An algebraic framework for continuous-time linear systems identification introduced in the literature some years ago has revealed as an interesting alternative way for on-line parametric identification. The present contribution aims at conveying those ideas to linear time-invariant discrete-time systems, with particular emphasis attached to application issues. To this end, an on-line linear identifier for n-th order systems is evolved, re-sorting to the operational representation of the dynamics. Being discussed on the basis of a fifth-order model of a drive-train, the numerical condition of the obtained setting of the identifier is found to suffer significantly with decreasing sampling times. A setting not experiencing these numerical problems is finally introduced by means of a re-parametrization of the identifier via application of the bilinear Tustin transform. The already implemented computer programs, where computer algebra plays an important role, are available.


Centromeres are essential for cell division and growth in all eukaryotes, and knowledge of their sequence and structure guides the development of artificial chromosomes for functional cellular biology studies. Centromeric proteins are conserved among eukaryotes; however, centromeric DNA sequences are highly variable. We combined forward and reverse genetic approaches with chromatin immunoprecipitation to identify centromeres of the model diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum. Diatom centromere sequences contain low GC content regions and an abundance of long contiguous AT windows, but lack repeats or other conserved sequence features. Native and foreign sequences of similar GC content can maintain episomes and recruit the diatom centromeric histone protein CENP-A, suggesting non-native sequences can also function as diatom centromeres. Thus, simple sequence requirements enable DNA from foreign sources to incorporate into the nuclear genome repertoire as stable extra-chromosomal episomes, revealing a potential mechanism for bacterial and foreign eukaryotic DNA acquisition.


: Examination of the markers of bone turnover (osteocalcin, N-terminal propeptide of type I collagen PINP and beta-isomerized carboxy-terminal cross-linking region of collagen type I beta-CrossLaps) was carried out in 17 adolescents at the age of 11-14 years with the connective tissue's undifferentiated dysplasia. There was the decreased content of the bone-formation markers (osteocalcin and PINP) in the blood serum compared to the control group (16 healthy adolescents at the corresponding age and gender) in the normal rate of the bone destruction marker (beta-CrossLaps), it is indicative of the process abnormality of the bone remodeling characterized by the intensity loss of the bone tissue formation with relative absorption predominance. The revealed disorders of the bone metabolism contribute to the osteopenia progression. It allows to attribute the adolescents with the connective tissue's undifferentiated dysplasia to the risk group in terms of the early osteoporosis.


As part of research on the effects of the environment on behaviour, the current thesis reported two studies examining evaluations made of the environment when aspects were changed. The hypothesis derived from Mehrabian and Russell's (1974) theory stated that changes in the environment would only affect evaluations when these changes influence the emotional (pleasure and arousal) states of the individual. Furthermore, changes in the complexity and familiarity within the environment influence emotional states and consequently evaluations. In contrast. Canter's (1977, 1983) theory predicts that evaluations are affected by the changes in the environment only when the goals of the individual also change simultaneously. The current thesis examined elements of the theories by asking participants to assess various aspects of their immediate physical environment in relation to their emotional states and goals while the sound and/or the odour-were manipulated. Participants in Study 1 were exposed to a "cut-grass" odour and "mower" sound, which were considered as being unidentifiable. During Study 2, a different set of participants was exposed to relatively identifiable stimuli consisting of a "coffee" odour and "cafeteria" sound. The goals were kept constant across the conditions as participants carried out the same tasks across the conditions, hi both studies participants were required to identify the sound and the odour and given a list of words to rate in terms of their relationship to the sound and odour in their environment. The studies revealed that the evaluations corresponding to the emotional states were a function of the whether the sound could be identified. The manipulation of the unidentifiable sound influenced the extent to which the environment was considered as being pleasant and marking participants to feel ill whereas the manipulation of the identifiable sound did not change these evaluations. However the evaluations were not a function of whether the odom- could be identified. Although the data from the studies provided support for some of the elements of Mehrabian and Russell's (1974), and Canter's (1983) theories, these theories do not adequately account for the differential effect of the sound and the odour manipulation. It was concluded that future research into the effects of the environment should consider the combined contribution of the emotional and purposive responses within a theoretical framework.


The purpose of this study was to compare the fatty acid and proximate composition of two commercially exploited trout species (wild brown trout (WBT) and farmed rainbow trout (FRT)). The mean crude lipid content in FRT (4.3%) was significantly higher than that in WBT (2.7%). Total saturated fatty acid concentration (27.7%) in WBT was significantly higher than that in FRT (21.4%). However, monounsaturated fatty acid (MUFA) and polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) concentrations in FRT were significantly greater than those of WBT. While the omega-6 PUFA concentration of WBT was fairly low, total omega-3 PUFA concentration was significantly higher compared with omega-6 PUFA. In contrast to WBT, the FRT contained high omega-6 and low omega-3 PUFA concentrations. Linolenic, docosahexaenoic (DHA), eicosapentaenoic (EPA) acids and C20:3n-3 components of omega-3 PUFAs were higher and significantly different between the two species. The ratio of omega-3 to omega-6 fatty acids in WBT was significantly higher compared to FRT. The results indicated that muscle lipids of both species are rich in EPA + DHA, thus beneficial in human nutrition.


This paper presents a study of the impact of pronunciation on the spelling of /E/ verb endings in French. The pronunciation of /E/ endings varies according to which areas the French language is used. In some areas, the /E/ verb endings are pronounced either /e/ or /e/, according to the verb tense, whereas in others this opposition has progressively disappeared in time. Since the opposition /e/ ~ /e/ leads to spelling distinctions, it is hypothesized that contrasting phonological forms may help the writer to avoid spelling errors. To test this hypothesis, 136 fifth-graders from specific different regions were required to transcribe different verb endings in /E/. The transcriptions from areas where the phonological opposition is usually observed were compared with those from areas where the opposition is neutralized. The data reveals that, although there is a tendency for students in areas where phonological opposition is still present to use phonologically compatible endings, the absence of neutralization does not necessarily guarantee the correct selection of verb endings. Keywords: pronunciation; spelling; phonological neutralization; French; verb endings


The final training of the master's degree on Right to Food and Rural Development, between June 18 th , 2012 and January 11 st , 2013, was held at the Foundation for Education and Development (FED), in Bissau. From it, resulted this document which describes the activities performed: (i) research and translation of teaching materials; (ii) support the development of curricula for technical courses in the agricultural domain, (iii) support training at the Training and Production Centre of Nhacra-Teda; (iv) organizing meetings on Food Security and on Associations and Cooperatives; (v) short study on the food situation in 15 communities benefiting from projects managed by FED and (vi) webpage. FED aims to support community development and has focused its activities on education, food security and health areas and operates in the sectors of Nhacra and Safim. Once Guinea-Bissau is largely affected by food insecurity, with 22% of the population undernourished, all the work done to counter these facts is of major importance. Despite the work developed by FED in the communities, we concluded that they still don't meet the parameters which allow achieving food security.


A data-centric capability focused on meeting the strategic need for the rapid configuration of interoperability among and between different end-points such as applications, military vehicle onboard systems, modules and sensors represents a glaring capability gap facing the Army. This agile network layer is required for the standardization and interpretation of data into actionable intelligence. A capability that is essential for the Army to successfully facilitate complex "systemsof-systems" (SoS) engineering requirements for process improvement, superior products, and reduced cost.


Youth development in many parts of the world continues to face obstacles at local, national and international levels, despite the numerous international resolutions calling for states to provide young people with opportunities to participate fully in all aspects of society. In Kenya the employment challenge has been growing overtime with the youth being the main casualties. Despite numerous policy efforts, poverty and unemployment continue to afflict many Kenyans. The Youth Enterprise Development Fund is one of the Government initiative established in the year 2006 with a mission to increase economic opportunities and participation by Kenyan youth through enterprise development and strategic partnerships. The plan by Government to reduce unemployment among the youths through Youth Enterprise Development Fund seems to have hit a dead wall due to low recovery of the loans. The objective of the study was to find out the factors that affect the repayment of the Youth Enterprise Development Fund in Kasarani Constituency, Nairobi County. These include business performance, socio-economic factors, repayment infrastructure and follow-up measures as well as disbursement levels. The study adopted a descriptive research design and employed both stratified random sampling and simple random sampling to select the sample from which data was collected out of the 36 active youth groups funded through Youth Enterprise Development Fund in Kasarani Constituency. The data collected using questionnaires was edited, coded and analysed using descriptive statistics facilitated by use of Statistical Package for Social Sciences. The results indicate that most of the youth officers had not attended any training on micro loans and that there are no clear procedures and guidelines on lending and follow up. Further, there are no adequate resources to perform fund activities in addition to the amount of loans awarded to the youth being too little. Youths had problems in borrowing money including long duration taken between application and receiving of funds. Business performance was ranked as the main cause of default. The following recommendations were made to the management of the fund: Ministry employees should be trained on the required skills of micro-credit while a regular capacity building among the youths should be effected so as to empower them. Adequate resources should be provided in order to enable smooth monitoring of all funded youth groups in addition to setting up a legal framework on how to handle defaulters. Regular review of interest rates and the minimum loan amount should be done in order to accommodate the changes in economic situation. Finally, a thorough vetting of groups before awarding them any loan should be done in order to ensure that they are sustainable and that their businesses are viable. The results will be useful to the government and other policy makers in making decisions on appropriate measures which can be put in place in order to reduce default rate. The findings will also benefit the donors and other stakeholders who want to fund youth activities in the model of Youth Enterprise Development Fund or in grants.


