This quantitative nonexperimental proposed research study investigates the problem of managers at a Fortune 500 Company in the western United States being unaware and insensitive to worker's cultural backgrounds during business activities. Leadership competence in the twenty-first century is missing a cultural component, whereas dispositions or actions must include foreign-understandings and adjustments of behavior during business activities. The purpose for this proposed research study is to investigate relationships between leadership behaviors in the 21st century. This proposed research study contributes to contemporary management theory by calculating an ANOVA between the Cultural Intelligence constructs, and the constructs of the Transformational leadership. This proposed research study investigates how this combination influences managers in modern business. Empirically comparing the transformational management responses with the responses from the Cultural Intelligence Scale, CQ levels now become essential ingredients for leaders to guide any corporation successfully forward into the future. This proposed research study educates managers by improving their Cultural Intelligence, and demonstrates how the company can benefit through the development of leadership and subordinate cultural intelligences. The challenge for the proposed research is to be sensitive toward indicators for increased education and training classes to expand managers' Cultural Intelligence skill-set. This quantitative nonexperimental proposed research study involves 176 responses for the five-minute survey. Improved cultural awareness and education benefits established managers, and trains new managers in the corporation.


Spain is the third largest producer and the largest exporter of wine in the world. Spanish wine, therefore, plays a vital role in both the global wine industry and the domestic Spanish economy. The most recent report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) documents increasingly convincing evidence of climate change and the potential damages a changing climate may have on important agricultural sectors. In this paper we examine the effects of climate change on the production of Spanish wines. We use hedonic regression techniques to tease out the relationship between wine yields and changing weather patterns (temperature and precipitation). This research may help better inform stakeholders in the wine industry on which areas in Spain may suffer the most and which areas are expected to thrive. Our results suggest substantial geographic differences across Spain in the effects of climate change on wine production. However, we show that increases in growing season temperature and precipitation have a negative effect on high quality wine yields in the most southern – and therefore most vulnerable – region of Spain.


A large number of papers have been written by physicists documenting an alleged signature of imminent financial crashes involving so-called log-periodic oscillations–oscillations which are periodic with respect to the logarithm of the time to the crash. In addition to the obvious practical implications of such a signature, log-periodicity has been taken as evidence that financial markets can be modelled as complex statistical-mechanics systems. However, while many log-periodic precursors have been identified, the statistical significance of these precursors and their predictive power remain controversial in part because log-periodicity is ill-suited for study with classical methods. This paper is the first effort to apply Bayesian methods in the testing of log-periodicity. Specifically, we focus on the Johansen–Ledoit–Sornette (JLS) model of log periodicity. Using data from the S&P 500 prior to the October 1987 stock market crash, we find that, if we do not consider crash probabilities, a null hypothesis model without log-periodicity outperforms the JLS model in terms of marginal likelihood. If we do account for crash probabilities, which has not been done in the previous literature, the JLS model outperforms the null hypothesis, but only if we ignore the information obtained by standard classical methods. If the JLS model is true, then parameter estimates obtained by curve fitting have small posterior probability. Furthermore, the data set contains negligible information about the oscillation parameters, such as the frequency parameter that has received the most attention in the previous literature.


This study analyses the determinants of household avoidance behavior to cope with unsafe drinking water in Cameroon. The study is based on primary data collected in 2013 from a sample of 789 households in the cities of Douala and Yaounde. The econometric approach used in the study is the same as McConnell and Rosado (2000). The main findings of the estimated model are the following: the decision to adjust water quality decreases when income decreases, when there is no child under five in the household, and when the quality of the water consumed is not a concern. Also, the probability of adopting a given avoidance measure decreases with its cost of adoption and increases with its efficiency (measured by people's favourable opinion on the quality of water after adjustment). Implications for public policies are discussed in the paper.


RNA-binding proteins are involved in post-transcriptional processes like mRNA stabilization, post-transcriptional modification, and transport and have been suggested to play an important role in developmental gene regulation. We report here the cloning and characterization of Brunol4, a novel mouse cDNA closely related to the elav-type family of genes encoding for RNA-binding proteins and a subfamily recently named after the bruno gene of Drosophila. Murine Brunol4 is localized near the centromere of chromosome 18. The cDNA sequence of Brunol4 is separated by 12 introns and the size of Brunol4 may be around 250 kb due to the large size of several introns. Brunol4 expression is detectable in the developing embryo and, later on becomes mainly restricted to cerebral structures, in particular the cerebellum where it persists in the adult organism. We predict a role of Brunol4 and the respective human homologue in differentiation and maintenance of neuronal structures.


This article uses a narrative approach to start a dialogue about the challenges of teaching blended methods classes that contain traditional and
alternative licensure students. Many alternative licensure students enter their methods classes as lateral-entry teachers who must balance their licensure requirements with the demands associated with full-time teaching. However, the needs of these students are often considerably different from those of traditional undergraduate teacher education students, which creates formidable challenges for instructors of blended classes. After reflecting on our experiences in teaching
these types of blended classes, we offer recommendations for methods professors who find themselves in similar contexts.


Many persons with disabilities lack the fine motor coordination necessary to operate traditional keyboards. For these individuals, ambiguous (or reduced) keyboards offer an alternative access method. By placing multiple characters on each key, the size and accessibility of the individual keys can be enhanced without requiring a larger keyboard. Using statistical disambiguation algorithms to automatically interpret each keystroke, these systems can approach the keystroke efficiency (keystrokes per character) of conventional keyboards. Since the placement of characters on each key determines the effectiveness of these algorithms, several methods of optimizing keyboard arrangements have previously been proposed. This paper presents a new method for optimizing an arbitrary set of N characters over a collection of M keys. While earlier efforts relied upon approximations of keystroke efficiency, the proposed approach optimizes the arrangement under this exact performance measure. Applied to the canonical 26 characters on a nine-key "telephone keypad" problem, this method provides an improvement in efficiency of 2.5 percentage points over previously established layouts. Using only a minimum of calculations, the proposed technique operates quickly and efficiently, deriving optimal arrangements in a matter of seconds using a personal computer. The flexible method is applicable to arbitrary disambiguation algorithms, character sets, and languages.


The agricultural technologies developed in the country have generated more income and employment to the cultivators. However, tribal dominated regions of Madhya Pradesh falling under such conditions of agricultural backwardness have not yet been able to benefit from the fruits of technological innovation fully or even partly. Keeping this in view a study on technology adoption and its determinants has been conducted in Santna districts of M.P. Using multistage stratified random sampling techniques total 120 tribal farmers were selected from 10 villages of two block such as majhgawan and shohawal RD block of Stana district of Madya Pradesh. The examination of technology adoption revealed that the area under study was characterized by preponderance of low level of technology adoption and smaller sized farms, the position of which in respect of adoption of new technology was quite disheartening. The increase in the level of adoption was accompanied by increase in the size of holding, use of family workers and maintenance of bullock pairs/machinery. The increase in investment on fixed capital, particularly farm implements and machinery was associated with increase in the technology adoption. Wheat and Soyabean were the predominant crops of the area under study with the highest percentage of area under HYVs compared to other crops. The intensity of cropping, use of bullock labour and hired human labour were found to increase with the increase in the level of adoption. The scores of social determinant particularly literacy index exhibited positive influence on the level of technology adoption. Similarly, the scores of psychological determinants, viz., attitude towards HYVs, risk orientation and credit orientation were observed to increase with the increase in Further, it was observed that increase in the level of adoption was associated with increase in the level of income from the crops grown on sample farms.


Posterior cervical spine fixation is a key component in achieving spinal arthrodesis for treating various cervical spine pathologies including neoplastic, inflammatory, traumatic and degenerative diseases. Historically, various wiring techniques had played major roles in posterior cervical spine fixation. Today, posterior cervical screw fixation is utilized by most spine surgeons instead of wiring for its superior biomechanical strength. A review of lateral mass, pedicle, intralaminar and transfacet screw fixation techniques in the subaxial cervical spine is presented in a detailed fashion. A comparison among different posterior cervical subaxial fixation techniques is also included. Although the safety of freehand techniques was demonstrated in the majority of the existing studies, real-time navigation is becoming increasingly utilized for cervical screw insertion, especially for cervical pedicle screws, where the freehand technique is technically demanding and may carry a higher risk of neurovascular injury. Several different posterior screw fixation techniques exist for the subaxial cervical spine with generally low complication rate. Spine surgeons should be familiar with these techniques and choose the optimal technique based on each patient's individual anatomy and surgical needs.


