Aim
To assess contemporary and historical determinants of taxonomic and ecological trait turnover in birds worldwide. We tested whether taxonomic and trait turnover (1) are structured by regional bioclimatic conditions, (2) increase in relationship with topographic heterogeneity and environmental turnover and change according to current and historical environmental conditions, and (3) decrease with human impact.

Major Taxa
Birds.

Location
Global.

Methods
We used computationally efficient algorithms to map the taxonomic and trait turnover of 8,040 terrestrial bird assemblages worldwide, based on a grid with 110 km × 110 km resolution overlaid on the extent-of-occurrence maps of 7,964 bird species, and nine ecological traits reflecting six key aspects of bird ecology (diet, habitat use, thermal preference, migration, dispersal and body size). We used quantile regression and model selection to quantify the influence of biomes, environment (temperature, precipitation, altitudinal range, net primary productivity, Quaternary temperature and precipitation change) and human impact (human influence index) on bird turnover.

Results
Bird taxonomic and trait turnover were highest in the north African deserts and boreal biomes. In the tropics, taxonomic turnover tended to be higher, but trait turnover was lower than in other biomes. Taxonomic and trait turnover exhibited markedly different or even opposing relationships with climatic and topographic gradients, but at their upper quantiles both types of turnover decreased with increasing human influence.

Main conclusions
The influence of regional, environmental and anthropogenic factors differ between bird taxonomic and trait turnover, consistent with an imprint of niche conservatism, environmental filtering and topographic barriers on bird regional assemblages. Human influence on these patterns is pervasive and demonstrates global biotic homogenization at a macroecological scale.


Four federal agencies administer most of the U.S. government's land. The National Park Service administers the Park System for recreation use and preservation. The Fish and Wildlife Service manages wildlife refuges primarily for protecting and improving fish and wildlife habitats. The Bureau of Land Management manages the public lands for sustained yields of multiple uses - grazing, recreation, timber, and fish and wildlife. The Forest Service similarly manages the national forests. Most forests and public lands are also available for mineral exploration and development. Three special land systems are also administered by these agencies: the Wilderness System, for preserving pristine areas; the Trail System, for non-motorized recreation; and the Wild and Scenic Rivers System, for river recreation. Congress has also established many special designations for certain lands. This report summarizes the permitted and prohibited uses of lands managed by these four agencies, as well as of the many special designations. It will be updated at the beginning of the 107th Congress. For more detailed information see CRS Report 98-991, Federal Land Management Agencies: Background on Land and Resource Management.


This article is the first attempt to examine the relationship between Chinese provincial GDP growth and CO2 emission indicators. The complete Laspeyres index method is adopted to decompose the change of Chinese provincial GDP into the quantitative influence of carbon emission amount, emission structure adjustment, and carbon productivity improvement. Based on 2001–2009 data, the decomposition results reveal three important areas for further improvement of Chinese carbon productivity: (a) The high growth rate of CO2 emissions has imposed enormous pressures on the improvement of Chinese carbon productivity. Thus, decreasing the growth rate of Chinese CO2 emissions is indispensable. (b) Provincial protectionism has greatly affected the implementation of the central government's policies on CO2 control. Promoting provincial governments to implement these policies on their own initiative is the key to decreasing the growth rate of Chinese CO2 emissions. (c) An unexplained phenomenon was also found. Considering the CO2 emission indicators, the development modes of different provinces tend to relate to their geographic distributions and economic development speed. © 2013 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Environ Prog, 33: 250–255, 2014


The natural history, behavior, and ecology of double-crested cormorants (Phalacrocorax auritus) predispose this species for conflict with human sport and commercial fisheries. Cormorants breed early in life, have large broods, are efficient predators even in marginal conditions, seem to be able to adjust colony sizes quickly in response to local conditions, and have limited requirements for feeding and nesting habitats. A survey of the past history of successes and failures in managing cormorants reveals that economic impact is greatest with aquaculture and least in sport fisheries. Research during the past 5 years suggests that some control methods like culling and egg spraying are effective but must be balanced against the actual impacts on humans.


Background: The fourth leading cause of death for all Iowans is stroke. In 2006 the American Heart Association in collaboration with healthcare professionals formed the Iowa Stroke Task Force (ISTF). At that time Iowa had six certified Primary Stroke Centers (PSC). Several stroke coordinators were members of the ISTF; however they discovered that their specific needs were not addressed during ISTF meetings.

Purpose: The purpose of the Iowa Stroke Coordinator Consortium (ISCC) is to provide an environment where sharing experiences leads to the collaboration of stroke coordinators to improve stroke care.

Methods: The stroke coordinators involved with the ISTF developed a toolkit for stroke care. The toolkit was posted on the Iowa Healthcare Collaborative (IHC) website which is known to all hospitals in Iowa as a resource for promoting improvement in healthcare. After the creation of the toolkit the coordinators created their own group dedicated to addressing needs specific to stroke coordinators. The charter membership consisted of seven members. The ISCC membership is involved with providing guidance to non-PSC hospitals, and participating on several state committees. The ISCC meets quarterly to discuss process improvement and share information.

Results: There are currently 17 certified PSCs and one certified Comprehensive Stroke Center (CSC). Informal mentoring is evident through frequent exchanges of ideas occurring via email, phone calls, and at quarterly meetings. The founding members of ISCC serve as board members, and reach out to support new coordinators. ISCC members have conducted mock stroke drills as a statewide public awareness event and utilized a questionnaire at health fairs across the state to assess public knowledge on stroke symptoms and risk factors. Members of ISCC assisted with developing the Iowa Stroke Registry. The registry addresses stroke as a system of care in Iowa.

Conclusions: In conclusion, the ISCC has provided an environment where sharing ideas and experiences led to the collaboration of stroke coordinators across the state to improve care through information sharing and increasing the number of certified stroke centers. The future of the group is continued collaboration and formalizing a mentorship program.


The world's energy consumption is projected to increase rapidly that will cause depletion of known fossil fuel resources, global warming, and threat to future energy security. Biomass is likely to play a significant role in the future energy systems replacing conventional fuels because of strict regulations for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and contributing as additional resource in the global energy mix. Biomass is processed in a biorefinery facility for polygeneration of bioenergy products such as biofuels, heat, and power. Polygeneration system can be categorized based on various process routes producing electricity or biofuels or even providing only heat, for example, biomass gasification system, integrated biogas production with combined heat and power by treating organic waste, and tri-generation systems. The successful commercialization of biorefinery systems for polygeneration requires pilot plants to demonstrate improvements in energy efficiency, substantial biofuel, heat, and power production potential from biomass together with reduced cost. From the sustainability perspective, biorefinery systems show numerous economic, social, and environmental benefits including diversification in biomass resources and bioenergy products.

Keywords:

greenhouse gas;
biomass;
biofuel;
synthesis gas;
sustainability


The prognosis of esophageal carcinoma is closely related to tumor stage and treatment modalities are applied according to the TNM stage of the disease and the performance status of the patient. Selecting the appropriate treatment based on accurate staging is of paramount importance. The subject of this review concerns advances in pretherapeutic assessment of esophageal carcinoma. Advantages and limits of pretherapeutic examinations are exposed with special interest to endoscopic and radiological investigations (sonography, computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, PET-scan, endoscopic ultrasonography, bronchoscopy.). Impact on therapeutic management is clarified.


