The study investigates the acquisition of Setswana speech rhythm and the penultimate syllable
vowel length by early sequential Setswana-English bilingual children aged 6-7 years old
growing up in Botswana, a country with a diglossic setting, where English is the dominant
high-status language in educational and public contexts. For this group of children, taught fulltime in English from the age of three years, the second language (L2) becomes their dominant
language through exposure to English-medium education. The speech rhythm and the
penultimate syllable vowel length patterns of the Setswana-English bilingual children are
compared with those of age-matched Setswana monolingual children educated in public
schools for whom English is a learner language. The aim was to ascertain if the prosodic
patterns of the bilingual children reflect those of monolingual children or if the high-status
English has an effect on these prosodic features in comparison with monolingual children.
In view of the on-going debates over perceptions and production of speech prosody, it is
valuable to consider monolingual and bilingual speech acquisition to determine the extent to
which high exposure to L2 input contributes to foreign accent and divergent speech prosody in
L1. Previous studies have reported inconsistent results regarding the rhythmic pattern of
bilingual children of 5 years of age and older. While other studies demonstrated that this group
of bilingual children keep the rhythmic pattern of their two languages separate (e.g., Bunta &
Ingram, 2007) - i.e., they maintain first/second language-specific syllabic stress or prosody
patterns during parallel or sequential acquisition of the two languages - others have shown an
interaction of the two languages (Kehoe, 2002; Mok, 2011; Whitworth, 2002). The research
presented in this thesis tests these claims. The study primarily uses spontaneous speech from twenty participants based on the telling of
the wordless picture story Frog where are you? (Mayer (1969). Praat (Boersma & Weenink,
2002) was used to generate waveforms and spectrograms where sound files were segmentally
labelled into syllables and vowels. A Praat script was also used to extract the duration of the
vowels. The nPVI-V and the Varco V rhythm metrics were utilised to examine the speech
rhythm of the children. The results showed that the bilingual group's L1 prosodic pattern
diverged from that of the non-bilingual group. The evidence in this population, of evident
transfer effects from English bilingualism on L1 Setswana speech prosody, challenges the
assumption that speech prosody is established early in life, especially when the language is a
less marked, syllable-timed language like Setswana.


Ten species of Coniopterygidae are listed, nine of which are new. All belong to species groups known from South America. The female genitalia of eight Coniopteryx spp. are drawn, the species are not named. A key to all known spp. of the subgenus Scotoconioteryx Mein. is presented. New spp. are Neoconis brasiliensis n.sp., N. tubifera n.sp., Coniopteryx (Scotoconiopteryx) amazonica n.sp., C. (S.) ariasi n.sp., C. (S.) indivisa n.sp., C. (S.) pennyi n.sp., C. (S.) torquata n.sp., Semidalis amazonensis n.sp., S. manausensis n.sp.


This study was done to assess the East Africa Community (EAC) Non-Tariff Barriers (NTBs) and their effects on Tanzanian small and medium agro enterprises (SMAEs) engaged in EAC cross border trade. Specific objectives were; to describe the structure and characteristics of Tanzanian SMAEs; to examine determinants of Tanzanian SMAEs engagement in EAC cross border trade, to identify NTBs that affect Tanzanian SMAE's engaged in the EAC cross Border trade; and, to analyze the effect of identified NTBs on Tanzanian SMAEs trading in the EAC cross border trade. Both secondary and primary data were collected from Arusha, Mwanza, and Kagera. The number of respondents who comprised owners of SMAEs was 105 for those who were trading locally within the country, and 105 for those who were engaged in the EAC cross border trade. Agricultural goods selected were maize, beans and rice as major crops traded within the EAC region. Descriptive Statistics and Binary Logistic linear regression model were used to examine determinants and characteristics of Tanzania SMAEs engaged in EAC cross border trade. Costs and Benefit Analysis method was used to ascertain the projected Net Present Value between exporting agricultural products to EAC countries and trading similar products within the country , and to analyze the effect of NTBs. The results indicate that SMAEs engaged in EAC cross border trade are affected by 26 % of additional transport costs resulting from NTBs. However, there are potential benefits to be earned by SMAEs engaged in cross border trade if NTBs are reduced. Major recommendations are as follows; i) Government and private institutions should decentralize to help in registering and monitoring Agribusiness sector at regional and district level and help to abolish NTBs ii) Increase the pace of harmonizing the trading procedures and policies in the EAC region to assist in smoothing trade activities.


Abstract Hoarding behaviours are highly stigmatised and often hidden. People with problematic hoarding behaviours have a higher rate of mental health and other healthcare and social services utilisation. Hoarding is a community health problem, one factor being housing insecurity. Hoarding behaviours represent significant burden to housing providers, impact the community and dealing with it involves multiple community agencies. This study with a city council in England with a large housing stock (over 14,000 properties) in summer 2021 sought to understand the nature, circumstances and extent that hoarding presents. We developed a reporting system and conducted 11 interviews with housing officers in which they described a case to explain their involvement. Our report details the nature of 38 people who hoard: 47% had a known disability or vulnerability, 34% presented a fire and environmental risk, 87% lived alone and 60% were resident in flats. Our qualitative themes are: Working with others, Balancing an enforcement approach, Feeling conflicted, Complex needs of people who hoard and Staff needs. The cases described by the housing officers are combined into six case studies and illustrate the complex, multi‐agency circumstances around decision making and risk stratification. Our findings point to housing officers as frontline professionals dealing with a public health and social care issue which is often the manifestation of complex life histories and mental health conditions. We suggest a greater focus on risk stratification and a more holistic approach to hoarding cases to effectively deal with this most complex of community health and social care issues.


The magnetic properties and use of some conventional and new alloys are discussed. The control which can be exercised on the switching properties by varying composition and treatment is indicated and a very fast switching alloy described. The abnormally low permeability of very thin strip is explained; it can be avoided by keeping material and furnace atmosphere pure. The latest aluminum-iron and cobalt-iron alloys, and permanent magnets, are briefly described.


Objective: This is aimed at investigating some coagulation and haematologic profile of HIV positive patients on highly active antiretroviral therapy in patients attending clinic at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital. Methods: This is a correlation study comprising fifty (50) HIV positive patients on HAART between 6 – 12 months as test subjects and fifty (50) HIV positive patients who have not began HAART as control subjects. Five millilitres of blood was withdrawn from each group by venepuncture into ethylene diaminetetracetic and sodium citrate anticoagulant containers. Platelet counts were estimated manually using ammonium oxalate solution, packed cell volume by the microhaematocrit method while Prothrombin Time (PT), Activated partial thrombroplastin time and fibrinogen concentration were done by methods described by Monica Chessbrough. Results: This is presented as mean ± standard error of mean. There were reduction in PCV and platelet count between test and control subjects although not statistically significant (P> 0.05) while there was a significant increase in PT and PTTK between test and control groups (P<0.05). No significant change was observed in fibrinogen concentration in HIV patients on HAART and those not on HAART. Conclusion: HAART increases PT and PTTK in HIV infection.


SETTING
Although it is now widely used for tuberculosis (TB) diagnosis, Xpert(®) MTB/RIF availability remains inadequate in low-resource settings. Moreover, its accuracy in testing stored samples from non-expectorating patients has not been evaluated.

OBJECTIVE
To assess the performance of Xpert in frozen samples of induced sputum (IS) and sputum from string test (ST) from non-expectorating individuals with presumed TB.

DESIGN
This was a laboratory-based study of 377 ST and IS samples collected between March 2010 and March 2013 at a referral hospital in Uganda. Samples were decontaminated, centrifuged and cultured, and the resultant samples were frozen at -20°C before Xpert evaluation.

RESULTS
TB was detected in ST and IS samples from 19/163 (11.7%) children and 63/201 (29.4%) adults using culture. Xpert sensitivity in frozen sediments from children was 37.5% (95%CI 8.5-75.5) in ST and 41.7% (95%CI 15.2-72.3) in IS samples, with specificities of respectively 100% (95%CI 94.9-100) and 98.6% (95%CI 92.7-100). In adults, sensitivity was respectively 50% (95%CI 31.3-68.7) and 48.5% (95%CI 30.8-66.4) in ST and IS samples, with specificities of respectively 100% (95%CI 95.5-100) and 98.6% (95%CI 92.4-100).

CONCLUSION
Given these results, and particularly the high specificity, the use of Xpert on frozen ST and IS sediment samples from both children and adults is promising.


Statistical model selection criteria provide an informed choice of the model with best external (i.e., out-of-sample) validity. Therefore they guard against overfitting ('data snooping'). We implement several model selection criteria in order to verify recent evidence of predictability in excess stock returns and to determine which variables are valuable predictors. We confirm the presence of in-sample predictability in an international stock market dataset, but discover that even the best prediction models have no out-of-sample forecasting power. The failure to detect out-of-sample predictability is not due to lack of power. Article published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Financial Studies in its journal, The Review of Financial Studies.


Based on the realization of three-algebras in terms of algebra of matrices and four-brackets [arXiv:0807.1570] we present the notion of u(N)-based extended threealgebras, which for N = 2 reproduces the Bagger-Lambert three-algebra. Using these extended three-algebras we construct an su(N)×su(N) Chern-Simons action with explicit SO(8) invariance. The dynamical fields of this theory are eight complex valued bosonic and fermionic fields in the bi-fundamental representation of the su(N) × su(N). For generic N the fermionic transformations, however, close only on a subclass of the states of this theory onto the 3d, N = 6 superalgebra. In this sector we deal with four complex valued scalars and fermions, our theory is closely related to the ABJM model [arXiv:0806.1218], and hence it can be viewed as the (low energy effective) theory of N M2-branes. We discuss that our three-algebra structure suggests a picture of open M2-brane stretched between any two pairs of M2-branes. We also analyze the BPS configurations of our model.