2015 ABSTRACT : We present a new assessment method for driver visibility based on reaction time measurement and workload in real driving situations from the most relevant accident scenario involving pedestrians. The procedure was validated in a balanced trial to compare a wet flatblade windshield washing system to a conventional Fluidic nozzles system. The test cohort comprised 204 subjects who form a representative sample of German driving license holders. The average reaction time gain of wet flatblade over Fluidic nozzles is 315 ms for pedestrian detection and 270 ms for the recognition of critical traffic


Life activities of students from higher education institutions are largely influenced by certain adverse factors (social, psychological, environmental ones), which in turn negatively affect their physical and mental health and cause particular behavioural deviations such as aggression. The research aims to theoretically justify, develop and experimentally verify the programme on prevention of aggressive behaviours in athletes due to cultivating their humanistic values and capacity for self-actualization. The research sample of the formative experiment comprised 177 athletes (92 respondents in the experimental group and 85 respondents in the control group). The research assumes that, if well-developed, humanistic values of individual self-actualization (developing one's positive attitude towards the surrounding people, ability to understand them, accept oneself and others and reality, striving for new knowledge, identifying oneself in this world, setting goals) can be considered as a means of prevention of aggressive behaviours in students; the process of developing athletes' capacity for self-actualization as a means of psychological prevention of aggressive behaviours is determined by an appropriate organization of activities performed by students, their parents, psychologists, teachers based on personality-oriented and humanistic approaches. The level of self-actualization was based on E. Shostrom's test and the self-actualization scale by A. Jones and R. Crandall; the level of aggression was identified based on the Buss-Durkee Hostility Inventory. The accuracy of changes in the groups was verified using the Mann-Whitney U Test. Results. A quantitative interpretation of the results obtained from the formative experiment proves that the arithmetic mean of self-actualization parameters in respondents in the experimental group has increased significantly (by 22%), whereas they have remained almost unchanged in the control group. Concerning the arithmetic mean of parameters of aggressive behaviours in athletes, they have decreased significantly (by 18%) in the experimental group. This is because athletes' capacity for self-actualization has been developed without direct influence on their aggressive behaviours. Conclusions. In comparison with their peers in the control group, athletes in the experimental group have significantly improved their conflict management skills as a result of developing a more positive attitude towards others, as well as behavioural flexibility, communication skills and capacity for self-development.


The fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda, J.E. Smith) is a noctuid moth that is a major and ubiquitous agricultural pest in the Western Hemisphere. Infestations have recently been identified in several locations in Africa, indicating its establishment in the Eastern Hemisphere where it poses an immediate and significant economic threat. Genetic methods were used to characterize noctuid specimens infesting multiple cornfields in the African nation of Togo that were tentatively identified as fall armyworm by morphological criteria. Species identification was confirmed by DNA barcoding and the specimens were found to be primarily of the subgroup that preferentially infests corn and sorghum in the Western Hemisphere. The mitochondrial haplotype configuration was most similar to that found in the Caribbean region and the eastern coast of the United States, identifying these populations as the likely originating source of the Togo infestations. A genetic marker linked with resistance to the Cry1Fa toxin from Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) expressed in transgenic corn and common in Puerto Rico fall armyworm populations was not found in the Togo collections. These observations demonstrate the usefulness of genetic surveys to characterize fall armyworm populations from Africa.


The Autonomous Agents and MultiAgent Systems (AAMAS) conference series brings together researchers from around the world to share the latest advances in the field. It is the premier forum for research in the theory and practice of autonomous agents and multi-agent systems. AAMAS 2002, the first of the series, was held in Bologna, followed by Melbourne (2003), New York (2004), Utrecht (2005), Hakodate (2006), Honolulu (2007), Estoril (2008), Budapest (2009), Toronto (2010), Taipei (2011), Valencia (2012), Saint Paul (2013), Paris (2014), and Istanbul (2015). This volume constitutes the proceedings of AAMAS 2016, the fifteenth conference in the series, held in Singapore in May 2016.

In line with previous editions, AAMAS 2016 attracted submissions for a general track and five special tracks: Innovative Applications, Robotics, Embodied Virtual Agents and Human-Agent Interaction, Blue Sky Ideas track, and the JAAMAS presentation track. The special tracks were chaired by leading researchers in their corresponding fields: Onn Shehory and Noa Agmon chaired the Innovative Applications track, Francesco Amigoni and Roderich Gross the Robotics track, Tim Bickmore and Hannes Vilhjalmsson the Embodied Virtual Agents and Human-Agent Interaction track, and Frank Dignum the Blue Sky Ideas track. As a new initiative, the chairs of AAMAS 2016 also solicited articles published in the Journal of Autonomous Agents and Multiagent Systems for the JAAMAS Presentation Track. Only papers that have appeared in the Journal of Autonomous Agents and Multi-agent Systems (JAAMAS) in the 12 months period preceding the AAMAS notification date were eligible. This new track was chaired by Peter Stone.

Jointly with the PC chairs the special track chairs were responsible for appointing the Programme Committee (PC) members and the Senior Programme Committee members (SPC) for their tracks, and they made acceptance/rejection recommendations for their tracks in consultation with Programme Chairs based on input provided by the track PC, SPC, and Area Experts. This year the PC chairs introduced the new role of Area Experts, i.e., SPC members with additional responsibilities, to assist with selecting SPC members for specific research areas, identifying appropriate keywords, and assisting in potential issues during discussion phase. This new role was a success and increased the quality of our SPC and PC, and also the reviewing process in general.

Full paper submissions (8 pages plus bibliographic references) and Blue Sky Ideas paper submissions (4 pages plus references) were solicited for AAMAS 2016. Some of the full paper submissions were accepted as extended abstracts (2 pages). The papers were selected by means of a thorough review and discussion process, which included an opportunity for authors to respond to reviewer comments during a rebuttal phase. All SPC members, Area Experts, and Track Chairs followed and contributed to the technical discussions on the papers they were overseeing. The JAAMAS presentation Track submissions published as extended abstracts were handled by the track chair.

Overall, out of 550 submissions, 137 (25%) were accepted as full papers and 143 (26%) were accepted as extended abstracts. Additionally, all 16 JAAMAS track submissions were accepted.

Full papers were presented orally in 20 minute slots; all extended abstracts and, optionally, full papers were presented as posters during the conference.

Out of the 550 submissions, 351 (64%) had a student as the primary author, 82 of these were accepted as full papers (23%), and a further 90 (26%) were accepted as extended abstracts.

The proceedings also contain 17 Demonstration papers, 13 Doctoral Consortium papers, as well as abstracts of the invited talks and details of some of the awards given.


Electromagnetic simulation continues to be the primary method by which engineers and researchers analyze and design circuits and systems. Nowadays, the complexification related to the rise of microwaves circuits results in the coexistence of several scales in the same circuit and in the appearance of important dimensions ratios. As the dimensions of modern Electromagnetic circuits continue to shrink, the fabrication and parametric testing of such structures have become more challenging. Increasing market pressures are driving engineers and researchers to minimize the time-to-the-market. So more efficient simulation strategies to accelerate the simulation process are required. Parallel and distributed simulation approaches seem to be a promising approach in this direction. With the growing incidence of computer modeling and simulation, the scope of this paper is to show that parallel simulation of multi-scale models can achieve several orders of magnitude speedup. When mapped onto distributed memory multicomputer systems like Computational Grid, additional speedup is obtained.


This paper presents a recognition system based on Hidden Markov Model (HMM) for isolated online handwritten mathematical symbols. We design a continuous left to right HMM for each symbol class and use four online local features, including a new feature: normalized distance to stroke edge. A variant of segmental K-means is used to get initialization of the Gaussian Mixture Models' parameters which represent the observation probability distribution of the HMMs. The system obtains top-1 recognition rate of 82.9% and top-5 recognition rate of 97.8% on a dataset containing 20281 training samples and 2202 testing samples of 93 classes of symbols. For multi-stroke symbols, the top-1 recognition rate is 74.7% and the top-5 recognition rate is 95.5%. For single-stroke symbols, the top-1 recognition rate is 86.8% and the top-5 recognition rate is 98.9%. (MacLean et al., 2010) applied dynamic time warping algorithm on all the 70 classes of single-stroke symbols. Their top-1 recognition rate is 85.8%, and top-5 recognition rate is 97.0%. Our system gets top-1 recognition rate of 85.5% and top-5 recognition rate of 99.1% on the same 70 classes of single-stroke symbols.


This research focuses on the analysis of how nursing journals publish their papers. Basically, two models are analyzed, Vancouver, by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors, and APA by the American Psychological Association. Their advantages and disadvantages are discussed. In view of how research papers are currently published and how research is judged, the authors propose that nursing journals adopt their own model, irrespective of how medical professionals publish.


Can online tools address gender bias in classics? Through two case studies, this article explores the use of crowd-sourcing in order to develop digital tools that amplify women and provide them with a firmer online identity. The first, Wikipedia.org, is already entrenched in the popular research realm, and the second, WOAH (Women of Ancient History), is currently being developed as a reference tool. Wikipedia.org is the most influential source of knowledge in the world, but it has a stubborn gender bias against women. This distortion is particularly evident in the field of classics, where prior to 2017 only 7% of biographies of classicists featured women. Here, 'classics' is an inclusive term, and is broadly conceived to include the field of Late Antiquity. This short article details how the Women's Classical Committee (UK)'s Wikipedia editing initiative, #WCCWiki, and the development of WOAH, have successfully increased the visibility of women online. Consequently, it offers a model to mobilize change with few physical or financial resources, but rather facilitated by digital tools and social media. Through digital feminist activism, there is the potential to reverse the gender skew of classicists online and in the public discourse, while also creating an inclusive space that is professional, proactive, and accessible to all.


This study aims to investigate the effects of problems and difficulties faced by special working women at offices in Islamabad, Pakistan. For this purpose four institutions from the Ministry of Social welfare were selected for carrying out the present study. Eight special working women were employees in these four selected institutions, all of them were interviewed. A case study method was used to highlight the issue. During literature review it was found that till this time no special policy is formulated for special working women by the Government of Pakistan. The results of the study showed that special working women faced somewhat attitudinal problems in offices. Their suggestions are not valued by the high-ups during meetings at offices. Government buildings are not constructed according to their disabilities. Homes are neither constructed by the concerned ministry according to special persons needs and nor near to offices. Key words: special working women, disabilities, problems, office.