With the largest number of casualties in human history, unprecedented planetary scale and documented cruelty, the two World Wars have marked the twentieth century as a time for extreme violence. Nevertheless, the casualties documented for wars across the past ~2000 years equate to percentages of population in no way larger in the twentieth century. Arguably, the perception of the twentieth century as one of unprecedented violence is, beyond the obvious reality of the total number of victims, driven by an increased public awareness as a consequence of increased efficiency of information circulation. These observations are paralleled by others on human violence, but also on life expectancy, wealth, and technological advances such as those related to the efficiency of information trafficking – with typography proposed as an illustrative factor. Even so, with the exponential increase in population, any future world war (for, notably, no such conflict is precluded by the statistical trends discussed here, since the 2000-year trend has been relatively constant, slightly decreasing in recent years, but in no way reaching zero) would still be expected to entail death tolls larger than World War II. The number of casualties in a war is generally taken as indication of the scale of the conflict; such statistics are nowadays commonly accessible and are discussed below (List of Wars... N.d.). The following text makes use of such numbers in order to give a short retrospective overview across the past ~2000 years.


The case describes the development of a radically new product within a large automobile company. It illustrates: (1) the difficulties encountered by the development team, both technically and concerning the organisational conflicts arising due to competition for resources, differing views of strategic priorities, internal resistance and insufficient relationship management with internal and external partners; (2) managing a project with ambiguity (unforeseeable influences): the importance of pursuing several parallel concepts and of having the ability to fundamentally re-define the project mid-course; (3) enterpreneurship internal to large organisation: the role of external partners to provide resources and expertise in the development of radically new products; and (4) the importance of relationship management: internal resistance and external friction may become the key challenges of a radically new project.


It depends what we want to measure. Most literature has focused on observed flow of savings (per-period savings as fraction of GDP), which has declined persistently since 1980. Even though this decline means that fewer funds are available for investment in each period, it does not follow that the households' actual savings (underlying, not observed, savings determined by dynamic optimization) also go down. We theoretically link these two concepts, discuss the conditions under which they move in opposite directions, and show that indeed the actual savings rate has sharply increased since 1980.


A growing body of research has documented positive relationships among youth physical activity levels and park use. However, most investigations to date have focused on municipal parks, and relatively little is known about the physical activity levels of racially and ethnically diverse populations of youth using different types of parks in nonurban settings. This exploratory case study addressed these research gaps by examining the influence of non-urban state parks on the physical activity of  youth in northern Georgia, USA. Data were collected via intercept surveys of parents/guardians (who served as proxies and provided information about youth in their visitor group/family) visiting three state parks (n = 677, summer 2010) and nine park-proximate flea markets (n = 268, summer 2011). Flea markets were selected as a comparative study site to assess the relative contributions of state parks to youth physical activity because they provided unique access to large numbers of low-income, racial/ethnic minority children and adolescents from the general population who may or may not visit state parks. Intercept survey instruments assessed multiple variables including overall youth physical activity levels, park-based physical activity, activity correlates, and frequency of use for different physical activity locations (including state parks). Results showed that most youth (88%) participated in at least one hour of physical activity during state park visits. Participation rates for specific activities varied by demographic  group. Park-based physical activity correlates included race/ethnicity (with Latinos less active than other groups), parent perceptions of health-related benefits (positive relationship to physical activity), and youth participation in socially oriented activities (positive relationship to physical activity). Though youth were generally very active during state park visits, few youth (28%) visited the focal parks on a monthly or weekly basis, and even fewer in the flea market sample (22%) visited any Georgia state park often or very often. Local environments such as homes/backyards (used often or very often by 83% of youth) and neighborhood sidewalks and streets (58%) were more frequently used physical activity locations. Overall, this study revealed high levels of youth physical activity during visits to non-urban state parks. Park-based physical activity levels and activity preferences differed by demographic group. Results suggested that park-based physical activity among all groups of youth could be enhanced by management approaches that foster inter-generational interactions and create opportunities for active, adult-mediated, child-centered recreational pursuits. Findings also showed that state parks may be less important than other recreation destinations for promoting the physical activity of youth from non-urban settings. Efforts to encourage youth physical activity outside of urban areas should therefore emphasize a range of family-friendly recreation options and locations (including, but not limited to state parks) that account for the diverse recreation preferences of children and their parents. For park and recreation practitioners, ongoing efforts to monitor perceptions about parks and recreational services may provide insightful information about to whom to promote use of parks, trails, and other outdoor recreation areas. Examining differences within subgroups across time can help to identify potential priority populations to address in efforts to increase PA and encourage ORA use which in turn may address health disparities and improve public health.


The increasing discussion on DfS implementation in companies has shifted the focus to effectiveness of the implementation process. Literature shows that there are certain barriers and challenges that impede the success of such efforts. This paper tries to explore whether companies – similar to product users – have certain personas that play a determining role in the implementation process. The paper draws its theoretical foundation from academic literature on human persona in user-centred design and DfS and from environmental management system literature on company characteristics. This is supplemented by insights from interviews with a case company trying to identify dimensions of a company persona in a DfS implementation context. These results are used to propose an initial framework to define persona of a company.


The Middle East provides a thematic analysis of major forces and trends in contemporary Middle East and a thorough examination of individual countries in the region. This comprehensive anthology, the first in more than two decades, explores the political environment, religious and ethnic factors, economic factors, the Arab world, the Palestinians and the territories, Israel, the role of the superpowers, and the Middle East's relationship with the rest of the world. Every informed reader will want to consult "The Middle East "to understand this important and complex area of the world. Contents (partial): William L. Cleveland, "Sources of Arab Nationalism"; Carl Leiden, "Arab Nationalism Today"; Opoku Agyeman, "Pan-Africanism versus Pan-Arabism"; Elbani Hermassi, "The Maghrib and the Middle East Conflict"; Lenore G. Martin, "Boundary Disputes in the Persian Gulf"; Bernard Lewis, "The Return of Islam"; Daniel Pipes, "Understanding Islam in Politics"; Emanuel Gutmann, "Religion and Its Role in National Integration in Israel"; George Moutafakis, "Minorities in the Modern Middle East Societies"; Stuart E. Colie, "The Shiites and the Lebanese Tragedy"; Kenneth J. Arrow, "Energy"; Fred M. Gottheil, "Saudi Arabian Economic Power"; Eliyahu Kanovsky, "Arab Oil Power"; Victor T. Le Vine, "The Arab World in the 1980s"; Bernard Lewis, "Islamic Political Movements"; Raymond N. Habiby and Fariborz Ghavidel, "Khumayni's Islamic Republic"; James P. Jankowski, "Nationalism in Twentieth Century Egypt"; Sheikh R. Ali, "The Iran-Iraq War"; Raymond N. Habiby, "Quadhafi's New Islamic Scientific Socialist Society"; Moshe Aumann, "Land Ownership in Palestine"; Fred M. Gottheil, "Arab Immigration into Pre-State Israel"; Yehoshua Porat, "The Palestinian-Arab Nationalist Movement"; Yonah Alexander, "The Nature of the PLO"; Sammy Smooha and John E. Hofrnan, "Arab-Jewish Coexistence in Israel"; Michael Curtis, "The Evolution of Israeli Politics"; Aaron S. Klieman, "Zionist Diplomacy and Israeli Foreign Policy"; Jay Adams, "Assessing Israel as a 'Strategist Asset'"; Saul B. Cohen, "Jerusalem's Unity and West Bank Autonomy"; Meron Benvenisti, "Postive Thinking in Jerusalem"; Steven L. Spiegel, "Recent American Policy in the Middle East"; Alan Dowty, "U.S. Decision-Making in Middle East Crises"; Michael Curtis, "American Interest and the Middle East"; Aaron Wildavsky, "American's National Interest in Israel"; Adam M. Garfinkle, "U.S. Policy in the Near Term"; James R. Kurth, "U.S. Policy and the West Bank"; Alvin Z. Rubinstein, "The Soviet Union's Imperial Policy in the Middle East"; Michael Curtis, "Africa, Israel, and the Middle East"; Victor T. Le Vine, "The Arabs and Africa"; W. Howard Wriggins, "South Asia and the Gulf"; Roy Licklide, "Arab Oil and Japanese Foreign Policy"; Linda B. Miller, "Western Europe and the Middle East"; Dan V. Segre, "Israel and the Third World."