Financial operators have today access to an extremely large amount of data, both quantitative and qualitative, real-time or historical and can use this information to support their decision-making process. Quantitative data are largely processed by automatic computer programs, often based on artificial intelligence techniques, that produce quantitative analysis, such as historical price analysis or technical analysis of price behaviour. Differently, little progress has been made in the processing of qualitative data, which mainly consists of financial news articles from financial newspapers or on-line news providers. As a result the financial market players are overloaded with qualitative information which is potentially extremely useful but, due to the lack of time, is often ignored. The goal of this work is to reduce the qualitative data-overload of the financial operators. The research involves the identification of the information in the source financial articles which is relevant for the financial operators' investment decision making process and to implement the associated templates in the LOLITA system. The system should process a large number of source articles and extract specific templates according to the relevant information located in the source articles. The project also involves the design and implementation in LOLITA of a user- definable template interface for allowing the users to easily design new templates using sentences in natural language. This allows user-defined information extraction from source texts. This differs from most of existing information extraction systems which require the developers to code the templates directly in the system. The results of the research have shown that the system performed well in the extraction of financial templates from source articles which would allow the financial operator to reduce his qualitative data-overload. The results have also shown that the user-definable template interface is a viable approach to user-defined information extraction. A trade-off has been identified between the ease of use of the user-definable template interface and the loss of performance compared to hand- coded templates.


Computerized tomography scanning has shown that acute traumatic intracranial hematomas are more common than was previously realized, but whether all hematomas must be removed remains controversial. About half of this series of 26 patients who were not clinically deteriorating and who were initially managed without operation had to undergo hematoma removal because they subsequently deteriorated. Features present at the time of diagnosis (age, type and site of hematoma, presence of focal signs, level of responsiveness, and degree of midline shift) were not helpful in predicting that operation would be needed. The only discriminatory factor was the level of intracranial pressure (ICP). All the patients with ICP greater than 30 mm Hg deteriorated and required operation, but only one patient whose ICP was less than 20 mm Hg deteriorated. Half the patients with ICP between 20 and 30 mm Hg did not require an operation. Intracranial pressure monitoring can, therefore, be useful in managing patients with an occult intracranial hematoma.


The WGV project is an infill residential development in a middle suburb of Perth, Western Australia. Its urban planning innovation is in its attempt to demonstrate net zero carbon as well as other sustainability goals set by urban planning processes such as community engagement and the One Planet Living accreditation process. It is a contribution to the IPCC 1.5 °C agenda which seeks to achieve deep decarbonization while also delivering the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Solar photovoltaics and battery storage are incorporated into the development and create net zero carbon power through an innovative 'citizen utility' with peer-to-peer trading. The multiple sustainable development features such as water sensitive design, energy efficiency, social housing, heritage retention, landscape and community involvement, are aiming to provide inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable living and have been assessed under the SDG framework.


For decades, the prevalence of obesity and Type 2 diabetes has been rising, becoming significant threats to human health worldwide. Accumulating evidence indicates that excess energy nutrition causes chronic low-grade tissue inflammation and finally contributes to systemic metabolic dysfunction, while various natural products such as polyphenols, alkaloids, terpenoids, and n3-polyunsaturated fatty acids exert anti-inflammatory benefits. As an energy reservoir, adipose tissue depots play a vital role in energy storage and inflammatory regulation. In this chapter, we will focus on adipose tissues and talk about the molecular and cellular mechanisms that link nutrition to obesity and diabetes, since we outline the natural products as strategies to combat these metabolic syndromes.


Objective: To compare radiography with computed tomography (CT) in the detection of blunt thoracic injuries in paediatric patients. Methods: Paediatric patients who underwent radiography and CT after blunt thoracic trauma between February 2015 and January 2016 were retrospectively reviewed. Images were independently evaluated by two experienced radiologists and a consensus reached. The spectrum of blunt thoracic injuries was categorised into the lungs, airways, pleural space, oesophagus, heart, aorta, diaphragm, and chest wall. Considering CT as the gold standard, the sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values of radiography were calculated. Results: A total of 39 male and nine female patients aged 1 to 18 years were included; 46 of the 48 patients were clinically stable. CT detected 19 thoracic injuries in 11 patients, whereas radiography detected 15 of the thoracic injuries in eight of the patients. Considering CT as the gold standard, radiography had 73% sensitivity, 100% specificity, and 94% accuracy in detecting thoracic blunt injuries. Conclusion: Most thoracic CT scans in paediatric patients with thoracic blunt trauma were normal. Chest radiography can reliably detect blunt trauma in paediatric patients when evaluated by experienced radiologists. Owing to the risk of radiation exposure, thoracic CT should be performed selectively and based on clinical, laboratory, and chest radiography findings.


Sperm morphological examination, computer-assisted sperm analysis (CASA) and histopathologic examination of the testis and epididymis were performed for male rats treated orally with boric acid for 3 weeks at dosage levels of 50, 150 and 500 mg/kg/day, and treated males were mated with untreated females. None of the males treated with 500 mg/kg/day could impregnate untreated females. The fertility index showed a tendency to decrease in males treated with 150 mg/kg/day. At necropsy, the pre-implantation loss rate in females mated with males treated with 150 mg/kg/day was higher than the control values. Upon epididymal sperm analysis using the CASA system, all parameters including the number of sperm and sperm motions were found to be affected in males treated with 500 mg/kg/day, and the number of sperm, percent motile, velocities and amplitude of lateral head displacement (ALH) were affected in males treated with 150 mg/kg/day. Upon sperm morphological examination, head and tail abnormalities were observed in males treated with 150 and 500 mg/kg/day. In the histopathological examination, atrophy of the seminiferous tubules and multinucleated giant cells in the testes were observed in males treated with 500 mg/kg/day.


The present investigation deals with the development, and implementation, of embedded ultrasonic piezoceramic sensors as part of an active non-destructive health monitoring system for reinforced concrete members. As the world demand for economic, and sustainable energy rises, so does the demand for continuous structural health monitoring systems for high-importance structures such as, oil platforms and nuclear facilities. These facilities require the most reliable, and durable, monitoring systems in order to ensure their most economic, yet prudent operation. The proposed system was evaluated as a means for determining the development of concrete's early strength, as well as detecting first cracking in concrete. A series of small and full-scale concrete specimens were tested, and a relationship was drawn between the internal crack width of the members and the signal output of the proposed system. The MIRA 3D tomographer was also investigated for detecting the punching shear crack of thick concrete slabs.


In this paper, an advanced model, based on recurrent high order neural networks, is developed for the prediction of the power output profile of a wind park. This model outperforms simple methods like persistence, as well as classical methods in the literature. The architecture of a forecasting model is optimised automatically by a new algorithm, that substitutes the usually applied trial-and-error method. Finally, the online implementation of the developed model into an advanced control system for the optimal operation and management of a real autonomous wind-diesel power system, is presented.


Background. Psychotic-like experiences (PLEs) are risk factors for the development of psychiatric conditions like schizophrenia, particularly if associated with distress. As PLEs have been related to alterations in both white matter and cognition, we investigated whether cognition (g-factor and processing speed) mediates the relationship between white matter and PLEs. Methods.We investigated two independent samples (6170 and 19 891) from the UK Biobank, through path analysis. For both samples, measures of whole-brain fractional anisotropy (gFA) and mean diffusivity (gMD), as indications of white matter microstructure, were derived from probabilistic tractography. For the smaller sample, variables whole-brain white matter network efficiency and microstructure were also derived from structural connectome data. Results. The mediation of cognition on the relationships between white matter properties and PLEs was non-significant. However, lower gFA was associated with having PLEs in combination with distress in the full available sample (standardized β =−0.053, p = 0.011). Additionally, lower gFA/higher gMD was associated with lower g-factor (standardized β = 0.049, p < 0.001; standardized β =−0.027, p = 0.003), and partially mediated by processing speed with a proportion mediated of 7% ( p = < 0.001) for gFA and 11% ( p < 0.001) for gMD. Conclusions. We show that lower global white matter microstructure is associated with having PLEs in combination with distress, which suggests a direction of future research that could help clarify how and why individuals progress from subclinical to clinical psychotic symptoms. Furthermore, we replicated that processing speed mediates the relationship between white matter microstructure and g-factor.


The electricity distribution in Sweden is experiencing aconsiderable change in conditions by the radical change inregulation policy. The Swedish Energy Agency(Energimyndigheten) is introducing a new regulatory model, theNetwork Performance Assessment Model, as the main tool forsupervising the natural monopolies of local electricitydistribution. The new model has interesting and far-reachingconsequences for the involved parties. This thesis investigates the implications of the newregulation and the regulatory tool, in particularly related toIT-investments evaluations in the distribution utilities. Intoday's utilities, IT-systems are often a vital part ofoperations, ranging from e.g. real-time monitoring andcontrolling of the network to various administrative tasks.Considerable amounts of money are spent on investments toenhance and maintain these IT-systems. The changed regulationand the new regulatory model put a focus, more than ever, onefficient use of utilities'resources, implying a need forsuitable methods to evaluate ITinvestments. In the thesis, the new regulation is described, inparticular the new regulatory model. The model is presented andcentral implications are identified, e.g. in terms of newrequirements put on the utilities and general businessconsequences. As stated, the focus is on implications relatedto IT-systems and investments in these systems. Furthermore, a wide range of IT-investment evaluationmethods are presented and categorized in the thesis, focusingon IT-investment appraisal techniques. The categories rangesfrom methods only considering cash flows of investments to moreelaborate methods, e.g. for considering behavioral sciencesaspects. The thesis outlines and presents categories of methodsas well as examples of individual methods. In the final part of the thesis, suitable IT-investmentevaluation methods, given the implications of the newregulation, are discussed. The implications include both directbusiness related aspects as well as more technical issuesrelated to the IT-investments. It is also concluded that asuitable method need to incorporate both monetary consequencesof the investment as well as a limited number of non-monetary,related to the regulatory model. Key words:Regulation of electricity distribution,IT-investment evaluation methods, Implications of monopolyregulation


OBJECTIVE. To use the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) and Euro Quality of Life (EuroQol) as pre-screening assessment tools to improve surgery outcomes for patients with spinal disorders.