This study has investigated the differences in cognitive processes that test-takers undergo while answering reading comprehension questions in multiple-choice and open-ended short answer formats. For this purpose, data were collected from a group of undergraduate students in an English medium university through eye-tracking technology, immediate retrospective verbal protocols, and short semi-structured interviews. The results showed that the participants used careful reading skills more and comprehended the text more thoroughly in the open-ended format. However, in the MC format, they read less carefully and used more test-taking strategies. These findings contribute to the ongoing discussion on how item format can alter the cognitive processes in a reading comprehension test and confirm the effectiveness of eye-tracking in unveiling cognitive processes in combination with qualitative methods. This study has implications for reading test development.


Recent findings on the afferent and efferent connexions of the striatum (the caudate nucleus and putamen) and globus pallidus have been summarized in an orderly sequence. The striatum receives afferent fibres from three main sources, the cerebral cortex, the intralaminar nuclei of the thalamus and the midbrain; the major features of each of these pathways are outlined. The striatum sends efferent fibres to the globus pallidus and the substantia nigra, and the two segments of the globus pallidus in turn project upon the subthalamic nucleus and upon the thalamus and midbrain tegmentum. Through the thalamus the major influence of the striopallidum is upon the motor area of the cerebral cortex, and it is suggested that through the midbrain tegmentum there may also be a descending influence upon the spinal cord. These findings from light microscopical investigations are synthesized with observations made in electron microscopic studies of the striatum and globus pallidus. On the basis of present knowledge of their structure and connexions attention is drawn to several marked similarities between these parts of the basal ganglia and the cerebellum.


enabled to obtain post-graduate instruction,and so keep in touch with modern improvements and methods. In short, therefore, preliminary clinical and post-graduate training is required in order to organize modern nursing education in the best and most complete manner. Space will not permit of any exhaustive consideration of the industrial aspect of this question, but it must be pointed out that the present condition of affairs is eruelly unjust to well-trained nurses. Not only have they to compete industrially on equal terms witlh the half-trained or wholly ignorant women who are able to assume the same title as themselves, but they have also to bear the public distrust occasioned by the behaviour of many of such women. A black list, now in my possession, shows a most painful and constantly-increasing record of women posing as nurses who have been convicted of various criminal offences ranging from theft to murder. It must not be overlooked that the educational aspect of the nursing question is keenly appreciated both in our Colonies and in the United States of America. In the latter, indeed, preliminary and post-graduate courses are already in operation in connexion with many educational institutionis. And in tlhree of our Colonies and in four of the American States registration has been enacted by law. In New Zealand and Victoria a minimum curriculum has been defined, and uniform nursing examinations are conducted, the subsequent registration of successful candidates being in the former case undertaken by the State, and in the latter by a voluntary professional authority. In New South Wales it is proposed that Parliament at an early date should consider similar legislation, and in Cape Colony and Natal Acts of Parliament have been passed providing for the education and registration of trained nurses. It is therefore earnestly to be hoped that the United Kingdom, which can fairly claim to have been the birthplace of modern nursing, will not much longer lag behind its daughter nations in the promotion of nursing reform.-I a rn, etc., ETHEL G. FENWICK, President, International Council of Nurses. Upper Wimpole Street, W., Sept. 28th.


This paper presents a quantitative analysis of the external and internal determinants that affect the innovation dynamics of a low-tech sector in a less developed economy; the food & beverage (F&B) industry in El Salvador. The empirical framework relies on a multivariate probit analysis applied to data from El Salvador's First National Innovation Survey 2013. The results show that R&D activities, use of industrial protection by F&B industry firms as well as relationships between firms and knowledge agents are useful for technological innovations while the qualifications of firms' workforce and the relationships between firms and value chain agents prove useful for non-technological innovations. In addition, firms can take advantage of their size and location in the department of San Salvador to promote product innovation, whereas firms' maturity is seen to be a disadvantage. Based on the results to emerge, the role that public science, technology and innovation (STI) policies as well as STI business strategies can play in the Salvadoran agri-food industry innovation system is seen to be huge.


The objective of this paper is to review the GAMMA /spl gamma/ systems which have been implemented at the Graniteville Company. The paper discusses the basic rationale for in-house development of manufacturing systems for the textile industry. The justification process, associated selection criteria for vendor-supplied products, and general system implementation are reviewed. Specific benefits derived from the development of such systems are enumerated in an effort to explain why it may be advantageous for textile companies to develop customized manufacturing systems using existing technical resources. A case study is discussed detailing how such an automation effort can be initiated and enhanced over time to provide real-time production information which is beneficial to a textile company at all levels of management.


In this article, we attempt to show how there is a strong modeling, although imperceptible by the no-sphere of structuring the educational contents of teaching mathematical content in a mold that emptiness their Morpho-dynamic content. This mold would be dictated by the blackboard : very similar notions of those developed to the student's addresses in the textbooks are the vectors of this content. ICTs are making these concepts quite patent, a very long time ago, taken in consideration by these manuals. Any proven lack of these concepts among the objects of learning as manuals and monographs promotes in schools is an argument for the truthfulness of this modeling and the character of it. These objects would be designed according to the possibilities offered by the blackboard relating to the activation of variable commands between the hands of the professor. The animation and configuration of points are not a part of these opportunities.About this animation, the lack of these objects in the fundamental dichotomy 'trajectory / chart' concerning curves, including among these curves, those are straight lines, that engineering students not associate with the modeling of rectilinear movements to the graph of the numerical function of the real variable, or even concerning the linear function, to the right.


We analyze a setting in which a risky asset is traded by two types of investors: some are all in and buy up to their margin limit and some buy and sell based on the asset's fundamental value. A higher price of the asset increases all-in investor wealth and they borrow against this wealth to buy more shares. All-in investor demand for shares is therefore upward sloping. If all-in investors have (i) enough wealth, and (ii) access to at least 2:1 leverage, then aggregate demand for shares can be upward sloping and an equilibrium price therefore unstable. If P1 is an equilibrium price, then there exists a price P2>P1 that also clears the market. P1 is unstable and P2 is stable. Unfortunately, if the price actually is P2, then it will be unstable and there will exist a P3>P2 that clears the market and is stable. This is true for any arbitrarily high proposed price. Our theory provides an explanation for the prominent and sudden surge in prices in January 2021 for retail stocks such as GameStop Corporation.


The pulmonary nodule is the most common manifestation of lung cancer, the most deadly of all cancers. Most small pulmonary nodules are benign, however, and currently the growth rate of the nodule provides for one of the most accurate noninvasive methods of determining malignancy. In this paper, we present methods for measuring the change in nodule size from two computed tomography image scans recorded at different times; from this size change the growth rate may be established. The impact of partial voxels for small nodules is evaluated and isotropic resampling is shown to improve measurement accuracy. Methods for nodule location and sizing, pleural segmentation, adaptive thresholding, image registration, and knowledge-based shape matching are presented. The latter three techniques provide for a significant improvement in volume change measurement accuracy by considering both image scans simultaneously. Improvements in segmentation are evaluated by measuring volume changes in benign or slow growing nodules. In the analysis of 50 nodules, the variance in percent volume change was reduced from 11.54% to 9.35% (p=0.03) through the use of registration, adaptive thresholding, and knowledge-based shape matching.


Measurement of tumor diameters, tumor volumes, or area under the curve has been traditionally used to quantitate the effects of experimental manipulations in immune competent as well as immune-compromised mice and rats. However, using these parameters to measure the kinetics of tumor growth fail to reveal several complexities of growing tumors. Here, by means of tumor growth data from a large number of mice challenged with live tumor cells, we describe the use of a new composite parameter, Tumor Control Index (TCI) as an alternative method to do the same. This index, comprised of three distinct values, the Tumor Progression Score, Tumor Rejection Score, and Tumor Stability Score, provides a complete picture of nearly every aspect of tumor growth in large numbers of animals, can be deduced automatically from tumor diameter or volume data, and can be used to compare several groups of animals in different experiments. This automatically derivable index also corresponds neatly to the use of complete and partial responses and tumor stability data generated in human tumors, and can be used to assess the efficacy of interventions to be used in clinical studies.


Although clinical ethics has become a central, and welcome, component of the health care landscape, research ethics consultation services are still uncommon. Indeed, the usual approach to ethical concerns in research with human subjects has been primarily a regulatory one. Nonetheless, ethical problems also arise in the context of research and thus collaborations between investigators and research ethicists are as essential as those between physicians and clinical ethicists. The authors argue that the use of research ethics consultation services can be of benefit to clinical scientists, bioethicists, research institutions, and research subjects. Such services can increase sensitivity among researchers to the ethical implications of their work, result in better institutional research policies, and facilitate the development of an organizational culture that is receptive to the identification and resolution of ethical conflicts. The authors conclude by describing the process of development and implementation of such a research ethics consultation service at Weill Medical College of Cornell University.


