Subjective social distances to professions: are there subjective class boundaries in the Czech society? Abstract: Using the concept of subjective social distance we focus on perceptions of occupational categories. First, the theoretical concept of social distance is introduced as a tool for measuring social stratification. Second, subjective hypothetical interactional distances to 22 occupational stimuli are analyzed with data from the Social Distances 2007 survey. People rate the stimuli hierarchically analogous to occupational prestige and socioeconomic status; however some minor divergence can be detected. Further we focus on differences among gender and members of self identified social classes. The main part assesses the hypothesis of the existence of subjective social class boundaries. The status-continuum is shared by the whole public, yet we can identify mental categorization patterns of professional groupings which draw an intense boundary between white and blue collar professions. Further, four groupings regarded as subjective social class can be identified: higher professionals, female lower professionals, qualified and semiqualified manual and non-manual workers, and unqualified manual professions with low prestige.


Smart electrical transmission and distribution grids are seen as key facilitators of the industry innovation that are required to meet the challenges of de-carbonization, operation performance excellence, and consumer centricity. Electricity grids represent a complex system of systems with intense interactions between them and require the collection of large amounts of data from a variety of sources to improve the energy ecosystem operation. In this paper, we describe an IBM framework that combines industry standards and advanced technologies—including analytics, mobile, and IoT (Internet of Things)—to meet the smart grid industry challenge. The Smart Grid Architecture Model (SGAM) and accompanying standards are used as a reference to ensure the openness, loose coupling, and flexibility of the framework. A consolidated and standardized data model bridging traditional utility silos is essential for analytics in this framework and represents a canonical model for integration. While offering advanced service-oriented architecture and application-programming interface integration concepts, the framework allows for retention of traditional utilities' legacy applications, preserving investments made. The framework permits for mix-and-match of the flexible building blocks linked by industry standards, promoting an incremental deployment of services as per utility needs.


Low-bit representation based motion estimation approaches such as one-bit transform, multiplication-free one-bit transform, and two-bit transform use matching criteria suitable for hardware. Thus, these techniques are more appropriate for consumer electronics devices which include hardware implementations in order to meet various constraints such as low-power and limited processing capability. The recently proposed constrained one-bit transform based motion estimation approach provides better-results compared to other low-bit representation based approaches. Furthermore, it is shown in the literature that the performance of such approaches can be improved by employing some additional searches in the image domain starting from the best motion vectors found in the low-bit representation based motion estimation stage. This idea is applied to the constrained one-bit transform based motion estimation approach in this paper. Furthermore, a faster version of the constrained one-bit transform is also evaluated within this modification concept. Our experiments show that one of the proposed methods provides the best performance among methods sharing similar modification approaches whereas the other one enables the fastest implementation with small performance degradation.


Recession analysis is widely used for characterizing aquifer and basin properties based on the falling limb of the hydrograph. However, recession analysis using streamflow discharge requires a relationship (the rating curve) between simultaneous measurements of water height, h, and discharge, Q, across a wide range of flows, which is expensive to obtain, and changes in time. We leverage the relationship between h and Q (typical power law) to perform recession analysis using h directly, thus permitting identification of transient flow regimes, where only h is available. Recession analysis evaluates the rate of change in discharge, −dQ/dt, as a function of discharge, Q, in a bilogarithmic plot where the slope, b, contains information about aquifer characteristics. While values of b are not conserved when replacing Q with h, we find that the variability in values of b within and between events is captured in recession analysis for both Q and h. For example, when considering individual recessions from a large number of watersheds, a change from a smaller b at high discharge/stage to a larger b at lower discharge/stage occurs in most watersheds and suggests a transition to a more long‐lasting, and less drought‐sensitive, baseflow regime. With the advent of low‐cost reliable pressure loggers, as well as satellites that provide global reporting of river stage, recession analysis using water height expands the number of river systems where recession analysis can be conducted and provides the potential for insights into the variability of watershed drainage characteristics without the need for a discharge record.


The study aims to gain insight into how social workers perceive their psychosocial work environment and examine whether this effects the performance of their duties. The study mainly addresses the shortcomings of the psychosocial work environment of Social Services and the implications it entails for social workers health and wellbeing. The psychosocial work environment includes physical and psychological factors therefore the study's interpretive framework consists of organizational theoretical and social psychological concepts and previous research on the subject. We examined the organizational and social psychological connections to social workers perception of their work environment with a qualitative approach. The empirical data was collected through interviews with four social workers in a municipality in central Sweden using a semi-structured interview guide. The results led to the conclusions that challenge our preconceptions and gave us a nuanced perspective on social workers working conditions. The result of the study indicates that social service officials may not always be affected by adverse workplace conditions. Exceptions exist.


Cemento-ossifying fibromas are benign lesions of the jaw, which arise from the periodontal membrane. Histopathologically these are composed of fibrous tissues with calcified structures resembling bone and cementum. Surgical resection is the treatment of choice. They have rarely been reported in the ethmoid sinus, maxillary sinus and sphenoid sinus Mastoid bone is an extremely rare site of such tumors. Only one case of cemento-ossifying fibroma of petromastoid bone has been reported before. We present a case of cementoossifying fibroma involving the petromastoid bone, with the large intracranial component causing compression on the cerebellum. This unique case may provide insight into the etiopathogenesis of these tumors.


TULCA 2011 is curated by Megs Morley. This year the concept for the programme is "After the fall", a familiar yet ambiguous phrase that is used in this context to relate a set of ideas querying the role of art at a time of local, national and international recession, political collapse and social upheaval. These collapses expose the current porousness between the logics of society, economy, politics and capital. The exhibition; a pause in an endless circulation of ideas, is part of a system that mirrors these spheres, yet is simultaneously defined by the ongoing blurring between the definitions of life, art and politics. The impossibility of subversion in this context is apparent, but through the creation of a temporary community formed through local and international networks of exchange, the exhibition provides the opportunity to intervene into private and public spheres of intersubjective and collective understandings. "After the fall", attempts to look at art in a wide scope of contexts that positions itself in the juncture at the end of one era and the beginning of the next.


ABSTRACT Genetic diversity is often generated during adaptation to stress, and in eukaryotes some of this diversity is thought to arise via recombination and reassortment of alleles during meiosis. Candida albicans, the most prevalent pathogen of humans, has no known meiotic cycle, and yet it is a heterozygous diploid that undergoes mitotic recombination during somatic growth. It has been shown that clinical isolates as well as strains passaged once through a mammalian host undergo increased levels of recombination. Here, we tested the hypothesis that stress conditions increase rates of mitotic recombination in C. albicans, which is measured as loss of heterozygosity (LOH) at specific loci. We show that LOH rates are elevated during in vitro exposure to oxidative stress, heat stress, and antifungal drugs. In addition, an increase in stress severity correlated well with increased LOH rates. LOH events can arise through local recombination, through homozygosis of longer tracts of chromosome arms, or by whole-chromosome homozygosis. Chromosome arm homozygosis was most prevalent in cultures grown under conventional lab conditions. Importantly, exposure to different stress conditions affected the levels of different types of LOH events, with oxidative stress causing increased recombination, while fluconazole and high temperature caused increases in events involving whole chromosomes. Thus, C. albicans generates increased amounts and different types of genetic diversity in response to a range of stress conditions, a process that we term "stress-induced LOH" that arises either by elevating rates of recombination and/or by increasing rates of chromosome missegregation. IMPORTANCE Stress-induced mutagenesis fuels the evolution of bacterial pathogens and is mainly driven by genetic changes via mitotic recombination. Little is known about this process in other organisms. Candida albicans, an opportunistic fungal pathogen, causes infections that require adaptation to different host environmental niches. We measured the rates of LOH and the types of LOH events that appeared in the absence and in the presence of physiologically relevant stresses and found that stress causes a significant increase in the rates of LOH and that this increase is proportional to the degree of stress. Furthermore, the types of LOH events that arose differed in a stress-dependent manner, indicating that eukaryotic cells generate increased genetic diversity in response to a range of stress conditions. We propose that this "stress-induced LOH" facilitates the rapid adaptation of C. albicans, which does not undergo meiosis, to changing environments within the host. Stress-induced mutagenesis fuels the evolution of bacterial pathogens and is mainly driven by genetic changes via mitotic recombination. Little is known about this process in other organisms. Candida albicans, an opportunistic fungal pathogen, causes infections that require adaptation to different host environmental niches. We measured the rates of LOH and the types of LOH events that appeared in the absence and in the presence of physiologically relevant stresses and found that stress causes a significant increase in the rates of LOH and that this increase is proportional to the degree of stress. Furthermore, the types of LOH events that arose differed in a stress-dependent manner, indicating that eukaryotic cells generate increased genetic diversity in response to a range of stress conditions. We propose that this "stress-induced LOH" facilitates the rapid adaptation of C. albicans, which does not undergo meiosis, to changing environments within the host.


OBJECTIVE
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recommends pneumococcal vaccination for immunocompromised patients. Data suggest that rates of vaccination in this population are not optimal. To support continuous quality improvement efforts, we electronically measured vaccination status among rheumatology outpatients over time.

METHODS
Using data from administrative (billing) and electronic health record sources, we identified rheumatology clinic patients seen between 1 February 2008 and 31 January 2010 and prescribed an immunosuppressive medication. CDC recommendations for pneumococcal vaccination were applied. We calculated the proportion of eligible patients who were up-to-date with pneumococcal vaccination: (i) while on an immunosuppressive medication and (ii) before newly starting an immunosuppressive medication in the last 12 months.