MATERIALS AND METHODS. Prior to surgical intervention, 223 (out of 311 lumbar spine) patients who were eventually treated with surgery at Bangkok Spine Academy between August 2010 and June 2011, filled out the above mentioned questionnaires pre-operatively. ODI and EuroQol were used to assess their mobility, activities, pain, anxiety etc., which could help better determine their spine disability together with their medical history and physical examination.

RESULTS. Mobility: Pre-operative 157 (92.9%) had problems,12 (7.1%) had no problems. Self-care: Pre-operative 97 (57.4%) had problems, 72 (42.6%) had no problems. Usual activities: Pre-operative 157 (92.9%) had problems, 12 (7.1%) had no problems. Pain/discomfort: Pre-operative 167 (98.82%) had problems, 2 (1.18%) had no problems. Anxiety/depression: Pre-operative 137 (81.07%) had problems, 32 (18.93%) had no problems.

CONCLUSION. All patients who underwent surgery for the treatment of low back pain were found to be having significant disability and restrictions in their lives; using the pre-operative ODI and EuroQol measurements they could be categorized as having moderate to severe disability.


BACKGROUND
Research into the effectiveness of counselling in primary care is rare. This study attempts to provide a thorough evaluation of the effects of a new counselling service introduced throughout Dorset.

AIM
To evaluate the impact of counselling on client symptomatology, self-esteem, and quality of life. The effect of counselling on drug prescribing, referrals to other mental health professionals, and client and general practitioner (GP) satisfaction were also assessed.

METHOD
All new clients referred for counselling were asked to complete and return questionnaires before and after counselling. A total of 385 clients took part in the study. The first and second assessments were compared statistically. Clients were ascribed a psychiatric diagnosis using a simplified version of DSM-IIIR (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association). GPs' views of the service were determined using a specially designed questionnaire. Drug data were obtained from the Prescription Pricing Authority and referral statistics from Dorset HealthCare National Health Service (NHS) Trust.

RESULTS
The number of psychiatric symptoms and their severity were significantly reduced by counselling. There were no significant differences in the prescription of anxiolytic/hypnotic and anti-depressant medication between matched practices with and without counsellors. The presence of a counsellor did not affect the rate of referral to other mental health professionals. Clients and GPs valued the service highly.

CONCLUSIONS
The Psychology Managed Counselling Service is an effective method of running a counselling service and is well received by both clients and GPs. Counselled clients improved significantly on several measures.


Pd Schottky diode exhibited stable rectifying behavior up to 500°C for 35 minutes in sequential annealing; with the Schottky barrier heights (SBHs), ΦB (I-V) of 0.6-0.7eV with the leakage current (LC) of 20 A at -5V. With the same range of SBHs, PdSi diodes were stable up to 500°C for 5 minutes with the LC of 0.182mA at -5V. The electrical characteristics obtained in this study are also compared with those obtained for Pd and PdSi Schottky diodes on p-GaN.


In November 1997, the British Government published its long-awaited White Paper on international development, the first comprehensive statement on British aid for 22 years. It has been widely welcomed as a significant shift in the orientation of British development policy and as a marker for other donors. This Briefing Paper provides an overview of the main components of the White Paper, goes on to discuss the implementation of these new policies, and ends by placing this British initiative in its wider international context.


Abstract With populations aging worldwide, the need for appropriate and just public policy related to old age is critical. Elder law scholars can support the creation of such policy by advancing the theoretical understanding of the relationship between law and aging — understanding that can help policymakers identify and prioritize goals, and evaluate potential interventions. This Article aims to provide a framework for this work by distilling the core theoretical questions at the intersection of law and aging. It also challenges common assumptions that could pose a barrier to developing a more robust theory of law and aging. Specifically, it argues that scholarship in this area will be most fruitful if it recognizes that the study and practice of "elder law" are intertwined but not a single unified field, that "preferential" treatment of older adults can be a form of discrimination, and that old age is not a universal human experience.


A conventional laboratory method for the determination of glyphosate and its degradation product aminomethylphosphonic acid (AMPA) is high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) followed by post column derivatization with o-phthaldialdehyde (OPA). However, AMPA is partly decomposed in the process causing a deviation in the AMPA detection or even making a simultaneous detection of glyphosate and AMPA with the described postcolumn procedure impossible. We used a compact sequential injection analysis system and optimized the process conditions for both analytes independently from each other. The process conditions were adjusted to the different chemical characteristics of AMPA (primary amine) and glyphosate (secondary amine), which needs to be oxidized to a primary amine prior to the derivatization. An ion exchange column was included in the system to eliminate amines interfering with the method. Limits of detection of 16 and 9 µg L -1 for glyphosate and AMPA, respectively are similar to those achieved with HPLC methods reported in literature, but compared to conventional HPLC methods only small amounts of reagents are consumed.


Large-scale oceanic circulation beneath Antarctic ice shelves is driven by the thenmohaline differences which result from mass and energy exchange at the ice-ocean interface. Dense, saline waters are drawn underneath the ice shelves and emerge, cooled and diluted, as plumes of Ice Shelf Water. A simple, one-dimensional model of this process has been developed, in which the Ice Shelf Water plume is treated as a turbulent gravity current, initiated at the inland margin by a flow of fresh meltwater emerging from beneath the grounded ice. Subsequent evolution of the plume, as it ascends along an ice shelf base of specified geometry, can be simulated. The model has been applied to a flow line on Ronne Ice Shelf, Antarctica, to explain the observed distribution and rate of basal melting and freezing. Calculations indicate that the present mean melt rate of 0.6 m yr−1 would increase to 2.6 m yr−1 if the underlying water were to warm by 0.6°C. This would not only lead to significant thinning of the ice shelf but could also cause a profound change in ocean circulation on the open continental shelf.


The structure of employer/employee relationships is changing. These original contributions report on new developments taking place in today's labor market and on the role of public policy in shaping that process. They provide an illuminating description of the current state of internal labor market theory and practice, document the evolution of trends in the public and private sectors, and are joined in a concern for disadvantaged and unemployed workers that is all too rare in scholarly work. A central theme is the adaptation of labor market institutions to the important environmental changes of recent years, including the shift to an international marketplace for goods and services, the spread of new workplace technologies, new work force demographics, and changing conceptions of the role that government should be expected to play.Katharine Abraham is Associate Professor of Economics at the University of Maryland. Robert McKersie is Professor of Industrial Relations at the Sloan School of Management at MIT.Contents: Introduction, Katharine G. Abraham. Norms and Cycles: The Dynamics of Nonunion Industrial Relations in the United States, 1897-1987, Sanford M. Jacoby. The Effects of Worker Participation in Management, Profits and Ownership of Assets on Enterprise Performance, Michael A. Conte, Jan Svenjar. Restructuring the Employment Relationship: The Growth of MarketMediated Work Arrangements, Katharine G. Abraham. The Evolving Role of Small Business and Some Implications for Employment and Training Policy, Gary W. Loveman, Michael J. Piore, Werner Sengeneberger. Employment Security and Employment Policy: An Assessment of the Issues, Paul Osterman, Thomas A. Kochan. The Equity and Efficiency of job Security: Contrasting Perspectives on Collective Dismissal Laws in Europe, Susan N. Houseman. ContinuousProcess Technologies and the Gender Gap in Manufacturing Wages, Susan B. Carter, Peter Philips. Reducing Gender and Racial Inequality: The Role of Public Policy, Peter Gottschalk. Government and the Labor Market, Robert M. Solow.


This paper reviews some of the problems encountered during the rehabilitation of the Crescent & Vischer Ferry Dams and the techniques used to comply with strict water level regulations and other restrictions imposed on this navigable waterway. In particular, the paper focuses, not so much on what was done, but how the following tasks were accomplished: Installation of post tension anchors while maintaining normal water levels and discharges over the Crescent spillway. Rehabilitation of the Crescent regulating structure. Relocation of the Vischer Ferry regulating structure and diversion of required river discharges during construction of powerhouse expansion. Construction of the Vischer Ferry pier nose. Access and dewatering techniques used for various repairs on the dam structure at both projects. Rehabilitation of dam crest and flashboard upgrade while maintaining near normal river levels. The dam rehabilitation work was completed in 1990. It's success is due to the cooperative efforts and value engineered approach by the Owner, the Engineer, and the Contractor to solve the numerous obstacles encountered during the course of construction.


