematodes appear to be caused by genome-wide patterns of gene loss, most likely generated by genomic adaptation to self reproduction per se.


Problem-solving is an ability human beings need to live better lives, however, some do not possess enough of this acquirable skill. Although many studies have concerned themselves with problem solving, this study has investigated it from a different angle. The present study was aimed at the priority-setting of components effective on the teaching-learning model, with a focus on improving problem solving ability in upper secondary school students. This study used a descriptive-correlational design. The population consisted of professors of the Education Department of Islamic Azad University, Kerman Branch, who were actively working in 2019-2020 academic year, a total of 12 professors. Out of them, 10 individuals were selected as the sample through non-random availability sampling, based on Morgan's table. The questionnaire entailed 12 components and 38 items. Network analysis was adopted for priority-setting of effective components. Furthermore, data and statistical analyses were conducted using Super Decisions, SPSS, and Excel. The results showed that 'creativeness and creativity' was the most important component, and 'intelligence' the least important component in the teaching-learning model.


The advanced capabilities of third-generation (3G) wireless communications open the path for new multimedia services. The multimedia services require advanced resource management, especially the radio resources. The resource management is required to fulfil the target quality of service (QoS) especially during handoff. An early resource reservation (ERES) in the candidate cells for handoff will give a higher probability of satisfying the target QoS. It is important to optimize the tradeoff between the early reserved resources and the target QoS. The ERES involves the amount of the radio resources reserved from the adjacent cells and their associated time-duration of the reservation. The fulfilment of the target QoS is measured based on the confidence level of successful handoff without service degradation, as reflected by the certainty factor (CF). With a mobile station positioning technology implemented, it permits better movement tracking, which leads to a reduction of resource reservations with a higher certainty of successful handoff. This paper presents a method to optimize the resource reservation to fulfil the target QoS with the help of mobile movement prediction. Two cases of ERES based on different radio conditions are compared. Each case has several scenarios: without movement prediction; with the movement prediction derived from FCC E911 (Federal Communication Committee Emergency 911) requirement for RMS error of 125 meters; and with a super-accurate prediction for RMS error of 30 meters.


MAC protocol of Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) requires high efficiency to achieve maximum traffic transmission, while pursuit high reliability at the same time. The paper researched on reliable mixing broadcast implementation manner of WSN. Based on analysis on implementation manners of broadcast, unicast and mixing broadcast, a kind of adaptive MAC protocol supporting reliable mixing broadcast was presented. The protocol dynamically select implementation manner with maximum mixing broadcast efficiency based on given network parameters to complete transmission of data frame. Simulation results based on NS2 shows that the protocol has better performance to achieve reliable mixing broadcast, which solve problems of reliable broadcast/multicast at network layer.


ABSTRACT Scaling-up clean energy is vital to global efforts to address climate change. Promoting international trade in clean energy products (e.g. wind turbines, solar panels) can make an important contribution to this end through business and market expansion effects. If ratified, the landmark Paris COP21 Agreement will commit states to firmer climate actions, this necessarily requiring them to strengthen their promotion of clean energy technologies. Well over a hundred countries already have active policies in this area, many including industrial policy measures that impact on the international competitiveness of their clean energy sector. At the same time, governments have gradually liberalised their clean energy trade regimes, and large producers are negotiating an Environmental Goods Agreement (EGA). Clean energy trade is expanding and disputes among nations in this sector are growing. The World Trade Organisation (WTO) still has limited 'policy space' for climate action. Meanwhile, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) still had narrow and infrequent connections with trade matters. Moreover, WTO-UNFCCC engagement on trade-climate issues overall has been largely confined to information sharing and secretariat-level dialogue. This paper explores the extent to which clean energy trade is currently governed, where certain governance gaps and deficiencies exists, and argues why addressing them could help expand trade in clean energy products. It also contends that the most fundamental challenge for the future governance of clean energy trade concerns how to reconcile ramped-up interventionist climate action with an essentially liberal trade order.