Experiments were conducted to determine the differences of two different commercial feeds (which contain protein levels of % 46.65 and % 44.88) on the growth of the Rainbow trout ( Oncorhynchus mykiss W. 1792) grown in sea water. Living initial average weights first group 102.15±2.037 g and second group 104.15±1.98 g while found that end of experiment final average weights first group 279.31±5.46 g and second group 284.18±6.40 g. Living body weight gained in first group 177.16 g and in second group 179.3 g were obtained. Feed conversion rate were found that of groups respectively 1.25 and 1.19. The higher average weight gained, were produced by diet B, namely the diet that contained % 46.65 of animal proteins and weren't significant. All the fish were fed two times daily with the different commercial diet during experimental period. Experimental period were planned trouts when to arrive portion size. This period consist of total 64 days from December 29 to March 2, 1994.


This essay argues that Jamaica Kincaid's The Autobiography of My Mother depicts how the indigenous colonized in Dominica are living 'unhomely lives' and that their experience is one of the double consciousness. i.e. when a person see the world through different "lenses." The person does not only have a dual personality but also feels the notion of having different roles in society, such as having a black identity and at the same time conforming to the stereotypical norms of the white society for a black person. Therefore, the person sees the world, and oneself, through one's own "black" lens and the "white" lens at the same time. Subsequently, with a setting full of diversities, the novel depicts a colonial background where the characters have been ascribed certain features to their persona. Furthermore, the novel uses metaphors to show a futile endeavor of finding identity of the main characters in an ineluctable power structure. By utilizing the postcolonial theoretical framework; mainly Du Bois's notion on 'double consciousness' and Bhabha's term 'unhomely lives' which means to grow up between two cultures, to live on borders and in margins and not feel at ease in either sides, expands the readers understanding of the text. A central aspect of the novel is the alienation of an individual's personal identity in the context of a postcolonial society. Therefore, the psychology of the novel's characters will be a major theme of this essay. Nevertheless, the novel shows that it is hard for the characters Alfred and Xuela to break free from the bonds of society.


Variable bone loss is the defining feature of the failed acetabulum. Preoperative planning must include an assessment of the extent of bone deficiency. When bone loss precludes a routine revision there are three reconstructive options, a small cup in the false acetabulum, reconstruction of the lost bone with an allograft, and a jumbo cup filling the expanded acetabulum. The investigators have found that the latter technique can often be used in the setting of the difficult acetabulum with improvement in hip mechanics and avoiding a structural bone graft. When a graft is necessary, the best technique is a small graft and large fixed cup, with support of both the cup and graft on as much host bone as possible. A posterior buttressing plate should be considered for any graft providing substantial posterior support of the acetabular component.


A common learning goal for modern physics instructors is for students to recognize a difference between the experimental uncertainty of classical physics and the fundamental uncertainty of quantum mechanics. Our studies suggest this notoriously difficult task may be frustrated by the intuitively realist perspectives of introductory students, and a lack of ontological flexibility in their conceptions of light and matter. We have developed a framework for understanding and characterizing student perspectives on the physical interpretation of quantum mechanics, and demonstrate the differential impact on student thinking of the myriad ways instructors approach interpretive themes in their introductory courses. Like expert physicists, students interpret quantum phenomena differently, and these interpretations are significantly influenced by their overall stances on questions central to the so-called measurement problem: Is the wave function physically real, or simply a mathematical tool? Is the collapse of the wave function an ad hoc rule, or a physical transition not described by any equation? Does an electron, being a form of matter, exist as a localized particle at all times? These questions, which are of personal and academic interest to our students, are largely only superficially addressed in our introductory courses, often for fear of opening a Pandora's Box of student questions, none of which have easy answers. We show how a transformed modern physics curriculum (recently implemented at the University of Colorado) may positively impact student perspectives on indeterminacy and wave-particle duality, by making questions of classical and quantum reality a central theme of our course, but also by making the beliefs of our students, and not just those of scientists, an explicit topic of discussion.


Background Clinical workup for chest pain varies among institutions. Acute coronary syndrome (ACS) is the primary diagnosis to rule out in the differential diagnosis, due to its associated mortality and morbidity. Although studies have demonstrated efficacy of coronary computed tomographic angiography (CCTA) in diagnosis obstructive coronary artery disease (CAD), there is limited evidence in the clinical value of performing cardiac nuclear stress perfusion imaging [myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI)] exam in patients with chest pain after undergoing CCTA. We aim to evaluate clinical value of follow-up nuclear cardiac MPI in patients with chest pain who have undergone recent CCTA. Methods A total of 1,000 patients were evaluated in this IRB approved retrospective study who presented with symptoms of ACS. Patients who had elevated troponin or abnormal electrocardiogram (ECG) findings at initial presentation or prior to cardiac nuclear MPI were excluded from the study. All patients who underwent 64- or 320-detector row ECG-gated CCTA as well as a follow-up nuclear MPI. Patients who had diagnostics studies limited by artifact [e.g., suboptimal intravenous (IV) contrast bolus in CCTA, motion artifact on CCTA or MPI, etc.] were excluded. Results One hundred patients met the inclusion criteria. Patient demographics include average age 64.3 [32–89] years, 59 male, 41 females. Ninety-five/100 patients had at least one vessel with 50–70% coronary artery diameter stenosis measured on CCTA. There were no focal perfusion abnormalities identified on cardiac nuclear MPI in patients with less than 70% stenosis diagnosed on CCTA. Five percent of patients were identified with coronary arterial narrowing greater than 70% on CCTA and all 5 of these patients have evidence of abnormal cardiac nuclear stress test (perfusion abnormalities, chest pain, abnormal ECG). Conclusions In low-to-intermediate risk patients with chest pain and evidence of non-critical coronary artery stenosis (i.e., less than 70% stenosis) diagnosed on CCTA, a follow-up cardiac nuclear perfusion imaging is of limited value.


The function and significance of banking sector cannot be under-estimated in the development of an economy. The strength of economy of any country basically hinges on the strength and efficiency of financial system, which, in turn, depends upon a sound banking system. Reserve Bank of India recommended two supervisory rating models named as CAMELS (Capital Adequacy, Assets Quality, Management, Earning, Liquidity, Systems and Controls) and CACS (Capital Adequacy, Assets Quality, Compliance, Systems and Controls) for rating of Indian commercial, private and foreign banks operating in India. The present study describes the various financial ratios used in the above mentioned models to measure the financial performance of banking sector. The study examined each parameter of CAMELS system by review of literature and empirical studies.


A new isolation procedure for cell-to-cell adherens junctions has been developed using rat liver. From the bile canaliculi-enriched fraction obtained by homogenization of the liver and sucrose gradient centrifugation, the fraction rich in adherens junction was recovered by detergent treatment followed by sucrose gradient centrifugation. Light and electron microscopy revealed that this final fraction was mainly composed of the belt-like adherens junctions with their associated short actin filaments. Biochemical and immunological analyses have shown that vinculin is highly enriched in this fraction. Considering that vinculin is known to be localized in the cell-to-cell adherens junctions, we can conclude that we have succeeded in isolating the cell- to-cell adherens junctions. Furthermore, the constituents of the undercoat (dense layer underlying the membrane) of adherens junctions were selectively extracted from the fraction rich in junctions. Upon SDS electrophoresis of this extract, 10 polypeptides including vinculin, alpha-actinin, and actin were dominant. The results obtained are discussed with special reference to the molecular organization of the undercoats of cell-to-cell adherens junctions.


ER to Golgi transport requires the function of two distinct vesicle coat complexes, termed COPI (coatomer) and COPII, whose assembly is regulated by the small GTPases ADP-ribosylation factor 1 (ARF1) and Sar1, respectively. To address their individual roles in transport, we have developed a new assay using mammalian microsomes that reconstitute the formation of ER-derived vesicular carriers. Vesicles released from the ER were found to contain the cargo molecule vesicular stomatitis virus glycoprotein (VSV-G) and p58, an endogenous protein that continuously recycles between the ER and pre-Golgi intermediates. Cargo was efficiently sorted from resident ER proteins during vesicle formation in vitro. Export of VSV-G and p58 were found to be exclusively mediated by COPII. Subsequent movement of ER-derived carriers to the Golgi stack was blocked by a trans-dominant ARF1 mutant restricted to the GDP-bound state, which is known to prevent COPI recruitment. To establish the initial site of coatomer assembly after export from the ER, we immunoisolated the vesicular intermediates and tested their ability to recruit COPI. Vesicles bound coatomer in a physiological fashion requiring an ARF1-guanine nucleotide exchange activity. These results suggest that coat exchange is an early event preceding the targeting of ER-derived vesicles to pre-Golgi intermediates.


The aim of this position paper is to argue for the suitability of an institutional perspective in IS/IT (information systems/information technology) security research. Institutional theory, including some of its central concepts, is presented, along with examples of how it has been used in information systems research. A discussion of how the theory could benefit managerial IS/IT research concludes the paper.


The normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) has been widely applied in optical remote sensing. However, it has been demonstrated that NDVI is still partially affected by atmospheric path scattering and bidirectional (illumination and viewing geometry) effects. In this paper we present the benefit of using a bidirectional NDVI, and we discuss the problems in using the maximum NDVI composite method. Based on the assumption that a clear day has a larger NDVI value and a cloudy day has a smaller NDVI value (smaller reflectance in the near-infrared band and larger reflectance in red band due to atmospheric path scattering), the ratio of squared observed NDVI values and calculated NDVI values is used as a weight in our inversion method. The calculated NDVI values are derived from previously inverted bidirectional reflectance distribution functions (BRDFs). The inversion process will loop until all weights converge. Our research on the early Terra/MODIS data using a semiempirical kernel-driven BRDF model (the RossThick-LiTransit model) shows that this new method can improve inversion results whenever some cloudy pixels are not filtered out. As cloud detection and subpixel cloudiness are always a problem, this technique should still be very useful in improving the quality of BRDF inversion.