Nanocomposites are the materials that are created by introducing nanoparticulates that always referred to as filler into the matrix. Blends of polypropylene (PP)/ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPDM)/Montmorillonite (MMT) were treated by compatibilizer MAPP and irradiation of electron beam. The effects on mechanical properties for both samples were compared with the untreated nanocomposites. Because each samples used different portion of clay loading, the effects of clay loading on mechanical properties is also observed. The sample is characterized by using Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM), X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), tensile test and impact test.


This work describes the method development process involved in the determination of Ag, Cd, Cu and Pb in biological samples by electrothermal vaporization inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ETV-ICP-MS), following dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction (DLLME). The parameters associated with DLLME such as HNO3 and diethyldithiophosphate (DDTP) concentrations, as well as the volumes of disperser (ethanol) and extracting (chloroform) solvents, were evaluated. The ICP-MS operating parameters (carrier gas flow rate and RF power) were also optimized. Several distinct approaches involving investigation on chemical modifiers (W, Ru, Pd and combinations), aerosol carriers (Na2SO4, ascorbic acid and diethyldithiophosphate – DDTP) and the effect of insertion of a L'vov platform on the transport efficiency from the ETV to the ICP and overall analytical performance were evaluated. The results suggest that the use of a platform and chemical modifiers lead to increased thermal stability, although the sensitivity is generally reduced when compared to the absence of modifiers and wall vaporization. Several calibration approaches were evaluated, including the combination of chemical modifiers and the use or absence of a L'vov platform inside the graphite tube. Accurate results were achieved for all elements upon the use of palladium as the aerosol carrier in combination with W and Ru as permanent chemical modifiers, demonstrating that the effective transportation of the analytes and equalization of the transport efficiency between samples and calibration solutions are carrier-dependent. To verify the accuracy of the proposed methodology, four certified reference biological materials were analyzed, with good agreement between certified and determined values. 'Real' samples were also analyzed following the optimized procedure. The proposed method resulted in detection limits between 0.001 and 0.09 μg g−1 and enhancement factors between 35 and 59, with appreciable analytical sensitivity.


The rotator cuff refers to a group of four muscles, which arise from the scapula and insert into the head of humerus forming a cuff around the shoulder joint. They contribute to shoulder movements and provide dynamic stability at the shoulder joint. Pathology of the rotator cuff is the commonest cause for shoulder pain and its severity can vary from subacromial impingement to full thickness tears. NSAIDs and corticosteroids are two of the commonest group of drugs used in treating subacromial impingement syndrome but with conflicting evidence about their relative efficacy and risk of complications. I explored the efficacy of a subacromial NSAID (Tenoxicam) injection in a double blind randomised controlled trial but found it to be less effective compared to a subacromial corticosteroid injection as measured by functional shoulder scores at six weeks.

During the trial, I recognised that there were unresolved challenges in using Ultrasonography to diagnose rotator cuff pathology especially in differentiating between partial and full thickness tears. In this thesis, I have presented the normal ultrasound dimensions of the rotator cuff in asymptomatic young adults under the age of forty years, which has not been documented before. The study showed that the measurements are significantly different between men and women but not between dominant and non-dominant arms, suggesting that in every individual the contralateral shoulder can be used as a control, especially where the diagnosis is uncertain. Exploration of factors associated with the pathogenesis of rotator cuff tendinopathy showed that a critical zone of hypoperfusion in the supraspinatus tendon could be a factor but the evidence for it has been contradictory. An observational study presented in this thesis describes the microvascular blood flow in normal and a spectrum of pathological rotator cuffs (subacromial impingement, partial thickness tears and full thickness tears) using Laser Doppler Flowmetry in patients undergoing arthroscopic shoulder surgery. The study showed variations in microvascular blood flow in normal rotator cuffs but no evidence of a "critical zone". Blood flow was found to be significantly lower in all groups of pathological rotator cuffs.


The brown shrimp (Crangon crangon) fishery is economically one of the most important fisheries in the North Sea. Fishing is unregulated, apart from the number of licenses and technical measures. The fishery has long been considered sustainable in terms of the effect on the target species, even though annual stocks are not regularly assessed. Average landings constantly increased annually and since 2000 have been 40% higher than in the 1980s and 1990s. Because brown shrimp lack a clear age structure and reproduce almost year-round, an agebased stock assessment is not possible. In the absence of a formal estimate of stock size, it is difficult to judge whether current fishing practices can still be considered sustainable. Here, we use annual survey data collected during peak occurrence in late summer to obtain a depth- and area-stratified, swept-area estimate for the period 1970–2015. The resulting estimate of the total commercial-size shrimp biomass varied between 4000 and 21 000 tonnes over the years. Both parametric and non-parametric methods arrived at very similar results. In combination with length-based mortality estimates (as a proxy for production/biomass ratio), knowledge on the seasonal occurrence, catchability, gear efficiency, and their variation, total adult annual biomass production was estimated. Values ranged between 38 000 and 216 000 tonnes and overlapped at the lower end with total annual commercial landings, which varied between 8000 and 38 500 tonnes, indicating that in some years (1977, 1998, 2007), the larger part of the total brown shrimp production was harvested. Annual brown shrimp landings have gradually increased since the series started, whereas no trend in standing biomass and production was detected. Concurrent with the increase in landings, natural mortality of shrimp by predation has diminished. Considering the increase in fishing pressure and unknown consequence if natural predators recover or shrimp recruitment decreases, the lack of management for the brown shrimp fishery needs to be reconsidered.


Estimates of magnitudes of large historical earthquakes are an essential input to and can seriously affect seismic‐hazard estimates. The earthquake‐intensity observations, modified Mercalli intensities (MMI), and assigned magnitudes M of the 1811–1812 New Madrid events have been reinterpreted several times in the last decade and have been a source of controversy in making seismic‐hazard estimates in the central United States. Observations support the concept that the larger the earthquake, the greater the maximum‐felt distance. For the same crustal attenuation and local soil conditions, magnitude should be the main influence on intensity values at large distances. We apply this concept by comparing the mean MMI at distances of 600–1200 km for each of the four largest New Madrid 1811–1812 earthquakes, the 1886 Charleston, South Carolina, earthquake, the 1929 M  7.2 Grand Banks earthquake, and the 2001 M  7.6 Bhuj, India, earthquake. We fit the intensity observations using the form MMI= A + C ×dist−0.8×log(dist) to better define intensity attenuation in eastern North America (ENA). The intensity attenuation in cratonic India differs from ENA and is corrected to ENA using both the above estimate and published intensity relations. We evaluate source, marine geophysical, Q , and stress‐drop information, as well as a 1929 Milne–Shaw record at Chicago to confirm that the 1929 Grand Banks earthquake occurred in ENA crust. Our direct comparison of mean intensities beyond 600 km suggests M  7.5, 7.3, 7.7, and 6.9 for the three New Madrid 1811–1812 mainshocks and the largest aftershock and M  7.0 for the 1886 Charleston, South Carolina, earthquake, with an estimated uncertainty of 0.3 units at the 95% confidence level (based on a Monte Carlo analysis). Our mean New Madrid and Charleston mainshock magnitudes are similar to those of Bakun and Hopper (2004) and are much higher than those of Hough and Page (2011) for New Madrid.