Airport Navigation will require more stringent localization performance requirements than in-flight navigation [1]. GNSS signals (Global Navigation Satellites Systems) can be envisaged to elaborate the aircraft estimate position on the airport surface. To improve the performance of localization on the airport, the errors on GNSS signals particular to the airport environment must be characterized. Most of these errors are well known such as ionosphere error, troposphere error, etc, and do not depend on the airport environment. But to achieve the expected sub-metric performance, it is necessary to better model multipath error for which a model already exists but is valid for operations from en-route down to CAT I only. In this paper, an analysis of real GPS measurements (using code pseudo range measurement, carrier phase measurement, Doppler measurement and the estimate C/N0 ratio measurement) during taxiing operation on the airport surface is conducted. The goal of this paper is to evaluate when multipath occurs and to compare the multipath model (elaborated from the standard deviation of the measurement errors due to multipath) based on those collected measurements in the airport with different models proposed in the literature (not necessary proposed for airport navigation).


Abstract The neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) is the proportion of absolute neutrophil count to lymphocytes on routine complete blood count (CBC) tests, and has been studied as a simple marker of the systemic inflammatory response. This study was performed to investigate whether the NLR could be used as a tool to diagnose and predict prognosis in cases of adult-onset Still's disease (AOSD). We retrospectively reviewed 164 patients with suspected AOSD. Among 164 patients with suspected AOSD, 37 patients received another diagnosis (such as viral infection) and were compared with the 127 patients who received a diagnosis of AOSD. Laboratory tests including CBCs, ferritin, erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), C-reactive protein (CRP) level, and the NLR were evaluated. AOSD patients showed higher neutrophil counts, lower lymphocyte counts, higher NLRs, and higher levels of ferritin, ESR, and CRP than non-AOSD patients (all P < .001). In receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis of the NLR for diagnosis of AOSD, the area under the curve (AUC) was highest at 0.967 (95% CI = 0.940–0.993) with a cutoff value of 3.08. The cutoff value showed the greatest sensitivity (91.7%), specificity (68.4%), and AUC value (0.967) as a diagnostic tool for AOSD. The NLR and treatment appeared to be significant prognostic factors for relapse, but only age showed a significant relationship with death. Furthermore, the NLR was significantly higher in patients with macrophage activation syndrome than in hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) patients (P = .007). In ROC analysis, the NLR with a cutoff value of 5.86 showed a sensitivity of 89.4%, specificity of 87.8%, and AUC of 0.794. The NLR can be used as a diagnostic tool and predictor of relapse in AOSD, and for differential diagnosis of HLH.


Microcirculation is an important component of the cardiovascular system and can be used to assess systemic cardiovascular health. Numerous studies have investigated cutaneous microcirculation as an indicator of cardiovascular related diseases. Such research has shown promising results; however, there are many limitations regarding the employed measurement techniques, such as poor depth and spatial resolution and measurement versatility. Here we show the results of functional cutaneous microvascular experiments measured with photoacoustic microscopy, which provides high spatial resolution and multiparameter measurements. In a set of experiments, microvascular networks located in the palms of volunteers were perturbed by periodic ischemic events, and the subsequent hemodynamic response to the stimulus was recorded. Results indicate that during periods of arterial occlusion, the relative oxygen saturation of the capillary vessels decreased below resting levels, and temporarily increased above resting levels immediately following the occlusion. Furthermore, a hyperemic reaction to the occlusions was measured, and the observation agreed well with similar measurements using more conventional imaging techniques. Due to its exceptional capability to functionally image vascular networks with high spatial resolution, photoacoustic microscopy could be a beneficial biomedical tool to assess microvascular functioning and applied to patients with diseases that affect cardiovascular health. © 2011 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers.