To systematize software development, many process models have been proposed over the years. These models focus on the sequence of steps used by developers to create reliable software. Though these processmodels have helped companies to gain certification and attain global standards, they don't take into account interpersonal interactions and various other social aspects of software development organizations. In this paper we tackle one crucial part of the Coordination problem in Software Development, namely the problem of task assignment in a team. We propose a methodology to test a hypothesis based on how social networks can be used to improve coordination in Software Industry. In a pilot case study based on 4 teams of Masters Student working in a globally distributed environment (Holland and India), the social network structures along with the task distribution in each of the teams were analyzed. In each case we observed patterns, which could be used to test many hypotheses on team coordination and task allocation between them.


The early temporal responses of mouse liver and kidney catatase (EC 18.104.22.168, H2O2:H202 oxidoreductase) were examined following i.p. administration of heterologous protein and glycoproteins, bacterial endotoxin, bradykinin, allylisopropylacetylcarbamide, talcum, 3-amino-l,2,4-triazole, and Ehrlich ascites tumor and fluid extracts. With the exception of Ehrlich ascites tumor, all substances examined showed depression of mouse liver catalase activity 0.5 to 3 hr after administration, although not as pronounced as that of 3-amino-l,2,4-triazole. Nucleotides added to purified human hepatic catalase, mouse liver, and human erythocyte catalases resulted in the inhibition of catalatic activity. AMP and its related diand triphosphate nucleotide esters appeared to be most effective in the inhibition of catalatic activity. Coenzymes I and II both reduced catalatic activity, and the oxidized forms and UMP esters also demonstrated inhibition of catalatic activity. The inhibition of catalatic activity by these nucleotides was immediate and reversible. With the exception of glutathione and reduced forms of coenzymes I and II, the nucleotides had no effect on peroxidatic activity. It is suggested that inhibition of catalatic activity may be mediated in part by nucleotides during normal and abnormal metabolic processes in the liver.


Short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) are major products of gut microbial fermentation and changes in their levels in a biological system reflect the progress of various diseases. However, analysis of SCFAs in biological samples is limited due to their easy loss during sample workup, their low concentrations, and the coexistence of matrices. In this study, we developed a feasible method for the analysis of SCFAs in rat fecal samples using gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (GC-MS/MS) combined with an in situ extraction and derivatization method. More specifically, in situ extraction and derivatization were applied for the determination of SCFAs using tetrabutylammonium hydrogen sulfate (TBAHS) and pentafluorobenzyl bromide (PFBBr). TBAHS concentration and pH values, as well as the temperature and time of the derivatization reaction were effectively optimized. Moreover, the proposed process reduced the analysis time and limited the loss of SCFAs during the sample workup. It also improved their peak shapes and resulted in longer GC retentions and high sensitivity in MS detection. Use of GC-MS/MS could offer high sensitivity and selectivity for SCFA-PFB derivatives in complicated matrix samples by selecting a multiple-ion reaction monitoring (MRM) transition ion at m/z 181 that corresponds to the [PFB]+ ion. The established method was also validated in terms of linearity, limits of detection (LODs) and quantification (LOQs), and matrix effects. It was proved to be linear (r2 > 0.997), with lower LODs of 5–24 ng mL−1, and lower LOQs of 0.05–0.1 μg mL−1 for all SCFAs. The proposed method will be useful for the determination of SCFAs in rat fecal samples and for the clinical diagnosis of various diseases.


The strengthening effect of twins in nanocrystalline metals has been reported both in experiment and simulation. While twins are mostly considered as effective barriers to dislocation slip transfer, they can also provide nucleation sites for dislocations or migrate during the deformation process, thereby contributing to plasticity. By comparing twinned and nontwinned samples, we study the effect of twins on the deformation behavior of nanocrystalline Cu and Pd using atomistic simulations. While Cu shows hardening due to the presence of twins, Pd shows the opposite effect. A quantitative dislocation analysis method is applied, which allows to analyze dislocation interactions with twin planes and grain boundaries and to measure dislocation, stacking fault, and twin-boundary densities as functions of strain. A statistical analysis of the occurring dislocation types provides direct evidence for the role of twin boundaries as effective sources for twinning dislocations, which are the reason for the observed softening in some fcc materials. In addition, we discuss how the orientation of the loading direction with respect to the twin planes affects the response of nanotwinned Cu and Pd.


Multimethods offer several well-known advantages over the single dispatching of conventional object-oriented languages, including a simple solution to the "binary method" problem, cleaner implementations of the "visitor," "strategy," and similar design patterns, and a form of "open objects." However, previous work on statically typed multimethods whose arguments are treated symmetrically has required the whole program to be available in order to perform typechecking. We describe Dubious, a simple core language including first-class generic functions with symmetric multimethods, a classless object model, and modules that can be separately typechecked. We identify two sets of restrictions that ensure modular type safety for Dubious as well as an interesting intermediate point between these two. We have proved each of these modular type systems sound.


UNLABELLED
Prosthetic knees are a vital component in an artificial limb. Contemporary knees include passive, (mechanical), adaptive (computerized), or active (motorized) control systems and have the potential to mitigate amputation-related functional impairments and activity limitations. A 14 mo randomized crossover trial was conducted. Participants (n = 12, mean age = 58 yr) were tested under three conditions: passive control (existing knee), adaptive control (Ossur Rheo Knee II), and active control (Ossur Power Knee II). Training and acclimation time were provided to participants in the adaptive and active knees. Outcome measures included indoor tests (Timed Up and Go test [TUG], stairs, and ramp), outdoor tests (walking course and perceived exertion), step activity monitor, self-report surveys (mobility, balance confidence, physical function, fatigue, and general health), and fall incidence. Mixed-effects linear regression modeling was used to evaluate data. Compared with passive control, adaptive control significantly improved comfortable TUG time (difference = 0.91 s, p = 0.001) and reported physical function (difference = 1.26 [T-score], p = 0.03). Active control significantly increased comfortable TUG, fast TUG, and ramp times (difference = 3.02, 2.66, and 0.96 s, respectively, all p < 0.03) and increased balance confidence (difference = 3.77, p = 0.003) compared with passive control. Findings suggest that adaptive knee control may enhance function compared with passive control but that active control can restrict mobility in middle-age or older users with transfemoral amputation.

CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION
ClinicalTrials.gov; "Use of Passive, Adaptive, and Active Prosthetic Knees in Persons With Unilateral, Transfemoral Amputation": NCT02219230; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02219230.


15 Plastics originating from land are mainly transported to the oceans by rivers. The total plastic transport 16 from land to seas remains uncertain because of difficulties in measuring and the lack of standard 17 observation techniques. A large focus in observations is on plastics floating on the water surface. 18 However, an increasing number of observations suggest that large quantities of plastics are transported 19 in suspension, below the water surface. Available underwater plastic monitoring methods use nets or 20 fish traps that need to be deployed below the surface and are labour-intensive. In this research, we 21 explore the use of echo sounding as an innovative low-cost method to quantify and identify suspended 22 macroplastics. 23 Experiments under controlled and natural conditions using a low-cost off-the-shelf echo sounding 24 device show that plastic items can be detected and identified up to 7 m below the river surface. Eight 25 different debris items (metal can, cup, bottles, food wrappers, food container) were characterized based 26 on their reflection signature. Reflectance from plastic items diverged significantly from organic 27 material and non-plastic anthropogenic debris. During a multi-day trial field expedition in the 28 Guadalete river, Spain, half of the observed plastics items were found below the surface. As most 29 plastic monitoring and removal strategies focus on the upper layer, a substantial share of the total 30 plastic transport may be neglected. With this paper we (1) demonstrate that echo sounding is a 31 promising tool for underwater plastic monitoring, and (2) emphasize the importance of an improved 32 understanding of the existing plastic loads below the surface. 33


Principled decision-making in continuous state--action spaces is impossible without some assumptions. A common approach is to assume Lipschitz continuity of the Q-function. We show that, unfortunately, this property fails to hold in many typical domains. We propose a new coarse-grained smoothness definition that generalizes the notion of Lipschitz continuity, is more widely applicable, and allows us to compute significantly tighter bounds on Q-functions, leading to improved learning. We provide a theoretical analysis of our new smoothness definition, and discuss its implications and impact on control and exploration in continuous domains.