RESULTS
We identified 2763 rheumatology clinic patients on immunosuppressive medications, with 568 initiated in the last 12 months. The mean age was 57 years, 75% were female and 77% were Caucasian. The most frequent disease was RA (50%) and the most common immunosuppressive medication was MTX (59%). Of patients on immunosuppressive medications, 1491/2763 (54%) were up to date with pneumococcal vaccination. Among new initiators of immunosuppressive medications, 258/568 (45%) were vaccinated before starting the immunosuppressive medication. Patients treated by rheumatologists in practice for ≤10 years were more likely to be up to date with pneumococcal vaccination (72%) than those with providers in practice >10 years (52%, P < 0.001).

CONCLUSION
The proportion of patients who are up to date with documented pneumococcal vaccination was suboptimal in our rheumatology practice. The ability to continuously repeat electronic measurement permits us to initiate continuous quality improvement efforts.


In the earthquake resistant design of buildings, it is necessary to know a priori the value of the ductility that these will be able to reach when they are affected by strong ground motions. These values are available in the seismic design codes, but their estimation can be also made by using expert's opinion or the actual response of the buildings during seismic events. Nevertheless,the problem has been generally centred on the response of structures with ductile behaviour, like special moment-resisting frames, and there are not enough data available on the response of buildings with restricted ductility, such as framed buildings with flat beams and buildings with waffle slabs. Therefore, in this study, the nonlinear behaviour of buildings with restricted ductility is examined. In this paper two restricted ductility buildings have been designed according to the requirements of the EHE instruction and of the NCSE-02 code. The values of theirs ductility have been thus calculated and compared with the values of the reduction factors applied in the determination of the seismic design forces and with the values of the structural overstrength. Additionally, the response of the buildings, designed with steel of different ductilities and yield stress, are studied. Finally, the responses of the buildings with restricted ductility are compared with that of a moment-resisting framed buildings designed according to EHE and ACI codes.


Abstract We have applied atomistic simulation techniques to model the continuous CdCO3-CaCO3 solid solution and to investigate the thermodynamic properties. All inequivalent substitutional configurations were considered for the single unit cell and the (2 × 1 × 1) supercell for the full range of Cd concentrations, as well as doping between 0and 16.7 mol.% Cd for the (2 × 2 × 1) supercell. Our calculations show that segregation of Cd2+ and Ca2+ is energetically favourable when compared with any other cation distribution. No cation ordering is expected at high temperature and the system behaves as an ideal solid solution above 200 K, due to the configurational entropy. The lattice parameters change with the Cd concentration, where they are predicted to follow a linear relationship, due only to cation substitution but not cation ordering.


AbstractPosterior Tibial Tendon Insufficiency (PTTI) is the major reason for acquired flat-foot. The purpose of this study, which was planned as a single-group pre- and post-intervention repeated measures design, was to investigate whether orthotic intervention is effective in treating pain caused by PPTI. Ten males and 15 females, whose mean age was 30.66 ± 12.67 years, completed the pain and disability subscales of the foot function index at their first visit and after 6 weeks of orthotic wear. There was a 47.64% decrease in pain and a 53.07% decrease in disability levels, and a high correlation between pain and disability subscales. The results of our study imply that orthotic management of PTTI is effective in alleviating pain and the amount of difficulty expressed by the patient.


The solution of the line contact problem of elastohydrodynamic lubrication in the asymptotic régime developed by Bissett (Proc. R. Soc. Lond. A 424, 393–407 (1989)) exhibits two regions of rapid change: a transition layer between the inlet and contact zones, and a downstream exit layer. In these regions the governing Reynolds equation of lubrication theory is essentially nonlinear, although pressure and surface displacement continue to be linearly related by the singular integral equation of plane elasticity. In combination, the system in each region reduces to a nonlinear singular integrodifferential equation with Cauchy kernel for the surface displacement, to be satisfied on either an infinite interval (transition layer) or a semi-infinite interval (exit layer). A method is developed along lines used by Spence & Sharp (Proc. R. Soc. Lond. A400, 289 (1985), Proc. R. Soc. Lond. A422, 173 (1989)) and Spence et al. (J. Fluid Mech. 174, 135 (1987)) for approximating the solution in either case by a finite number of trigonometric terms (up to 900). Rapid convergence is achieved by judicious allowance for end point behaviours as deduced by asymptotic analysis of the governing equations. The equations contain an eigenvalue, representing the scaled exit film thickness, which also characterizes the film thickness in the contact zone. This eigenvalue is found with high accuracy in the course of solving the transition layer problem. Close agreement with certain results of Hooke & O'Donoghue (J. mech. Engng Sci. 14 (1), 34 (1972)) is exhibited.


This book is useful to people working or planning to work in the field of linear accelerators. It is a good reference, presenting the most recent advances in the field. The intended audience are researchers, practitioners, academics and graduate students.The proceedings have been selected for coverage in:* Index to Scientific & Technical Proceedings (ISTP CDROM version / ISI Proceedings)* CC Proceedings - Engineering & Physical Sciences


Abstract: The standard economic model of how economies work is that activities are essentially productive. This is not a correct view of reality. The principal difficulty is that there is economic activity that is unproductive and harmful (from the point of view of those being harmed). This is a central feature of the economic organization of these societies, and creates poverty. The first section of the article discusses the concept of harm. The second section describes how societies are run on this basic set of principles: Take and maintain control of the government and other aspects of society, and use the power of government to obtain income. The third section of the article describes how this system harms the common people. Topics include corruption, misappropriation of natural resources, conflict and other harm engendered by the struggle for control, the influence on present society of the past operation of harmful economic systems, and discrimination as well as other "barriers to entry."


Despite growing investment in producing and releasing comparative provider quality information (CQI), consumer use of CQI has remained poor. We offer a framework to interpret and synthesize the existing literature's diverse approaches to explaining the CQI's low appeal for consumers. Our framework cautions CQI stakeholders against forming unrealistic expectations of pervasive consumer use and suggests that they focus their efforts more narrowly on consumers who may find CQI more salient for choosing providers. We review the consumer impact of stakeholder efforts to apply the burgeoning knowledge of consumers' cognitive limitations to the design and dissemination of the new generation of report cards; we conclude that while it is too limited to draw firm conclusions, early evidence suggests consumers are responding to the novel design and dissemination strategies. We find that consumers continue to have difficulty accessing reliable report cards, while the media remains underused in the dissemination of report cards.


Ongoing next-generation networks are expected to be deployed over current existing networks in the form of overlayed heterogeneous networks, particularly in hot-spot areas. Therefore, it will be necessary to develop an interworking technique, such as load balancing, to achieve increased overall resource utilization in the various heterogeneous networks. In this paper, we present a new load-balancing mechanism termed ldquosoftrdquo load balancing, where the Internet Protocol (IP) traffic of a user is divided into subflows, each of which flows into a different access network. The terminology of soft load balancing involves the use of both load-sharing and handover techniques. Through a numerical analysis, we obtain an optimal load-balancing ratio (LBR) to determine the volume of traffic delivered to each network over an overlayed multicell environment. Using the optimal LBR, a more reliable channel transmission can be achieved by efficiently reducing the outage probability for given user traffic.


PURPOSE
The purpose of this study was to investigate artifacts of OCT scans and of software analysis for retinal cross-section scans in a specialised retina clinic setting.

METHODS
A total of 205 vertical cross-hair OCT scans of retinal Stratus OCTs were randomly chosen from the database. All scans had been performed by one experienced technician. There were 75 (37%) normal findings, the remaining scans showed various types of retinal pathology: All scanning artifacts were analysed. Retinal thickness of all scans was measured automatically at the centre of the macula using two different software algorithms: the instrument's built-in "Stratus OCT Viewer V 4.01" and the stand-alone application "Datamedical OCTview V 3.5" (Datamedical Consulting, Hamburg). Errors of the software to correctly identify the retinal surface and the outer highly reflective layer were assigned into three categories: none, minor error (no influence on measurements) and major error.

RESULTS
A total of 7.3% of all OCT scans showed scanning artifacts: 5 motion artifacts, 9 scans with low signal intensity and 1 decentred scan. Scanning artifacts significantly increased the frequency of software errors (p = 0.012). The presence of retinal pathology also increased the number of errors (p = 0.004). Software analysis yielded a total of 20 major and 2 minor errors for the Stratus OCT (overall 10.7%) and 32 major and 64 minor errors for the Datamedical Viewer (p < 0.001). Measurements by Datamedical OCTview were a mean of 57 micron higher due to a different definition of the outer retinal border. Retinal pathologies significantly increased the likelihood of software errors for both algorithms (both p < 0.01), most critical were macular holes and changes in age-related macular degeneration.

CONCLUSION
Scanning artifacts were associated with a significantly higher frequency of software errors. As artifacts of scans and software occur frequently, the interpretation of OCT scans requires special attention to artifacts.