ObjectiveThis article reviews the current results of various locoregional therapies for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), with special reference to the implications for surgeons. Summary Background DataResection or transplantation is the treatment of choice for HCC, but most patients are not suitable candidates. The past decade has witnessed the development of a variety of locoregional therapies for HCC. Surgeons are faced with the challenge of adopting these therapies in the management of patients with resectable or unresectable HCC. MethodsA review of relevant English-language articles was undertaken based on a Medline search from January 1990 to August 2001. ResultsRetrospective studies suggested that transarterial chemoembolization is an effective treatment for inoperable HCC, but its perceived benefit for survival has not been substantiated in randomized trials, presumably because its antitumor effect is offset by its adverse effect on liver function. Nonetheless, it remains a widely used palliative treatment for HCC not amenable to resection or ablative therapies, and it also plays an important role as a treatment of postresection recurrence and as a pretransplant therapy for transplantable HCC. Better patient selection, selective segmental chemoembolization, and treatment repetition tailored to tumor response and patient tolerance may improve its benefit-risk ratio. Transarterial radiotherapy is a less available alternative that produces results similar to those of chemoembolization. Percutaneous ethanol injection has gained wide acceptance as a safe and effective treatment for HCCs 3 cm or smaller. Uncertainty in tumor necrosis limits its potential as a curative treatment, but its repeatability allows treatment of recurrence after ablation or resection of HCC that is crucial to prolongation of survival. Cryotherapy affords a better chance of cure because of predictable necrosis even for HCCs larger than 3 cm, but its use is limited by a high complication rate. There has been recent enthusiasm for heat ablation by microwave, radiofrequency, or laser, which provides predictable necrosis with a low complication rate. Preliminary data indicated that radiofrequency ablation is superior to ethanol injection in the radicality of tumor ablation. The advent of more versatile radiofrequency probes has allowed ablation of HCCs larger than 5 cm. Recent studies have suggested that combined transarterial embolization and heat ablation is a promising strategy for large HCCs. Thus far, no randomized trials comparing various thermoablative therapies have been reported. It is also uncertain whether a percutaneous route, laparoscopy, or open surgery affords the best approach for these therapies. Thermoablative therapies have been combined with resection or used to treat postresection recurrence, and they have also been used as a pretransplant therapy. However, the value of such strategies requires further evaluation. ConclusionsAdvances in locoregional therapies have led to a major breakthrough in the management of unresectable HCC, but the exact role of the various modalities needs to be defined by randomized studies. Novel thermoablative techniques provide the surgeon with an exciting opportunity to participate actively in the management of unresectable HCC. Locoregional therapies are also useful adjuncts in the management of patients with resectable or transplantable disease. Hence, surgeons must be equipped with the latest knowledge and techniques of ablative therapy to provide the most appropriate treatment for the wide spectrum of patients with HCC.


The authors investigated changes in household outsourcing, the practice of spending on services that replace household labor, from 1980 to 2010. During this time, women's labor force participation, increased and economic, household bargaining, and time availability theories predict increased spending during this period. To test these predictions, the authors used data on spending on housekeeping, day care, babysitting and nannies, gardening and lawn services, eating out and pre-prepared foods from the 1980–2010 Consumer Expenditure Surveys using 327,903 household-quarters from the interview survey and 86,877 household-weeks from the diary survey. The results indicate that changes in income predicted increases in housekeeping, child care, and gardening services. Changes in household characteristics predicted little change in food outsourcing, although food outsourcing did increase. Changes in women's earnings predicted little change in most outsourcing. The authors conclude the article with a discussion of the changing context for outsourcing.


BACKGROUND
Hepatocellular carcinoma is the sixth most common cancer worldwide. Hepatic resection is regarded as the curative therapy for hepatocellular carcinoma. However, only about 20% of people with hepatocellular carcinoma are candidates for resection, which highlights the importance of effective nonsurgical therapies. Until now, transcatheter arterial chemoembolisation (TACE) is the most common palliative therapy for hepatocellular carcinoma, but its clinical benefits remain unsatisfactory. During recent years, some studies have reported that the combination of TACE plus thermal ablation can confer a more favourable prognosis than TACE alone. However, clear and compelling evidence to prove the beneficial or harmful effects of the combination of TACE and thermal ablation therapy is lacking.

OBJECTIVES
To assess the beneficial and harmful effects of the combination of thermal ablation with TACE versus TACE alone in people with hepatocellular carcinoma.

SEARCH METHODS
We performed searches in the Cochrane Hepato-Biliary Group Controlled Trials Register, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials in the Cochrane Library, MEDLINE, Embase, LILACS, Science Citation Index Expanded, and Conference Proceedings Citation Index-Science. We endeavoured to identify relevant randomised clinical trials also in the China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) and Wanfang databases. We searched trial registration websites for ongoing studies. We also handsearched grey literature sources. The date of last search was 22 December 2020.

SELECTION CRITERIA
We planned to include all randomised clinical trials comparing the combination of TACE plus thermal ablation versus TACE alone for hepatocellular carcinoma, no matter the language, year of publication, publication status, and reported outcomes.

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS
We planned to use standard methodological procedures expected by Cochrane. We planned to calculate risk ratios (RRs) with the corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs). For time-to-event variables, we planned to use the methods of survival analysis and express the intervention effect as a hazard ratio (HR) with 95% Cl. If the log HR and the variance were not directly reported in reports, we planned to calculate them indirectly, following methods for incorporating summary time-to-event data into meta-analysis. We planned to assess the risk of bias of the included studies using the RoB 2 tool. We planned to assess the certainty of evidence with GRADE and present the evidence in a summary of findings table.

MAIN RESULTS
Out of 2224 records retrieved with the searches, we considered 135 records eligible for full-text screening. We excluded 21 of these records because the interventions used were outside the scope of our review or the studies were not randomised clinical trials. We listed the remaining 114 records, reporting on 114 studies, under studies awaiting classification because we could not be sure that these were randomised clinical trials from the information in the study paper. We could not obtain information on the registration of the study protocol for any of the 114 studies. We could not obtain information on study approval by regional research ethics committees, either from the study authors or through our own searches of trial registries. Corresponding authors did not respond to our enquiries about the design and conduct of the studies, except for one from whom we did not receive a satisfactory response. We also raised awareness of our concerns to editors of the journals that published the 114 studies, and we did not hear back with useful information. Moreover, there seemed to be inappropriate inclusion of trial participants, based on cancer stage and severity of liver disease, who should have obtained other interventions according to guidelines from learned societies. Accordingly, we found no confirmed randomised clinical trials evaluating the combination of TACE plus thermal ablation versus TACE alone for people with hepatocellular carcinoma for inclusion in our review. We identified five ongoing trials, by handsearching in clinical trial websites.

AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS
We could not find for inclusion any confirmed randomised clinical trials assessing the beneficial or harmful effects of the combination of TACE plus thermal ablation versus TACE alone in people with hepatocellular carcinoma. Therefore, our results did not show or reject the efficiency of the combination of TACE plus thermal ablation versus TACE alone for people with hepatocellular carcinoma. We need trials that compare the beneficial and harmful effects of the combination of TACE plus thermal ablation versus TACE alone in people with hepatocellular carcinoma, not eligible for treatments with curative intent (liver transplantation, ablation surgical resection) and who have sufficient liver reserve, as assessed by the Child Pugh score, and who do not have extrahepatic metastases. Therefore, future trial participants must be classified at Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer Stage B (intermediate stage) (BCLC-B) or an equivalent, with other staging systems.


A known feature of electrically charged Reissner-Nordstr\"om-anti-de Sitter planar black holes is that they can become unstable when considered as solutions of Einstein--Yang-Mills theory. The mechanism for this is that the linearized Yang-Mills equations in the background of the Reissner-Nordstr\"om (RN) black holes possess a normalizable zero mode, resulting in non-Abelian (nA) magnetic clouds near the horizon. In this work we show that the same pattern may occur also for asymptotically flat RN black holes. Different from the anti-de Sitter case, in the Minkowskian background the prerequisite for the existence of the nA clouds is $i)$ a large enough gauge group and $ii)$ the presence of some extra interaction terms in the matter Lagrangian. To illustrate this mechanism we present two specific examples, one in four and the other in five dimensional asymptotically flat spacetime. In the first case, we augment the usual $SU(3)$ Yang-Mills Lagrangian with higher order (quartic) curvature term, while for the second one we add the Chern-Simons density to the $SO(6)$ Yang-Mills system. In both cases, an Abelian gauge symmetry is spontaneously broken near a RN black hole horizon with the appearance of a condensate of nA gauge fields. In addition to these two examples, we review the corresponding picture for anti-de Sitter black holes. All these solutions are studied both analytically and numerically, existence proofs being provided for nA clouds in the background of RN black holes. The proofs use shooting techniques which are suggested by and in turn offer insights for our numerical methods. They indicate that, for a black hole of given mass, appropriate electric charge values are required to ensure the existence of solutions interpolating desired boundary behavior at the horizons and spatial infinity.


Estuaries are productive ecosystems that support extensive vertebrate and invertebrate communities, but some have suffered from an accelerated pace of acidification in their bottom waters. A major challenge in the study of estuarine acidification is strong temporal and spatial variability of carbonate chemistry resulting from a wide array of physical forces such as winds, tides and river flows. Most past studies of carbonate system dynamics were limited to the along channel direction, while lateral dynamics received less attention. Recent observations in Chesapeake Bay showed strong lateral asymmetry in the partial pressure of carbon dioxide (pCO2) and air-sea CO2 flux during a single wind event, but comparable responses to different wind events has yet to be investigated. In this work, a coupled hydrodynamic-carbonate chemistry model is used to understand wind-driven variability in the estuarine carbonate system. It is found that wind-driven lateral upwelling ventilates high DIC (Dissolved Inorganic Carbon) and CO2 deep water and raises surface pCO2, thereby modifying the air-sea CO2 flux. The upwelling also advects low pH water onto the adjacent shoals and reduces the aragonite saturation state Ωarag in these shallow water environments, producing large temporal pH fluctuations and low pH events. Regime diagrams are constructed to summarize the effects of wind events on temporal pH and Ωarag fluctuations and the lateral gradients in DIC, pH, and pCO2 in the estuary. This modeling study provides a mechanistic explanation for the observed wind-driven lateral variability in DIC and pCO2 and reproduces large pH and Ωarag fluctuations that could be driven by physical forcing. Given that current and historic mainstem Bay oyster beds are located in shallow shoals affected by this upwelling, a large fraction of the oyster beds (100–300 km2) could be exposed to carbonate mineral under-saturated (Ω


This study attempts to root out some of the causes of absence of conceptual understanding in elementary level particularly in math subject and the factors that cause this deficiency. As a body of researchers, we use a quasi-form of methodology qualitatively designed by which we give a pre-test and post-test to our participants (randomly selected teachers and students), through some open-ended questions. Through open-ended questions, pupils will be led through processes like understanding the problem, how to fit new information into already existing networks of knowledge and when thinking critically at the process of learning the leaner will conceptualize and reorganize the thoughts in order to create presumably new knowledge. The data were collected through interviews (giving answers to posttest open ended questions) and observation and analyzed simultaneously just in order not to miss any information during the study. The conclusion of this study showed that there were various methods of teaching and every instructor would have his or her own style for conceptual learning. There is no universal "one-size-fits-all" teaching practice. Instead, depending on the goal and circumstances, it might be appropriate to combine various methods. For example, one might decide to embed cooperative group discussions into traditional lectures, or one could alternate between hands-on experiments and traditional lectures. The many possibilities then become a rich set of opportunities from which a teacher can construct a more meaningful learning instructional program.