Dealing with the expectation of providing a secure airway in a routine setting such as the operating room can often be a challenge. However, maintaining the same level of skill and confidence in patients with presumed difficult airways or worse, the dreaded unexpected difficult airway, can be problematic. In settings outside the operating room, difficult airway management can be even more demanding. The Manual of Emergency Airway Management, now in its third edition, is an excellent resource to better understand a stepwise approach to successfully provide airway management in a wide variety of emergent situations. The stated objective of the authors is to provide healthcare professionals such as internists, emergency department providers, intensivists, anesthesiologists, and first responders with a concise, reproducible, stepwise approach to airway management that is based on literature review and complemented by clinical expertise. The authors have updated this third edition with simplified yet comprehensive airway algorithms. The pharmacology of the many induction and paralyzing agents that can be used in the emergency airway setting have been amended. Detailed, practical information regarding the technological advances that are beginning to revolutionize airway management has been greatly expanded. Finally, the section on prehospital emergency airway management has been broadened, as this is an area where the difficult airway may be more common. The manual is extremely easy to read. Important ideas and themes are often emboldened in blue type. Each chapter has easy-to-read graphs, figures, tables, and photography. The book is coherently divided into seven broad sections, including Approach to the Airway, Difficult and Failed Airways, Pharmacology of Airway Management, Pediatric Airway Management, EMS Airway Management, Special Clinical Circumstances, and lastly, Mechanical Ventilation and Monitoring. Each chapter follows a logical sequence, beginning with an introduction, clinical challenges, approach to the airway, techniques, and often a Tips/Pearls section. However, what sets this manual apart may be the Evidence section at the end of each chapter. The authors provide updated literature detailing the reasoning behind some of the more controversial recommendations. The authors do not shy away from some potentially debatable topics and long-held beliefs, such as the recommendation to not routinely use atropine before succinylcholine in the pediatric population. There are several chapters of particular interest to the anesthesiologist. The chapter on video laryngoscopy provides detailed information on many of the current commercially available devices. The authors detail the use of each video laryngoscope with a summation of the positives and the negatives for each. Helpful information on current literature regarding video laryngoscopy is provided in the Evidence section. The section on pediatric airway management spans only three chapters, but provides a concise yet relatively all-inclusive review of techniques available to better ensure successful airway management in this population. This section also offers useful new and updated information regarding the pediatric difficult airway. Overall, this manual hits its intended mark by providing an easy-toread, succinct, yet comprehensive approach to the patient in need of emergency airway management for all healthcare providers, be it an anesthesiologist, internist, intensivist, hospitalist, emergency department physician, or emergency medical service first responder.


Cerebral aneurysms are local expansions of blood vessel walls in the brain blood system. The rupture of an aneurysm is a very severe event associated with a high rate of mortality.When cerebral aneurysms are detected, clinicians need to decide if operation is required. The risk of aneurysm rupture is then compared to the risks associated with the medical intervention. In the present paper, a probabilistic framework for a mechanically based rupture risk assessment of cerebral aneurysms is proposed. The method is based on the assumption that the strength of aneurysmal tissues can be described by a statistical distribution. A structural analysis of the aneurysm in question is performed, and the maximum stress experienced by the aneurysm is compared to the strength distribution. The proposed model was compared with clinical results for ruptured aneurysms in terms of rupture density and accumulated rupture risk as a function of aneurysm size. The model was able to reproduce the clinical results well. The proposed framework may potentially be used under in vivo conditions to predict the risk of rupture for diagnosed aneurysms.


The crime of defamation, known as criminal libel in some jurisdictions, has (along with associated "insult laws") been identified in the 2007 Declaration of Table Mountain of the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers as the "greatest scourge of press freedom on the continent". The Declaration proceeds to call for the abolition of such laws as a matter of urgency. This call has similarly been made in the Caribbean context by the International Press Institute and in the Commonwealth by the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI). Writing on behalf of CHRI, Cowell notes the "chilling effect" of defamation laws (along with the procedural laws and regulations governing libel actions), defining this phenomenon as "partially … self-censorship on the part of individuals but in general…a wider culture of fear and uncertainty within society that limits free speech". On this basis, Cowell argues (for CHRI) that criminal defamation represents the "clearest threat to the exercise of freedom of speech withCommonwealth states" and that the "threat of criminal sanction can act as asignificant and widespread deterrent against all freedom of speech", and that they should therefore be repealed. Similar calls forthe abolition of criminal defamation laws have issued from the Organization of American States and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, and in response to a complaint relating to a criminal libel conviction emanating from the Philippines, the United Nations Human Rights Council stated that "States parties should consider the decriminalization of defamation … application of the criminal law [in the context of defamation] should only be countenanced in the most serious of cases and imprisonment is never an appropriate remedy".Despite these calls for the abolition of the crime, it is noteworthy that the crime is retained in many jurisdictions, including European jurisdictions and Commonwealth countries. For example, every Commonwealth state in the English-speaking Caribbean (except Grenada) has specific criminal libel laws, Asian Commonwealth countries such as India, Singapore and Malaysia have corresponding criminaldefamation provisions, and so do African Commonwealth countries such as Botswana and South Africa. In addition, Commonwealth members such as Australia and Canada retain criminal defamation laws. An approach from the Commonwealth Press Union arguing for the abolition of the crime of defamation on the basis that such a crime threatens freedom of expression and is subject to abuse, being used in cases which do not involve the public interest, did not find favour with the Commonwealth Law ministers in their meeting in Accra in 2005.


Localization and mapping is the foundational technology for augmented reality (AR) that enables sharing and persistence of digital content in the real world. While significant progress has been made, researchers are still mostly driven by unrealistic benchmarks not representative of real-world AR scenarios. These benchmarks are often based on small-scale datasets with low scene diversity, captured from stationary cameras, and lack other sensor inputs like inertial, radio, or depth data. Furthermore, their ground-truth (GT) accuracy is mostly insufficient to satisfy AR requirements. To close this gap, we introduce LaMAR, a new benchmark with a comprehensive capture and GT pipeline that co-registers realistic trajectories and sensor streams captured by heterogeneous AR devices in large, unconstrained scenes. To establish an accurate GT, our pipeline robustly aligns the trajectories against laser scans in a fully automated manner. As a result, we publish a benchmark dataset of diverse and large-scale scenes recorded with head-mounted and hand-held AR devices. We extend several state-of-the-art methods to take advantage of the AR-specific setup and evaluate them on our benchmark. The results offer new insights on current research and reveal promising avenues for future work in the field of localization and mapping for AR.


The advance of informational technology is expected to be a tool which helps data tabulating process.  Management and usage of the data systematically can produce detailed information. The important of data management is able to enhance the quality of information that is processed. Data management is started from the storage system of data namely database design. In the database design, the thing that should be heeded is the relation of each table inside of it. The relation among the table shows the linkages data that will be processed to be essential information. In this research, the focused discussion is optimalizing a table for further tabulating towards a marketing informational system database.  The database that will be optimalized will be used to marketing prediction tabulation. In tabulating stage, data prediction in database will be exported into two databases namely PostgreSQL and MariaDB. The data used for examining amount 476619 marketing data is taken from marketing transaction among 2015-2017. This research data is tabulated using join table that produce 374 data. The data is the information that will be used for marketing prediction. Based on rapidity examination of marketing data tabulation by using PostSQL indicates slight difference around 0.26 seconds faster than MariaDB. The research result of database optimalizing design which has been made shows that PostgreSQL is better in data tabulating rapidity than MariaDB


This work is introducing a new movement sonification method calledSoundScriptto support the acquisition of character writing by children. SoundScript createssound tracesfrom the writing trace in real-time during the process of handwriting. The structural correlation of both - optic and acoustic - traces leads to an integrated audio-visual percep- tion of writing with the expected stimulation of multisensory integration sites of the CNS. Data of a pilot study are intro- duced indicating that the writing kinematics is reproduced more adequately if additional sound traces are available during writing. In the future SoundScript shall be applied to verify if the establishment of internal character representations can be accelerated, if the conciseness of the specific shape of the particular characters can be made stronger and if thereby the efficiency of the handwriting learning process can be enhanced.


A 10 Gb/s adaptive equalizer IC using SiGe BiCMOS technology is described. The circuit consists of the combination of an analog equalizer and an adaptive feedback loop for minimizing the inter-symbol interference (ISI) for a variety of cable characteristics. The adaptive loop functions using a novel slope-detection circuit which has a characteristic that correlates closely with the amount of ISI. The chip occupies an area of 0.87 mm/spl times/0.81 mm and consumes a power of 350 mW with 3.3 V power supply. This adaptive equalizer is able to compensate for a cable loss up to 22dB at 5 GHz while maintaining a low bit-error rate.


In this column, three of ABSA's experts—"The Containment Guys"—in the areas of containment equipment and facilities operations answer questions about a variety of containment topics. Please e-mail questions on anything related to biocontainment facility design, operations, maintenance, and biosafety to Paul Jennette at email@example.com, Co-Editor Barbara Johnson at email@example.com, or Co-Editor Karen B. Byers at email@example.com.


The reduction of core-noise represents a crucial objective for the deployment of low noise propulsion systems. In this context the European Project RECORD - REsearch on COre noise ReDuction - aims at quantifying the impact of the turbine on direct and indirect combustion noise by means of a set of dedicated experiments carried out on an engine representative high pressure turbine, installed in the high-speed test rig of Politecnico di Milano (Italy). The aeroacoustic interaction of pressure, vorticity, and entropy waves with the turbine will be studied. This paper presents a novel Entropy Wave Generator (EWG) to simulate the entropy perturbations originated by gas turbine burners. The device, designed and manufactured by SMCPFA (Romania), is based on the alternated injection of hot/cold air upstream of the turbine, by using a two-way rotary valve. The entropy waves generated by the EWG were experimentally characterized in a dedicated test section at Politecnico di Milano. Tests were performed using different insulation systems, and investigating the propagation of entropy waves in both free-jet and immersed-jet configurations. Tests were performed by means of a fast thermocouple (frequency response ~300 Hz) and a pneumatic total pressure probe (frequency response ~400 Hz), specifically developed for the project. Results indicate that for an optimal feeding pressure the EWG generates circular-shaped spots of hot air characterized by a sinusoidal temperature fluctuation and weak pressure oscillations; the amplitude of the temperature oscillation reduces as the frequency increases, however resulting higher than 10 K at the engine-representative frequency of 100 Hz. This value matches the technical requirements of the EWG, making it suitable for entropy noise studies in the turbine test rig.