A set of experiments to study physical and chemical modification of the surface of fibers is conducted to expand the area of their application for purification of water, gas and air (including that in conditions of space). The possibility of modification of filter nozzles in the process of fiber formation by particles of coal of BAU type, copper sulfide and silver chloride is experimentally shown. The fraction of the copper sulfide powder less than 50 microns in size was crushed in a spherical mill; it was deposited on fiber at air temperature of 50° C and powder consumption of 0.5 g/l of air. The resulting material contained 6–18 CuS particles per 1 cm of the fiber length. An effective bactericidal fibrous material can be produced using rather cheap material – CuS and relatively cheap natural compounds of sulphides and oxides of heavy metals.


Objectives Research implicates the A1 allele of the dopamine D2 receptor gene (DRD2) Taq1A polymorphism in the development of depression and anxiety. Furthermore, recent papers suggest that children with A1 allele of this gene may receive less positive parenting, and that the effects of this gene on child symptoms may be moderated by parenting. We sought to replicate and extend these findings using behavioral measures in a nonclinical sample of young children. Methods In a sample of 473 preschool-aged children and their mothers, structured clinical interview measures and maternal reports of child symptoms were collected, and standardized observations of parent–child interactions were conducted. Results An association was detected between the DRD2 A1 allele and symptoms of depression and anxiety indexed using interview and parent report methods. As found in previous reports, children with the DRD2 A1 allele received less supportive parenting and displayed higher levels of negative emotionality during parent–child interactions. Tests of mediation and moderation were conducted. Conclusion We found associations between the DRD2 A1 allele and early-emerging anxious and depressive symptoms in a community sample of preschool-aged children, and evidence of a gene–environment correlation and moderation of the main effect of child genotype on child symptoms by parenting.


This paper presents a dynamic hyperboloidal mapping model aimed at building image of electronic navigational chart which constitutes an equivalent to that obtained from a hypercatadioptric camera system. In the 1st part, space and three reference frames located in it are defined. These are: the observer frame and horizontal topocentric frame considered secondary (both connected with water-surface platform), and the geocentric frame, primary one. The 2nd part provides description of a way of interconnection between the observer frame and horizontal topocentric one as well as of determination of their location in relation to the geocentric reference frame, depending on course and position of water-surface platform. In the final part is presented a model of panoramic image mapping in the observer reference frame and principles of generating ENC image by using dynamic hyperboloidal mapping. Finally, conclusions indicating possible applications of the developed model are presented.


To help kick-start the adoption of both e-prescribing and electronic health records, the Department of Health & Human Services plans to loosen the rules under fraud and abuse statutes to allow donation of computer hardware, software, and training to physicians, pharmacists, and others.


The ill effects of human exposure to arsenic (As) have recently been reevaluated by government agencies around the world. This has lead to a lowering of As guidelines in drinking water, with Canada decreasing the maximum allowable level from 50 to 25 μg/L and the U.S. from 50 to 10 μg/L. Canada is currently contemplating a further decrease to 5 μg/L. The reason for these regulatory changes is the realization that As can cause deleterious effects at lower concentrations than was previously thought. There is a strong relationship between chronic ingestion of As and deleterious human health effects and here we provide an overview of some of the major effects documented in the scientific literature. As regulatory levels of As have been decreased, an increasing number of water supplies will now require removal of As before the water can be used for human consumption. While As exposure can occur from food, air and water, all major chronic As poisonings have stemmed from water and this is usually the predominant exposure route. Exposure to As leads to an accumulation of As in tissues such as skin, hair and nails, resulting in various clinical symptoms such as hyperpigmentation and keratosis. There is also an increased risk of skin, internal organ, and lung cancers. Cardiovascular disease and neuropathy have also been linked to As consumption. Verbal IQ and long term memory can also be affected, and As can suppress hormone regulation and hormone mediated gene transcription. Increases in fetal loss and premature delivery, and decreased birth weights of infants, can occur even at low (<10 μg/L) exposure levels. Malnourished people have been shown to be more predisposed to As-related skin lesions. A large percentage of the population (30–40%) that is using As-contaminated drinking water can have elevated As levels in urine, hair and nails, while showing no noticeable clinical symptoms, such as skin lesions. It is therefore important to carry out clinical tests of As exposure. Factors combining to increase/decrease the ill effects of As include duration and magnitude of As exposure, source of As exposure, nutrition, age and general health status. Analytical determinations of As poisoning can be made by examining As levels in urine, hair and toenails. Communities and individuals relying on groundwater sources for drinking water need to measure As levels to ensure that their supplies are safe. Communities with water As levels greater than 5 μg/L should consider a program to document As levels in the population.


Received: 30 December 2018 Accepted: 20 February 2019 The humidification chamber is a vital component of the humidification-dehumidification cycle that plays an essential role in determining the effectiveness of this system. In this study, the combined effect of heating and humidifying processes in the plate type humidification chamber, the so-called solar air humidifier is investigated experimentally and using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling. A lab-scale experimental setup was built consisting of a parabolic reflector coupled by a radiant heating coil, a glass plate and water tray with an insulation cover. Two parameters were investigated in the experimental phase of the study, namely, heat flux and inlet air flow rate. The mathematical model was validated against the experimental findings, and the results were in a close agreement. In addition to the heat flux and air flow rate, the effect of the height of the humidification channel was investigated theoretically. For the different heat fluxes, it has been found that the maximum evaporation rate is achieved at the smallest channel height and flow velocity. Also, the effectiveness of the humidification chamber depended strongly on the inlet conditions, and it decreased by increasing the input heat flux.


Observations of the influence of artificial ventilation with PEEP on cardiac output are unequivocal. Not only the measure of the end-expiratory pressure and lung compliance play a role, but also the circulating blood volume. In healthy laboratory animals a state of normo-, hypo- and hypervolemia was simulated by changes in position in neurolept-anesthesia. In all cases artificial ventilation with PEEP induced a decrease of cardiac output as a consequence of a decrease of stroke volume. These results are discussed. The conclusion is drawn that a change in stroke volume during artificial ventilation with PEEP is not only dependent on the level of end-expiratory pressure and pulmonary compliance but also on that portion of the Starling curve where the heart at that instant is functioning.


A primary goal of the
 Virtual Reality
 (
 VR
 ) community is to build fully immersive and presence-inducing environments with seamless and natural interactions. To reach this goal, researchers are investigating how to best directly use our hands to interact with a virtual environment using hand tracking. Most studies in this field require participants to perform repetitive tasks. In this article, we investigate if results of such studies translate into a real application and game-like experience. We designed a virtual escape room in which participants interact with various objects to gather clues and complete puzzles. In a between-subjects study, we examine the effects of two input modalities (controllers vs. hand tracking) and two grasping visualizations (continuously tracked hands vs. virtual hands that disappear when grasping) on ownership, realism, efficiency, enjoyment, and presence.

 Our results show that ownership, realism, enjoyment, and presence increased when using hand tracking compared to controllers. Visualizing the tracked hands during grasps leads to higher ratings in one of our ownership questions and one of our enjoyment questions compared to having the virtual hands disappear during grasps as is common in many applications. We also confirm some of the main results of two studies that have a repetitive design in a more realistic gaming scenario that might be closer to a typical user experience.


Machine learning (ML) has become an indispensable tool to predict absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion (ADME) properties in pharmaceutical research. ML algorithms are trained on molecular structures and corresponding ADME assay data to develop quantitative structure-property relationship (QSPR) models. Traditional QSPR models were trained on compound sets of limited size. With the advent of more complex ML algorithms and data availability, training sets have become larger and more diverse. Most common training approaches consist in either training a model with a small set of similar compounds, namely, compounds designed for the same drug discovery project or chemical series (local model approach) or with a larger set of diverse compounds (global model approach). Global models are built with all experimental data available for an assay, combining compound data from different projects and disease areas. Despite the ML progress made so far, the choice of the appropriate data composition for building ML models is still unclear. Herein, a systematic evaluation of local and global ML models was performed for 10 different experimental assays and 112 drug discovery projects. Results show a consistent superior performance of global models for ADME property predictions. Diagnostic analyses were also carried out to investigate the influence of training set size, structural diversity, and data shift in the relative performance of local and global ML models. Training set and structural diversity did not have an impact in the relative performance on the methods. Instead, data shift helped to identify the projects with larger performance differences between local and global models. Results presented in this work can be leveraged to improve ML-based ADME properties predictions and thus decision-making in drug discovery projects.


While there is an abundant literature on office market modeling, only few studies focus on the Greater Paris case. This article aims at contributing to the understanding of the Parisian office market underlying mechanisms. We combine the use of cointegration techniques to a multiple structural break approach to model the market over the period 1991-2012. We employ a two stage error correction framework to identify both long and short-run market determinants in the context of rent and demand relationships. The findings show that once made allowance for level shifts in the long-run relationships, the specified models explain relatively well the Parisian market. The results highlight the role of the vacancy rate as a long-run driver of rental values while both employment and rents explain long-run office demand. Yet, in the short-run, lagged dependent variables appear to be drifting both variables away from their equilibrium.