Aspergillus parasiticus and Penicillium rubrum spores at the level of 10(4) to 10(5) / g were completely killed by prolonged exposure to 30 to 45 mg of methyl bromide per liter.


Multi-tenant applications serve different customers with one application instance. This architectural style leverages sharing and economies of scale to provide cost efficient hosting. As multi-tenancy is a new concept, a common definition of the word and related concepts is not yet established and the architectural concerns are not fully understood. This paper provides an overview of important architectural concerns and there mutual influences. Beside that, it defines multi-tenancy and differentiates it from several related concepts.


Evapotranspiration (ET) is a complex process in the hydrological cycle that influences the quantity of runoff and thus the irrigation water requirements. Numerous methods have been developed to estimate potential evapotranspiration (PET). Unfortunately, most of the reliable PET methods are parameter rich models and therefore, not feasible for application in data scarce regions. On the other hand, accuracy and reliability of simple PET models vary widely according to regional climate conditions. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the performance of three temperature-based and three radiation-based simple ET methods in estimating historical ET and projecting future ET at Muda Irrigation Scheme at Kedah, Malaysia. The performance was measured by comparing those methods with the parameter intensive Penman-Monteith Method. It was found that radiation based methods gave better performance compared to temperature-based methods in estimation of ET in the study area. Future ET simulated from projected climate data obtained through statistical downscaling technique also showed that radiation-based methods can project closer ET values to that projected by Penman-Monteith Method. It is expected that the study will guide in selecting suitable methods for estimating and projecting ET in accordance to availability of meteorological data.


The objective of this work was to use tungsten and lignin as precursors to produce a metal-organic composite (Wx%Lig) using different sintering processes. Tungsten is a refractory metal and was selected for the composite due to its superior physical and mechanical properties (mechanical strength, high melting point, and excellent cross section with thermal neutrons). Its choice is also justified because it is widely used for high-energy radiation shielding. Lignin extracted from lignocellulosic biomass was selected to be the organic precursor for the composite because it has multiple applications; it is used in the production of aromatics, adhesives, and as a phenolic resin replacement. Analysis of the composite was performed after sintering processes using a Nexview 3D optical surface profiler and analyse the gamma radiation attenuation coefficient using cobalt source (Co-60). Metal-organic composites in ratios of W5%Lig and W2.5%Lig were produced after different heat treatment processes. Then, the gamma attenuation coefficients of the composite samples in these rations were analysing. The gradient of the attenuation coefficient differed when standard tungsten and the composites of W5%Lig and W2.5%Lig were compared with free source Co-60.


According to Mike McKinley of Georgia Tech, it's "the holy grail of microwave instrumentation and measurements," it's "a new measurement science" according to Don DeGroot of Connected Community Networks and "an enabling path to taking nonlinear models to a higher level of fidelity and value" says Larry Dunleavy of Modelithics. I prefer to call it large-signal network analysis (LSNA). Today, LSNA is undoubtedly still in its infancy. A small community knows about the theoretical concepts, and a happy few have access to LSNA hardware. This community is growing rapidly, however, and I have no doubt that the people of this community will soon revolutionize the microwave measurement business as profoundly as S-parameter technology did in the 1980s. I hope with this article to inspire you to join this rapidly growing LSNA community that is improving microwave measurements and is on its way to building a multimillion dollar business.


We use a set of high-resolution N-body simulations of the Galactic disk to study its interactions with the population of cosmologically predicted satellites. One simulation illustrates that multiple passages of massive satellites with different velocities through the disk generate a wobble, which has the appearance of rings in face-on projections of the stellar disk. They also produce flares in the outer disk parts and gradually heat the disk through bending waves. A different numerical experiment shows that an individual satellite as massive as the Sagittarius dwarf galaxy passing through the disk will drive coupled horizontal and vertical oscillations of stars in underdense regions with small associated heating. This experiment shows that vertical excursions of stars in these low-density regions can exceed 1 kpc in the Solar neighborhood, resembling the recently locally detected coherent vertical oscillations. They can also induce non-zero vertical streaming motions as large as 10–20 km s−1, which is consistent with recent observations in the Galactic disk. This phenomenon appears as a local ring with modest associated disk heating.


The emergence of Evidence-Based Medicine (EBM) as the gold-standard practice in biomedicine and public health practices represents a significant epistemological turn in modern medicine. The development of Evidence-Based Public Health (EBPH) followed the emergence of Evidence-Based Medicine, as an attempt to ground health policies and interventions on "sound facts". The present paper analyzes the historical and sociological roots of this turn. We evaluate the ethical and social consequences of this transformation, both within the medical profession (the polarization between a medical elite which strengthened its professional status, and a rank and file which experienced a process of "de-professionalization") and in its relationship to the welfare state (the link between the medical elite, EBM, EBPH and the commodification of health care and public health).


By combining the cultivation methods with molecular fingerprinting techniques, the diversity surveys of soil bacterial community in 13 areas of China were carried out. The cultivable heterotrophic diversity was investigated by colony morphology on solid LB medium. Genetic diversity was measured as bands on denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis(DGGE) by the extraction and purification of the total soil DNA, and amplification of bacterial 16S rDNA fragments by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The Shannon-Wiener indices of diversity (H), richness (S) and evenness (E(H)) were employed to estimate the diversity of soil bacterial community. The results showed that there was an obvious diversification existed in soil from the different areas. However, the genetic diversity estimated by PCR-DGGE can provide more comprehensive information on bacterial community than the cultivation-based methods. Therefore, it is suggested to combine the traditional methods with genetic fingerprinting techniques to survey and estimate soil bacterial diversity.


Mice were exposed to a constant magnetic field of 250-4,000 oersted and alternative magnetic field of 100 oersted and a frequency of 100 Hz. The animals showed changes in the motor activity whose level and pattern depended on the field intensity. An exposure to a constant magnetic field of 1000 oersted inhibited significantly motor activity of mice. The motor activity was slightly activated during an exposure to a constant magnetic field of 500 oersted and immediately after an exposure to a constant magnetic field of 4000 oersted and to an alternative magnetic field of 100 oersted and a frequency of 100 Hz.


The purpose of the present study was to assess the effects of aerobic interval training on muscle and brain oxygenation to incremental ramp exercise. Eleven physically active subjects performed a 6-week interval training period, proceeded and followed by an incremental ramp exercise to exhaustion (25 W min–1). Throughout the tests pulmonary gas exchange and muscle (Vastus Lateralis) and brain (prefrontal cortex) oxygenation [concentration of deoxygenated and oxygenated hemoglobin, HHb and O2Hb, and tissue oxygenation index (TOI)] were continuously recorded. Following the training intervention V.O2peak had increased with 7.8 ± 5.0% (P < 0.001). The slope of the decrease in muscle TOI had decreased (P = 0.017) 16.6 ± 6.4% and the amplitude of muscle HHb and totHb had increased (P < 0.001) 40.4 ± 15.8 and 125.3 ± 43.1%, respectively. The amplitude of brain O2Hb and totHb had increased (P < 0.05) 40.1 ± 18.7 and 26.8 ± 13.6%, respectively. The training intervention shifted breakpoints in muscle HHb, totHb and TOI, and brain O2Hb, HHb, totHb and TOI to a higher absolute work rate and V.O2 (P < 0.05). The relative (in %) change in V.O2peak was significantly correlated to relative (in %) change slope of muscle TOI (r = 0.69, P = 0.011) and amplitude of muscle HHb (r = 0.72, P = 0.003) and totHb (r = 0.52, P = 0.021), but not to changes in brain oxygenation. These results indicate that interval training affects both muscle and brain oxygenation, coinciding with an increase in aerobic fitness (i.e., V.O2peak). The relation between the change in V.O2peak and muscle but not brain oxygenation suggests that brain oxygenation per se is not a primary factor limiting exercise tolerance during incremental exercise.