Background and aims The most common neurologic impairment in children born extremely preterm is in cognitive function, but little is known about their cognitive development from infancy to early adulthood. The aim of the study was to determine the trajectory of cognitive test scores from infancy to adulthood in infants born extremely preterm compared to term-born individuals, and the impact of infant sex, maternal education, gestational age and neonatal brain injury on these trajectories. Methods We conducted a longitudinal analysis of cognitive trajectories in a prospective, population-based cohort of 315 infants born less than 26 completed weeks and 160 term-born classroom controls followed-up to 19 years. Participants were recruited from all 276 maternity units in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland in 1995. The cognitive assessments used were the Bayley Scales of Infant Development – II (age 2.5), Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children (ages 6 and 11), and the Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence-II (age 19). Assessments were administered individually by a highly qualified assessor, blinded to preterm birth status and previous medical history. Results The mean cognitive scores of extremely preterm individuals over the period were on average 25.2 points below their term-born peers (95% CI: −27.8 to −22.6) and significantly lower at every assessment. Cognitive test scores were stable in both groups, though there was a small but significant increase of 0.5 IQ points per year in the extremely preterm group. Cognitive scores in term males and females did not differ significantly, but the scores of extremely preterm males were 8.8 points below those of extremely preterm females (95% CI: −13.6 to −4.0). Higher maternal education elevated scores in both groups by 3.2 points (95% CI: 0.8 to 5.7). Within the extremely preterm group, moderate to severe neonatal brain injury (mean difference: −10.9, 95% CI:−15.5 to −6.3) and gestational age less than 25 weeks (mean difference: −4.4, 95% CI:−8.4 to −0.4) also had an adverse impact on cognitive function. Conclusions There is no evidence that impaired cognitive function in extremely preterm individuals materially recovers or deteriorates from infancy through to 19 years. Estimates made in infancy and early childhood reflect early adult outcomes.


Walking rehabilitation using exoskeletons is of high importance to maximize independence and improve the general well-being of spinal cord injured subjects. We present the design and control of a lightweight and modular robotic exoskeleton to assist walking in spinal cord injured subjects who can control hip flexion, but lack control of knee and ankle muscles. The developed prototype consists of two robotic orthoses, which are powered by a motor-harmonic drive actuation system that controls knee flexion–extension. This actuation module is assembled on standard passive orthoses. Regarding the control, the stance-to-swing transition is detected using two inertial measurement units mounted on the tibial supports, and then the corresponding motor performs a predefined flexion–extension cycle that is personalized to the specific patient's motor function. The system is portable by means of a backpack that contains an embedded computer board, the motor drivers, and the battery. A preliminary biomechanical evaluation of the gait-assistive device used by a female patient with incomplete spinal cord injury at T11 is presented. Results show an increase of gait speed (+24.11%), stride length (+7.41%), and cadence (+15.56%) when wearing the robotic orthoses compared with the case with passive orthoses. Conversely, a decrease of lateral displacement of the center of mass (-19.31%) and step width (-13.37% right step, -8.81% left step) are also observed, indicating gain of balance. The biomechanical assessment also reports an overall increase of gait symmetry when wearing the developed assistive device.


We present a microscopic model of interacting fermions where the ground state degeneracy is topologically protected. The model is based on a double-wire setup with local interactions in a particle number conserving setting. A compelling property of this model is the exact solvability for its ground states and low energy excitations. We demonstrate the appearance of topologically protected edge states and derive their braiding properties on a microscopic level. We find the non-abelian statistics of Ising anyons, which can be interpreted as Majorana-like edge states.


1,25‐Dihydroxyvitamin D3 [1,25(OH)2D3] has been proposed as a physiologic regulator of keratinocyte growth and differentiation. Utilizing a proliferative serum‐free culture system, we have found that at physiologic (picomolar) concentrations this hormone stimulated proliferation of primary mouse epidermal keratinocytes; at higher (nanomolar to micromolar) doses, growth was inhibited by 1,25(OH)2D3. We investigated the nature of the signal transduction mechanism underlying the response to 1,25(OH)2D3 and observed little or no effect of either low or high concentrations of the hormone on cytosolic calcium levels or Fos expression. Furthermore, the protein kinase C inhibitor, Ro 31‐7549, had very little effect on the growth inhibition induced by a high dose (1 μM) of 1,25(OH)2D3. This lack of rapid signal transduction events was consistent with the inability of a short (4‐hour) exposure to 1,25(OH)2D3 to initiate a complete growth‐inhibitory response as measured using [3H]thymidine incorporation. Our results indicate that physiologic concentrations of 1,25(OH)2D3 are required for optimal keratinocyte growth. Furthermore, we found no evidence of rapid effects of 1,25(OH)2D3 and suggest that in mouse epidermal keratinocytes, the response to this hormone is mediated by a slow transduction pathway, such as that activated by the intracellular 1,25(OH)2D3 receptor (VDR). © 1995 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


This essay looks to surface and then interrogate the assumptions about black citizenship and marriage at the heart of the Moynihan Report. In doing so, it engages directly with arguments about marriage's citizenship-conferring capacity articulated during Reconstruction by whites and many newly freedpersons, as well as the claims more recently advanced by LGBT rights advocates and even U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy in his majority opinion in Obergefell v. Hodges, a decision that recognized the Fourteenth Amendment right of same-sex couples to marry. Insofar as it examines the racial inequality that informs the spiraling rates of black marriage, the essay also intervenes in current debates about whether black lives matter in America. While post-Ferguson solutions for policing reforms or interventions have not often touched on matters of race and family, I argue that the racial inequality reflected in our criminal justice system cannot be easily divorced from that which still shapes and constrains the functioning of black families -- marital or nonmarital -- in the United States.


Level of alpha 1-proteinase inhibitor (alpha 1-Pi) and antitryptic activity in blood serum were assessed in 167 patients with breast cancer and 30 cases of benign lesions. An increase in blood serum-alpha 1-Pi level was shown to be associated with tumor advancement but could not be regarded as a marker of cancer. Concentration of the inhibitor exceeded 8 mg/ml in 83.4% of cases with metastatic breast cancer but was as a rule, equal to or below that value in metastasis--free patients. Those two groups were prognostically different. Morphological analysis established a correlation between blood serum-alpha 1-Pi level, on the one hand, and grade of malignancy, degree of pathologic changes in tumor stroma and extent of lymph node involvement, on the other.


Surface roughness is one of the key quality parameters of the finished product. During any machining operation, high temperatures are generated at the tool-chip interface impairing surface quality and dimensional accuracy of products. Cutting fluids are generally applied during machining to reduce temperature at the tool-chip interface. However, usages of cutting fluids give rise to problems such as waste disposal, pollution, high cost, and human health hazard. Researchers, now-a-days, are opting towards dry machining and other cooling techniques to minimize use of coolants during machining while keeping surface roughness of products within desirable limits. In this paper, a concept of using peltier cooling effects during aluminium milling operation has been presented and adopted with an aim to improve surface roughness of the machined surface. Experimental evidence shows that peltier cooling effect provides better surface roughness of the machined surface compared to dry machining. Keywords—Aluminium, surface roughness, Peltier cooling effect, milling operation.


Apple (Malus domestica Borkh.) cultivars Spur Galagored (#42) ('Gala'), Jonagored ('Morren's'), and Red Fuji (B.C. #2) ('Fuji') on Mark rootstock and 'Gala' on Malling 26 EMLA (M.26) and Malling 9 EMLA (M.9) were planted in the four major apple-production regions of western North Carolina. Three leader management techniques, weak leader renewal, snaked leader, and heading with partial terminal leaf removal (H + PTLR), were applied to five-tree plots beginning the spring after planting. Leader management techniques, weak leader renewal or H + PTLR, which involved dormant pruning or vegetation removal and an interruption in vegetative vigor, reduced total branching and yield during the third year. Fumigation with methyl bromide increased lateral branching and yield in the third year. No significant yield differences were detected for 'Gala' grown on M.9, M.26, or Mark rootstocks. Trees grown in the most western region of the state, Haywood County, had smaller trees and reduced yields compared to the other three regions due to a shorter growing season.


Low-power wireless communication techniques may be employed in devices that communicate through a wireless body network, a wireless personal area network, or some other type of wireless communication link. The device in some implementations may be implemented within one or more impulse - may communicate via the broadband channel-based second. Pulse-inter (inter-pulse) duty cycling (duty cycling) may be employed to reduce the power consumption of the device. Power is the pulse-charging and discharging a capacitive element in accordance with the inter-duty cycling can be provided by the transmission and reception of pulses. The sub-packet data may be transmitted and received over a common frequency band. A cellular phone may be a multi-cast into two or more peripheral devices over wireless communication links.


Soft costs in major public transportation fixed guideway projects generally account for about 20% of the project's capital cost, but wide variation in the relative magnitude of soft costs can make them a major factor in the public deliberation over whether to build a transit project. In addition, soft costs are often poorly understood and have varied considerably more than industry estimation techniques predicted. This paper examines the actual capital expenditures from 59 U.S. light and heavy rail projects and seeks to explain the wide variance in soft costs (from 11% to 54% of construction costs) by analyzing project characteristics such as complexity, physical attributes, sponsor agency traits, and the circumstances of project development. The analysis develops a multivariate regression establishing a cost relationship between 10 project characteristics and resulting soft costs as a percentage of "hard" (construction) costs. These results can be used to make more accurate estimates of soft costs for future projects.