The impact on climate of future land-use and energy policy scenarios is explored using two landuse frameworks: (i) Pure Cost Conversion Response (PCCR), or 'extensification', where the price of land is the only constraint to convert land to agricultural production, including growing biofuels, and (ii) Observed Land Supply Response (OLSR), or 'intensification', where legal, environmental and other constraints encourage more intense use of existing managed land. These two land-use frameworks, involving different economic assumptions, were used to explore how the large-scale plantation of cellulosic biofuels to meet global energy demand impacts the future climate. The land cover of the Community Atmospheric Model Version 3.0 (CAM3.0) was manipulated to reflect these two different land-use and energy scenarios (i.e. biofuels and no biofuels). Using these landscapes, present and future climate conditions were simulated to assess the land cover impact. In both the intensification and extensification scenarios, the biofuel energy policy increases the land reflectivity of many areas of the globe, indicating that biofuel cropland is replacing darker land-vegetation, which directly leads to cooling. Moreover, the extensification framework—which involves more deforestation than the intensification framework—leads to larger increases in the reflectivity of the Earth's surface and thus a stronger cooling of the land surface in the extratropics. However, the deforestation which occurred in the tropics produced an increase in temperature due to a decrease in evaporative cooling and cloud cover, and an increase in insolation and sensible heating of the near surface. Nevertheless, these surface-air temperature changes associated with land-use are smaller than the effect from changes in the trace-gas forcing (i.e. the enhanced greenhouse effect), although over some regions the land-use change can be large enough to counteract the human-induced, radiatively forced warming. A comparison of these biogeophysical impacts on climate of the land-use and biofuel policies with the previously published biogeochemical impact of biofuels indicates the dominance of biogeophysical impacts at 2050.


Since 2005, China has witnessed the emergence of a new form of administrative organization. In contrast with the earlier model of "City Jurisdiction Over Counties," which placed counties under the jurisdiction of cities, a new pilot program known as "Provincial Administration of Counties" has been launched. This program places counties and county-level cities under the direct administration of provinces, instead of prefecture-level cities. The central state has played a modest role in implementing this pilot program, whereas provincial and county-level governments have taken a more proactive approach. The central government hopes that such a reform can address development imbalances that exist between counties and cities. Meanwhile, provincial governments see the reforms as a way to promote economic development initiatives in counties and county-level cities. However, the implementation of reforms at the local level is not proceeding smoothly. This is mainly due to an asymmetry of power in city-county relations, itself a legacy of earlier economic reforms that created the City Jurisdiction Over Counties system. This asymmetry has prevented urban-rural tensions from being resolved. Instead, such tensions have been shifted downward to the city district level or upward to the regional level.


Natural fruits antioxidants play a significant role in inhibiting reactive oxygen species and scavenging free radicals, thus avoiding chronic, degenerative diseases such as cardiovascular disease, aging, cholesterol rates and cancer. The study covered six categories of each three tastes of different pomegranate fruits obtained or purchased in Erbil/Kurdistan-Iraq, a total of 54 samples (6x3x3) were analyzed. Each type was tested for ferric reduction of antioxidant power assay, reduced power method, ascorbic acid content, total phenol and total flavonoid. Our results have shown that the Sour Smilan cultivar has the highest antioxidant properties, ferric antioxidant power reduction (536.89±14.65), ferric power reduction (0.965), ascorbic acid content (0.252±0.012), total phenol (139.66±3.49), total flavonoid (23.08±2.23), and short comparative studies have been conducted to analyze the amount of iron (11) in pomegranate in order to analyze their interferences to the antioxidant activity reported in the ferric reduction of antioxidant power assay.


This thesis examined through a political economy framework how New Zealand's two largest newspaper chains, Fairfax and NZME, have been impacted by the advent of digital technologies and the effects these have had on the practice of sports journalism. Digital technology, falling revenue and increasing pressure from financial owners have all played a part in the restructuring of both Fairfax and NZME's editorial news operations, especially in the last five years as both companies transitioned to a 'digital-first' environment.  Semi-structured, in-depth interviews were conducted with 16 senior journalists who had knowledge of the transition from a print to a digital focus. These interviews highlighted the strategies adopted by both companies as they faced a challenging and evolving marketplace. They also underlined the internal tensions within newsrooms between not only journalists and editorial news managers but also the digital and print operations.  Despite the belief that digital technologies would make the print news media more collaborative and provide greater diversity and plurality, the opposite has occurred. Sports reporting remains highly routinised, coverage diversity is shrinking, and greater control is now exerted by editorial managers over the production of journalistic content. Digital technologies have also impacted the forms of content, with decision making on editorial content and resourcing now strongly influenced by data analytics, although there was still strong resistance to greater interactivity with readers. The relationship between sports organisations and print news media organisations, while considered in theory to be a symbiotic one but in reality, is an area of conflict, has also further deteriorated as sports organisations introduce significantly greater control over the media agenda. An element of this control has also heightened tensions with sports organisations moving into the digital space and competing directly with print news media organisations.


The effects of pharmaceuticals on aquatic ecosystems are the subject of increasing environmental concern. Of particular interest are a suite of drugs known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), commonly prescribed to treat depression. SSRIs are now detected in the environment worldwide, but their effects on ecosystems are not well understood. We conducted replicated experiments testing for an ecosystem effect of SSRIs in streams. We used artificial stream mesocosms to expose natural biofilms and aquatic insect communities to concentrations (20 µg/L) of fluoxetine or citalopram or a mix of both (totaling 40 µg/L). These concentrations are the lowest found to have an effect on aquatic invertebrates in other studies. Treatments suppressed gross primary production by 29% and community respiration by ≥43% on rock biofilms but did not affect algal biomass or whole-stream metabolism. A common group of dipteran midges emerged earlier in all SSRI treated streams compared with the controls. Total biomass of emerged adults at day 14 was greater in the SSRI-exposed streams, suggesting that fluoxetine and citalopram may influence developmental processes in some stream insects. Ecosystem function and invertebrate population dynamics are sensitive to pharmaceuticals. Our study demonstrates that chronic exposure to fluoxetine and citalopram has the potential to affect aquatic biota and ecosystem function.


The study investigated the efficacy of process writing and error correction as scaffolds in improving writing competence among 32 college students who were enrolled in an English writing class. As a narrative-descriptive action research, the study used error analysis to account the errors committed by the learners in grammar, lexis, mechanics, and syntax, described how writing process and error correction become relevant in scaffolding writing competence, and evaluated the writing competence of the learners on their final draft. Error Analysis, the Writing Competency Rubic by Archibald, et al. (2013), and Focused Group Discussion were employed as instruments. Error analysis revealed that there were a total of 363 errors in the 176 composition drafts produced by the respondents. Grammatical errors accounted the highest frequency of errors at 47.45%. Verb, pronoun, and preposition errors occurred frequently. In terms of mechanics errors, spelling and misuse of the comma recorded the most number of errors. Meanwhile, lexis errors were particularly concentrated in the first draft. Last, syntax errors were mainly developmental and ambiguous statement errors, both being attributes of local errors. In a comparison between error frequencies across drafts, it was found out that process writing and sustained error correction were effective in reducing the incidence of errors in the succeeding drafts. Based on the FGD, the respondents divulged that the scaffolds were effective in improving their writing competence, however the routine activities were exhausting and time consuming. Finally, based on the Writing Competency Rubric it was found out that the overall competence level of the respondents was proficient. Furthermore, they were also found to be consistently proficient in all rubric outcomes: Central/Controlling Ideas, Development, Organization, Style, Mechanics, and Audience Awareness. As a conclusion, scaffolding writing competence through process writing and error correction was proven effective.


An algorithm for the triangularization of a matrix whose graph is a directed acyclic graph, popularly known as dag, is presented. One of the algorithms for obtaining this special form has been given by Sargent and Westerberg. Their approach is practically good but sequential in nature and cannot be parallelised easily. In this work we present a parallel algorithm which is based on the observation that, if we find the transitive closure matrix of a directed acyclic graph, count the number of entries in each row, sort them in the ascending order of their values and rank them accordingly, we get a lower triangular matrix. We show that all these operations can be done using 3-d CD-PARBS(Complete Directed PARBS) in constant time. The same approach can be used for the block cases, producing the same relabelling as produced by Tarjan's algorithm, in constant time. To the best of our knowledge, it is the first approach to solve such problems using directed PARBS.


Parallel AD converter structures is one way to increase the sampling rate. Instead of increasing the sample rate in one AD converter, several AD converters with lower sampling rate can be used instead. A problem in these structures is that the time between samples is usually not equal because there are errors in the delays between the AD converters. There are also differences in the ground level in the different AD converters. We will here present a method to estimate the timing and amplitude offsets. The estimation algorithm works without any calibration signal, instead the usual input signal is used. The only assumption that is made about the signal is that most of the energy lies in a low frequency band. The AD converter structure will also be simulated to show that the method works.


Herein, we report a novel approach to form axial heterostructure nanowires composed of linearly distinct Ni silicide (Ni2Si) and Si segments via a one-pot solution synthesis method. Initially, Si nanowires are grown using Au seeds deposited on a Ni substrate with the Si delivery in the solution phase using a liquid phenylsilane precursor. Ni silicide then forms axially along the wires through progressive Ni diffusion from the growth substrate, with a distinct transition between the silicide and pure Si segments. The interfacial abruptness and chemical composition of the heterostructure nanowires was analysed through transmission electron microscopy, electron diffraction, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, aberration corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy and atomically resolved electron energy loss spectroscopy. The method represents a versatile approach for the formation of complex axial NW heterostructures and could be extended to other metal silicide or analogous metal germanide systems.


The focus of this Article is on the agency costs that may be created by the empty voting of investment advisers to index funds and how they can be mitigated so as to protect the value of private employee pension benefit plans. This Article focuses on BlackRock because it has taken a leadership role in the leveraging of its delegated voting authority. Therefore, the issue I address in this white paper is whether the fiduciary duties of a plan manager of an "employee pension benefit plan," as authorized under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 ("ERISA"), requires it to investigate BlackRock's shareholder activism. This indirect approach is required as the fiduciary duties of ERISA do not generally extend to mutual funds and ETFs and their investment advisors.