Previous researchers have suggested that in order to be successful in the hospitality industry, students need to obtain work experience in addition to completing their degrees. Although the benefit of gaining such experience from the industry viewpoint has been well documented, few studies have assessed the benefits and challenges faced by students. The purpose of this research study was to examine the benefits and challenges hospitality students may be confronted with when they work while completing their degrees. Web-based questionnaires were utilized to gather the responses of hospitality students and hospitality graduates in this nationwide study that included 31 hospitality programs throughout the United States. Comparisons were made between senior-level hospitality students (n = 409) who gained work experience while in school with those who did not and hospitality graduates (n = 308) who gained work experience while in school with those who did not. Furthermore, comparisons were made between students and graduates to determine the early career plans, job achievement expectations, and perceptions of a professional future of hospitality students. Both benefits and challenges of working while a student were well documented in this research study and statistically significant differences were found between students and graduates and those who worked while in college and those who did not. The majority of students (87.5%) worked while in college with 26.7% of students reporting they worked an average of 21 to 30 hours per week and 23.3% reported working more than 31 hours per week. More graduates who worked while in college were employed full-time in the hospitality industry compared to those who did not (75.5% and 56.4%, respectively). Unique to this study was determining job expectations thereby establishing an initial benchmark for future study.


F-FDG PET/CT is a sensitive noninvasive imaging tool for assessment of recurrent disease in patients with carcinoma cervix. Its role in early detection of recurrences especially in asymptomatic patients has been demonstrated well in literature. Metastatic involvement of the pancreas in patients with adenocarcinoma of the cervix is a rare occurrence, reported only few times in literature, and is predominantly documented to be associated with uncommon histopathologies such as neuroendocrine and small cell carcinoma. We report a rare asymptomatic case of adenocarcinoma of the cervix, detected and confirmed to have pancreatic metastasis on surveillance FDG PET/CT imaging.


Phosphorus (P) strongly limits plant productivity as plants can only absorb free inorganic orthophosphate (Pi) at very low concentrations in soil solution. However, soil contains high levels of poorly available P, especially phytate, considered as the most abundant plant-unavailable organic P source. Here, we investigated a new strategy based on rhizosphere trophic relationships to mobilize P from phytate. We hypothesized that the interactions between plant (Pinus pinaster), phytase-producing bacteria (Bacillus subtilis), mycorrhizal fungi (Hebeloma cylindrosporum), representing the more widespread strategy to improve plant P acquisition, and bacterial grazer nematodes (Rhabditis sp.) may improve plant P acquisition from phytate and thus P cycling from soil organic P. We grew seedlings jn microcosms containing soil with Pi or phytate, with or without the above-mentioned organisms for 2.5 months. With Pi, no significant differences were observed among inoculation or mycorrhizal treatments. In contrast, with phytate, nematode grazing was required for non-mycorrhizal plants to acquire P into their shoots. In mycorrhizal plants, bacteria alone improved net P accumulation and nematode grazing enhanced this positive effect. Soil microbial P contents and in situ probing of bacterial phytase gene expression are currently under study to understand better the mechanisms underlying the strong positive effects of nematode grazing on plant P nutrition. Our first results indicate that the use of trophic relationships should be considered as a sustainable strategy for plant P nutrition to enhance organic P cycling and P availability in the rhizosphere.


Domain adaptation aims to generalize a model from a source domain to tackle tasks in a related but different target domain. Traditional domain adaptation algorithms assume that enough labeled data, which are treated as the prior knowledge are available in the source domain. However, these algorithms will be infeasible when only a few labeled data exist in the source domain, and thus the performance decreases significantly. To address this challenge, we propose a Domain-invariant Graph Learning (DGL) approach for domain adaptation with only a few labeled source samples. Firstly, DGL introduces the Nystrom method to construct a plastic graph that shares similar geometric property as the target domain. And then, DGL flexibly employs the Nystrom approximation error to measure the divergence between plastic graph and source graph to formalize the distribution mismatch from the geometric perspective. Through minimizing the approximation error, DGL learns a domain-invariant geometric graph to bridge source and target domains. Finally, we integrate the learned domain-invariant graph with the semi-supervised learning and further propose an adaptive semi-supervised model to handle the cross-domain problems. The results of extensive experiments on popular datasets verify the superiority of DGL, especially when only a few labeled source samples are available.