The International Linear Collider Technical Design Report (TDR) describes in four volumes the physics case and the design of a 500 GeV centre-of-mass energy linear electron-positron collider based on superconducting radio-frequency technology using Niobium cavities as the accelerating structures. The accelerator can be extended to 1 TeV and also run as a Higgs factory at around 250 GeV and on the Z0 pole. A comprehensive value estimate of the accelerator is give, together with associated uncertainties. It is shown that no significant technical issues remain to be solved. Once a site is selected and the necessary site-dependent engineering is carried out, construction can begin immediately. The TDR also gives baseline documentation for two high-performance detectors that can share the ILC luminosity by being moved into and out of the beam line in a "push-pull" configuration. These detectors, ILD and SiD, are described in detail. They form the basis for a world-class experimental programme that promises to increase significantly our understanding of the fundamental processes that govern the evolution of the Universe.


The hilarious Little Princess returns with more tears and tantrums in this humorous picture book of good manners. 'I want...I want...I want.' The Little Princess needs to learn some manners but, several tantrums later, once she's mastered 'please' and 'thank you', she finds that not everyone else is so polite! She's certainly not going to give the Beastie back his dinner until he asks nicely.


PURPOSE OF REVIEW
Fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva (FOP) is an extremely rare and severely disabling autosomal dominant disease that is yet to be clearly understood. The purpose of this review is to present recent literature on pathophysiology, clinical features, diagnosis and treatment of FOP.

RECENT FINDINGS
FOP is characterized by congenital great toe deformity and progressive heterotopic ossifications in connective tissue. Heterotopic ossifications occur after painful flare-ups that can arise spontaneously or can be triggered by minor trauma. Each flare-up ultimately causes restriction of related-joint, and along with the others eventually leads to immobility. Death is usually caused by pulmonary complications because of chest wall involvement. The causative gene of FOP is activin A receptor type 1 (ACVR1), a bone morphogenetic protein-signalling component, which normally acts to inhibit osteoblastogenesis. The treatment of FOP is still preventive and supportive.

SUMMARY
Although there are still gaps in the underlying mechanism of FOP, effective treatment options, such as potential pharmacologic targets and cell-based therapies are promising for the future. Some of these were tested without a clinical trial setting, and are currently in the process of evidence-based research.


Energy-efficient and low-power designs issues are becoming more important in modern processors. In this paper we propose an energy-efficient adaptive multiple-issue architecture for portable systems. The architecture utilizes a hardware-software cooperation approach to minimize hardware overhead while providing control flexibilities to programs and operating systems. Optimizations are made based on the program execution profile. Simulation results show that the adaptive architecture improves the performance by an average 20% with a maximum 8% reduction in energy consumption compared with the baseline model. The increase in power dissipation is restricted to less than 6%.


Future high speed networks are expected to be deployed using ATM (asynchronous transfer mode) as the core network technology. ATM networks are intended to support a diverse variety of network services and applications. The ability of a network to effectively control the traffic flowing through it is fundamentally related to its ability to provide appropriately differentiated network performance levels for the various network applications. This paper describes our initial work on an ATM network model which can be used as the basis for the simulation and evaluation of various traffic management techniques and ATM network performance studies.


Cycloidal and planetary gear drives are considered for the actuation of an electrically powered morphing winglet. A torque of 6723 N*m is required at the winglet hinge. The stepper motor selected as the electrical actuator is the HT34-487 stepper motor. This motor can provide a torque of approximately 6 N*m. The cycloidal drive consists of the selected stepper motor, a bevel gearbox, and a two-stage cycloidal gearbox. The bevel gearbox is used to change the axis of rotation of the stepper motor from span-wise direction to chord-wise direction. Stage one of the cycloidal gearbox contains an input shaft, two cycloidal disks with 180 degrees offset rotation, an eccentric cam and an output shaft. The cycloidal disks in stage one have 35 lobes, providing a gear ratio of 35:1. The second stage of the cycloidal gearbox consists of only one cycloidal disk with 34 lobes, providing a gear ratio of 34:1. The total gear ratio of the cycloidal drive is 1190:1. Material selection and FEA simulations are performed on the components in the cycloidal drive to ensure the selected materials can withstand the applied loads. A differential planetary gear drive is also considered to actuate an electrically powered morphing winglet. Spur gears are selected to be used as the sun and planet gears. A ratio of 180:1 is achieved in the planetary gear drive. Using gear tooth bending calculators, it is found that designing spur gears to withstand the loads of the electrically powered morphing winglet and to fit inside the dimensions of the wingbox is not feasible.


The i* framework has been increasingly used by the requirements engineering community. However, good practices are not always followed. Many papers have presented the use of i* constructs in such ways that results are not coherent with their original specifications. Some cases attempt to adapt the framework to specific needs by misusing its elements. In other situations, misuses are due to wrong interpretations of i* syntax and semantic. Unfortunately, many of these misuses may lead to wrong interpretations of the models by other people using i*. This work carried out a survey on several published papers to collect both good practices and misuses of the framework. It aims to help requirements engineers to use the i* framework in its full capacity.


In a four-year survey to determine the presence and distribution of viruses in tobacco crops at 17 localities of the Vojvodina Province and Central Serbia, 380 samples were collected and analyzed by DAS-ELISA. Out of the seven viruses tested, tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV), potato virus Y (PVY), tobacco mosaic virus (TMV), cucumber mosaic virus (CMV), and alfalfa mosaic virus (AMV) were detected in 37.9, 33.4, 28.7, 23.9, and 15.5% of the total tested samples, respectively. TSWV was the most frequently found virus at the localities of Central Serbia, while PVY and CMV were the most frequent viruses in the Vojvodina Province. Single infections were prevalent in years 2005-2007 and the most frequent were those of PVY. A triple combination of those viruses was most frequent mixed infection type in 2008. The presence of all five detected viruses was confirmed in selected ELISA-positive samples by RT-PCR and sequencing. The comparisons of obtained virus isolate sequences with those available in NCBI, confirmed the authenticity of serologically detected viruses. Phylogenetic analysis based on partial nucleocapsid gene sequences revealed a joint clustering of Serbian, Bulgarian and Montenegrin TSWV isolates into one geographic subpopulation, which was distinct from the other subpopulation of TSWV isolates from the rest of the European countries. The high incidence of viruses in Serbian tobacco crops highlights the importance of enhancing farmers knowledge towards better implementation of control strategies for preventing serious losses.


OBJECTIVE
Age is considered one of the main risk factors for cardiovascular (CV) disease and aging seems to play a central role in the onset and progression of atherosclerosis.

AIM
to compare the prevalence of carotid plaque in a very elderly population without history of peripheral arterial disease (PAD) and major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE), with the prevalence in a population of hypertensive adults.

DESIGN AND METHOD
We studied 179 patients: 69 hospitalized very elderly (mean age: 88.5 ± 5.5 years) admitted to our Internal Medicine and Geriatrics Department, and 110 hypertensive adults (mean age: 53.3 ± 7.3 years) referred to our Hypertension Center, affected by essential hypertension with or without other CV risk factors (gender, smoking, diabetes, dyslipidemia).

RESULTS
There was no significant difference in the prevalence of carotid plaque between the two studied populations (51.8% in the hypertensive adults vs. 58.0% in the very elderly) despite an average difference in age of more than 35 years. In the hypertensive adults smoking was the main CV risk factor associated with the prevalence of carotid plaque (OR 2.41; p = 0.024), while in the very elderly the presence of hypertension had the strongest association (OR = 10.5; p < 0.001). Indeed, excluding the hypertensives from the very elderly population, the prevalence of carotid plaque resulted significantly higher in the younger population (51.8% vs. 27.6%; p = 0.020).

CONCLUSIONS
Our results show that CV risk factors, especially hypertension, play a key role in atherosclerotic vascular disease, not only in the adult population, but also in the very elderly. Therefore aging is not necessarily synonymous with atherosclerosis but the real determinants of arterial "bad aging" are the superimposed CV risk factors. Promoting a healthy lifestyle to prevent the onset of CV risk factors and treat them appropriately whenever present, is probably the only way to obtain a healthy longevity.


The three major proteins of chick scale keratin were isolated as their S-carboxymethylated derivatives and shown to be similar or identical in molecular weight by gel filtration but to he distinct by amino acid analysis and gel electrophoresis. The major amino-terminal sequence of scale keratin chains was determined and shown to be highly homologous to the corresponding region of feather keratin chains. The carboxyl-terminal peptides of the three scale keratin fractions differed in sequence but were all homologous to the carboxyl-terminal segment of feather keratin chains. The pronounced concentration of cysteine residues at the amino-terminal and carboxyl-terminal segments suggested a similar role for these regions in both scale and feather keratin chains, namely to provide a disulphidelinked matrix to maintain the organisation of fibrils which arise from the internal hydrophobic segments of both types of chain. Analysis of a large hydrophobic segment from each of the three isolated protein fractions revealed that each was composed largely of repeating tripeptide units of the type Gly-Gly-X (where X = Phe, Leu or Tyr). At a few positions in each hydrophobic peptide, microheterogeneity was apparent in the sequences indicating that each isolated protein fraction was composed of at least three different chains each encoded by a different gene. A minimum of nine keratin genes are therefore expressed in scale tissue.