This Article takes the position that a plan manager has a fiduciary duty, the duty of prudence, to investigate BlackRock's shareholder activism. This duty applies not only to the BlackRock's mutual funds or ETFs that an ERISA plan invests in but also to those BlackRock fund selections that it makes available to its participants and beneficiaries in self-directed accounts.

Given these fiduciary duties, this Article argues that if a plan manager were to investigate BlackRock's shareholder activism, especially its engagement strategy, it would likely find it to be in conflict with the manager's fiduciary duties. Such a finding would require a plan manager to seek out other reasonably available alternatives that is not associated with such shareholder activism.

While the focus of this Article is on BlackRock's delegated voting authority and associated shareholder activism, it is meant to apply to any and all investment advisers who attempt to leverage their delegated voting authority for purposes of engaging in such activism. Moreover, the Department of Labor should provide guidance to plan managers on when the investment products of investment advisers with delegated voting authority need to be excluded.

This Article was presented at the George A. Leet Business Law Symposium (Case Western Reserve University School of Law) on Nov. 6, 2020.


OBJECTIVE
To determine the composition, structure, trace elements and thermal stability of Tibetan medicine Nanhanshuishi.

METHOD
The trace elements, the structure, and the thermal stability of Nanhanshuishi were assayed and calculated by X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (XRF), inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometer (ICP-OES), atomic fluorescence spectrometry (AFS), inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), X-ray power diffraction (XRD), TG-DTA.

RESULT
The results indicated that the phase is mainly made up of CaCO3 (Rhombohedral, R-3c) in Nanhanshuishi. The analysis of elements show that Nanhanshuishi is rich in Ca and O, and contains other more than 20 minor elements, such as Si, Mg, Fe, Al, Na, K, Zn, Mn, Pb, As, Hg etc. The result of TG-DTA show that the weight of Nanhanshuishi starts to decline from near 700 degrees C and get steady above 850 degrees C.

CONCLUSION
The study provided scientific data for the establishment of quality standards of Tibetan medicine Nanhanshuishi.


This paper examines the adjustment of developing country labor markets to macroeconomic shocks. It models as having two sectors: a formal salaried (tradable) sector that may or may not be affected by union or legislation induced wage rigidities, and an informal (nontradable) self-employment sector facing liquidity constraints to entry. This is embedded in a standard small economy macro model that permits the derivation of patterns of comovement among relative salaried/self-employed incomes, salaried/self-employed sector sizes and the real exchange rate with respect to different types of shocks in contexts with and without wage rigidities. The paper then explores time series data from Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and Mexico to test for cointegrating relationships corresponding to the patterns predicted by theory. We confirm episodes of expansion of informal self-employment consistent with the traditional segmentation views. However, we also identify episodes consistent with the sectoral expansion being driven by relative demand or productivity shocks to the nontradables sector that lead to "procyclical" behavior of the informal self-employed sector.


Recently, it is shown that there is a crucial contradiction within von Neumann's theory [K. Nagata and T. Nakamura, Int. J. Theor. Phys. 49, 162 (2010)]. We derive a proposition concerning a quantum expected value under the assumption of the existence of the directions in a spin-1/2 system. The quantum predictions within the formalism of von Neumann's projective measurement cannot coexist with the proposition concerning the existence of the directions. Therefore, we have to give up either the existence of the directions or the formalism of von Neumann's projective measurement. Hence, there is a crucial contradiction within von Neumann's theory. We discuss that this crucial contradiction makes the theoretical formulation of Deutsch's algorithm questionable. Especially, we systematically describe our assertion based on more mathematical analysis using raw data. Our discussion, here, improves previously published argumentations very much.


Single crystal nickel-base superalloys have been used extensively in high-temperature gas turbines as blades and vanes, due to a combination of superior strength, ductility and crack and creep resistance at elevated temperatures. Although modern gas turbines are extremely reliable, wear and other types of damage, e.g. blade tip erosion and thermal fatigue cracks to components, especially those under severe thermo-mechanical and corrosive conditions are unavoidable. And the high replacement costs of gas turbine engine components make the repair of damaged components extremely desirable. However, experimental understanding is considered to be time and cost consuming. It follows that developing simulation methods is of necessity to aid in the repair and reshaping of damaged gas turbine engines. In this project, analytical models have been developed for the repair of commercial single crystal superalloys, i.e. CMSX-4, main concern is put on the simulation process of heat and mass transfer, so that relationship of laser, powder injection and substrate has been studied and predicted; moreover, defining processing parameters, correlation between solidification conditions and microstructure has been established using CET model so that the operating conditions can be adjusted to produce epitaxial growth onto the single crystal substrate.


In the interest of deriving classifiers that are robust to outlier observations, we present integer programming formulations of Vapnik's support vector machine (SVM) with the ramp loss and hard margin loss. The ramp loss allows a maximum error of 2 for each training observation, while the hard margin loss calculates error by counting the number of training observations that are in the margin or misclassified outside of the margin. SVM with these loss functions is shown to be a consistent estimator when used with certain kernel functions. In computational studies with simulated and real-world data, SVM with the robust loss functions ignores outlier observations effectively, providing an advantage over SVM with the traditional hinge loss when using the linear kernel. Despite the fact that training SVM with the robust loss functions requires the solution of a quadratic mixed-integer program (QMIP) and is NP-hard, while traditional SVM requires only the solution of a continuous quadratic program (QP), we are able to find good solutions and prove optimality for instances with up to 500 observations. Solution methods are presented for the new formulations that improve computational performance over industry-standard integer programming solvers alone.


The unsteady characteristic of the pressure-swirl atomization system was studied experimentally in this paper. It was found that the fluctuations of the spray can be divided into two modes: high and low frequency mode, among which the frequency of the high mode is within the range of 500–1100Hz, and the low mode is 100–400Hz. The low mode depends on the turbulent exchange of momentum between the liquid and the surrounding stagnant gas. While the high mode depends on the comprehensive effect of the turbulent vortex generated by the liquid flowing through the atomizer and the natural frequency of the atomizer. Experiments show that the peak frequency of the low mode increases but the peak frequency of the high mode decreases when the pressure drop of the atomizer increases. When the atomizer outlet area size increases, both the peak frequency of the low mode and the high mode decrease. When the deflection angle of the swirl chamber increases, the peak frequency of the low mode increases, while the peak frequency of the high mode decreases first and then increases, reaching the minimum at 60°, and the value at 45° is basically the same as at 80°.


We present an approach to unsupervised audio representation learning. Based on a Triplet Neural Network architecture, we harnesses semantically related cross-modal information to estimate audio track-relatedness. By applying Latent Semantic Indexing (LSI) we embed corresponding textual information into a latent vector space from which we derive track relatedness for online triplet selection. This LSI topic modeling facilitates fine-grained selection of similar and dissimilar audio-track pairs to learn the audio representation using a Convolution Recurrent Neural Network (CRNN). By this we directly project the semantic context of the unstructured text modality onto the learned representation space of the audio modality without deriving structured ground truth annotations from it. We evaluate our approach on the Europeana Sounds collection and show how to improve search in digital audio libraries by harnessing the multilingual metadata provided by numerous European digital libraries. We show that our approach is invariant to the variety of annotation styles as well as to the different languages of this collection. The learned representations perform comparable to the baseline of handcrafted features, respectively exceeding this baseline in similarity retrieval precision at higher cut-offs with only 15% of the baseline's feature vector length.


Conservation Ecology![Figure][1]

Decline of large mammals due to Mozambique's civil war has led to an increase in tree cover in Gorongosa National Park

PHOTO: © ARIADNE VAN ZANDBERGEN/ALAMY STOCK PHOTO

The Mozambique civil war (1977–1992) changed the trajectory of ecological succession in the 3620-km2 Gorongosa National Park. During the civil war, the large mammalian herbivores characteristic of East African savannas were largely extirpated from the park, and this in turn has led to substantial changes in the park's vegetation. Using a combination of aerial and satellite imagery, coupled with limited ground-truthing, Daskin et al. show that tree cover in the park has increased by 34% over a 35-year period, most likely as a result of release from herbivore pressure rather than any changes in the physical environment. The recovery of herbivore populations may proceed more slowly in the presence of increased tree cover.

J. Ecol. 104 , 19 (2016).

 [1]: pending:yes


Microplastic pollution in semi-enclosed seas is gaining attention since microplastics are more likely to accumulate there. However, research on the vertical distribution of microplastics and impact factors is still limited. In this study, we focus on the Baltic Sea, which has distinguished salinity stratification, and we assume that the resulting strong density stratification (halocline) can influence the vertical distribution of microplastics in the water column. Therefore, we analyzed the vertical abundance distribution, the composition, and the sizes of microplastics (27.3–5,000.0 μm) in the Baltic Sea. The results showed that microplastics comprising fibers, fragments, and films occurred throughout the water column at an abundance of 1.1–27.7 items L−1. The abundance of microplastics (3.2–27.7 items L−1) at haloclines was significantly higher than those at other water depths except the near surfaces (p < 0.05), contributing 24.1–53.2% of the microplastics in the whole water column. Small microplastics (<100 μm) were more likely to accumulate in the water layers above halocline. Moreover, the current with high turbidity might be another carrier of microplastics in the near-bottom water layer due to its strong correlation with microplastics abundance. This study provides valuable evidence for the accumulation trend of microplastics in water columns and its influencing factors in the semi-enclosed marginal sea. Further research on the vertical distribution of microplastics under the control of multiple factors should be conducted in the future.