Background and aims Despite the increasing demand for adhesive restorations in pediatric dentistry, polymerization shrinkage and subsequent marginal microleakage remains a problem. The aim of this study was to evaluate of the sealing ability of novel low-shrinkage composite silorane in class V cavity of primary canines in comparison with three types of composite resin. Materials and methods Ninety-one non-carious extracted primary canines were randomly divided in six groups (n=15). Standard class V cavities were prepared on the buccal surface of each tooth that the occlusal margin was in the enamel and the cervical margin extending 1 mm below the cemento-enamel junction. The preparations were restored with the different composite materials in normal consistency with application the bonding in six groups (Filtek silorane; etch + Filtek Silorane; Z250; Filtek supreme; els saremco; Aelite LS). Teeth were then exposed to thermal cycles (1000 cycles, 5°C and 55°C), sealed and immersed in a 0.5% basic fuchsine for 24 hours, and finally sectioned. Buccolingual and mar-ginal leakage was assessed with dye penetration. Results The best seal were obtained with etch + Filtek Silorane (P < 0.05) and the weakest seal with Z250 composite res-torations (P > 0.05). Except for etch + silorane, there was no significant differences in sealing ability (P > 0.05), and in the microleakage degree at the cementum and enamel margins (P > 0.05) between the groups. Conclusion According to the results, low-shrinkage silorane composite restorations with etching the cavity provide the highest seal in primary teeth.


The topic of this thesis is investigation of a small-scale stand-alone power system, based on both experimental work and computer simulations. The power system in this study uses solar energy as energy input, lead-acid batteries as short-term energy storage, and hydrogen as long-term energy storage. The main focus is upon operation and control of the hydrogen subsystem, as a robust controller is needed in order to prevent excessive use of the components in this subsystem. The laboratory power system comprises of: Hydrogen subsystem (PEM electrolyser, metal hydride, and PEM fuel cell), a lead-acid battery, programmable power supply for emulation of PV arrays, wind turbines, and controlled characterisation of the individual system components, and a programmable electronic load. The intention was to build the laboratory power system as simple and energy efficient as possible. The components were connected directly in parallel on a common 48 V DC bus bar, no power electronics were applied between the components. Furthermore, the metal hydride and the fuel cell were air-cooled, avoiding auxiliaries required for water- cooling. The electrolyser, however, needed water-cooling. But with the electrolyser delivering hydrogen at 16 bars to a low pressure metal hydride, no use of compressor was required. On the other hand, metal hydrides needs purified hydrogen gas, > 99.999 %, in order to maintain its capacity as specified by the manufacturer. The actual work in this thesis is divided in three main parts: 1. Design, construction, and operation of a laboratory hydrogen power system 2. Establishment of a computer model of the laboratory hydrogen power system, which interpolates and extrapolates its outputs based on experimental data collected from the laboratory system 3. Establishment of control algorithms for high-level energy management of the laboratory hydrogen power system based on the developed computer model. It is a goal to make the implementation and maintenance of these control algorithms as simple as possible. Furthermore, the control algorithms must enable efficient usage of the system components and secure energy supply to the end user The results of this thesis are divided in two main parts: The first part of the main results relates to the proposal and development of two types of control algorithms for high-level energy management, which will be denoted as the Control Matrix and the Fuzzy controller in the thesis. These control algorithms are suggested as opposed to the more traditional battery five-step charge controller. Identification of important system parameters and choosing proper settings for control parameters must be implemented into the control algorithms in order to finalise a complete control strategy. It will be shown that the electrolyser annual runtime decreases while the electrolyser annual hydrogen production remains the same by using the proposed control strategies, thus running the electrolyser more efficient.Furthermore, with a reduction in the total number of electrolyser start-ups, a more stable system operation is achieved. The second part of the main results relates to the operational experience of the small-scale laboratory hydrogen power system. Due to the amount of power required by the local control system integrated into the fuel cell and the electrolyser, the energy efficiency of the fuel cell and the electrolyser is lower at partial loads. Thus, with the additional energy needed for hydrogen purification, the round-trip efficiency of the hydrogen subsystem is found to be rather low (< 30 %), when the fuel cell and the electrolyser runs at low partial loads. However, it is encouraging that the hydrogen subsystem can reach 35 – 40 % when the fuel cell and the electrolyser are allowed to run at nominal power levels, in addition to optimal arrangement of the hydrogen purification unit. These energy efficiencies are higher than efficiencies achieved with diesel-fuelled generators. Besides, stand-alone power systems often resides in remote areas where transportation of diesel is costly, thus local production of the fuel by means of electrolyser and excess renewable energy can be profitable. Regarding the difficulty of measuring the true amount of hydrogen present in the metal hydride, and because this system parameter is important in the control strategy, a pressurised vessel is recommended instead of the air-cooled metal hydride. Furthermore, it is recommended to use DC/DC converters in the hydrogen power system in order to ensure power quality within specifications and robust operation.


Training and Monitoring: a two-stage training model in teacher professional development. We present a teacher training course that has emerged as a way to support the trainees as well as to keep up with the training received. It is developed in two stages: (i) the training process and (ii) the monitoring. The second stage acts as support for trainees after the training course, urging them to continue to update the training received. It has already been applied in Portugal. We describe the procedure and present the results. To contextualize our study we report some training and professional development initiatives implemented in Portugal, as well as processes of change in the scope of basic and secondary education. We also describe the model, the research questions that were outlined for its evaluation, and the results achieved.


Natalizumab (NTZ) is a recombinant humanised immunoglobulin G4 monoclonal antibody that selectively inhibits adhesion of α4-β1 receptor on the surface of lymphocytes and hinders circulating cells from leaving the vascular compartment of the brain.1 NTZ is associated with a risk of developing progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML), estimated at approximately 1/200 in JCV-positive patients after 24 months treatment duration.1 The overall survival rate is 71% in PML secondary to NTZ treatment, which is substantially better than the often-fatal course of PML in other immunosuppressed patients.2 This reflects the fact that immune reconstitution is more easily obtained in NTZ patient by treatment cessation.3 Immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome (IRIS), characterised by contrast-enhancing MRI lesions with clinical deterioration, is observed in almost all PML patients after NTZ cessation.2 Plasma exchange (PLEX) is usually initiated after NTZ cessation to remove remaining circulating NTZ levels, which favours the immune reconstitution, whereas intravenous corticosteroids (CS) are given to suppress IRIS development.1 Nevertheless, the increased peripheral functional T-cell expansion following PLEX can be seen as an accelerator for IRIS, and the negative impact of CS on JCV-specific CD8 T cell response is also at risk of inhibiting the physiological immune response against the JC virus (JCV).

### Report of a case

A patient was diagnosed with relapsing-remitting MS at the age of 46 years. Her JCV IgG serum status was positive 6 months after NTZ treatment initiation. After 22 infusions, she presented …


Sensitive and quick clays are typically found in Norway, Sweden and Canada, and are characterized by a remoulded undrained shear strength that is considerably lower than the undisturbed shear strength. In geotechnical engineering, the presence of sensitive clays pose a major challenge. The landslides at Rissa in 1978, and more recently at the Skjeggestad bridge in Norway, are devastating reminders of the potential threats related to such soils. For a geotechnical engineering project it is hence important to 1) determine if there is sensitive clay present and 2) clarify the extent of the quick clay deposit. This is currently done based on interpretation of soundings and to some extent by geophysical methods such as electrical resistivity measurements. However, for verification of quick clay, sampling and laboratory testing must be performed. Here, a set of methods for classification of sensitive clays from in situ measurements are presented. The aim is to provide the geotechnical engineer with practical and rational methods, from which all available information is utilized and combined efficiently. The methods presented herein include conventional soundings, CPTU with measurement of total force, vane shear testing in combination with geophysical methods such as R-CPTU, 2D resistivity profiles (ERT) and airborne electromagnetic measurements (AEM). An extensive database of Norwegian test sites forms the basis for the work. This paper describes the methods utilized in this study and how they may be combined in a strategy for detecting deposits of quick and sensitive clays. The major results from the study are presented in another paper presented to this conference.


A series of core-shell type cationic soap-free latex were prepared by using styrene(St), butyl acrylate(BA) and methyl methacrylate(MMA) as main materials and introducing rosin as the functional monomer. In this reaction, starch(CS-8), which has low relative viscosity , was used as the emulsifier and dispersant. The influencing factors of the reaction were especially studied and the optimum conditions were got. Then the products were characterized by using scanning electron microscope (SEM), FT-IR, laser particle sizer, particle charge detector(PCD). The results show that the excellent performance and good sizing effects of SAE are achieved when the reaction conditions are as follows: the starch amount is 8%(wt), the charge for the initiator(APS) is 0.5%, and the amount of rosin is 2%(wt). And the water-resistant performance of paper is improved significantly when the rosin is chosen as the functional monomer.


Cotranscriptional RNA folding forms structural intermediates that can be critically important for RNA biogenesis. This is especially true for transcriptional riboswitches that must undergo ligand-dependent structural changes during transcription to regulate the synthesis of downstream genes. Here, we systematically map the folding states traversed by the Clostridium beijerinckii pfl riboswitch as it controls transcription termination in response to the purine biosynthetic intermediate ZMP. We find that after rearrangement of a non-native hairpin to form the ZTP aptamer, cotranscriptional ZMP binding stabilizes two structural elements that lead to antitermination by tuning the efficiency of terminator hairpin nucleation and strand displacement. We also uncover biases within natural ZTP riboswitch sequences that could avoid misfolded intermediates that disrupt function. Our findings establish a mechanism for ZTP riboswitch control of transcription that has similarities to the mechanisms of diverse riboswitches and provide evidence of selective pressure at the level of cotranscriptional RNA folding pathways.


did not seek personal monetary reward for his extraordinary invention. He readily shared his work with other surgeons seeking to develop cardiopulmonary bypass, and, in later years, as editor of the Annals of surgery, disdained to publish 'case reports', which is highly ironic for the author of one of the most significant case reports of the 20th century. Ultimately, Gibbon was not satisfied with his accomplishments and felt that he could have or should have done more.