Abstract The larva of Abablemma brimleyana (Dyar) (Noctuidae) is described and illustrated based on ex ova larvae reared on green algae (Protococcus viridis). A last instar Abablemma duomaculata (Barnes & Benjamin), collected from and reared on Physcia, a foliose lichen, and its lichen-encrusted cocoon, as well as a last instar Nigetia formosalis Walker ex ova reared on Protococcus, also are figured. Beating samples of lichens in the thorn scrub that yielded the A. duomaculata larva also produced multiple individuals of Cisthene subrufa (Barnes & McDunnough) (Noctuidae: Arctiinae: Lithosiini) and Glenoides lenticuligera A. Blanchard (Geometridae: Ennominae), both of which were reared to maturity on lichens. Abablemma, presently classified in the Araeopteroninae, is shown to be closely related to Nigetia formosalis, a Scolecocampinae according to Fibiger and Lafontaine. Shared larval and life history characters among the Araeopteroninae Fibiger 2005, Eublemminae Forbes 1954, Hypenodinae Forbes 1954, and Scolecocampinae Grote 1883 are discussed: the similarities between Abablemma, Hypenodes, and other genera suggest that the subfamilial classification for these basal quadrifids has been oversplit. The article concludes with a brief review of lichen and algal feeding in Macrolepidoptera and provides a listing of 38 macrolepidopterans that T.L.M. and D.L.W. have reared from green algae and foliose lichens; included are members of Geometridae: Ennominae (n = 1); and five subfamilies of Noctuidae: Arctiinae (n = 13) (12 of which are lithosiines), Eublemminae (n = 6) (all Metalectra Hübner), Herminiinae (n = 2) (both Zanclognatha Lederer), Scolecocampinae (n = 1), Araeopteroninae (n = 3), Hypenodinae (n = 1), Nolinae (n = 1), and Xyleninae: Elaphriini (n = 10) (all but two of which are Elaphria Hübner).


Wild edible mushrooms produce a variety of bioactive compounds that are known to have antioxidant properties. Natural antioxidants can protect against oxidative induced free radicals without any side effects. Thus, they are consumed by people for food and nutraceutical values. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the phytochemicals and antioxidant activity of three wild edible termite mushrooms ( Termitomyces albuminosus, T. eurhizus and T. robustus ). Different phytochemicals were screened in the 50% ethanol, methanol and water extracts of three termite mushrooms. Total phenolic and flavonoid contents were determined by Folin-Ciocalteau and aluminium chloride method respectively. The antioxidant activity of three termite mushrooms was evaluated by DPPH assay. Qualitative screening of phytochemicals has revealed that alkaloid, steroid, fatty acid, flavonoid, saponin, tannin, carbohydrate and protein are found in the 50% ethanol, methanol and water extracts of three species of termite mushroom. A high amount of total phenolic and flavonoid content was found in the 50% ethanol extract of T. albuminosus , T. eurhizus and T. robustus (TPC: 50.28, 54.56 and 57.63 mg GAE/g extract; TFC: 16.30, 18.43 and 18.80 mg QE/g extract respectively). Due to high phenolic and flavonoid content, 50% ethanol extract of three termite mushrooms has shown high antioxidant activity (i.e., lowest IC 50 : 710.00 - 714.05 µg/ml). These termite mushrooms have antioxidant properties due to the presence of bioactive secondary metabolites that can potentially be used as a source of natural antioxidants in the form of food and nutraceutical.


The collective behavior of systems consisting of interacting dipoles is a subject of considerable studies. The anisotropic nature of such interactions opens an arena to explore fundamental questions in correlated electron physics, ranging from quantum entanglement, phase transitions, spin glass states to disorder and fluctuations. LiHoF4 is a textbook example of a ferromagnetic Ising-dipolar model, offering a simple and well-understood Hamiltonian. The system undergoes a quantum phase transition (QPT) in a field transverse to the easy axis, which induces quantum fluctuations between the ground state doublet. Dilution of Ho sites with non-magnetic Yttrium ions lowers only the transition temperature (Tc), and eventually lead to spin-glass state. While Tc decreases in a linear fashion, as expected from simple mean-field (MF) calculation, critical field decreases much faster. The behavior upon dilution has been pointed out to be related to randomness and off-diagonal dipolar interactions. In chapter 5 of this thesis I quantify the deviation of experimental results from neutron scattering studies from MF prediction, with the aim that this analysis can be used in future theoretical efforts towards a quantitative description. The aim of this thesis, however, deals with LiErF4 which is an unexplored planar dipolar antiferromagnetic member of LiReF4 family, with TN ≃ 370 mK. The system undergoes a QPT in an applied field H∥c = 4.0±0.1 kOe, confirmed by a softening of the characteristic excitations at Hc. A combined neutron scattering, specific heat, and magnetic susceptibility study reveals a novel non-MF critical scaling of the classical phase transition, belonging to the 2DXY /h4 universality class. In accord with this, the quantum phase transition at Hc exhibits a three-dimensional classical behavior. The effective dimensional reduction may be a consequence of the intrinsic anisotropic nature of the dipolar interaction. Four-fold anisotropy and degeneracy breaking could be due to the "order-by-disorder" phenomena, which could open a gap in dispersion of the magnetic excitations.


Interpretive structural modeling (ISM) is widely used to understand the complex connections between different components. This study presents a bibliometric overview of ISM research, with a focus on its linkages to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the impact of COVID-19. The study analyzed 1988 publications on ISM published between 2012 and 2021, of which 1202 were directly mapped to the SDGs and 59 were related to COVID-19. The study identified key authors, institutions, countries, and journals involved in the research and their linkages to the SDGs. The results showed that ISM research is strongly linked to SDG 12 (on responsible consumption and production) and SDG 9 (on industry, innovation, and infrastructure). We also identified influential SDGs on the basis of centrality measures such as betweenness and eigenvector. The top four countries contributing to ISM publications were India, China, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The most frequently cited journals were Benchmarking: An International Journal, Sustainability, the Journal of Modelling in Management, and the Journal of Cleaner Production. Four main clusters were identified in the ISM research, including (1) integration with AHP and fuzzy logic for promoting sustainability alignment, (2) ISM-based strategy development for various stakeholders, (3) ISM-based decision-making in various fields, and (4) ISM-based risk evaluation. For the first time, studies that used the ISM approach to understand the epidemiological characteristics of COVID-19 were identified, and their key findings were discussed. The study also identified several emerging topics for future ISM research, such as blockchain and IoT, environmental management systems, climate change adaptation, smart cities, and humanitarian logistics and their potential linkages to the SDGs.


This paper describes a method for the dynamic simulation of a cage induction machine with static and dynamic air gap eccentricity. The method is based on the winding function theory and extension of this theory to the nonuniform air gap case. A method of calculating all inductances in a machine with both static and dynamic air gap eccentricity is presented and a numerical analysis of a machine with specified parameters is presented. Stator line current spectra collected experimentally for both the static and dynamic eccentricity conditions confirm the results obtained by the proposed numerical model.


Discovering global knowledge from distributed data sources is challenging as there exist several practical concerns such as bandwidth limitation and data privacy. By appropriately abstracting distributed data, various global data mining tasks could still be implemented on the basis of local data abstractions. This article reviews existing techniques related to distributed data mining in abstraction‐based data mining. It then discusses open research challenges on mining tasks performed on distributed and abstracted data, describes how global data models (clustering and manifold discovery) could be learnt based on local data models, and points out future research directions. WIREs Data Mining Knowl Discov 2016, 6:167–176. doi: 10.1002/widm.1182


The authors present a performance study of a switching system being designed for use in the high-performance switching system (HPSS) project at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. The HPSS is a distributed switching system designed to operate with the protocols of the proposed ANSI fibre channel standard (FCS). The system is based on a folded version of the Clos three-stage network and its largest configuration has 4096 ports, each operating at 1.0625 Gbit/s. A detailed simulation model is used to evaluate the throughput, setup time, and blocking at various stages in an HPSS configuration with 512 ports. The results indicate that the system can sustain a throughput that is within 70 to 80 percent of the maximum theoretical limit for the authors choice of operational parameters.<<ETX>>


Abstract In sexually reproducing species, males often experience strong pre‐ and postcopulatory sexual selection leading to a wide variety of male adaptations. One example is mate guarding, where males prevent females from mating with other males either before or after they (will) have mated themselves. In case social conditions vary short term and in an unpredictable manner and if there is genetic variation in plasticity of mate guarding (i.e., genotype‐by‐environment interaction, G × E), adaptive behavioral plasticity in mate guarding may evolve. Here, we test for genetic variation in the plasticity of precopulatory mate‐guarding behavior in the lek‐mating lesser wax moth Achroia grisella. When offered two females in rapid succession, virgin males of this species usually copulate around 10–20 min with the first female. With the second female, however, they engage in copulation posture for many hours until they have produced another spermatophore, an unusual behavior among insects possibly functioning as precopulatory mate guarding. Previous studies showed the mating latency with the second female to be shorter under higher perceived sperm competition risk. We accordingly measured the mate‐guarding behavior of males from six inbred lines under either elevated perceived male–male competition risk or under control conditions allowing us to test for G × E interactions. We found significant inbred line‐by‐competitor treatment interactions on mating latency and copulation duration with the second female suggesting genetic variation in the degree of behavioral plasticity. However, we found no significant G × E interaction on the sum of mating latency and copulation duration. Our results suggest a potential for adaptive evolution of mate‐guarding plasticity in natural populations of lek‐mating species. Future studies using selection experiments and experimental evolution approaches in laboratory populations, or comparisons of multiple natural populations will be helpful to study under which conditions plasticity in male mate‐guarding behavior evolves.