This thesis consists of a study of Schelling's post-critical metaphysics. For the purpose of systematic and historical corroboration, the foundation of Schelling's metaphysics is contextually reconstructed through investigations of Kant's critique of metaphysics and Hegel's transformation of the Kantian problematic. The Romantic and Fichtean background of Schelling's theoretical intervention is also partially reconstructed. On the basis of this contextual presentation, given in the form of a problematic progression, the thesis then develops Schelling's foundational move for the grounding of a post-critical metaphysics as an immanent response to Kant and Hegel. Schelling's position is here proved to consist of a radicalisation of Kant and a superior critique of Hegel's critique of Kant. The second part of the thesis then proceeds to present the elementary components of Schelling's metaphysics: the doctrine of powers, the philosophy of time and theory of ideas, developed directly out of the foundational grounding excavated in the first part. It is proved that Schelling's reconstruction of metaphysics is essentially powered by the reactivation of figures of thought derived from Platonic ontology and cosmology, rearticulated through productive conjunction with resource offered by the Kantian presentation of the transcendental apparatus. It is argued that the resultant metaphysical outlook, a solid restatement of which is given in the final part of the thesis, informs and grounds all of Schelling's philosophical endeavours, from the early philosophy of nature, over the philosophy of art, up to the late philosophy of mythology and philosophy of revelation. Thus this thesis offers an endorsement of the argument for the essential integrity of Schelling's thought - advanced by a number of recent scholars - against the conceptions of discontinuous breaks in Schelling's oeuvre, still prevalent in most of the orthodox views of the history of philosophy. Lastly it is argued that the reconstruction of Schelling's metaphysics, presented in this thesis, must be understood as a powerful vantage point from which to think the possibilities of a contemporary philosophical cosmology.


The change-point detection problem seeks to identify distributional changes at an unknown changepoint k∗ in a stream of data. This problem appears in many important practical settings involving personal data, including biosurveillance, fault detection, finance, signal detection, and security systems. The field of differential privacy offers data analysis tools that provide powerful worst-case privacy guarantees. We study the statistical problem of change-point detection through the lens of differential privacy. We give private algorithms for both online and offline change-point detection, analyze these algorithms theoretically, and provide empirical validation of our results.


Tidal stream turbines offer a promising means of producing renewable energy at foreseeable times and of predictable quantity. However, the turbines may have to operate under wave-current conditions that cause high velocity fluctuations in the flow, leading to unsteady power output and structural loading and, potentially, to premature structural failure. Consequently, it is important to understand the effects that wave-induced velocities may have on tidal devices and how their design could be optimised to reduce the additional unsteady loading. This paper describes an experimental investigation into the performance of a scale-model threebladed HATT (horizontal axis tidal stream turbine) operating under different wave-current combinations and it shows how changes in the blade pitch angle can reduce wave loading. Tests were carried out in the recirculating water channel at the University of Liverpool, with a paddle wavemaker installed upstream of the working section to induce surface waves travelling in the same direction as the current. Three wave conditions were employed in a current-dominated flow. The wave kinematics were measured using an acoustic Doppler velocimeter and there was generally good agreement with Stokes' second-order wave theory. Power and thrust measurements were taken under both current-alone and wave-current conditions for different blade pitch angles. It was observed that, as the blade pitch angle was increased from optimum, both the mean power and thrust on the turbine decreased and the reductions in thrust were always greater than in power. The fluctuations in power and thrust also decreased with an increase in the blade pitch angle. Therefore, changes in blade pitch angle can be used as a mechanism for reducing the loading on a HATT when operating with excessive wave-induced loads, while still enabling a significant amount of the available power in the unsteady tidal stream to be extracted. © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).