Liberty Fund is proud to present, in two volumes, "The Collected Works of Armen A Alchian", bringing together Alchian's most influential essays, articles, editorials, and lectures to provide a comprehensive record of his thinking on a broad range of topics in economics. As various and as specific as some of this collection's topics are, they are unified, as editor Daniel K Benjamin writes, by 'both a coherent methodology for doing economics, and a view of the world that celebrates the importance of individual liberty'. Benjamin goes on to state that, in Alchian's view, 'the purpose of theory is never theory in and of itself; it is instead to help individuals understand the world around them'.


This paper examines the ion-exchange properties of synthetic zeolite Na-Pc, which was produced from perlite-waste fines and has a SiO2:Al2O3 ratio of 4.45:1 and a cation-exchange capacity (CEC) of 3.95 meq g−1. Although equilibrium is attained rapidly for all three metals, exchange is incomplete, with Ac(max) (maximum equilibrium fraction of the metal in the zeolite) being 0.95 for Pb, 0.76 for Zn, and 0.27 for Ni. In both Na → ½Pb and Na → ½Zn exchange, the normalized selectivity coefficient is virtually constant for NAC (normalized equilibrium fraction of the metal in the zeolite) values of <0.6, suggesting a pronounced homogeneity of the available exchange sites. The Gibbs standard free energy, ΔG°, of the Na → ½Pb exchange calculated from the normalized selectivity coefficient is −3.11 kJ eq−1 and, for the Na → ½Zn exchange, it is 2.75 kJ eq−1.Examination of the solid exchange products with X-ray diffraction (XRD) revealed a possible decrease in crystallinity of zeolite Pb-Pc as suggested by the significant broadening and disappearance of diffraction lines. This decrease is associated with a reduction of pore opening, as indicated from Fourier-transform infrared analysis (FTIR), which in turn results in a decrease of the amount of zeolitic water. Thermogra-vimetric-differential thermogravimetric (TG-DTG) analysis showed that water loss occurs in three steps, the relative significance of which depends on the type of exchangeable cation and subsequently on the type of complex formed with the cation and/or the zeolite channels. Zeolite Na-Pc might be utilized in environmental applications, such as the treatment of acid-mine drainage and electroplating effluents.


The paper presents findings of the research on competitiveness of agricultural holdings covered by FADN in Germany in 2004/2005 and 2012/2013. Their competitiveness was assessed with the use of the CI (Competitiveness Index), determined by the rate of income from an agricultural holding to opportunity costs of own factors of production, and the management income category which represents the difference between the income from an agricultural holding and opportunity costs of own factors of production. The competitiveness assessment takes account of the major types of agricultural holdings, their legal forms and regions. The research showed that 40-50% of the German farms covered by the research was able to develop, i.e. was competitive. The best were the results of farms targeted at crop production, followed by dairy farms, and the worst – pig and mixed holdings.


To investigate the influence of pressure on densification behavior of metal powder under hot isostatic pressing (HIP), the consolidation of Ti6Al4V powder at various applied pressures during HIP processes were investigated by finite element method in this paper. The plasticity and creep phenomenon of the compact under high temperature and pressure were described by the viscoplastic Perzyna model, which integrated with a modified yield criterion for porous metal materials. The thermo-mechanical coupling analysis was carried out by the finite element code MSC.Marc. The calculated results show non-uniform density distributions for the compact, but this phenomenon decreases as increasing the applied pressure. The densification rate is significantly influenced by applied pressure. The consolidation mechanisms for powder compact were also discussed.


The authors of this paper?longtime federal budget and policy experts?were drawn together by a deep concern about the nation's long-term fiscal outlook. Despite diverse philosophies and political leanings, they found solid common ground and agree that unsustainable deficits in the federal budget threaten the health and vigor of the American economy and the first step toward establishing budget responsibility is to reform the budget decision process so that the major drivers of escalating deficits?Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid?are no longer on autopilot. The paper provides specific policy recommendations and outlines the reasons action is critical.


The increasing global demand for energy and the imminent need to reduce carbon emissions in our planet has led mankind to find new solutions. Some in the energy industry have taken special interest in geothermal reservoirs, a resource with the potential to provide large amounts of renewable energy. Meanwhile, the storage of carbon dioxide in underground geological formations presents a fantastic opportunity to discard CO2 and mitigate global warming. This study links efforts from academic institutions, industry energy operators, industrial partners and research institutes to answer fundamental scientific questions that can help us understand the subsurface and generate better exploitation practices.

We examine the geology of reservoirs used for geothermal energy extraction and carbon dioxide capture. We use a combination of field geology, photogrammetry, mineral analysis and experimental rock mechanics to understand fracture networks and fluid flow paths of two geologically diverse reservoirs in Europe: 1) the Hengill geothermal system in south-west Iceland, and 2) the Carnmenellis granite geothermal system in Cornwall (UK). These results aim to provide experimental data to refine numerical models predicting fluid flow and contribute to the quantification of the associated risks of exploiting the subsurface.


It is essential that nurses can use technology and accurately record and interpret clinical data to deliver efficient and effective patient care. The purpose of this study was to determine the level of nursing faculty informatics competencies and to learn about barriers faculty find in teaching informatics. Using a cross-sectional design, faculty were surveyed about their knowledge and comfort in teaching informatics using the Self-Assessment of Informatics Competency Scale for Health Professionals instrument. The aggregate mean (SD) score of the Self-Assessment of Informatics Competency Scale for Health Professionals basic knowledge and skills competency subscale and role subscale were was 3.36 (0.437) and 3.35 (0.711), respectively, which showed overall proficiency with these competencies. The aggregate mean (SD) for the applied computer skills competency was 2.25 (0.842), which showed less proficiency in higher-level informatics skills. Reported barriers to integrating informatics into courses were technology issues (17.2%), lack of knowledge (15.5%), and a lack of resources (12.1%). Some faculty reported that the concept of informatics was confusing (3.5%) and students were not engaged in the concepts (3.5%). Faculty with informatics competence can help students advance the use of technology and informatics at the bedside to improve patient care.


Introduction There has been a rapid rise in infectious syphilis (IS) diagnoses in England since 2011 but congenital syphilis (CS) is rare. In 2016, 3 CS cases were diagnosed in geographically dispersed areas of England. Unusually, their mothers had tested negative at first trimester antenatal screen (screen-negative), indicating syphilis acquisition during pregnancy. Simulation modelling using historical CS cases indicated an event probability of 3%. We investigated the spatial and temporal relationship between screen-negative CS cases and IS epidemiology in the affected areas. Methods Data from 01/2011-06/2016 were obtained from GUMCADv2, the national electronic surveillance system. England was divided into 3 syphilis epidemiological areas (SEAs): wider incident areas (WIAs; the 3 affected and immediate surrounding counties); endemic areas (with established epidemics in men who have sex with men-MSM) and non-incident non-endemic areas (NINEAs). Time-series analysis (TSA) was used to estimate IS outliers by gender, sexual orientation and SEA. Associations between IS characteristics and SEA (WIAs vs. NINEAs) were assessed using Pearson's chi-square and Kruskal-Wallis tests. Mothers of CS cases were excluded from analyses. Results In 2011–2016, IS rates/100,000 in WIAs rose in heterosexual women (1.3–3.0) and MSM (8.9–13.9) but fell in heterosexual men (3.7–3.0). In NINEAs, rates rose in heterosexual women (1.6–1.9), MSM (5.0–10.8) and heterosexual men (2.7–3.2). On TSA, IS cases significantly exceeded expected bounds in 2016 in heterosexual women in WIAs; no exceedance was seen in NINEAs. In 2016, heterosexual women with IS were more likely to be UK-born in WIAs than in NINEAs (78% vs. 39%; p<0.001). A greater proportion of MSM were bisexual in WIAs than in NINEAs (11% vs. 8%; p<0.001). Conclusion Increased syphilis transmission in some sexual networks of MSM and a higher proportion of bisexual men in WIAs may have created more opportunities for IS acquisition in women. Efforts to raise awareness of the potential risk of acquiring syphilis during pregnancy are needed.


This essay considers cognitive assemblages, as represented in several recent works of digital and ecological art, which themselves reflect upon contemporary environmental crises. The investigation is framed by the work of theorists N. Katherine Hayles and Timothy Morton in considering ideas of assemblages of cognition distributed between humans, non-human lifeforms, and machines, and the hyperobjects thematized by the works. The essay explores how these concepts can be read through installation artworks by artists including Phillipe Parreno, Kobie Nel, and Pierre Huyghe. How are digital artworks helping us to think through ecologies of distributed cognition during the contemporary period of planetary crisis in which they operate?


The infectious disease chytridiomycosis caused by the fungal pathogen Batrachocytrium dendrobatidis, Bd, contributes to worldwide amphibian decline, but definitive pathogenesis of lethality for the disease is not well understood. Because amphibians respire through their skin (in addition to respiration using lungs), it is speculated that amphibians with chytridiomycosis may show a decrease in metabolic rate, but amphibians bioaugmented with probiotic bacteria may alleviate possible metabolic stress. A species of lungless salamander (Plethodon cinereus) was used in this study to analyze the cutaneous effects of Bd on metabolic rate in vivo. Net weight change, infection load (using a Taqman real time PCR assay), and metabolic data (using an FMS) of salamanders were recorded over the course of a 25 day span. Data demonstrate that salamanders infected with Bd may possess a higher overall metabolic rate, but further research must be conducted to confirm statistical significance. Real time Taqman PCR results suggest that salamanders infected with Bd were able to clear infections in less than two weeks due to rise and subsequent decline in detection of zoospore genomic equivalence despite showing weight loss and other characteristic symptoms of chytridiomycosis. Further research including more intense infection of salamanders, application of techniques to minimize PCR inhibitors, and recording of metabolic data in a refined experimental environment are needed to better understand these phenomena.