A new crop insurance alternative will be available for eight major crops in 1994. This paper provides background on the development and potential for the new Group Risk Plan (GRP). The policy issues surrounding the Federal Crop Insurance Program are reviewed with an emphasis on the microlevel problems. Recognition of the micro-level problems of adverse selection and moral hazard led to the development of a pilot test of GRP in 1993. Limited Federal funding and the political demands for improving the actuarial performance of the Federal Crop Insurance Program led to the rapid expansion of GRP for crop year 1994. ideas for using GRP to improve the mixture of government and private initiatives to assist U.S. farmers in managing risk are introduced.


Interest in promoting Pollution Prevention (P2) has been increasing since 1991, following the passage of the Pollution Prevention Act (PPA) of 1990. As part of the PPA, facilities that are subject to the Toxics Releases Inventory (TRI) are required to disclose the number of incremental P2 activities for each listed chemicals from 1991 onward. Though the disclosure is required by the PPA, the adoption of P2 remains a voluntary initiative by firms. To promote P2 ethic among firms, the U.S.EPA has established several voluntary programs and P2 information clearinghouse. P2 technologies were more likely to be facility- and operation- specific and involved considerable information costs and uncertainty. Firms might learn about P2 technologies from their peers through information spillovers. Furthermore, the adoption of P2 technologies might have been motivated in part by regulatory pressures and in part by voluntary commitments. To investigate the role of information spillover, regulatory pressure and voluntary commitment in motivating the adoption of P2 technologies, we focus on the first voluntary program initiated by the U.S. EPA, the 33/50 program. The objective of the program was to reduce the releases of 17 chemicals by 33% by 1992 and by 50% by 1995. It also sought to promote P2 as the preferred method to achieve the reduction. We conduct the empirical analysis on 6974 facilities that were eligible for the 33/50 program from 1991 to 1995. We estimate the number of P2 technologies adopted for 33/50 chemicals and other TRI chemicals at the facility level with respect to program participation, compliance costs to regulations, prior P2 experience by the neighbors on the respective chemicals, and the program participation ratio in the neighborhood. We address the endogeneity of program participation with instrumental variables, and control for location and industry fixed effects. We find that facilities were more likely to learn about adoption of P2 technologies from their industry peers. The direct impact of program participation was only evident for 33/50 chemicals, and the presence of program participants did not significantly motivate P2 adoption in the neighborhood.


Recent proliferation of regional trade agreements (RTAs) has intensified the debate on merits of south-south trade agreements. This study contributes to this debate by analyzing trade creation and trade diversion effects of African RTAs on trade in nine of the eleven strategic agricultural products. An extended gravity model is estimated using PPML. Results indicate that African RTAs have mixed effect on trade creation and trade diversion. Net trade creation is positive in four of the eight RTA and it is negative in three. Further, for a significant number of the individual agrifood commodities, regional agreements in Africa have increased openness to non-members' trade while increasing trade among themselves. Although a lot remains to be done, RTAs in Africa are attractive means to speed up the move towards common market for agricultural products in the continent. This will have positive implication for food security and sustainable agricultural development in the continent.


The possibility of enhancing mechanical properties by incorporation of polymeric components to sol-gel derived materials is extremely attractive to prepare macroporous scaffolds, leading to materials with potential applications in both hard and soft tissue regeneration. In this work bioactive glass-polyvinyl alcohol hybrids were developed and their mechanical behavior was evaluated. Hybrids were synthesized by adding polyvinyl alcohol to a sol-gel precursor solution, which was then foamed with the addition of a surfactant and vigorous agitation. The foams were cast, aged and dried at 40°C. A cleaning step to decrease the acidic character of the obtained hybrids was undertaken by immersion in a NH4OH solution. The mechanical behavior of the hybrids was evaluated in compression using both stress and strain control tests. Hybrid foams had a high porosity varying from 60-90% and the macropore diameter ranged from 10 to 600 µm. The modal macropore diameter varied with the inorganic phase composition and with the polymer content in the hybrid. The strain at fracture of the as prepared hybrid foams was substantially greater than pure gel-glass foams. The cleaned hybrids presented a slightly higher strength and lower deformation than the as prepared foams.


: Based on an exploratory and descriptive quali/quanti research design, the present study aimed at performing a worldwide benchmark on experimentations with Autonomous Shuttles for Collective Transport (ASCT). Data was collected online on both academic and grey literature yielding a research corpus of 92 experimentations. Results show a European lead on both the number of experimentations and manufacturers, with highlights to the French startups Navya and EasyMile. Most of the sampled deployments have their services aimed towards public transportation business models being either showcases or trials, mainly offered free of charge to commuters (paid regular services were a minority). Regular-line transport system was the prevailing operational mode adopted, meanwhile, on-demand platform services were still present, but incipient. Eight main typologies of uses able to fulfill both private and public transport offerings were identified, being either focused on solving first-and last-mile issues and/or microtransit commute. Nine key-performance indicators were selected and divided into economic – and user-centered. At last, the main common stakeholders among all experimentations were identified, as well as how different forms of value (financial; usage; research; data) are created and distributed among them in order to promote sustained growth and evolution of the ecosystem.


Normative theorists of the public sphere, such as Jürgen Habermas, have been very critical of the 'old' mass media, which were seen as unable to promote free and plural societal communication. The advent of the internet, in contrast, gave rise to hopes that it would make previously marginalized actors and arguments more visible to a broader public. To assess these claims, this article compares the internet and mass media communication. It distinguishes three levels of both the offline and the online public sphere, which differ in their structural prerequisites, in their openness for participation and in their influence on the wider society. Using this model, the article compares the levels that are most strongly structured and most influential for the wider society: the mass media and communication as organized by search engines. Using human genome research and analysing Germany and the USA, the study looks at which actors, evaluations and frames are present in the print mass media and on websites, and finds that internet communication does not differ significantly from the offline debate in the print media.


Programmed cell death (pcd) may take the form of apoptosis or of nonapoptotic pcd. Whereas cysteine aspartyl-specific proteases (caspases) mediate apoptosis, the mediators of nonapoptotic cell death programs are much less well characterized. Here we report that alternative, nonapoptotic pcd induced by the neurokinin-1 receptor (NK1R) activated by its ligand Substance P, is mediated by a MAPK phosphorylation cascade recruited by the scaffold protein arrestin 2. The activation of the protein kinases Raf-1, MEK2, and ERK2 is essential for this form of nonapoptotic pcd, leading to the phosphorylation of the orphan nuclear receptor Nur77. NK1R-mediated cell death was inhibited by a dominant negative form of arrestin 2, Raf-1, or Nur77, by MEK1/2-specific inhibitors, and by RNA interference directed against ERK2 or MEK2 but not ERK1 or MEK1 and against Nur77. The MAPK pathway is also activated in neurons in primary culture undergoing NK1R-mediated death, since the MEK inhibitor PD98059 inhibited Substance P-induced death in primary striatal neurons. These results suggest that Nur77, which is regulated by a MAPK pathway activated via arrestin 2, modulates NK1R-mediated nonapoptotic pcd.


Objective: To compare efficacy of therapy scheme as Transhepatic Artery Chemoembolization (TACE) + Radiofrequency Ablation (RFA) + Introportal Vein Chemotherapy (PVC) + Percutaneous Ethanol Injection (PEI) therapy (quadruplet group) with TACE + RFA combinational therapy (diad group) in treating hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Methods: 25 cases in quadruplet group were treated by TACE for 3 weeks, then by RFA, after 2 months, by PVC + PEI; 23 cases in diad group were treated by TACE for 3 weeks and then by PEI. After completion of each treatment course in both groups, Alphafetoprotein (AFP) was tested 2 months later; abdomen colorful doppler, CT and AFP were retested 6 months later. Results: AFP was significantly decreased in 23 cases of quadruplet group and 20 cases of diad group among those with AFP positive results. 6 months later, examinations of CT, colorful Doppler and AFP in two groups showed: quadruplet group has significantly decreased (X2 = 6.81, P 0.01) blood supply of cancer tissue and significantly diminished (X2 = 8.29, P 0.01) tumor size, few cases with AFP elevation (X2 = 5.06, P 0.05); lower 1 year relapse rate and two years mortality than that in diad group (X2 = 5.30, P 0.05). Conclusion: TACE + RFA + PVC + PEI combinational therapy is a safe double intervention treatment for HCC scheme with less side effects, which is better than TACE + PEI scheme in killing remnant tumor and reducing relapse.


The ZZ production cross section is measured from a data sample corresponding to a total integrated luminosity of 452 pb−1, collected by the ALEPH experiment at LEP at centre-of-mass energies from 192 to 209 GeV. Individual cross sections, extracted at six centre-of-mass energies, are found to be in agreement with Standard Model calculations. The results are used to set limits on anomalous neutral gauge couplings.


The magnitude and direction of the electro-osmotic flow (EOF) inside a microfabricated fluid channel can be controlled by a perpendicular electric field of 1.5 megavolts per centimeter generated by a voltage of only 50 volts. A microdevice called a "flowFET," with functionality comparable to that of a field-effect transistor (FET) in microelectronics, has been realized. Two flowFETs integrated with a channel junction have been used to generate opposite flows inside a single EOF-pumped channel, thus illustrating the potential of the flowFET as a controlling and switching element in microfluidic networks.