Online Material: Tables of mean modified Mercalli intensity for 800–1200 and 600–1000 km distance ranges, and figures of least‐squares fit for all intensity measures used and for frequency‐dependent Q in easternmost Canada.


Commercial and research-oriented database design tools for the design of data-intensive systems are surveyed. An overview of a generic database design methodology is first given, followed by a set of criteria for selecting an appropriate design tool for the user's environment. Issues dealing with integrating computer-aided software engineering (CASE) tools with database (DB) design tools and the support environment (e.g. configuration control of data dictionary and schemas, database population and testing) are discussed.<<ETX>>


An economical and environmental requirements of hybrid cooling tower in steam power plant are represented by decreasing of outlet water temperature, reducing of water and energy consumption, and working without mist formation. The present work is devoted to study and determine the best contact method of dry and wet tower to build hybrid cooling tower.A three suggested models differs in contacting method of air and water are studied. Analysis of these models are dependent on the basic principles of thermodynamic s ,mass and heat transfer with considering of initial and boundary conditions. The best model must be giving accepted values in economical and environmental requirements. A Computer program by Matlab is used for solving the governing equations and determining the suitable mathematical model. The results are indicated that the third model (air in series and water in parallel) is the best in contacting method which satisfied the economic and environment requirements .The results are recorded and represented by graphs.


The responsibility of the government of any economy cannot be overemphasized. Likewise, the resources generated and infrastructural development helps to boost the economic growth of any nation. There has been overdependency of Nigerian economy on the oil sector, the major source of revenue. However, this sector has experienced several challenges ranging from devaluation in naira and fall in prices of crude oil in the international market. This serves as a revelation for the Nigerian government to seek an additional source of income. To this end, the main aim of this paper is to examine the impact of total tax revenue on agricultural performance in Nigeria. The study uses Engel and Granger approach to cointegration to establish the long- and short-run behavior, it was found that a positive and significant relationship exists between revenue obtained in the agricultural sector, capital in agricultural sector proxy by loan and agricultural output, while employment and total tax generated are not significant in the short run. In the long run, employment, capital and total revenue are statistically significant with agricultural output, while tax is insignificant. The implication of the result showed that tax has not yielded desirable result in promoting the agricultural sector in Nigeria. To promote pro-poor growth, long-run employment and improve overall welfare, there is a need to incorporate benefit from tax into agricultural performance. The study recommends among others the need for a systemic approach, given a significant percentage of the total tax generated to boost the development of the agricultural sector.


Traditionally, planners distinguish between substantive and procedural aspects of urban and regional planning. In the 1990s, the two planning approaches came closer to each other. New issues, like sustainable development, ask for an integration of substantive and procedural aspects. Newly emerging approaches among researchers and practitioners, like the communicative turn in planning, underscore the need to link the two aspects. In the context of sustainable urban development, shared understanding of basic common conditions is essential. Drawing on our experiences in research and consultancy, this paper focuses on workshops for sustainable urban development as a tool for planners to enhance shared understanding among the actors in urban planning projects. In these workshops, the first task is designing sustainable prospects for water and traffic networks. There are several reasons to take this point of departure for the workshops. Water and traffic systems are flows with major environmental impacts. Moreover, the two create strong spatial networks that are potentially organising the spatial fabric of land-use functions. The central question is how to improve our work-shop method in order to make actors' issues play a more central role. The paper first discusses the background of this workshop approach and the relevance of the question. Then, we discuss workshops of this kind as parts of regular urban restructuring projects.


Oral submucous fibrosis (OSF) is a chronic insidious disease characterized by irreversible generalized fibrosis of the oral soft tissues. It is a debilitating disease of the oral cavity characterized by inflammation and progressive fibrosis of the sub mucosal tissues (lamina propria and deeper connective tissues). It results in marked rigidity and an eventual inability to open the mouth. 10% of the cases resulted to cancer. Associated disorders include leukoplakia and lichen planus. A thorough understanding of the etiopathogenesis of OSF is fundamental to the prevention and control of this dreadful disease. In the present study, attempts have been made to find out the association of polymorphic X-ray repair cross complementing group 1 (XRCC1) Arg399Gln DNA repair genes with the disease. OSF, a precancerous lesion, is attributable to oral chewing habits like chewing of areca nuts, betel quid, paan masala, gutkha and other forms of smokeless tobacco, a significant percent of which resulted to malignancy. Although, this disease is a significant public health burden, particularly in West Bengal, as well as India, no studies have yet investigated the impact of genetic determinants on host susceptibility to this oral disease in Indian population. To address this question, we have examined the frequency of XRCC1 399 genotypes in a cross-section of an asymptomatic population of West Bengal compared with the prevalence in OSF patients. In this study, 52 OSF patients were selected and 126 asymptomatic individuals were selected as control. From patient and control group, DNA was isolated and PCR was done for amplification of DNA. Then, restriction fragment length polymorphism (RPLF) was done to calculate and observe the association of different polymorphic forms of XRCC1 399 DNA repair gene {heterozygous mutant (Arg/Gln), homozygous mutant (Gln/Gln) or wild type (Arg/Arg) } with respect to OSF.

 Key words: X-ray repair cross complementing group 1 (XRCC1), fragment length polymorphism (RFLP), polymorphic forms, oral submuscous fibrosis (OSF).


This study examined predictors of employment service referral and employment outcomes among individuals experiencing chronic homelessness participating in a comprehensive service program emphasizing housing placement and economic independence. The sample included all participants enrolled in the program. Participants self-determined whether to be referred for employment services. Outcomes included (a) whether participants were referred for employment services offered by the program (N = 275); and (b) whether employment was attained among the subsample of participants referred for employment services (N = 135). Logistic regression analyses for the 2 outcomes were conducted. Predictors included demographics and health indicators collected via self-report during program intake. Participants who were younger and racial/ethnic minorities were more likely to seek referrals than those who were older and White/European American. Individuals who were unemployed due to disability were less likely to seek referrals than those who were unemployed but seeking employment. Participants with better reported health and who were unemployed but seeking employment were more likely to attain employment than those with poor health or were unemployed for another reason (e.g., retired, disabled). Findings from this study have implications for employment services implemented in the context of homeless service programs. Future developments in employment services for people who are chronically homeless should include an array of employment services varying in intensity based on need. Other issues to be addressed to facilitate employment and its impact include addressing stigma and increasing earning potential.


Using computational tools we explored the impact of local synaptic inhibition on the plasticity of excitatory synapses in dendrites. The latter critically depends on the intracellular concentration of calcium, which in turn, depends on membrane potential and thus on inhibitory activity in particular dendritic compartments. We systematically characterized the dependence of excitatory synaptic plasticity on dendritic morphology, loci and strength, as well as on the spatial distribution of inhibitory synapses and on the level of excitatory activity. Plasticity of excitatory synapses may attain three states: "protected" (unchanged), potentiated (long-term potentiation; LTP), or depressed (long-term depression; LTD). The transition between these three plasticity states could be finely tuned by synaptic inhibition with high spatial resolution. Strategic placement of inhibition could give rise to the co-existence of all three states over short dendritic branches. We compared the plasticity effect of the innervation patterns typical of different inhibitory subclasses—Chandelier, Basket, Martinotti, and Double Bouquet—in a detailed model of a layer 5 pyramidal cell. Our study suggests that dendritic inhibition plays a key role in shaping and fine-tuning excitatory synaptic plasticity in dendrites.