Protein restriction in the postweaning diet in mice impairs glucose metabolism by reducing insulin secretion from pancreatic β cells. TUDCA in obese rodents and humans normalized insulin secretion, increased insulin clearance, furthermore recovered mass and the number of β cells per islet in animal models of diabetes. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of TUDCA on the morphology and function of pancreatic β cells in mice subjected to postweaning protein restriction. Male C57Bl/6J mice at 30 days of age received a control diet (14% protein - group C) or a protein-restricted diet (6% protein - group R) for 16 weeks. During the last 2 weeks, 50% of the animals in each group received intraperitoneal treatment with daily doses of 300 mg/kg of body weight of TUDCA (CT and RT) , and the remainder received PBS (C and R) . The R mice that showed decreased total plasma protein and serum albumin concentration had lower weight gain and feed efficiency, but increased white adipose tissue weight. There were no differences in fasting blood glucose between the groups. The R mice that have increased insulin sensitivity after treatment with TUDCA had normalized sensitivity. Isolated islets from R mice have lower insulin secretion, which has been associated with decreased morphometric parameters compared to C. In RT mice secretion was restored in response to 2.8 mM and 11.mM glucose and the pancreas of the RT showed a greater area of β cells in relation to the area of the islets and a greater number of islets compared to R. Furthermore, RT mice showed an increase in the expression of genes of the SNARE complex, genes of function, transcription and differentiation of pancreatic β cells. We conclude that TUDCA improves glycemic homeostasis, increases insulin secretion and improves the functioning of pancreatic β cells in mice subjected to protein restriction, indicating that TUDCA can be used as a therapeutic strategy to normalize insulin secretion in protein malnutrition.

 L.M.Barreto dos santos: None. T.Araujo: None. B.L.Alves: None. S.Ferreira: None. P.L.Zimath: None. J.F.Vettorazzi: None. E.M.Carneiro: None.

 Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (134270/2019-3)


Implicit polynomials (i.e., multinomials) have a number of properties that make them attractive for modeling curves and surfaces in computer vision. The paper considers the problem of finding the best fitting implicit polynomial (or algebraic curve) to a collection of points in the plane using an orthogonal distance metric. Approximate methods for orthogonal distance regression have been shown by others to be prone to the problem of cusps in the solution and this is confirmed here. Consequently, this work focuses on exact methods for orthogonal distance regression. The most difficult and costly part of exact methods is computing the closest point on the algebraic curve to an arbitrary point in the plane. The paper considers three methods for achieving this in detail. The first is the standard Newton's method, the second is based on resultants which are making a resurgence in computer graphics, and the third is a novel technique based on successive circular approximations to the curve. It is shown that Newton's method is the quickest, but that it can fail sometimes even with a good initial guess. The successive circular approximation algorithm is not as fast, but is robust. The resultant method is the slowest of the three, but does not require an initial guess. The driving application of this work was the fitting of implicit quartics in two variables to thinned oblique ionogram traces.


Since the notion of copyright first arose in the Renaissance era, the perception and reality of architects' roles has dramatically altered. Guest‐Editor Antoine Picon traces the evolution from lone creative genius to today's 'star architects', employing hundreds of designers. Is the concept of authorship still relevant in this new context? Or has the emphasis shifted to ownership, whether of building designs or of the software or templates used to produce them?


This paper proposes an analytical method to assess soft-error rate (SER) in the early stages of a system-on-chip (SoC) platform-based design methodology. The proposed method uses an executable UML model of the SoC for its input. Soft-errors on the design are modeled by disturbances on the value of attributes in the classes of the UML model and disturbances on opcodes of software cores. SER and execution time of each core in the SoC and a failure modes and effects analysis (FMEA) that determines the severity of each failure mode in the SoC are used to compute the system-failure rate (SFR) of the SoC


This work reports the use of neural networks for pattern recognition in electroencephalographic signals related to intermittent photic-stimulation. Due to the low signal/noise ratio of this kind of signal, it was necessary the use of a spectrogram as a predictor and a chain of LVQ neural networks. The efficiency of this pattern recognition structure was tested for many different configurations of the neural networks parameters and different volunteers. A direct relationship between the dimension of the neural networks and their performance was observed. Results so far encourage new experiments and demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed system for real-time pattern recognition of complex signals.


Purpose: The article aims to identify the features of digital techniques introduction and functioning in the insurance industry and the social insurance system. The information techniques used allows to quickly and with the best results to process large amounts of data, thereby increasing the efficiency of all the spheres to reduce social and commercial risks. Design/Methodology/Approach: In order to substantiate introducing the digital techniques expediency in the activity of the insurance system, it is necessary, first, to consider the advantages and disadvantages of information techniques use in the commercial and social insurance. Second, to describe the main digital programs, the implementation of which will increase the targeting and personalization of insurance services. Findings: For the digital techniques introduction in the sphere of insurance relations it is necessary to form the wholly new structure of insurance assets that meet the priorities of the digital economy; to create the necessary conditions for the development and implementation of modern actuarial techniques; to create conditions for increasing incomes and the life standard of the population in order to stimulate demand for insurance services; to change the structure and quality of social services. Practical implications: The results of the study can be implemented in the practice of social funds and insurance companies in order to improve the quality of insurance services. Originality/value: The main contribution of this research is to transfer the processes and mechanisms for the global digital economy and global digital space formation to the social and insurance relations.


During the past decade, media and medical forces have combined to create an alarming view of pregnant mothers who use illicit drugs. The result has been increased state control of these women and their infants. This in-depth study is the first in Canada to look at how mothers who use illicit drugs regard the laws, medical practices, and social services that intervene in their lives. Focusing on practices in western Canada, Susan C. Boyd argues that licit and illicit drug categories are artificial and dangerous and that the evidence for neonatal syndrome (NAS) is suspect and ideologically driven. She shows that women of colour and poor women are treated much more harshly by authorities, that current regulations erode women's civil liberties, and that social control is the aim of drug policy and law. The study highlights mothers' views of the NAS program at Sunny Hill Hospital for Children in Vancouver. Writing from a critical feminist perspective, Boyd exposes some surprising social fictions - those that separate 'good' and 'bad' drugs, as they do 'good' and 'bad' mothers.


Interaction of arbitrarily located system of rectilinear bridged cracks is considered. It is assumed that the mixed boundary conditions are given on the boundary of the circular disk. It is accepted that the fracture zone is a finite length layer containing a material with partially disturbed bonds between its separate structural elements (end zone). Existence of bonds between the cracks surfaces in the end zones is simulated by application of cohesive forces caused by the presence of bonds to the crack surfaces. Limit equilibrium analysis of cracks is formulated, taking account the criterion of the limit traction of the bonds in the material at the edge of the cracks end zone. DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.mech.21.5.9518


Abstract : This report summarizes the findings of an investigation into the role of explanations in learning procedures. Experimental and theoretical results from studies of the analysis of examples and generalization methods, and issues remaining open, are presented. Computer operations are often learned from demonstrations. Effective learning requires not just seeing and remembering what was done but being able to modify what was done to meet the requirements of new tasks. The EXPL model provides an account of how causal analysis could be used to support this kind of generalization. We investigate learning from video demonstration. Learning to use a computer system is difficult, and existing training methods are costly and often ineffective. The results of a study of learning to use a spreadsheet from a 15 minute video demonstration is reported. Learners who viewed the video performed less well than other learners who worked through a hands-on tutorial manual showing the same operations. Easy learning of a user interface depends in part on users being able to generalize successfully about it. Philosophical doctrine, and some recent work in human-computer interaction, argues that casual analysis of interactions can support generalization. We propose a rigorous causal analysis theory, and show how it accounts for two robust generalizations, using certain general assumptions. (AW)


Background: Lung cancer (LC) is the dominant cause of death by cancer in the world, being responsible for more than a million deaths annually. It is a highly lethal common tumor that is frequently diagnosed in advanced stages for which effective alternative therapeutics do not exist. In view of this, there is an urgent need to improve the diagnostic, prognostic, and therapeutic classification systems, currently based on clinicopathological criteria that do not adequately translate the enormous biologic complexity of this disease. Methods: The advent of the human genome sequencing project and the concurrent development of many genomic-based technologies have allowed scientists to explore the possibility of using expression profiles to identify homogenous tumor subtypes, new prognostic factors of human cancer, response to a particular treatment, etc. and thereby select the best possible therapies while decreasing the risk of toxicities for the patients. Therefore, it is becoming increasingly important to identify the complete catalog of genes that are altered in cancer and to discriminate tumors accurately on the basis of their genetic background. Results and Discussion: In this article, we present some of the works that has applied high-throughput technologies to LC research. In addition, we will give an overview of recent results in the field of LC genomics, with their effect on patient care, and discuss challenges and the potential future developments of this area.


There is a rich literature on Bayesian methods for density estimation, which characterize the unknown density as a mixture of kernels. Such methods have advantages in terms of providing uncertainty quantification in estimation, while being adaptive to a rich variety of densities. However, relative to frequentist locally adaptive kernel methods, Bayesian approaches can be slow and unstable to implement in relying on Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithms. To maintain most of the strengths of Bayesian approaches without the computational disadvantages, we propose a class of nearest neighbor-Dirichlet mixtures. The approach starts by grouping the data into neighborhoods based on standard algorithms. Within each neighborhood, the density is characterized via a Bayesian parametric model, such as a Gaussian with unknown parameters. Assigning a Dirichlet prior to the weights on these local kernels, we obtain a pseudo-posterior for the weights and kernel parameters. A simple and embarrassingly parallel Monte Carlo algorithm is proposed to sample from the resulting pseudo-posterior for the unknown density. Desirable asymptotic properties are shown, and the methods are evaluated in simulation studies and applied to a motivating data set in the context of classification.