In human communication, analogical inference plays an important role in forming useful judgements from uncertain and incomplete information. Implementation of such ability of inference in computers is significant to increase the efficiency of the question-answering process in information retrieval systems. A new notion of topological fuzzy sets is introduced to describe analogical inference based on association between concepts quantitatively. Based on the above idea, a question-answering system for information retrieval is proposed where a computer learns users' subjects of interest. In the learning process the computer puts questions so as to reduce the fuzziness of its recognition on the users' subjects. Finally, we implemented the system and, using it, the effect of the analogical inference on the efficiency of the learning is investigated.


Filter design is a fundamental problem in signal processing and important in many applications. In this paper we consider a communication application with spectral constraints, using filter designs that can be solved globally via convex optimization. Tradeoffs are discussed in order to determine which design is the most appropriate, and for these applications, finite impulse response filters appear to be more suitable than infinite impulse response filters since they allow for more flexible objective functions, shorter transients, and faster filter implementations.


The current generation is the touch generation. In this generation, everything works with the touch of a finger, be it our cell phones, computers or any day to day appliance. But the so called 'touch generation' has reached its ultimate state and is soon likely to decline. The generation of 'intangible interfaces' is just at its dawn and is soon going to take over the touch generation. The problem statement for this project is to improve the human computer interaction with the use of intangible interface. The aim is to control all operations of a mouse without the actual use of mouse.This would allow the user to navigate his laptop while sitting far away from it. This is achieved by recognition of hand gestures. A computer vision application is made which captures images of the hand gestures from the laptop's web camera, processes it, and performs the required output.Several algorithms of computer vision including image segmentation, feature extraction have been used. The basic functions of a mouse i.e. left click, right click and double click using hand gestures are performed in this project. The main aim is to improve the interaction of human with the computer i.e. to make it more natural but keeping the cost factor in mind. The purpose is to develop an application that must be easy as well as economic to use.


Schwannomas are benign tumors that arise from neural sheath Schwann cells. Solitary benign schwannomas are generally located in the head and neck, often along the cranial nerves, and are a particularly rare neoplasm among tumors of the retroperitoneal space. A 67-year-old man undergoing a general health check was incidentally found to have a mass beside the left kidney. Computed tomography (CT) revealed a cystic adrenal mass located cephalad to the left kidney. Retroperitoneoscopic resection of the retroperitoneal mass was performed. The pathological diagnosis was retroperitoneal benign schwannoma consisting of mixture of a Antoni-A and -B type cells. We report a case of retroperitoneal schwannoma and discuss eleven previous reports treated by laparoscopic surgery in the English literature. Laparoscopic resection may be useful because a retroperitoneal schwannoma, which is commonly localized and hypovascular, can easily be dissected from the adjacent tissues.


This guide offers a variety of digital and print resources on the subject of conservation and preservation in the built environment.


This paper describes the development of implementation theory in an era of "governance" and new management ideas, often labeled New Public Management. The paper gives a presentation of some general concerns raised by the IMplementation Paths for ACTion towards sustainable mobility (IMPACT) program, that is how measures aiming at sustainable solutions could be implemented within the transport sector. Implementation is in focus but is dealt with from three different aspects in the initial stages of the program. First, and this is the main focus of this paper, the developments within implementation research are analyzed. What has happened since the early 1970's in theory and practice that leads us to reconsider the ways we understand implementation in theory but also the advice we could offer to decision makers? Secondly, in another paper the special context of transport is discussed. What, if anything, is different about implementing policies etc in the transport sector? Lastly, the implications of implementation of sustainability as such are discussed in yet another paper. What special difficulties are involved if the "thing" to be implemented is such a notoriously vague concept?


This paper is the second of two that describes the Coastal Storm Modeling System (CoSMoS) approach for quantifying physical hazards and socio-economic hazard exposure in coastal zones affected by sea-level rise and changing coastal storms. The modelling approach, presented in Part 1, downscales atmospheric global-scale projections to local scale coastal flood impacts by deterministically computing the combined hazards of sea-level rise, waves, storm surges, astronomic tides, fluvial discharges, and changes in shoreline positions. The method is demonstrated through an application to Southern California, United States, where the shoreline is a mix of bluffs, beaches, highly managed coastal communities, and infrastructure of high economic value. Results show that inclusion of 100-year projected coastal storms will increase flooding by 9–350% (an additional average 53.0 ± 16.0 km2) in addition to a 25–500 cm sea-level rise. The greater flooding extents translate to a 55–110% increase in residential impact and a 40–90% increase in building replacement costs. To communicate hazards and ranges in socio-economic exposures to these hazards, a set of tools were collaboratively designed and tested with stakeholders and policy makers; these tools consist of two web-based mapping and analytic applications as well as virtual reality visualizations. To reach a larger audience and enhance usability of the data, outreach and engagement included workshop-style trainings for targeted end-users and innovative applications of the virtual reality visualizations.


Background Out of hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) is associated with a poor survival. Age influences survival but it is unclear to what extent. Patient selection is crucial in deciding who should receive attempted resuscitation to optimise outcomes and minimise inappropriate end-of-life management. Aim To describe the demographics, characteristics and outcomes following resuscitation attempts in OHCA patients aged 70 years and older in the Republic of Ireland. Methods Data was extracted from the national Out of Hospital Cardiac Arrest Register (OHCAR) for patients aged 70 years and older. Patient and event characteristics were compared across three age categories (70–79; 80–89; 90 years and older). Logistic regression was used to determine the predictors of the primary outcome in the overall cohort (discharge from hospital alive). Results A total of 2,443 OHCAs in patients aged 70 years and older were attended by emergency medical services and had resuscitation attempted between 2012 and 2014 in the Republic of Ireland. For the entire cohort, survival to hospital discharge was 3.4%. Asystole was the first rhythm identified in 52.6% of all cases. A shockable initial rhythm persisted as a predictor of survival as age progressed; overall 14.6% of those aged over 70 years survived if the presenting rhythm was shockable, 0.1% of OHCAs survived if asystole was the initial rhythm analysed. Of those suffering an OHCA in a residential institution, 2.2% survived to hospital discharge. Logistic regression analysis showed that an initial shockable initial rhythm and having a witnessed cardiac arrest were independent predictors associated with increased odds of survival to discharge. Conclusion Resuscitation is a purposeful exercise in those with advancing age when favourable prognostic markers are present. Data on age related survival can inform those discussing end of life decisions.


Purpose. To determine the reproducibility of anterior sclerokeratectomy using a portable nonelectric microkeratome-based device capable of harvesting the entire anterior corneal surface for lamellar transplantation. Methods. A modified gas turbine-driven microkeratome (LSK One, Moria/Microtech, Doylestown, PA) with a redesigned head large enough to incorporate the whole human anterior corneal surface in a pass and was coupled to a manual vacuum pump. This instrument was tested on 25 fresh porcine globes divided into 2 groups (170-&mgr;m and 200-&mgr;m head). To assess cut reproducibility the physical dimensions (diameter and thickness) of the obtained lenticules were measured. Results. The obtained lenticules were fairly circular (horizontal versus vertical diameters, p >0.2), with average diameters of 12.85 ± 0.52 mm and 13.25 ± 1.15 mm for the 170 and 200-&mgr;m heads, respectively. The average central lenticule thickness was 176.92 ± 34.68 &mgr;m and 166.00 ± 53.74 &mgr;m for the 170 and 200-&mgr;m heads, respectively. Conclusion. This new system presents an economical and portable alternative to electric-powered systems. In addition to being used by surgeons in the operating room, eye bank technicians in the field could theoretically use this system; including in developing countries where cost, availability of electricity, and portability are issues.


We present the space spectrometer PAMELA observations of proton and helium fluxes during the 2006 December 13 and 14 solar particle events. This is the first direct measurement of the solar energetic particles in space with a single instrument in the energy range from ∼80 MeV n−1 up to ∼3 GeV n−1. For the December 13 event, measured energy spectra of solar protons and helium are compared with results obtained by neutron monitors and other detectors. Our measurements show a spectral behavior different from those derived from the neutron monitor network. No satisfactory analytical fitting was found for the energy spectra. During the first hours of the December 13 event, solar energetic particles spectra were close to the exponential form, demonstrating rather significant temporal evolution. Solar He with energy up to 1 GeV n−1 was recorded on December 13. For the December 14 event, energy of solar protons reached 600 MeV, whereas the maximum energy of He was below 100 MeV n−1. The spectra were slightly bent in the lower energy range and preserved their form during the second event. Differences in the particle flux appearance and temporal evolution of these two events may argue for special conditions leading to the acceleration of solar particles up to relativistic energies.


Responding to the identified need for reflection, critique, and evaluations of appreciative inquiry (AI), a form of action research, this article presents a critical reflection on an application of AI in a cross-cultural music education research project. AI was selected as it appeared to both have potential for addressing the complexities related to power imbalances, ethnocentrism, and coloniality inherent in a project aiming to co-develop music teacher education in Finland and Nepal, and because its 4D model supported the co-constructing of visions, which was central to the project. The critical reflection presented in this article focused on three situations of breakdown that occurred during the research process. Analysis of these breakdowns highlighted the need for researchers to engage responsibly in research as participants, account for dreaming as an unevenly distributed capacity when working with visions or aspirations, and develop skills facilitating collaborative spaces that cultivate listening for and appreciating difference. The article concludes by recognising the limitations of undertaking this reflection independently rather than collaboratively and by cautioning against the instrumentalization of appreciation, calling instead for sincere appreciation. Overall, the article contends that the process of identifying and generating new understandings of breakdowns is a powerful approach for stimulating researcher reflexivity.