Genetic data are rapidly advancing our understanding of various biological systems including the ecology and evolution of coral–algal symbioses. The fine‐scale interactions between individual genotypes of host and symbiont remain largely unstudied and constitute a major gap in knowledge. By applying microsatellite markers developed for both host and symbiont, we investigated the intracolony diversity, prevalence and stability of Symbiodinium glynni (type D1) multilocus genotypes in association with dense populations of Pocillopora at two sites in the Gulf of California. The genetic diversity and allelic frequencies in reef populations of S. glynni remained stable over 3 years. Common clone genotypes persisted over this period, and no temporal population subdivision (ΦPT = 0.021 and −0.003) was detected. Collections from circular plots showed no statistical correlation between related Pocillopora individuals and their associations with particular S. glynni genotypes, with no spatial structuring or clonal aggregation across a reef for the symbiont. From permanent linear transects, samples were analysed from multiple locations within a colony and some were resampled approximately 1 year later. Many of these multisampled colonies (approximately 53%) were dominated by a single S. glynni genotype and tended to associate with the same symbiont genotype(s) over time, while colony ramets often possessed unrelated symbiont genotypes. In contrast to the species level, associations between genotypes of Pocillopora and S. glynni are apparently more flexible over space and time. The abundance of sexually recombinant genotypes of S. glynni combined with greater flexibility might provide adaptive mechanisms for these symbioses to evolve rapidly to changes in environmental conditions and allow particular symbiont genotypes to spread through a host population.


Purpose: Extensive research results show quality improvements associated with advanced cancer nursing roles. Despite this, these roles are not implemented in many countries. The aim of this cross-sectional, populationbased study was to compare patients' perception of care, before and after the introduction of a new advanced nursing role, the coordination contact nurse (CCN), in a region in Sweden. Method: All patients (with gynaecological, haematological, Head & Neck, upper gastrointestinal cancers) diagnosed in the region the year prior and one-year post introducing the new CCN role were identified from the Swedish Cancer Register. Data were collected using the European Organization of Research and Treatment of Cancer [EORTC] Quality of Life Questionnaire (QLQ-C30 and QLQ-INFO25) and a study specific questionnaire. Result: The results, based on baseline (n= 869) and follow-up data (n=1003), show statistically significant patient-reported improvements after the introduction of the CCN role, regarding health-related patient information (EORTC QLQINFO25 global mean score increased from 41.23 to 44.16, p=0.0006). We found statistically significant improvements related to availability of supportive care resources, e.g. increased reported access to contact nurse (from 53% to 66%, p≤ 0.0001) and individual written care plans (from 40% to 54%, p < 0.0001). We also found some improvements related to patient involvement and care coordination, but also room for further developments. Conclusion: The implementation of the new advanced cancer nursing role may have contributed to important improvements, but it has also identified areas in need of development. Further research with long-term evaluations of CCN roles in other contexts, are both needed and on-going.


The purpose of the present study was to investigate differences between world-class individual medley (IM) swimmers and stroke-specialists using race analyses. A total of eighty 200 m races (8 finalists × 2 sexes × 5 events) at the 2021 European long-course swimming championships were analysed. Eight digital video cameras recorded the races, and the video footage was manually analysed to obtain underwater distance, underwater time, and underwater speed, as well as clean-swimming speed, stroke rate, and distance per stroke. Each lap of the IM races was compared with the first, second, third, and fourth laps of butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, and freestyle races, respectively. Differences between IM swimmers and specialists in each analysed variable were assessed using an independent-sample t-test, and the effects of sex and stroke on the differences were analysed using a two-way analysis of variance with relative values (IM swimmers' score relative to the mean specialists' score) as dependent variables. Breaststroke specialists showed faster clean-swimming speed and longer distance per stroke than IM swimmers for both males (clean-swimming speed: p = 0.011; distance per stroke: p = 0.023) and females (clean-swimming speed: p = 0.003; distance per stroke: p = 0.036). For backstroke and front crawl, specialists exhibited faster underwater speeds than IM swimmers (all p < 0.001). Females showed faster relative speeds during butterfly clean-swimming segments (p < 0.001) and breaststroke underwater segments than males (p = 0.028). IM swimmers should focus especially on breaststroke training, particularly aiming to improve their distance per stroke.


The use of screening contracts is a common approach to solve supply chain coordination problems under asymmetric information. One major assumption in this context is that subjects will rather use their private information strategically than to reveal them truthfully, if they do not get any incentives to do this. This harms supply chain performance. This paper investigates the influence of costless pre-game communication (i.e. communication without any direct incentives) between a supplier and a buyer in a lotsizing framework. A laboratory experiment was conducted to test, whether this costless pre-game communication has (in contradiction to standard game-theory) an influence on supply chain coordination.


Abstract Knowing what venomous snakes eat is relevant both to their conservation and to understanding the functional diversity of their venom proteins. We used fecal samples to quantify the diet of Eastern Massasauga Rattlesnakes (Sistrurus catenatus catenatus) in Ontario and Ohio. Small mammals comprised almost the entire diet of both populations, collectively comprising 13 species, five of which were common to both populations. Consistent with their habitat use, Ontario snakes ate both forest and field mammals. The unexpected occurrence of Eastern Chipmunks (Tamias striatus) in the Ohio samples suggested that those snakes either moved out of the fields in which they were caught to feed, or encountered chipmunks dispersing along fencerows. Large snakes did not drop small prey species from their diets and the occurrence of large prey species in diets indicates that juvenile small mammals are important prey. Limited effects of snake size on diet composition suggest that ontogenetic shifts in venom composition are unlikely to occur in the Eastern Massasauga. The similarity of diets between populations makes it unlikely that populations differ in venom composition because of local adaptation of venom proteins to different suites of prey.


The frequency of N- and K-ras oncogene mutations was investigated in plasma cell dyscrasias. Genomic DNAs from 128 patients were selected for this study: 30 monoclonal gammopathies of undetermined significance, 8 solitary plasmacytomas, 77 multiple myelomas (MM), and 13 plasma cell leukemias (PCL). A two-step experimental approach was devised. All samples were screened for mutations by single-strand conformation polymorphism analysis. DNA fragments displaying an altered electrophoretic mobility were further studied by direct sequencing to confirm and characterize the nature of the mutations. Ras mutations are not randomly distributed because they are detectable only in MM (9%) and PCL (30.7%). N-ras codons 12, 13, and 61 and K-ras codon 12 were found to be mutated, but N-ras codon 61 mutation was the most frequent finding (63.6%). In conclusion, ras mutations were found in PCL, and in a subset of MM characterized by advanced-stage disease and adverse prognostic parameters. Furthermore, based on our findings, it is possible to speculate that ras mutations represent a late molecular lesion in the process of multistep carcinogenesis.


Anomaly detection presents a unique challenge in machine learning, due to the scarcity of labeled anomaly data. Recent work attempts to mitigate such problems by augmenting training of deep anomaly detection models with additional labeled anomaly samples. However, the labeled data often does not align with the target distribution and introduces harmful bias to the trained model. In this paper, we aim to understand the effect of a biased anomaly set on anomaly detection. Concretely, we view anomaly detection as a supervised learning task where the objective is to optimize the recall at a given false positive rate. We formally study the relative scoring bias of an anomaly detector, defined as the difference in performance with respect to a baseline anomaly detector. We establish the first finite sample rates for estimating the relative scoring bias for deep anomaly detection, and empirically validate our theoretical results on both synthetic and real-world datasets. We also provide an extensive empirical study on how a biased training anomaly set affects the anomaly score function and therefore the detection performance on different anomaly classes. Our study demonstrates scenarios in which the biased anomaly set can be useful or problematic, and provides a solid benchmark for future research.


The synthesis, crystal structures, and magnetochemical characterization of two new Mn clusters [Mn8O2(O2CPh)10(hmp)4(MeOH)2] (1; 6Mn , 2Mn) and [Mn16O8(OH)2(O2CPh)12(hmp)10(H2O)2](O2CPh)2 (2; 6Mn , 10Mn) are reported. They were obtained from the use of 2-(hydroxymethyl)pyridine (hmpH) under the same reaction conditions but differing in the presence or absence of added base. Thus, the reaction of hmpHwith Mn(O2CPh)2 in CH2Cl2/MeOH led to isolation of octanuclear complex 1, whereas the analogous reaction in the presence of NEt3 gave hexadecanuclear complex 2. Complexes 1 and 2 possess either very rare or unprecedented core structures that are related to each other: that of 1 can be described as a linked pair of incomplete [Mn4O3] cubanes, while that of 2 consists of a linked pair of complete [Mn4O4] cubanes, on either side of which is attached a tetrahedral [Mn4(μ4-O)] unit. Solid-state direct current (dc) and alternating current (ac) magnetic susceptibility measurements on 1 and 2 establish that they possess S = 5 and 8 ground states, respectively. Complex 2 exhibits frequency-dependent out-of-phase (χM00) ac susceptibility signals at temperatures below 3 K suggestive of a single-molecule magnet (SMM). Magnetization versus applied dc field sweeps on single crystals of 2 3 10MeOH down to 0.04 K exhibited hysteresis, confirming 2 to be a new SMM. Comparison of the structure of 2 (Mn16) with Mn12 or Mn6 clusters previously obtained under the same reaction conditions but with two Me or two Ph groups, respectively, added next to the alkoxide O atom of hmp indicate their influence on the nuclearity and structure of the products as being due to the overall bulk of the chelate plus the decreased ability of the O atom to bridge.


: Programme evaluation tactics for child sponsorship programmes have historically concentrated on quantitative analysis of service units, amount of money invested, number of countries served, the number of projects, and number of children in each project. While these are valuable measures of programme variables, they do not assess the impact of programmes on the lives of the children sponsored. Outcome measures designed to assess programme impact add greatly to the information available to child welfare professionals. This study collected data about the impact of the programme on the lives of the children. The Child Welfare League's Child Well-Being Scales (CWBS) were used to assess programme impact. Twelve scales were chosen as directly related in type to the programmes administered by Children International, a traditional and well established child sponsorship organization located in Kansas City, Missouri. A thirteenth scale was suggested by field workers in India as particularly relevant to Third World populations. The scales were translated into languages appropriate to each population in the programme countries. Social workers in each country were trained to administer and score them. This analysis used the emerging data technology becoming available to programmes in Third World countries. The system enables administrators in the Third World to evaluate, enhance and summarize their programmes in a way understandable across borders. Epi Info (Dean et al., 1990) was customized to provide the framework for the analysis. The population for this study was selected by a 5% random sampling of children currently enrolled as sponsored children (180,000+ worldwide). These were compared with a waiting-list control group selected randomly from lists of children who have applied for sponsorship but have not yet been receiving services (n = 50 from each project).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


OBJECTIVES
To examine patients' reasons for using the emergency department (ED) for low-acuity health complaints, and determine whether reasons differed for frequent ED users versus nonfrequent ED users.