Quadrocopter is an aerial vehicle platform which has become very popularamong researchers in the recent past due to the advantages it offers over conventionalhelicopters. Quadrocopter is very simple and unique, but it is inherentlyunstable from aerodynamics point of view. In recent past researchershave proposed many control schemes for quadrocopter. In this thesis we presentfuzzy logic controller for quadrocopter. After brief introduction brief hardwaredetails are given that is used in this thesis. After that design procedure for thefuzzy controller is presented. Then the designed fuzzy controller is tested inHardware In Loop (HIL) setup. The experimentation to validate the functionalityand applicability of the designed controller were performed in contrainedsetup due to some technical problems. The results of the experiments were satisfactoryand it is concluded that it is possible to stabilize quadrocopter withfuzzy logic controller.


Author(s): Seim, Joshua | Advisor(s): Burawoy, Michael | Abstract: What is the role of the 911 ambulance in the American city? The prevailing narrative provides a rather simple answer: to save and transport the critically ill and injured. This is not an incorrect description, but it is incomplete. The ambulance plays another role, one that is less known. Along with other frontline institutions like the prison and welfare office, I argue the ambulance is part of a poverty regulating regime that is focused less on the eradication of material suffering and more on the day-to-day management of its symptoms. I draw on nearly two years of fieldwork (including 9 months working as a novice emergency medical technician) and over 100,000 medical records to reimagine the ambulance as an institution of poverty governance. Against somewhat common assumptions that this vehicle is absent or tardy in poor neighborhoods, my research demonstrates that the ambulance is actually a prevalent and busy institution in these areas. Not only are the poor more likely to experience life threatening crises, they are also more likely to summon the ambulance for so-called non-emergencies. Whether by compressing lifeless chests on the streets or by transporting the publicly intoxicated into the hospital, ambulance crews daily transform the bodies and spaces of urban poverty. This work brings them in recurrent contact with the emergency department nurses and police officers who share their clientele. I show how these different workers often conflict over the management of subjects they generally see as burdensome. With "legit" ambulance calls being relatively rare, crews frequently struggle with police and nurses over "bullshit" work. These street-level relations, however, cannot be understood without considering the forces that control and coordinate labor from above. Neoliberal principles of organizational efficiency and flexibility have flooded poverty governing institutions throughout the American city, and the ambulance is no exception. The state often delegates paramedical operations to for-profit agencies that run on a fee-for-service model. This intensifies the exploitation of labor and exacerbates tense relations between crews and their clientele on the one hand and crews and their nurse and police counterparts on the other. My research advances a new framework for understanding the management of marginality: the labor theory of poverty governance. This model insists that we cannot understand how the poor are governed without understanding the labor process that generates and re-generates the poverty regulating state. This means accounting not only for the interactions between laborers and the subjects of their labor, but also the horizontal interactions amongst laborers and the vertical interactions between laborers and those who control and coordinate their work. This framework is novel in that it integrates three crucial dimensions of poverty regulation: the frontlines of governance, the horizontality of governance, and the verticality of governance.


This study focused on the attributes singles aged 25 to 39 want in stores. Young single without children were mailed a survey about their supermarket attribute preferences and shopping and eating habits. Most of their preferences were similar to national averages. However, some common preconceptions were not supported.


It has been shown previously that systems based on local features and relatively complex generative models, namely 1D hidden Markov models (HMMs) and pseudo-2D HMMs, are suitable for face recognition (here we mean both identification and verification). Recently a simpler generative model, namely the Gaussian mixture model (GMM), was also shown to perform well. In this paper we first propose to increase the performance of the GMM approach (without sacrificing its simplicity) through the use of local features with embedded positional information; we show that the performance obtained is comparable to 1D HMMs. Secondly, we evaluate different training techniques for both GMM and HMM based systems. We show that the traditionally used maximum likelihood (ML) training approach has problems estimating robust model parameters when there is only a few training images available; we propose to tackle this problem through the use of maximum a posteriori (MAP) training, where the lack of data problem can be effectively circumvented; we show that models estimated with MAP are significantly more robust and are able to generalize to adverse conditions present in the BANCA database.


Benjamin Franklin is the model American of an America that we have created. But if we can go beyond our preconceptions of Franklin and the 1776 and 1976 image of America, we can learn something of the truth, as well as the art, of his writings. The essays in this volume evaluate Franklin as a printer, publicist, and travel writer; they probe the structure, style, and organization of his most famous literary works, and assess his place in intellectual history. Taken together, the essays provide an overview of Franklin's attitude, purpose, and significance as a man and as a writer for his own time and for ours; taken separately, they provide valuable insights into what Franklin was and wrote. The first group of essays deals with Franklin's life. The second group of essays treats Franklin as a writer. The last two essays concern Franklins reputation and influence.


This paper proposes a new dynamic bandwidth allocation system for Ethernet Passive Optical Networks (EPONs), subject to requirements of fairness, efficiency, and cost. An Optical Line Terminal (OLT)-centric bandwidth allocation model is proposed which employs a credit pooling technique combined with a weighted-share policy to partition the upstream bandwidth among different classes of service, and to prevent Optical Network Units (ONUs) from monopolizing the bandwidth. The OLT-centric model allows global optimization of network resources, a characteristic which is not found in many earlier proposals. Supported by the new bandwidth allocation, the paper proposes a joint-ONU interval-based packet scheduling algorithm, referred to herein as COPS (Class-of-service Oriented Packet Scheduling), that meets the requirements set out above. We compare COPS with another well-known scheduling algorithm which employed a standard priority-based bandwidth sharing. We show that COPS is superior in terms of network utilization and maximum packet delay, with the consequence of an increase in average packet delay for the premium traffic. This drawback is overcome by combining COPS with a rate-based optimization scheme


To create a sustainable future, innovations are needed that integrate socio-ethical issues. Responsible innovation provides a method for managing these issues, and tries to ensure that innovation is conducted for and with society. The application of responsible innovation in industry contexts, where many of these innovations are developed, is limited by challenges related to dominant business logics, stakeholder management problems and resource constraints. Open innovation is an approach more commonly employed within industry contexts, which involves activities that overlap with responsible innovation dimensions and practices. This means that open innovation could represent a way to integrate the management of socio-ethical factors into industry contexts in a less disruptive and costly way. This paper explores the extent to which open innovation and responsible innovation overlap and could be compatible. Both open innovation and responsible innovation are reviewed theoretically before an empirical enquiry is launched through semi-structured interviews (n=11) with entrepreneurs developing innovations in the context of climate-smart agriculture in Europe. We find evidence for compatibility between exploratory open innovation activities and dimensions of responsible innovation. Results indicate that the management of socio-ethical issues through open innovation requires sensitivity to ethical issues and a motivation to include ethical considerations strategically in innovation processes. These findings are incorporated into a provisional extended open innovation model for the management of socio-ethical in industry contexts – an Open Innovation 2.0.


In 1932, the first leather manufacturing industry was established in Hamedan, Iran. The textile industry sets up in Iran about 3000 BC. Nowadays, both of aforementioned industries have appeared with a variety of technologies and facilities over the world. By current cluster study of Iranian Textile and Leather Industries (ITLI) the raw data have empirically come through of the decision-making techniques pertaining to main criteria and number of industries; rely on their nominal capacity. The initial resource of data used in present research gets back to the preliminary assessment of ITLI by both of Iranian industries organization and Iranian environment protection agency once before giving license to implement industries individually. SPSS and EXCEL 2013 software have used to process raw data. Using Vlse Kriterijumska Optimizacija I Kompromisno Resenje (VIKOR) and Simple Additive Weighting (SAW) resulted in two different kinds of classification for ITLI. The findings of input materials stream exploited energy and existing facilities in ITLI are introduced to identify the materials cycles, energy demand and machines, and devices employed in the subject of industrial ecology and industry 4.0, respectively.


Since 2013, mortgage advisory has become an independent profession in the Netherlands. Initially working for mortgage providers, the newly nonpartisan advisers now work for standard advisory fees, thereby reducing conflicts of interest. In this article, I provide an ethical analysis of the different types of ethos of mortgage advisers, that is, the ways they see and talk about, and relate to their work in a certain way. The central research question is: What different kinds of ethos do mortgage advisers have, and which moral dilemmas do they experience in their advisory work? The existence of moral dilemmas is controversial in ethics but nonetheless experienced in real‐world business practice. An "ethological" understanding of morality is developed in this paper to understand how these dilemmas are experienced. Twenty‐nine mortgage advisers have participated in Q methodological research, a mixed qualitative–quantitative small‐sample method. Three different types of ethos were found: Principled Advisers, Moral Advisers, and Minimal Morality Advisers. In considering these three types, I argue that many mortgage advisers should professionalize their ethical stance and learn to address situations in which moral values are neglected. Business ethicists, in turn, need to acknowledge that something may be considered morally inappropriate but is still defensible in some other sense. In this paper, I develop a "layered" conception of business ethics that broadens the perspective from universal notions, such as "rights" and "duties," toward a concrete ethos that people have in a certain professional practice.