We present a sample of 10 low-mass active galactic nuclei (AGNs) selected from the 40-month Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) serendipitous survey. The sample is selected to have robust NuSTAR detections at , to be at , and to have optical r-band magnitudes at least 0.5 mag fainter than an galaxy at its redshift. The median values of absolute magnitude, stellar mass, and 2–10 X-ray luminosity of our sample are , , and erg s−1, respectively. Five objects have detectable broad Hα emission in their optical spectra, indicating black hole masses of . We find that of the galaxies in our sample do not show AGN-like optical narrow emission lines, and one of the 10 galaxies in our sample, J115851+4243.2, shows evidence for heavy X-ray absorption. This result implies that a non-negligible fraction of low-mass galaxies might harbor accreting massive black holes that are missed by optical spectroscopic surveys and X-ray surveys. The mid-IR colors of our sample also indicate that these optically normal low-mass AGNs cannot be efficiently identified with typical AGN selection criteria based on Wide Field Infrared Survey Explorer colors. While the hard ( keV) X-ray-selected low-mass AGN sample size is still limited, our results show that sensitive NuSTAR observations are capable of probing faint hard X-ray emission originating from the nuclei of low-mass galaxies out to moderate redshift ( ), thus providing a critical step in understanding AGN demographics in low-mass galaxies.


The damage caused by ear tags used for identification was studied by examining the ears of normal beef cattle and cull cows after slaughter, and by comparing the effects of metal and polyurethane ear tags in calves which had been doubletagged in the same ear. Metal tags were associated with more damage to the ears than polyurethane tags, the difference being most marked in the young calves, in which slight changes were found in 36.6 per cent and severe changes in 9.8 per cent of ears. There was a high incidence of blood around the point of insertion of the metal tags at three weeks old, but with the polyurethane tags only one calf showed slight evidence of blood around the point of insertion. In the beef cattle fitted with metal tags, a slight reaction was recorded in 40 per cent, a moderate reaction in 17 per cent and significant changes were found in 12 per cent of ears. By comparison, 16 per cent of ears with polyurethane tags showed only a slight reaction, and 80 per cent of the polyurethane tags were considered to be a good fit, compared with 37 per cent of metal tags. More changes were observed in the ears of the cull cows, with 23.5 per cent of ears with polyurethane tags being free from damage, compared with only 2.9 per cent of ears with metal tags.


At this time, small and medium enterprises represent the national productive force. They are the sustained at the generation of self-employment in the Mexican business. Determine factors are directly related to the generation of opportunities that maximize performance and level of participation in the local and international level. This paper analyzes the relationship between innovation and competitiveness through the operational activities measurement in small and mediums enterprises (SMEs) in San Luis Potosi, Mexico. The theoretical framework is based on literature review, where it encompasses innovation and competitiveness terminology and the connection within SMEs. Further, it ascertains the SMEs economic and occupational work dominance taking place in commerce, services and manufacturing business activity. Finally, the research model focuses a quantitative paradigm to measure the competitiveness and innovation as variables. The results show, for a sample of 65 SMEs, that there is a direct relationship between innovation activities and competitiveness replicated in the operations of the companies studied in the city of San Luis Potosi, Mexico.


BACKGROUND: Obesity is an important health problem. Its frequency, however, is potentially reducible through health care education influencing daily habits. Therefore, the relationship between obesity, smoking habit and physical activity during leisure time, all modifiable daily habits influencing both obesity and health in general, were studied in a Spanish adult population. METHODS: Information on the study variables of both sexes from 20 to 64 years of age were obtained from the National Health Care Survey undertaken in 1987. The presence of obesity was approximated from the Quetelet index defined as weight (in kg) divided by height (in m2). The data were analyzed by non conditional logistic regression taking the main confusion factors into account. RESULTS: A statistically significant inverse relationship (odds ratio less than 1) (p < 0.05) was observed in both males and females in most of the categories of exposure variables, from obesity with cigarette consumption and with physical activity. An U-shaped dose/response relationship was observed in both sexes. The relationship between obesity and physical activity during free time was lineal and statistically significant (p < 0.0001) among males. CONCLUSIONS: The results were consistent with previous studies and provide additional arguments for the inclusion of physical activity during leisure time within educative actions for health care. Likewise, the modest inverse association seen between smoking and obesity should not be used to counteract the efforts undertaken against this habit.


Antibacterial material nanocomposites are prepared to manufacture intravenous therapy (IV). These composites prepared by adding Magnesium oxide nano powder (MgO NPs) with a different percent (3, 6, and 9 wt %) to Silicone rubber (SR). The activity of this antibacterial material was inspected against S. aureus and E.coli microorganisms by using Agar Well Diffusion method.
Results showed that the addition of MgO NPs to SiR causes the following enhancement the antibacterial activity against E.coli and S.aureus by 7.1% and 27.1% respectively, increasing tensile strength by 65.5%, increasing the hardness by11.25%, increasing the wear resistance by 84.5%, increasing surface bearing index (Sbi) by 80.5% , increasing in core fluid retention (Sci) by 8.5%,  decreasing surface roughness (Sa) by 65%, decreasing core roughness depth (Sk) by 67% and  enhancement the wettability by decreases contact angle to minimum value.


Simulating viscoelastic solids undergoing large, nonlinear deformations in close contact is challenging. In addition to inter-object contact, methods relying on Lagrangian discretizations must handle degenerate cases by explicitly remeshing or resampling the object. Eulerian methods, which discretize space itself, provide an interesting alternative due to the fixed nature of the discretization. In this paper we present a new Eulerian method for viscoelastic materials that features a collision detection and resolution scheme which does not require explicit surface tracking to achieve accurate collision response. Time-stepping with contact is performed by the efficient solution of large sparse quadratic programs; this avoids constraint sticking and other difficulties. Simulation and collision processing can share the same uniform grid, making the algorithm easy to parallelize. We demonstrate an implementation of all the steps of the algorithm on the GPU. The method is effective for simulation of complicated contact scenarios involving multiple highly deformable objects, and can directly simulate volumetric models obtained from medical imaging techniques such as CT and MRI.


Broadband Internet connectivity is currently seen as a means to increase the efficiency and competitiveness of an economy. The deployment and use of broadband capabilities is high on the current political agenda in many developed and developing countries, including Australia. But despite ongoing efforts to promote broadband in Australia, deployment has been much slower than expected. This paper aims to identify areas that have been holding up the broadband development in Australia. In examining four areas for attention (demand, competition, price and the role of government), we refer to experiences in Canada and Korea, both leaders in broadband deployment, to show the differences in each area. Although each country discussed here has its own policy agenda and some unique circumstances related to broadband deployment, implications from this paper will provide valuable input for policy makers and industry leaders in Australia (and elsewhere) as they develop strategies to encourage more widespread broadband deployment.


The aim of the paper is to characterize and discuss relationship between concept of sustainable development and competitiveness with regard to specifics of chemical industry. Primary data were collected using questionnaire survey in organizations of Association of Chemical Industry of the Czech Republic. The most significant factor of competitiveness is corporate reputation. Corporate reputation attracts prospective job applicants. Positive reputational impacts could decrease operational costs and positively influence productivity. Human resources and human capital significantly affect competitiveness of chemical industry. Competitive advantage can be generated by retention of qualified employees and by their development; highly important role plays quality management of knowledge employees. Respondents pointed as the most important external stakeholder government authorities, customers, local community, general public and suppliers and other business partners. Improvement of environmental and social performance in relation with mentioned stakeholders supports retaining, or increase corporate competitiveness.


Subcellular localization is crucial for determining the functions of proteins. A system called prediction of protein subcellular localization (P2SL) that predicts the subcellular localization of proteins in eukaryotic organisms based on the amino acid content of primary sequences using amino acid order is designed. The approach for prediction is to find the most frequent motifs for each protein in a given class based on clustering via self organizing maps and then to use these most frequent motifs as features for classification by the help of multilayer perceptrons. This approach allows a classification independent of the length of the sequence. In addition to these, the use of a new encoding scheme is described for the amino acids that conserves biological function based on the point of accepted mutations (PAM) substitution matrix. The statistical test results of the system are presented on a four class problem. P2SL achieves slightly higher prediction accuracy than the similar studies.


OBJECTIVE
To identify additional genetic variants beyond those observed in a previous genome-wide association study (GWAS) in women treated on the MA.27 clinical trial in which women were randomized to 5 years of adjuvant therapy with anastrozole or exemestane.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
We performed a matched case-control study in 234 women who had a recurrence of breast cancer (cases) and 649 women who had not (controls). The analysis was restricted to White women with an estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer. Multiplex PCR-based targeted deep sequencing was performed of the MIR2052HG region on chromosome 8 between positions 75.4 and 75.7, a span of 300 kb, in an attempt to identify additional functional single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs).

RESULTS
A total of 4677 unique variants were identified that had not been identified in the previous GWAS. Clinical Annotation of Variants analysis revealed 10 variants, including eight SNPs and two insertion-deletion mutations with moderate or high impact. However, none of the common and variant regions was significant after adjustment for the most significant SNP (rs13260300) identified in our previous GWAS. We performed haplotype analysis that revealed two regions in which the haplotypes lost significance when adjusted for this prior GWAS SNP and one region with two significant haplotypes (P=0.046 and 0.031) after adjusting for the GWAS SNP.

CONCLUSION
We were unable to identify common or rare variant regions that added value to the findings from our previous GWAS. We did find two haplotypes that were significant after adjusting for our top GWAS SNP but these were considered to be of marginal value.