Solutions - customized and integrated product bundles sold in the context of complex business markets - represent an increasingly popular marketing strategy for many firms. Seeking to escape the perils of competition and commoditization, companies such as IBM, GE, Siemens, and HP are investing significant resources to create idiosyncratic offerings that integrate multiple goods and services. A solutions-based marketing strategy stands in contrast to traditional product strategies by emphasizing the co-production of large-dollar offerings with a single buyer. Unfortunately, there are many barriers to this strategy, with some studies suggesting that more than 75% of suppliers fail to achieve a positive return on their solutions investments. Despite substantial practitioner interest, there is a surprising absence of research on solutions. In response, my dissertation develops a model of solution success by examining the antecedents to the profitability of B2B solution contracts, commonly referred to as "engagements." Spanning multiple months to many years, solution engagements represent an intriguing new form of buyer-seller exchange. Firms must navigate two financially risky decisions as they pursue and develop their idiosyncratic offerings for buyers. The first decision pertains to opportunity selection - which solution opportunities to pursue? The second involves a set of resource allocation issues - how to configure the solution offering? Leveraging field interviews and theoretical perspectives from the organizational problem solving literature, my study aims to assess how various aspects of the focal customer problem and the supplier's solution offering influence the profitability of individual solution engagements. To evaluate my model, I partnered with a Fortune 100 technology firm to develop a novel dataset containing details of more than 700 individual engagements, including opportunity and customer descriptors, solution characteristics, and engagement-specific profit. My analysis reveals several significant and intriguing findings that paint a complex picture of solution profitability. As the first empirical examination of this major business phenomenon, this dissertation has the potential to make important theoretical and managerial contributions.


In recent years, increase in the development of connected and autonomous vehicles (CAVs) has sparked cyber security concerns. In particular, vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication, which is essential for CAV and the transportation system, has introduced a new threat landscape and created several attack surfaces for malicious agents. The available literature on cyber-attacks mostly concentrate on sophisticated tools and equipment in performing malicious activities. However, ignorance of simple attack and defense methods, sometimes as simple as defining proper access policies, is among top reasons for cyber-attacks. This paper aims to emphasize on the need for practicing security-by-design and increase awareness of manufacturers and developers to adopt minimum security measures. A generic network communication vulnerability assessment method is adopted to perform navigational attack through GPS falsification on connected vehicles, using an Unmanned Ground Vehicles (UGV) as a case study. This paper underlines the Wi-Fi security threats if used for V2X communication without proper access control measures in place. The experimental analysis demonstrates exploitation of a vulnerability which allows full control and backend navigation manipulation with respect to the UGV movement.


Background: The effective therapeutic dose of pralidoxime methylsulphate for organophosphate (OP) poisoning is necessary to be clarified. This study was designed to comparatively assess the blood level of pralidoxime (BPL) and clinical outcomes in OP poisoned patients treated with intermittent dosing and patients treated with continuous infusion. Methods: This was a prospective, open labelled, cross-sectional, nonrandomized observational study which was done from 2009 to 2012 in a tertiary care hospital in Manipal, India. A high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method with prominence diode array (PDA) detector was developed to measure BPL. Patients were categorized into study and control groups. Patients in study group were divided into 3 subgroups as they were treated with (a) intermittent pralidoxime dosing (1 g/q8h) or (b) continuous pralidoxime infusion (500 mg/h) or (c) continuous pralidoxime infusion (1 g/h). Patients who were not treated with pralidoxime were considered as the control group. The level of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) was measured before and pralidoxime therapy. Results: The developed HPLC method was linear over the range of 0.5-50 µg/mL and the correlation coefficient was found to be greater than 0.99. The median (IQR) of BPL in intermittent dosing (4.63 (5.26)) was comparatively lower than patients treated with continuous infusion. The highest BPL was maintained in 1 g/h group with median (IQR) serum level of 38.86 (16.75). The reactivation rate of AChE was higher in continuous infusion groups compared to intermittent dosing. Comparison of AChE before and after pralidoxime therapy showed that higher BPL was associated with greater reactivation of AChE. Conclusion: HPLC can be used as alternative method for measurement of pralidoxime level in blood. Continuous infusion of pralidoxime maintained a steady higher blood concentration compared to intermittent dosing with vast fluctuations. The reactivation rate of AChE was higher in continuous infusion compared to intermittent dosing. Hence, continuous infusion of pralidoxime can more rapidly recover the OP poisoned patients with less morbidity.