Author(s): Du, David | Advisor(s): Ryder, Mark; Miller, Art | Abstract: Introduction: Periodontitis affects 47.2% of the US population and 64% of adults over 65 (20). Chronic kidney disease (CKD) affects an estimated 13% to 16% of the US population and accounts for 27% of Medicare spending in 2007 (1). The central question (PICO) in this study is: In a population of patients with compromised renal function, is there a difference in reduction of systemic markers of HBA1C and serum albumin between the intensive periodontal intervention and community treatment group? Materials and Methods: This is an ongoing unblinded, randomized, controlled pilot trial with two intent-to-treat treatment arms: immediate intensive periodontal therapy or delayed intensive periodontal therapy. The goal of this study was to test the feasibility of conducting this trial among an underserved population (mostly poor and/or low literacy), and to determine the variability of HbA1c levels and albumin/creatinine ratio (A/C%) in response to intensive periodontal therapy over a 4-month period among participants with both CKD and significant periodontal disease. Smoking habits were also reported in a survey taken at baseline.Results: In the treatment group, HbA1c at baseline (6.35%) did not show any difference at 4 months (6.4%) with a change of 0.05. In the control group, HbA1c was virtually the same at baseline (6.68%) and 4 months (6.5%) with a change of -.018. The A/C % ratio for the treatment group at baseline (674.80 mg/g) and at 4 months (639.68 mg/g) showed a change of 167.47. In the control group, the A/C % ratio at baseline (629.40 mg/g) and at 4 months (302.75 mg/g) showed a change of -232.97. Although the changes in A/C % ratio seemed dramatic, their p-values were 0.5625 and 1.000, respectively, indicating no statistical difference. Correlation for smokers could not be performed due to low sample size of 5 subjects in treatment and 2 in control groups.Conclusion: Given the small sample size, this study showed no statistically significant reduction in systemic markers of diabetes as represented by HbA1c or chronic renal disease as represented by albumin/creatinine % ratio. Since this is an ongoing study, when it reaches 51 subjects, there may be a statistically significant improvement in systemic markers of HbA1c and albumin/creatinine % levels. Finally, when all the analysis of the blood samples taken are completed on 51 subjects at 12 months, there will be much more information that can be used to answer the research question.


Fine-grained sketch-based image retrieval (FG-SBIR) addresses the problem of retrieving a particular photo instance given a user's query sketch. Its widespread applicability is however hindered by the fact that drawing a sketch takes time, and most people struggle to draw a complete and faithful sketch. In this paper, we reformulate the conventional FG-SBIR framework to tackle these challenges, with the ultimate goal of retrieving the target photo with the least number of strokes possible. We further propose an on-the-fly design that starts retrieving as soon as the user starts drawing. To accomplish this, we devise a reinforcement learning based cross-modal retrieval framework that directly optimizes rank of the ground-truth photo over a complete sketch drawing episode. Additionally, we introduce a novel reward scheme that circumvents the problems related to irrelevant sketch strokes, and thus provides us with a more consistent rank list during the retrieval. We achieve superior early-retrieval efficiency over state-of-the-art methods and alternative baselines on two publicly available fine-grained sketch retrieval datasets.


The young, vegetatively propagated cuttings of Populus cathayana Rehder were exposed to a progressive drought stress for 12 weeks in a greenhouse to characterize the physiological and biochemical basis of drought adaptation in woody plants. Two contrasting populations were employed in our study, which were from the wet and dry climate regions in western China, respectively. The results showed that the adaptive responses of P. cathayana to drought were affected by drought intensity and poplar genotype (population). The progressive drought stress significantly inhibited plant growth, increased carotenoid contents and, at the same time, accumulated soluble sugars and free proline in the plants of both populations tested. On the other hand, the gradually increasing drought also induced antioxidative systems including the increase of the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and guaiacol peroxidase (POD). Moreover, there were different responses to progressive drought stress between the two contrasting populations. Compared with the wet climate population, the dry climate population had lower shoot height and growth rate, higher free proline content, and more efficient photoprotective system (such as higher carotenoid content and Car/Chl) and antioxidant system (such as higher POD activity), as a result of drought stress. These results suggest that the dry climate population possesses better drought tolerance than the wet climate population. The differences in drought tolerance may be closely related with efficient photoprotective system, accumulation of the osmoprotectant proline as well as the increased capacity of the antioxidative system to scavenge reactive oxygen species, and the consequent suppressed level of lipid peroxidation under drought conditions.


This study was designed to analyze the impacts of small farm commercialization of maize enterprise on farming households in Abia State, Nigeria. Data were collected from 150 farming households through interview schedule and analysed using tables, percentages, a 4-scale Likert-type ranking method and ordinary least square regression technique. Findings reveal that males, females and children are actively involved in small farm maize production and commercialization, with women playing more active roles than the others. The impact of maize commercialization on the household members was found to be ambivalent. It led to a gain of financial capital (such as income, purchasing power, improved household food and nutrition security etc), and a loss of human capital (such as less time available for social activities, child care, education, leisure, etc.), with the effects being greatest on women than the men and children. The major determinants were found to include farm size, farming experience, volume of credit available and accessible, household size, expected profits and primary education. It is recommended among others that policy measures geared towards land tenure reforms, market development and micro credit provision by the State and other change agents should be vigorously pursued. Farmers are encouraged to form and maintain functional groups or cooperatives for easier access to credit and group marketing of produce.
 Int. J. Agric. Rural Dev. , 2003, 4: 59-67


Abstract By the end of the nineteenth century, the relationship between the state, language and schooling had become extremely close: a state was supposed to be "national", and a real nation was supposed to be monolingual. Following the literature on nation-building, it is because schooling was charged with the task of forming such nations that curricula intended for the great majority of pupils included only one language. The theory of a direct effect of national identity on curricula was elaborated by focusing on the typical monolingual nation-state. This paper discusses the theory from the perspective of a multilingual state: Switzerland. The study's analysis shows that in the 1914–1945 period the Swiss state's multilingualism became part of the Swiss national identity and learning another national language became a matter of patriotic education. However, this new conception did not affect all curricula in the same manner. The economic and pedagogical rationales given voice by actors other than the state seem to be equally important factors in explaining the decisions made regarding language curricula as a state's national identity. Therefore, warning is given against the assumption that a school's language policy automatically aligns with a state's national identity.


Social media provides plentiful information to study people's ideas and opinions about events in this world, such as political, economic issues, disasters and others. The tweets that published must study and classify. In a classification system for text mining, an important step is the preprocessing phase. It is often underestimated. This paper uses Twitter data as a case study. The aim of the paper is to propose methods for preprocessing for each text of tweet. In this paper the propose in preprocessing steps that include proposed manipulate Hashtag state method that used to extract another important word to assist in other processing processes and proposed enhancement stemming algorithm to return the entered word to its source without Affix, which are both Suffix and Prefix extensions and final results of the preprocessing process are presented based on number of words after preprocessing.


The dissertation examines the shifting sensibilities of the US literary left from the mid-nineteenth century to the present. It distinguishes between two kinds of anti-capitalist critique: that which targets the market (or consumer society), and that which targets inequality. The dissertation primarily discusses authors—such as W.E.B. Du Bois, John Steinbeck, and E.L. Doctorow—who understood themselves to be engaged in the latter form of critique.

Even for those authors who identified the production of inequality as the central problem with capitalism, however, representing that problem proved to be surprisingly challenging. In particular, the emergence of the idea of cultural pluralism at the turn of the nineteenth/twentieth century marked a turn away from economic analyses of injustice, both racial and otherwise. Thus, in the work of Du Bois, the idea of culture becomes the switching point between a Marxian analysis of the "freedman's" status in the post-Reconstruction South, and a nativist argument about the corruption of American values. In the work of Steinbeck, culture is disarticulated from race, and thus comes to substitute directly for class, as problems of capitalist exploitation are redescribed as problems of cultural marginalization. From this perspective, the task becomes to preserve the integrity of the "folk" rather than to eliminate their poverty through structural transformation.

The dissertation also engages with historicism in contemporary literary theory and criticism, in two ways. Firstly, it seeks to demonstrate the ways in which contemporary literary critics' reinventions of "radical" texts and authors from the past frequently serve neoliberal political agendas. Secondly, through an analysis of the postmodern historical novel, poststructuralist historiography and New Historicist literary theory, it argues that contemporary literary criticism tends to be motivated by an anti-narrative view of history that forecloses the possibility of Marxist interpretation.


Objective This study examines the relation between cognitive-motivational variables and self-reported health behaviours among adolescents. Design Cross-sectional survey of adolescents via questionnaires delivered in classrooms. Setting One large junior high school and two senior high schools located in the Memphis area. Method Data from 257 7th to 12th graders were used to determine their practice of health behaviours as well as their perceptions of health status and vulnerability, optimism and rebelliousness/risk taking. Results Adolescent males and females who were less rebellious and had better health perceptions reported healthier behavioural practices. A stronger significant inverse relationship between perceived vulnerability and health behaviour scores was found for females. Optimism was significantly and positively correlated with health behaviour scores only among females. Adolescents in lower grades obtained higher health behaviour scores than adolescents in higher grades. Males had higher rebelliousness scores than females. Demographic and cognitive- motivational variables accounted for 26 per cent of the variance in health behaviour scores. Conclusion Cognitive-motivational factors should be considered when designing health promotion programmes for adolescents.


This essay argues that examining choices Lidian Jackson and Ralph Waldo Emerson, along with their daughter Ellen Tucker Emerson, made regarding Ellen's education provides insight into the family's domestic life and helps explain Ellen's work on Ralph Waldo Emerson's later essays, as he suffered from memory loss.