STUDY DESIGN
Prospective cross-sectional survey.

METHODS
Patients presenting to an urban public hospital for low-acuity health complaints were surveyed about their reasons for visiting the ED rather than a private doctor's office or clinic. Patients with 3 or more visits to the study hospital ED over the past year were classified as frequent ED users. Multivariable logistic regression was used to determine if frequent ED users gave different reasons for ED use than nonfrequent ED users, while controlling for differences in other baseline patient characteristics.

RESULTS
940 patients, including 163 frequent ED users, completed the study questionnaire. Commonly cited reasons for using the ED were that coming to the ED was easier than making a clinic appointment (82.3% agreed); the problem could not wait (78.8%); they didn't know how to make a clinic appointment (66.7%); they felt the ED provided better care (56.7%); and they believed the clinic would cost more (54.8%). After controlling for other patient characteristics, there were no significant differences found in reasons for ED use given by frequent versus nonfrequent ED users.

CONCLUSIONS
Frequent ED users gave similar reasons for using the ED for low-acuity health complaints compared with nonfrequent ED users. Access, convenience, cost, and quality concerns, as well as feeling that ED care was needed, were all commonly cited as reasons for using the ED.


One hundred years ago, transplanted Canadians introduced the game of ice-hockey to Newfoundlanders. This thesis tracks the history of Newfoundland hockey within the context of the Island's socio-economic development. It identifies three broad, overlapping periods which characterize the sport's trajectory, namely: moral entrepreneurship, civic entrepreneurship, and corporate entrepreneurship. These stages are exemplified in three case studies of Newfoundland hockey playing communities — St. John's, Buchans, and Corner Brook. The infusion of colonial sporting tradition, the rational recreation movement, the involvement of women, amateur-professional controversies, civic promotion (boosterism), and the 'importing' of semi-professional players are also examined. The practice of 'importing' semi-professional players is particularly important given its contribution to the decline of community-based Senior hockey in the province. The analysis concludes by considering the growing tendency toward the corporatization of sport, and the implications of this trend for peripheral regions such as Newfoundland.


Medical science has progressed to the point where doctors will soon be able to transplant any human organ. This advancement will have the potential to change attitudes toward human life and the human body – human life can be revitalized and the human body commercialized. Paradoxically, distinguishing between life and death has become harder in a high-tech medical society than it was in primitive society. We now say that the line between death and life should be drawn according to scientific criteria. Death is no longer a natural phenomenon; for modern human beings, it is now no more than an artificial manipulation. The definition of death has been manipulated by the market's need for body parts. The market has become a powerful regulator and strongly affects how we think. For instance, novel ideas about goods now almost always revolve around whether the goods can be commercialized and/or industrialized. This market philosophy is justifying everything that can be done in post-modern high-tech society. In this article, I attempt to describe the problems of the organ trade, and to analyze them from a philosophical perspective; however, I did not jump to any conclusions. Instead, I remained open. I merely ask an important question: "To whom does my body belong? Who decides my rights?"


The burrowing nematode, Radopholus similis, is a serious threat to sustainable banana production worldwide. A promising way of controlling nematodes is through the development and deployment of resistant cultivars. This usually involves crossing triploid cultivars with fertile diploids to produce tetraploids that generally display greater male and female fertility. Selected tetraploids are then crossed with improved diploids to produce sterile secondary triploids. This study evaluates the host response of the most commonly grown East African highland bananas in Uganda. Also, the host responses of diploid hybrids and East African highland banana derived hybrids, including tetraploids and secondary triploids, were evaluated. The individual root inoculation method was used for screening the Musa accessions for resistance to R. similis. The final nematode population of each accession was compared with the final nematode population of a susceptible reference cultivar, Valery, and with the final nematode population of a resistant reference cultivar, Yangambi km5. Results show that, except for cv. Muvubo, East African highland bananas were as susceptible to R. similis as cv. Valery. Four out of 13 tetraploid hybrids were identified with resistance to R. similis, as well as 13 out of 19 diploids and five out of 18 secondary triploids.


The effect of prostaglandins (PGs) of the A series (A1 and dimethyl PGA2), E1, D2, F2 alpha and PGI2 (prostacyclin) and of inhibitors of PG synthesis (aspirin and indomethacin) on the pathogenicity of vaccinia virus was studied in BALB/c mice. PGs of the A series, D2 and F2 alpha conferred little or no protection to mice against the lethal effects of vaccinia virus. Mice treated with PGE1 showed a dramatic increase in mortality after viral infection. However, when mice were treated with PGI2, their survival was greatly enhanced. Mice treated with aspirin and indomethacin showed a marked increase in mortality. Increased mortality correlated with higher virus yields in target tissues (spleen) and with inhibition of antibody response, whereas the increase in survival correlated with lower virus yields and with normal antibody responses. The significance of our findings is that PGI2 can block the outcome of the disease caused by vaccinia virus whereas other PGs and their inhibitors not only worsen the disease, but may activate and enhance viral infections through immune suppression.


The problem of tracking and visualizing cyclones is still an active area of climate research, since the nature of cyclones varies depending on geospatial location and temporal season, resulting in no clear mathematical definition. Thus, many cyclone tracking methods are tailored to specific datasets and therefore do not support general cyclone extraction across the globe. To address this challenge, we present a conceptual application for exploring cyclone evolution by organizing the extracted cyclone tracks into hierarchical groups. Our approach is based on extrema tracking, and the resulting tracks can be defined in a multi-scale structure by grouping the points based on a novel feature descriptor defined on the merge tree, so-called crown features. Consequently, multiple parameter settings can be visualized and explored in a level-of-detail approach, supporting experts to quickly gain insights on cyclonic formation and evolution. We describe a general cyclone exploration pipeline that consists of four modular building blocks: (1) an extrema tracking method, (2) multiple definitions of cyclones as groups of extrema, including crown features, (3) the correlation of cyclones based on the underlying tracking information, and (4) a hierarchical visualization of the resulting feature tracks and their spatial embedding, allowing exploration on a global and local scale. In order to be as flexible as possible, our pipeline allows for exchanging every module with different techniques, such as other tracking methods and cyclone definitions.


Two allelic forms of the T cell antigen receptor alpha chain gene were discerned by restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) employing the T cell antigen receptor alpha chain probe pGA5, and the restriction enzyme Bgl II. Analysis revealed that the polymorphic fragments are detected by a probe specific for the constant region exon of the T cell antigen receptor alpha chain gene. Furthermore, the polymorphic fragments were shown to segregate within families. The two allelic forms yield two homozygous states, 3.2/3.2 and 2.9/2.9, at a frequency of 76.5 and 2.9%, respectively, within the normal population. The heterozygous state was observed in 20.6% of the population. The discovery of allelic forms of both the alpha and beta chains of the T cell antigen receptor genes may provide a unique opportunity to study heritable markers of T cell function in several human diseases.


Trends from Japan and other post-industrial countries suggest visitor demand for nature-based tourism (NBT) destinations such as national parks, which rocketed in the post-war period, has peaked and is now in decline. This has adverse implications for funding and natural resource management. One suggested counter strategy is targeted marketing based on commercial techniques, but this relies on accurate knowledge of the market to maintain current segments and attract new ones.This paper employs a 'market leader' case study approach to investigate visitors to Kamikochi, a gateway to the North Japan Alps whose long conservation pedigree, and proximity to urban areas, ensures it can fulfil both 'protection' and 'promotion' criteria. The focus was on the Day Hiker (Dh) segment of visitor demand, deemed desirable from a managerial perspective, because they were shown to stay longer, visit more frequently and have a greater interaction with nature. The aims were to identify the composition of Kamikochi'sDh visitor segment, and cross analyse the results to provide practical information for national park managers. Following on from a 2007 survey, 391 usable semi-structured questionnaires were collected between July 10th and September 10th 2009, from participants in guided tours at Kamikochi, a response rate of 31%. Results show the 'market leader' segment consisted of pairs or small groups of well-educated, wealthy 'baby-boomers' from Kanto; 55% were aged 50 or over, and 59% came from the greater Tokyo metropolitan area. These KantoDhs tended to be repeat visitors (66.0%) who stayed for 2 nights or more (55.1%), thus surpassing the bench mark set by previous research. However, the results provided a snapshot of visitor demand unbalanced not only by urban area, but also gender, age and income; hence further research is needed to explain the dominance of female, elderly and wealthy visitors. One logical explanation is that these segments are already being targeted by travel agencies, as suggested by the 42% who came to Kamikochi as part of a package tour. If so, then it raises the question of why marketing is being outsourced to travel agencies rather than conducted via joint campaigns that incorporate a range of stakeholders.Thus although the need for targeted marketing is clear, some significant barriers to marketing NBT resources exist, including diverse objectives, mixed land ownership and insufficient funding. Transparent goals, combined with ongoing visitor segment monitoring, are thus two vital steps towards a targeted NBT marketing strategy.