Germany's increased power capabilities in foreign affairs since reunification have prompted scholars to argue that the country should be viewed as a regional hegemonic power, exercising significant influence not only over smaller countries in Eastern and Southern Europe, but also over the institutions of the European Union. After providing a critical assessment of the literature on hegemony in Europe, this article outlines three main trends in the scholarship on German power in European affairs. First, scholars tend to exaggerate Berlin's power capabilities relative to other major European states such as France, Italy, and the United Kingdom. Research shows that Europe is best understood as a multipolar regional order, not a hegemonic system dominated by one powerful state. Second, German leadership in Europe is contested and often delegitimized. Since 1949, German political elites have not been able to exercise influence in Europe without the support of other European states. This remains true even after the collapse of the Franco-German "tandem" in the wake of the European debt crisis. Third, scholars fail to adequately address how American power in the North Atlantic impacts regional polarity. Since reunification, the role of the United States in Europe has only increased and American influence over Eastern Europe, in particular, surpasses that of other European powers, including Germany.


With the development of mobile surveying and mapping technologies, point cloud data has been emerging in a variety of applications including robot navigation, self-driving drones/vehicles, and three-dimensional (3D) urban space modeling. In addition, there is an increasing demand for the database management system to share and reuse point cloud data, unlike being treated as archive files in the traditional uses and applications. However, database scalability needs to be explored to process and manage a massive volume of point cloud data defined by a 3D (X, Y, and Z) coordinates system. The typical approach to handle big data and distribute it across multiple nodes is data partitioning. Geohashing is a popular way to convert a latitude/longitude spatial point into a code/string and has used for storing data into buckets of the grid. Many methods of handling big geospatial data, especially NoSQL databases, are based on the geohashing techniques. In this paper, we propose an efficient method to encode/decode 3D point cloud in a Discrete Global Grid System (DGGS) that represents the Earth as hierarchical sequences of equal area/volume tessellations, similar to geohash. The current geohash of base36 has the difficulties of working with high-resolution 3D point clouds for data storage, filter, integration, and analytics because of its limitation of cell size and unequal areas. We employ DGGS-based Morton codes with more than 64 bits for precise 3D coordinates of point cloud and compare the encoding/decoding performance between two implementations: using strings and using the combination of bit interleaving and lookup tables.


Commons-Based Peer Production (CBPP) is a new model of socio-economic production in which groups of individuals cooperate with each other without a traditional hierarchical organisation to produce common and public goods, such as Wikipedia or GNU/Linux. There is a need to understand how these communities govern and organise themselves as they grow in size and complexity. Following an ethnographic approach, this thesis explores the emergence of and changes in the organisational structures and processes of Drupal: a large and global CBBP community which, over the past fifteen years, has coordinated the work of hundreds of thousands of participants to develop a technology which currently powers more than 2% of websites worldwide.

Firstly, this thesis questions and studies the notion of contribution in CBPP communities, arguing that contribution should be understood as a set of meanings which are under constant negotiation between the participants according to their own internal logics of value. Following a constructivist approach, it shows the relevance played by less visible contribution activities such as the organisation of events.

Secondly, this thesis explores the emergence and inner workings of the socio-technical systems which surround contributions related to the development of projects and the organisation of events. Two intertwined organisational dynamics were identified: formalisation in the organisational processes and decentralisation in decision-making.

Finally, this thesis brings together the empirical data from this exploration of socio-technical systems with previous literature on self-organisation and organisation studies, to offer an account of how the organisational changes resulted in the emergence of a polycentric model of governance, in which different forms of organisation varying in their degree of organicity co-exist and influence each other.