Aim and objective: The main purpose of the study was to determine the effect of a bolus dose of etomidate on serum cortisol levels in patients undergoing laparoscopic cholecystectomy. As there are a lot of controversies regarding this, detailed research was carried out to find answers regarding the question as to whether etomidate suppresses the cortisol levels or not. Materials and methods: In this prospective interventional study, 31 ASA physical status I and II patients undergoing laparoscopic cholecystectomy were enrolled. Pre-anesthetic medication consisted of the tab. diazepam 5 mg the previous night and tab. ranitidine 150 mg the previous night and the next day morning at 5 am with sips of water. The patient was then induced with 0.4 mg/kg of etomidate intravenously. Skeletal muscle relaxant vancuronium of 0.1 mg/kg was administered. Intubation was performed with an appropriate endotracheal tube. Anesthesia was maintained with N2O, O2, and isoflurane. After surgery, the patient was reversed using neostigmine and glycopyrrolate. The patient was extubated when awake and then shifted to the recovery room and after one hour to the postoperative ward. Three venous samples, 2 mL each were drawn from each patient. The first blood sample T1 was drawn at 9 am on the day of the surgery before the induction of etomidate, the second blood sample T2 was 1 hour after the induction of etomidate which coincided with pneumoperitoneum, and the third blood sample T3 was drawn at 9 am the following morning. After the blood samples were collected in the red top vacutainers, they were allowed to clot naturally for about 30 minutes at room temperature after which tubes were centrifuged for 15 minutes at 1,000, 2,000, and 3,000 rpm, respectively, for the first, second, and third samples. After the separation of the serum, they were stored at −80°C until analysis. Sample analysis for cortisol estimation was done using Cobas E-411 machine using the electrochemiluminescence method. The statistical analysis was applied to analyze the demographic data, Chi-square test for categorical variables. Analysis was done using RM-ANOVA and significance was set at p < 0.05. Results: The statistical analysis showed the above table shows that males showed mean cortisol values of 11.48 ± 2.05 at time T1 which was at baseline, 9.78 ± 1.72 at time T2 which was at pneumoperitoneum, and 5.038 ± 4.22 at time T3 which was at 24 hours. The female patients showed mean cortisol values of 13.407 ± 2.33 at T1, 11.47 ± 2.65 at T2, and 7.065 ± 5.41 at T3. The combined mean cortisol levels of the patients were: 12.291 ± 1.57, 10.49 ± 1.52, and 6.085 ± 3.36 at intervals of T1, T2, and T3, respectively. According to the Student's t-test, the cortisol levels show that the p value (0.11) between T1 vs T2 does not show any significance. The p value (0.001) of T1 vs T3 is extremely significant and shows cortisol suppression and helps in proving the objective of the study. The p value (0.02) of T2 vs T3 was significant and shows that the cortisol levels are suppressed. Conclusion: Hence, this study showed that the cortisol levels are suppressed by a bolus dose of etomidate in patients undergoing laparoscopic cholecystectomy. It was not related to any adverse outcome. The major advantage of etomidate over other available intravenous induction agents is attributed to the remarkable cardiovascular stability it offers in patients with cardiac disease. It provides a "stress-free" state, in children which is of importance in high-stress surgeries like the Intracardiac repair of Tetralogy of Fallot using Cardiopulmonary Bypass. Its use probably could be restricted to those situations where it offers a clinical advantage over other available drugs until the clinical relevance of the adrenal suppression effects of etomidate is fully known.


Glycogen synthase, a rate-determining enzyme for glycogen biosynthesis, is regulated by complex multisite phosphorylation of its subunit. Previous work has suggested that phosphorylation by some protein kinases, casein kinase II and cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase, potentiates the ability of other protein kinases, glycogen synthase kinase 3 and casein kinase I, respectively, to modify the enzyme. In the present study, active glycogen synthase was expressed in Escherichia coli using a pET vector. The purified recombinant glycogen synthase had specific activity and subunit M(r) similar to enzyme isolated from rabbit muscle. Prior phosphorylation by casein kinase II was found to be an obligate requirement for phosphorylation by glycogen synthase kinase 3, which introduced 4 mol phosphate/mol subunit. Casein kinase II action did not affect activity, whereas the phosphorylation catalyzed by glycogen synthase kinase 3 caused a potent inactivation, reducing the +/- glucose 6-phosphate activity ratio from 0.7 to 0.10. Casein kinase I alone phosphorylated the recombinant glycogen synthase, indicating that substrate phosphorylation was not an absolute requirement. However, the prior action of cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase significantly potentiated the ability of casein kinase I to phosphorylate and inactivate glycogen synthase. All previous analyses of glycogen synthase phosphorylation have used enzyme purified from mammalian sources and containing residual covalent phosphate. By using recombinant substrate, the present study represents a rigorous assessment of the role of prior phosphorylation in the recognition of mammalian glycogen synthase by glycogen synthase kinase 3 and casein kinase I. The conclusion is that phosphorylation of glycogen synthase can involve the concerted action of multiple protein kinases.


One of the most enduring puzzles in the systematics of New World birds concerns the relationships and taxonomic status of forms in the Red-eyed (I%eo olivaceus)-Yellow-green (K Jlavoviridis)-Chivi Vireo (I'. chivi) complex. In recent decades, the latter two taxa have been treated either as distinct species (A.O.U. 195 7, Hamilton 1962) or as races of the Red-eyed Vireo (Hamilton 1958, Barlow 1980, A.O.U. 1983). Arguments for specific status of the Yellow-green Vireo have stated that this form has a wing formula (Eisenmann 1962) and advertising song (Borror 1972) distinctive from those of the Red-eyed Vireo and Chivi Vireo, and have emphasized the lack of definitely intermediate specimens between flavoviridis and either other form. No hybrids have been recorded despite the fact that the known breeding range of the Yellow-green Vireo approaches that of the Red-eyed Vireo in southern Texas (Eisenmann et al. 1968, A.O.U. 1983) and is contiguous with that of the Chivi Vireo near the border of Panama and Colombia (Eisenmann 1962). Reasons for subspecific treatment for bothJlavoviridis and chivi have stressed that (1) olivuceus, fluvoviridis, and chivi are all allopatric during the breeding period; (2) plumage differences among them are either minor (olivuceus and chivi vsj7uvoviridis) or subtle (olivuceus vs chivi); and (3) their songs are generally similar (Slud 1964, Robbins et al. 1966, Barlow 198 1). All forms of olivuceus andflavoviridis have red irides as adults and brown irides as immatures. In contrast, insofar as we have been able to determine from the literature and from specimen tags with eye color information, the forms of chivi have brown irides at all ages. Eye color of adults is thus the only obvious difference between chivi and olivuceus. Oddly, the breeding ranges of the two most similar forms, olivuceus in North America and chivi in South America, are separated by all of Middle America, which is the nesting distribution of the more distinctive form, jkzvoviridis (Barlow 1980). Such a geographic-phenotypic pattern is reminiscent of the situation seen even more strikingly in a number of avian taxa in the Andes (Remsen 1984). In view of this peculiar geographic layout, systematists have been reluctant to take an intermediate stance in their classification of these vireos, namely, to combine two of the taxa as subspecies of one species while giving species status to the remaining