This study aims at understanding the meaning attributed by undergraduate nursing students to the experience of group/team work. Based on the phenomenological framework. Individual interviews were conducted with nine students from the fourth year of the undergraduate program at the University of São Paulo at the Ribeirão Preto College of Nursing. Later, these were analyzed according to Martins and Bicudo (1989). The following categories emerged: group work focused on subjects; group work experienced in the classroom; group work: relationship among students and among students and teachers; group work in the training field; are students prepared for group work? By taking into account that professional practice in healthcare has shown the need to be interdisciplinary and that academic education presents gaps, concerning the practice of group work, re-thinking about such education becomes relevant, since it will recover the understanding of complexity in human relations involving their political, institutional and interpersonal dimensions.


Abstract Ambient seismic‐noise correlation is a powerful tool for extracting the seismic core phases that propagate through the interior of the Earth. In this study, we present and refine the root‐mean‐square‐stacking method to extract stable core phases (e.g., PcP , ScS , PcS / ScP , and PKiKP ) from within the Central Alborz region, Iran, using empirical Green's functions. Our studies on the extracted core phases using empirical Green's functions indicated that the ambient seismic noise method is independent from global seismicity ( M ≥5.5). We also show that, by dividing ambient seismic records into shorter (i.e., 2700 s) and overlapping (70%) time windows, before the cross‐correlation procedure, we can improve the quality and stability of the empirical Green's functions generated. Consequently, 73 days (equivalent to 22% of the total time period for the dataset) of nonconsecutive ambient seismic‐noise time windows have been used to retrieve core‐phase empirical Green's functions in a 5–10 s period band.


A genetic linkage map was created from 146 cacao trees (Theobroma cacao), using an F2 population produced by selfi ng an F1 progeny of the cross Sca6 and ICS1. Simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers (170) were used principally for this map, with 12 candidate genes (eight resistance gene homologues (RGH) and four stress related WRKY genes), for a total of 182 markers. Joinmap software was used to create the map, and 10 linkage groups were clearly obtained, corresponding to the 10 known chromosomes of cacao. Our map encompassed 671.9 cM, approximately 100 cM less than most previously reported cacao maps, and 213.5 cM less than the one reported high-density map. Approximately 27% of the markers showed signifi cant segregation distortion, mapping together in six genomic areas, four of which also showed distortion in other cacao maps. Two quantitative trait loci (QTL) for resistance to witches' broom disease were found, one producing a major effect and one a minor effect, both showing important dominance effects. One QTL for trunk diameter was found at a point 10.2 cM away from the stronger resistance gene. One RGH fl anked the minor QTL for witches' broom resistance, implying possible association. QTLs mapped in F2 populations produce estimates of additive and dominance effects, not obtainable in F1 crosses. As dominance was clearly shown in the QTL found in this study, this population merits further study for evaluation of dominance effects for other traits. This F2 cacao population constitutes a useful link for genomic studies between cacao and cotton, its only widely grown agronomic relative.


Recently, unsupervised exemplar-based image-to-image translation, conditioned on a given exemplar without the paired data, has accomplished substantial advancements. In order to transfer the information from an exemplar to an input image, existing methods often use a normalization technique, e.g., adaptive instance normalization, that controls the channel-wise statistics of an input activation map at a particular layer, such as the mean and the variance. Meanwhile, style transfer approaches similar task to image translation by nature, demonstrated superior performance by using the higher-order statistics such as covariance among channels in representing a style. In detail, it works via whitening (given a zero-mean input feature, transforming its covariance matrix into the identity). followed by coloring (changing the covariance matrix of the whitened feature to those of the style feature). However, applying this approach in image translation is computationally intensive and error-prone due to the expensive time complexity and its non-trivial backpropagation. In response, this paper proposes an end-to-end approach tailored for image translation that efficiently approximates this transformation with our novel regularization methods. We further extend our approach to a group-wise form for memory and time efficiency as well as image quality. Extensive qualitative and quantitative experiments demonstrate that our proposed method is fast, both in training and inference, and highly effective in reflecting the style of an exemplar.


We use a large dataset of Japanese manufacturing firms to investigate the effect of the late export boom to the productivity growth and various productivity enhancing investments by exporting firms. We find that large exporters enjoyed significantly higher productivity growth over non-exporters while it was not the case for the small exporters which constitute a large mass of Japanese exporters. We also find striking evidence that only the exporters serving worldwide actually enjoyed significant advantage in productivity growth, and not those that exported only to Asia which corresponds to about 50% of small exporters. On the other hand, we find that both large and small exporters engaged in more intensive innovation activities and capital investments. Therefore, although the late export boom did not reward all exporters in an even way, it did encourage wide range of exporter investments that should enhance their productivity. Export boom is thus the case where exporters build up productivity advantage over non-exporters long after their entry, offering additional explanation on the formation of universally observed exporters' "premium" on productivity level.


Design codes for seismic constructions allow the realization of structures able to dissipate energy through cyclic plastic deformations localized in specific zones, selected to involve the largest number of structural elements. The capacity design approach requires an opportune selection of the design forces and an accurate definition of structural details in the plastic hinges. The structural elements in which plastic hinges are located are over-sized with respect to the seismic actions obtained by the use of the design spectrum, while the elements that shall remain elastic are over-sized with respect to dissipative elements. The capacity design methodology requires an accurate control of the localization of plastic hinges, strongly influenced by the actual mechanical properties of materials. In the present work, developed inside the research project OPUS, different case studies were designed according to Eurocodes and subjected to a deep structural analysis, aiming to evaluate the effective allowable ductility (behaviour factor) with respect to what imposed during the design phase.


Root nonfinite structures are frequent in both child language and agrammatic speech. Moreover, root nonfinites seem to have quite similar properties in both types of speech. Although many accounts are available for child language this is not the case for agrammatic speech. I present data of a Dutch agrammatic patient in this paper. The properties of her root nonfinites are best accounted for by the assumption of an underspecified Tense Phrase licensed by an empty element. In her finite sentences a dummy Tense element shows up. The use of either an empty or a dummy Tense element is a way of reducing the processing load of the utterance. The speech of this patient shows a dissociation between the verbal and the nominal domain.


Tone is indispensable for understanding many morphological systems of the world. Tonal phenomena may serve the morphological needs of a language in a variety of ways: segmental affixes may be specified for tone just like roots are; affixes may have purely tonal exponents that associate to segmental material provided by other morphemes; affixes may consist of tonal melodies, or "templates"; and tonal processes may apply in a way that is sensitive to morphosyntactic boundaries, delineating word-internal structure.
 Two behaviors set tonal morphemes apart from other kinds of affixes: their mobility and their ability to apply phrasally (i.e., beyond the limits of the word). Both floating tones and tonal templates can apply to words that are either phonologically grouped with the word containing the tonal morpheme or syntactically dependent on it.
 Problems generally associated with featural morphology are even more acute in regard to tonal morphology because of the vast diversity of tonal phenomena and the versatility with which the human language faculty puts pitch to use. The ambiguity associated with assigning a proper role to tone in a given morphological system necessitates placing further constraints on our theory of grammar. Perhaps more than any other morphological phenomena, grammatical tone exposes an inadequacy in our understanding both of the relationship between phonological and morphological modules of grammar and of the way that phonology may reference morphological information.


Introduction Railway suicides are a suicidal behaviour which strongly impact psychological and socioeconomic aspects of the railway company, its employees and possible eye witnesses. The German Railway Suicide Prevention Project was carried out in 2002 aimed to prevent suicidal acts on German Railway net by a variety of measurements. The present study evaluated the impact of this project on the number of suicides during an observation period from 1998 to 2006. Methods The data base of the present study is derived from the Event Database Safety (EDS), which is the national central registry of all person accidents in the context of the national German railway company covering the entire German railway track system excluding municipal subway providers. We compared the railway suicide rate 4 years before and after starting the project by defining an "index group" (1998–2001) and a "control group" (2003–2006) using Poisson regression with estimating the average percentage change (APC). Results The absolute number of suicidal events on the railway track system decreased from 1006 in 1998 to 724 in 2006. The mean suicide rate in the control years was 13.9% (95% CI 6.9 to 20.4) lower compared to the index years (p<0.001). Adjusting for the overall suicide rate attenuated the decline of the railway suicide rate (APC 4.8%, 95% CI 1.8 to 7.8) but significance remained (p=0.002). Conclusion The present study revealed a favourable trend with decreasing railway suicide rates even taking the overall suicide rate into account. The preventive measurements carried out by the project might contribute to this development.


Hematopoiesis in the bone marrow (BM) and spleen is controlled by stromal cells. Inflammation promotes myelopoiesis and simultaneously suppresses B lymphopoiesis. However, the role of the reciprocal regulation of myelopoiesis and B lymphopoiesis by stromal cells during inflammation is not fully understood. We investigated inflammation-induced alteration of hematopoietic regulation in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-treated mice. C57BL/6 female mice were intravenously injected with a single, 5-µg dose of LPS, which induced a rapid decrease in the number of granulocyte-macrophage progenitors (colony-forming unit granulocyte-macrophage; CFU-GM) and B cell progenitors (CFU-preB) in BM. The CFU-GM count rapidly recovered, whereas the recovery of CFU-preB was delayed. LPS induced a marked increase in the number of CFU-GM but not in the number of CFU-preB in spleen. After LPS treatment, gene expression levels of positive regulators of myelopoiesis such as granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF), interleukin (IL)-6, and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) in BM and spleen were markedly upregulated whereas levels of positive regulators for B lymphopoiesis such as stromal cell-derived factor (SDF)-1, stem cell factor (SCF), and IL-7 remained unchanged. Meanwhile, the negative regulator of B lymphopoiesis tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α was markedly up-regulated. The number of CFU-GM in S-phase in BM increased after LPS treatment, whereas the number of CFU-preB in S-phase decreased. These results suggest that LPS-activated stromal cells induce positive-dominant regulation of myelopoiesis and negative-dominant regulation of B lymphopoiesis, which facilitates emergency myelopoiesis during inflammation by suppressing B lymphopoiesis, thereby contributing to the host defense against infection.