This thesis presents a study of immersive performance and digital culture. As a whole, the thesis considers the aesthetic experience offered by a certain strand of contemporary immersive theatre which I have identified and termed 'sensory spectacle performance' and investigates it within the present context of digital culture. Sensory spectacle performance (SSP) establishes an affective encounter between the performance and the spectator as its primary immersive force. It is an experiential, affective, and immersive mode of performance. It is not concerned with imparting meaning or a linear narrative. SSP is focused on the felt experience and the physical resonance from the performance that is left with the body of the spectator. Rather than placing a spectator-immersant at the centre of a fictional environment to achieve its immersive intention, as many other strands of immersive theatre do, SSP instead deploys techniques of process, presence, relation, sensation, and affect as a way to deliver its immersive experience. The thesis relates SSP and affective encounter to digital culture by emphasising the binding and dynamic relationship that exists between our bodies and our surroundings; each must continually adapt to the other in order to thrive. A case is made that as digital culture continues to engage the population, so too will it affect perception, bodies, and language requiring society to adapt to the affective rhythm of a mediatised, technology-driven environment. It is therefore the argument of the thesis that SSP engages with digital culture by employing primarily extra-discursive, asignifying communication channels to impact the spectating body affectively rather than conceptually through a highly structured narrative, at the same time imitating and challenging the immersive strategies used by new communication technologies


Background/issues:
 Acute Ischemic stroke is a time sensitive disease. The only approved treatment is t-PA. Prior studies have demonstrated faster Door-to-Needle (DTN) times for t-PA treated stroke patients were associated with fewer complications and lower risk adjusted mortality. In conjunction to these findings the American Stroke Association has adopted in 2011 the goal to decrease the door to needle time on all eligible patients. The Georgia Stroke Professional Alliance (GA-SPA) has continued to encourage its members to achieve Target:Stroke designation. In response to this challenge seven separate facilities were able to reach this goal. Of note each facility is unique in its geographical location, size, and setting. Despite these differences each was able to obtain the same result in meeting the Target:Stroke criteria. In an effort to reduce the DTN, some facilities have begun mixing t-PA at bedside, while others utilize central pharmacy.

 Purpose:
 Identify the method utilized at each facility to mix t-PA. Determine if mixing at Bedside versus central pharmacy improves DTN times. Determine if mixing at bedside increases the risk of adverse affects such as sICH or increase length of stay.

 Methods:
 Of the Seven Target:Stroke facilities six submitted data on all t-pa recipients from January 2010 to December 2010. Each facility identified where t-PA is mixed and by whom. Facilities also provided the number of complications resulting from t-PA. Complications included increased length of stay directly related to t-pa, and sICH with an increase of two or more on the National Institute of Health Stroke Scale.

 Results:
 Two hundred seventeen
 (
 217) t-PA cases were reviewed. Four facilities mix t-PA in Pharmacy representing 115 cases with a total of three reported complications. Two facilities mix t-PA at bedside by a trained RN with a total of three reported complications. There was no statistically significant increase in complications by facilities mixing at bedside.

 Conclusions:
 Complications did not increase when t-PA is mixed outside of pharmacy. Facilities can successfully attain Target:Stroke Designation, regardless of where t-pa is mixed. Further studies will be conducted to see if mixing at bedside decreases DTN time.


Citation field extraction entails segmenting a citation string into its constituent parts, such as title, authors, publisher and year. Despite the importance of this task, there is a lack of well-annotated citation data. This paper presents a new labeled dataset for citation extraction that, in comparison to the previous standard dataset, exceeds four-times more data, supplies detailed nested labels rather than coarse-grained flat labels, and is derived from four different academic fields rather than one. We describe our new dataset in detail, and provide baseline experimental results from a state-of-the-art extraction method.


Naproxen-Soluplus Nanoformulations (NFs) prepared via wet milling, using a conventional Retsch Planetary ball mill have been studied for their phase solubility behavior, physico-chemical characteristics, cytotoxicity, and morphology and dissolution enhancement. The highest dissolution enhancement of 172% over that of pure the drug was achieved for the formulation with Naproxen-Soluplus ratio of 1:4. The ability of amphiphillic surfactant carriers to accelerate in vitro dissolution of poorly watersoluble drugs has been attributed to wetting, miceller solubilization, and/or deflocculation. The Korsemeyer–Peppas model most aptly fits the in vitro dissolution data and gives an insight into the possible drug release mechanisms predominated by anomalous non-Fickian diffusion which improves the physicochemical characteristics of naproxen towards its dissolution enhancement and the increase in the oral bioavailability of the drug without any adverse cytotoxic consequences.


Cryptography is the science of writing in secret codes which can be achieved either by using software encrypter or hardware encrypter. This study presents the development of a pair of circuit system-based (hardware) cryptographic processor. The hardware encryption in this study was achieved using the bitwise logic operations in the registers of the microcontroller and messages are streamed as serial ASCII data from the PC through the USB port to the microcontroller unit. The encryption is performed on each ASCII representation using a pass key embedded in the microcontroller unit. Decryption process is similar but in the reverse order. A comparative analysis of the encryption time for the hardware-based data encryption was made and findings recorded. The processor was implemented using PIC18F4550 microcontroller mounted on a Printed Circuit Board alongside other components to achieve the hardware based circuitry. The software end of the encryption and decryption algorithm was developed based on a library built into C Language Visual Studio version 2010 and the CCS C compiler for communication protocol stack.


Free-standing diamond films have been successfully deposited on stainless steel substrates using microwave plasma-assisted chemical vapor deposition. Although iron, which is the main element of stainless steel, is known to inhibit the nucleation of diamond and enhance the formation of graphite, we were able to grow relatively thick films (- 1.2 mm). The films were easily detachable from the substrates. The poor adhesion made it possible to obtain free-standing diamond films without chemical etching. Raman spectroscopy showed the 1332 cm-1 characteristic Raman peak of diamond and the 1580 cm-1, 1350 cm-1 bands of graphite on the growth surface and backside of the films, respectively. By energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy it was only possible to detect iron on the back of the films, but not on the surface. The role of iron in the film growth is discussed.


Significant increase in JNK, c-Jun, and Cdk5 activities are reported in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Inhibition of c-Jun prevents neuronal cell death in in vivo AD models, highlighting it as a major JNK effector. Both JNK and Cdk5 promote neurodegeneration upon deregulation; however, Cdk5 has not been mechanistically linked to JNK or c-Jun. This study presents the first mechanism showing Cdk5 as a major regulator of the JNK cascade. Deregulated Cdk5 induces biphasic activation of JNK pathway. The first phase revealed c-Jun as a direct substrate of Cdk5, whose activation is independent of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and JNK. In the second phase, Cdk5 activates c-Jun via ROS-mediated activation of JNK. Rapid c-Jun activation is supported by in vivo data showing c-Jun phosphorylation in cerebral cortex upon p25 induction in transgenic mice. Cdk5-mediated biphasic activation of c-Jun highlights c-Jun, rather than JNK, as an important therapeutic target, which was confirmed in neuronal cells. Finally, Cdk5 inhibition endows superior protection against neurotoxicity, suggesting that Cdk5 is a preferable therapeutic target for AD relative to JNK and c-Jun.


This paper investigates the diversity gains and outage capacities of wireless body area network (WBAN) channels with transmit diversity. The off-body channel in an anechoic chamber, with respect to various human movements and the position of the transmit antennas, are measured to evaluate the influence of the usual body movements on the performance of off-body WBAN systems. It has been demonstrated that transmit diversity exploiting two uncorrelated channels relieves the harmful effect of human movement on the channel conditions and achieves high diversity gains.


Are economic sanctions effective instruments of American foreign policy? The consensus view among scholars and in the popular press holds that sanctions are futile efforts, and often work to undermine U.S. foreign policy objectives. The research presented in this study supports the converse conclusion; that sanctions are often effective policy tools which have succeeded in a large majority of instances in the contemporary era. The jaundiced conventional wisdom is an anachronism shaped by bipolar-era studies asserting the low efficacy of economic statecraft. The major shift in the polar distribution of power which occurred two decades ago, however, significantly altered the dynamics of economic statecraft, making it a far more effective instrument of foreign policy for the United States; with significantly lower costs and risks than military force. The efficacy of the sanctions tool, however, may soon begin to wane, as American economic primacy appears to be on the decline and as evidence is already emerging that rising powers are engaging in counterbalancing measures against U.S. sanctions efforts.


The technique developed by Findlay and Owens for the extraction of a consistently effective momentum distribution from the 51 V ( γ,p) 50 Ti reaction data is applied to the cross sections obtained for each of the discrete low lying excited states ( 0.0 , 1.6 , 2.7 , 3.2 , 3.8 , 4.4 and 6.0 ) MeV ,respectively.The momentum density and momentum mismatch have been calculated using the method of Findlay and Owens for each excited state. This program has been written for this purpose using Fortran-77 language.The momentum scaled distribution would illustrate that the simple Direct Knockout Model (DKM) behavior observed in the ( γ,p) reaction could be regarded as evidence for the importance of the D KM process in the ( γ,p) reaction. Clearly the application of the procedure given by F indlay and Owens leads to a more consistent momentum distribution. 51 V ( γ,p) 50 Ti


Abstract The use of the Monte Carlo (MC) method for space-time reactor kinetics is expected to be much more accurate than the presently used deterministic methods largely based on few-group diffusion theory. However, the development of the MC method for space-time reactor kinetics poses challenges because of the vastly different timescales of neutrons and delayed neutron precursors and their vastly different populations that also change with time by several orders of magnitude. In order to meet these challenges in MC-based space kinetics, we propose various new schemes such as deterministic decay of precursors in each time step, adjustment of weights of neutrons and precursors for population control, use of mean number of secondaries per collision, and particle splitting/Russian roulette to reduce the variance in neutron power. The efficacy of these measures is first tested in a simpler point-kinetics version of the MC method against analytical or accurate numerical solutions of point-kinetics equations. The ideas are then extended to space-dependent MC kinetics and are validated against a transport theory/MC transient benchmark. We have also tested our methods by comparison with results of realistic space-time kinetics benchmarks/studies involving multiregion reactors, energy dependence, movement of control rods, and feedback—most of which are based on few-group diffusion theory treated by the finite difference method. To facilitate exact comparison with such benchmarks, we have implemented the schemes described above for space-time reactor kinetics based on finite difference diffusion MC, a method developed by us earlier in a different context.


Recently, there has been an increased interest in bridging the knowledge gap in the occurrence and fate of pharmaceuticals in African urban water cycles.  In this study, the occurrence of 7 antibiotics and 3 antiretrovirals in source-separated urine, groundwater, wastewater and surface water of the peri-urban area of Chunga in Lusaka, Zambia, was studied. In groundwater, the pharmaceuticals were only sporadically present with 4 antibiotics and 1 antiretroviral detected. The concentration of the antibiotics ranged from below limit of quantification (<LOQ) to 880 ng/L, with sulfamethoxazole having the highest detection frequency of 42.3%. In the surface water, a comparatively high concentration of pharmaceuticals was measured with concentrations ranging from <LOQ–11 800 ng/L to <LOQ–49 700 ng/L for antibiotics and antiretroviral drugs, respectively. Similarly, the concentration of antibiotics in wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) influent and effluent waters ranged from 100–33 300 ng/L and 80–30 040 ng/L, respectively. The concentration of the antiretrovirals was also relatively high in the wastewater and ranged from  680–118 970 ng/L and 1 720–55 760 ng/L in the influent and effluent, respectively. The concentration of the target analytes in source-separated urine were several orders of magnitude higher than in wastewater.  Sulfamethoxazole, trimethoprim and lamivudine had the highest concentrations, of 7 740 µg/L, 12 800 µg/L and 10 010 µg/L, respectively.  The high concentration detected in source-separated urine calls for precautionary measures to be undertaken when such urine is to be used as a fertilizer. However, urine source separation has a major advantage of pooling a significant proportion of excreted pharmaceuticals into small manageable volumes which can be effectively treated, minimizing environmental contamination. The high concentrations of antibiotics and antiretroviral drugs measured in this study necessitate creation of effective barriers to mitigate the possible environmental and human health risks.


In the present research, we examined academic self-enhancement in students (N = 264) followed longitudinally through 4 years of college. We used social comparison (i.e., better-than-average ratings) and self-insight (i.e., criterion-based) approaches to assess the degree to which students self-enhanced in their self-perceptions of academic ability, with SAT scores, high school grade point average (GPA), and college GPA used as criterion measures. We also examined ethnic variability in academic self-enhancement. We found that academic self-enhancement (a) increased or decreased over the 4 years of college, depending on its operationalization, (b) tended to be adaptive according to social comparison indices, and (c) demonstrated a trajectory that differed by ethnicity, but ethnicity did not moderate the effect of academic self-enhancement on outcomes. We discuss the implications of the findings for debates about the adaptive value of self-enhancement, the magnitude of cultural differences, and how best to conceptualize and operationalize the construct.


Ephraim Amu is a distinguished musician. He is well known for his advocacy on African tradition and culture. Amu's pride in the African personality has earned him a place in Ghana's hall of fame. It was in recognition of these achievements that his portrait was embossed on Ghana's highest currency, the Twenty Thousand Cedi note. But there is more to the Amu story. In this thesis I have drawn substantially on Amu's own works to demonstrate how, in fact, he is an exemplar of mother tongue apprehension of the Christian faith in Africa. Amu showed in his songs, diaries, sermons, letters, addresses and private papers that the mother tongue, in this case, Ewe and Twi can be used to express not only Christian experience but also to formulate theological ideas in an innovative and creative ways. Amu's credentials as "African statesman" and "a self-conscious nationalist" owe not so much to PanAfrican ideologies as his understanding of African culture and tradition from a biblical perspective. Amu believed that the entire universe, including the African cosmos, was created by God from the very beginning as kronkronkron (pure), pepeepe (exact), and fitafitafita (without blemish). He wrestled with the problem of (evil) and how this may have polluted an otherwise unblemished creation. Amu also wrestled with the issue of human participation in God's work of creation and the extent to which humankind may have contributed to the desecration of creation. In spite of the pollution, Amu believed that creation can be redeemed and restored to its original status by cleansing with the Word of God and the Holy Spirit. This belief led him to adopt a positive stance towards African culture and tradition. Amu demonstrated this particularly in the use of language. Most of his sermons and notable musical compositions are in Twi or Ewe. He kept a diary in his mother tongue, Ewe, for almost seventy years. Amu demonstrated that by using indigenous African languages it is possible to make a fresh contribution to theological issues and thereby present African Christianity as an authentic expression to God and capable of contributing to world Christianity. Apart from language, Amu believed that other elements in the African tradition could be employed to express the Christian faith. It is in this regard that his contribution to Christian worship, particularly the use of indigenous musical instruments, must be appreciated. Amu's realisation, that "There are deep truths underlying our indigenous religions, truths which are dim representations of the great Christian truths", led him to deal with the perception that


To improve instruction in computer engineering and computer science, instructors must better understand how their students learn. Unfortunately, little is known about how students learn the fundamental concepts in computing. To investigate student conceptions and misconceptions about digital logic concepts, the authors conducted a qualitative interview-based study. In the interviews, students verbalized their thinking while they solved digital logic problems. The interviews were analyzed to identify students' misconceptions. This paper presents five classes of students' misconceptions and methodological weaknesses concerning medium-scale integrated (MSI) circuits. These misconceptions were used to create a multiple-choice conceptual assessment, called a concept inventory, that is being used to test for the prevalence of the misconceptions discovered through the interviews. Although the misconceptions documented in the paper are primarily intended for the construction of the concept inventory, they can also point to potential ways to improve instruction.