ABSTRACT Higher education institutions have started using big data analytics tools. By gathering information about students as they navigate information systems, learning analytics employs techniques to understand student behaviors and to improve instructional, curricular, and support resources and learning environments. However, learning analytics presents important moral and policy issues surrounding student privacy. We argue that there are five crucial questions about student privacy that we must address in order to ensure that whatever the laudable goals and gains of learning analytics, they are commensurate with respecting students' privacy and associated rights, including (but not limited to) autonomy interests. We address information access concerns, the intrusive nature of information-gathering practices, whether or not learning analytics is justified given the potential distribution of consequences and benefits, and issues related to student autonomy. Finally, we question whether learning analytics advances the aims of higher education or runs counter to those goals.


Tracking activities during daily life and assessing movement parameters is essential for complementing the information gathered in confined environments such as clinical and physical activity laboratories for the assessment of mobility. Inertial measurement units (IMUs) are used as to monitor the motion of human movement for prolonged periods of time and without space limitations. The focus in this study was to provide a robust, low-cost and an unobtrusive solution for evaluating human motion using a single IMU.

First part of the study focused on monitoring and classification of the daily life activities. A simple method that analyses the variations in signal was developed to distinguish two types of activity intervals: active and inactive. Neural classifier was used to classify active intervals; the angle with respect to gravity was used to classify inactive intervals.

Second part of the study focused on extraction of gait parameters using a single inertial measurement unit (IMU) attached to the pelvis. Two complementary methods were proposed for gait parameters estimation. First method was a wavelet based method developed for the estimation of gait events. Second method was developed for estimating step and stride length during level walking using the estimations of the previous method. A special integration algorithm was extended to operate on each gait cycle using a specially designed Kalman filter.

The developed methods were also applied on various scenarios. Activity monitoring method was used in a PRIN'07 project to assess the mobility levels of individuals living in a urban area. The same method was applied on volleyball players to analyze the fitness levels of them by monitoring their daily life activities.

The methods proposed in these studies provided a simple, unobtrusive and low-cost solution for monitoring and assessing activities outside of controlled environments.


Schools spend a great deal of time, resources, and money seeking ways to both understand and increase student achievement on state standardized test that scores have become the customary measure of a school's quality and success. Due to this narrow focus on standards and testing becoming more and more central in education, schools and teachers often do not implement the pedagogical strategies that work to increase student learning and thinking (Burke, 2010; Langer, 2001; Christenbury & Kelly, 1983; Nystrand, 1997; Wiggins & McTighe, 2005). In addition to a lack of focus on pedagogical practices, schools often ignore the impact culture has on both student achievement and teacher practice (Deal & Peterson, 2009). This study examines how culture and power structures within a school influence teacher practice. This year-long qualitative case study sought to answer the following questions: 1) What impact does a school's culture have on teacher practice? 2) In what ways does classroom discourse position teachers and students as creators of knowledge? 3) How are reading and writing implemented to create environments where learning is valued? 4) How does the use of pedagogical labels allow teacher and schools to believe they are implementing effective practices? Through analysis of field notes and interviews, the research suggests that schools and teachers seeking to improve their educational outcomes examine honestly the practices in place and explore the impact that the school culture has on those practices. Findings suggest that for schools to succeed in improving their academic achievement both school and classroom culture need to value and have learning at the center. Finley, Dawn, 2016, UMSL, p. iv


Abstract Objective We describe the prevalence and sociodemographic factors associated with screen‐detected disordered eating and related traits in a population‐based sample of women in China. We also explored prevalence trends over time. Method A total of 4,218 females aged 12–50 were sampled from 15 provinces as part of the China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS) in 2015. The SCOFF questionnaire screened for disordered eating and the selected questions from the Eating Disorders Examination‐Questionnaire measured dietary restraint, shape concerns, and weight concerns. Body mass index (BMI) was measured and sociodemographic factors captured urban/rural residence, age, ethnicity, income, education, marital status, and occupational status. We calculated the prevalence of screen‐detected disordered eating and related traits broadly and across several dimensions and compared prevalence estimates to 2009 and 2011 reports. Results We detected 296 individuals who screened positive for disordered eating on the SCOFF (prevalence = 7.04%). Positive screens were associated with urban residence (p = .002) and higher education levels (p < .001). Scores on restraint, shape concerns, and weight concerns were all higher for individuals in urban versus village locations (all p's < .001), and with higher BMI (p < .001) for shape and weight concerns. The prevalence of screen‐detected disordered eating increased numerically across 2009, 2011, and 2015. Discussion The prevalence of screen‐detected disordered eating in mainland China was comparable to other populations worldwide obtained from a recent meta‐analysis. The distribution of disordered eating and related traits varied by several sociodemographic factors, which include age, BMI, urban/rural residence, education, and income, suggesting important directions for case detection and intervention in China.


Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate coagulation profiles in horses with surgical treatment of large colon volvulus (LCV), and determine if an association exists between hemostatic dysfunction and outcome.

Design: Prospective clinical investigation from February to December 2000.

Setting: Large animal intensive care unit in a veterinary teaching hospital.

Interventions: Blood was collected from horses intra-operatively, 24, and 48 hours following surgical treatment for LCV.

Measurements: Coagulation profiles, thrombin–antithrombin (TAT) levels, and D-dimer concentrations were determined for each time point. The number of tests abnormal in the standard coagulation profile, defined as the degree of hemostatic dysfunction, was determined for each horse for the duration of the study period. The association between each test and outcome, as well as the degree of hemostatic dysfunction for each horse and outcome, was determined using univariate analysis and logistic regression. TAT levels and D-dimer concentrations were compared to the results of the standard coagulation profile and to patient outcome using univariate analysis and logistic regression.

Main results: Seventy percent of horses evaluated with surgical treatment of LCV had evidence of hemostatic dysfunction (3/6 tests abnormal). Only 18% of those patients had clinical signs recognized by the attending clinician as a coagulopathy. There was an association between the development of a coagulopathy and outcome, with horses with 4/6 tests abnormal being more likely to be euthanized, and those with 3/6 tests abnormal having a prolonged hospital stay. Platelet count, prothrombin time, and TAT levels may be helpful in predicting outcome in horses with LCV.

Conclusions: Hemostatic function should be evaluated in horses with surgical treatment of LCV to detect subclinical coagulopathies and direct subsequent intervention.


Fluid‐fluid interfacial area for porous media systems can be measured with the aqueous phase interfacial partitioning tracer test (IPTT) method or with high‐resolution microtomography. The results of prior studies have shown that interfacial areas measured with the IPTT method are larger than values measured with microtomography. The observed disparity has been hypothesized to result from the impact of porous medium surface roughness on film‐associated interfacial area, wherein the influence of surface roughness is characterized to some extent by the IPTT method but not by microtomography due to resolution constraints. This hypothesis was tested by using the two methods to measure interfacial area between an organic immiscible liquid and water for an ideal glass beads medium that has no measurable surface roughness. The tracer tests yielded a mean interfacial area of 2.8 (±5 cm−1), while microtomography produced an interfacial area of 2.7 (±2 cm−1). Maximum specific interfacial areas, equivalent to areas normalized by nonwetting fluid volume, were calculated and compared to measures of the specific solid surface area. The normalized interfacial areas were similar to the specific solid surface area calculated using the smooth sphere assumption and to the specific solid surface area measured using the N2/Brunauer, Emmett, and Teller (BET) method. The results presented herein indicate that both the IPTT and microtomography methods provide robust characterization of fluid‐fluid interfacial area and that they are comparable in the absence of the impact of surface roughness.


Thermal conductivity measurement of small insulation specimens is an important necessity during new product development processes or when larger specimens cannot be collected during forensic investigation. The research activities reported in this article examined a new approach for measuring the thermal conductivity of small insulation specimens. Six commercial insulation materials were tested using a standard 300 by 300-mm heat flow meter apparatus with a 150 by 150-mm metering area. The results obtained from these tests were compared with thermal conductivity values of standard size specimens. Subsequently, the experimental results were also critically analyzed using a heat transfer modeling tool HEAT3. The observations presented in this article clearly indicate that the proposed new approach could be applied to measure thermal conductivity of a variety of insulation materials of different dimensions using a standard heat flow meter.


SrTiO3 is one of the most technologically important dielectric ceramics. In this paper, SrTiO3 nanoparticles were synthesized by a simple sol-gel route using NaOH to adjust the pH of the system. Three different strontium-containing starting precursors (Sr(NO3, SrCl2.6H2O and Sr(CH3COO)2.0.5H2O) were employed. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) showed complete decomposition of organics at approximately 800°C; this temperature was chosen as a calcination temperature. At 800°C, 6 hours, only the nitrate route with pH = 10 gives single-phase SrTiO3. Other conditions yield various impurities, most likely due to the incompletion of the reaction although they still contain very broad XRD peaks corresponding to SrTiO3, signifying the probable phase formation capability at these conditions. The obtained SrTiO3 powders are in the nanoscale range of 10 to 40 nm with isotropic morphology.