The composition of natural gas strongly depends on the geological conditions and depth of the gas well. Presently, CO2 content in the discovered natural gas reservoirs is up to 90%. Prior to customer use, the amount of CO2 needs to be reduced. Cryogenic CO2 capture is one of the emerging technology for CO2 capture from natural gas. Comprehensive knowledge of vapor-liquid, vapor-solid, and solid-liquid equilibria for the gaseous mixture is required for designing cryogenic separation processes for CO2 capture from its gaseous mixtures. No thermodynamic phase data is available for the highest CO2 content N.G mixture. The present work is an effort to generate the thermodynamic data for CO2 capture at low temperatures. CO2 solid phase identification and quantification need to be studied for the CO2-CH4 binary mixture. In this work, four samples of natural gas having CO2 content 40%, 60%, 75% and 90% were selected for simulation through Aspen HYSYS. Pressure-temperature data and temperature-composition data for the binary mixtures were predicted using PR EoS for CO2 phase identification and quantification respectively. Simulation for temperature- composition phase envelope was carried out at different pressures i.e. 10, 20, 30, and 40 bar. The operating region selected from the P-T phase envelop was from 1 to 40 bars. From the temperature composition graphs, it was concluded that temperature for the maximum CO2 capture in S-V region at 10, 20, 30, and 40 bar is -95, -90, -75, and -70 °C respectively.


The inter-connectedness of marine ecosystems has been repeatedly acknowledged in the relevant literature as well as in policy briefs. Against this backdrop, this article aims at further reflecting on the question of to what extent the law of the sea takes account of or disregards ocean connectivity. In order to address this question, this article starts by providing a brief overview of the notion of ocean connectivity from a marine science perspective, before taking a closer look at the extent to which the law of the sea incorporates the scientific imperative of ocean connectivity in the context of four examples: (i) straits, (ii) climate change and ocean acidification, (iii) salmon and (iv) the ecosystem approach to fisheries. Tying the findings of the different examples together, this study concludes by stressing the need of accommodating ocean connectivity not only in the interpretation and implementation of the existing law (of the sea) but also in its further development.


Marriage ideally should be a meaningful relationship, but in reality it is not the same. Modern society is questioning marriage that make them confronts dilemma which weaken social responsibility and family ties which, then, susceptible to domestic violence and even ended by divorce. This dilemma lead modern society seek for happiness outside marriage by choosing alternative of marriage; cohabitation, gay-parent family, or staying single (celibacy). The problem is modern society fail to find the meaningful relationship inside marriage. They fulfill material needs but fail fulfilling spiritual needs. This study is qualitative research which uses literature approach by focusing on the study of al-Gazālī's thought about the virtue of marriage in tas}awwuf perspective. The datas is analyzed using content analysis approach to reveal the content of al-Gazālī's books. The virtue of marriage is the ethical significant of what lies behind the order of marriage. The virtue of marriage is that it is one of abstinence (riyād{ah an-nafs), it is done when fasting and restraining sight cannot curb sexual desire anymore. it is a necessary virtue for the conduct of spiritual exercises leading to union with God. Another virtue of marriage is that it is an act of devotion ('ibādah). It said so because there are many benefits (maslahah) inside marriage. Besides it can safeguard self from sinning if sight and adultery, it also beneficial in perpetuating mankind conform to the love of God. Al-Gazālī also mentioned that the prayers of children profit their parents when the latter are dead, and children who die before their parents intercede for them on the Day of Judgment. The virtue of marriage, in fact, can overcome the dilemma of modern society. The matrimonial alternative (celibacy, cohabitation and gay-parent family) will not give happiness like what they want particularly cohabitation and being gay, it is forbidden by Islamic teaching because it gives great disaster, even bigger. The spouse should review their intention and commitment on marriage. Their intention is ideally to worship Allah and running his household with true commitment to perpetuating his marriage by behaving good and fulfilling each all rights and duties. It helps the spouse to overcome their crisis (being aid for their mental in coping marriage problem that may arise) and making marriage stay balance, so that they can achieve the meaningful marriage.


The surface dissolution of hydroxyapatite ceramics in distilled water was investigated by using atomic force microscopy (AFM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The disks made of hydroxyapatite powder were sintered at 1200oC for 2 h in air with under moisture protection. After sintering, the disks were polished to smoothness using 1 μm diamond and they were soaked in 40 ml of pH 7.4 distilled water at 37oC for certain period of time. The morphological change of hydroxyapatite surface, specifically at the initial stage of immersion, and related surface roughness were observed with immersion time. The present study suggested that an artificial fact like surface scratch in this case initiated to be eliminated prior to the surface dissolution along grain boundary. That is, the surface roughness decreased at the initial stage of immersion, and then increased due to the surface dissolution.


High magnetic field studies of cuprate superconductors revealed a non-BCS temperature dependence of the upper critical field $H_{c2}(T)$ determined resistively by several groups.
These determinations caused some doubts on the grounds of both the contrasting effect of the magnetic field on the in-plane and out-of-plane resistances reported for large Bi2212 sample and the large Nernst signal \emph{well above} $T_{c}$.
Here we present both $\rho_{ab}(B)$ and $\rho_{c}(B)$ of tiny Bi2212 crystals in magnetic fields up to 50 Tesla.
None of our measurements revealed a situation when on the field increase $\rho_c$ reaches its maximum while $\rho_{ab}$ remains very small if not zero.
The resistive %upper critical fields estimated from the in-plane and out-of-plane $H_{c2}(T)$ estimated from $\rho_{ab}(B)$ and $\rho_{c}(B)$ are approximately the same. Our results support any theory of cuprates that describes the state above the resistive phase transition as perfectly normal with a zero off-diagonal order parameter. In particular, the anomalous Nernst effect above the resistive phase transition in high-$T_{c}$ cuprates can be described quantitatively as a normal state phenomenon in a model with itinerant and localised fermions and/or charged bosons.


The two major isoforms of lipoxygenase (LOX-2 and LOX-3) from pea (Pisum sativum L. cv. Birte) seeds have been cloned and expressed from full-length cDNAs as soluble, active, non-fusion proteins in Escherichia coli. A comparison of both isoforms purified to apparent homogeneity from E. coli and pea seeds has confirmed the authenticity of the recombinant products and established the properties of the native enzymes. Despite 86% similarity at the amino acid sequence level, the enzymes have distinct properties. They have been characterized in terms of specific activity, Fe content, optimum pH, substrate and product specificity, apparent Km and Vmax for the preferred substrate, linoleic acid, and interfacial behaviour with linoleic acid. We have used this evidence, in addition to EPR spectroscopy of the hydroperoxide-activated enzymes and estimates of kcat/Km, to propose different reaction mechanisms for linoleic acid oxidation for the two isoforms. The differences relate primarily to carbonyl production from linoleic acid for which we propose a mechanism. This implicates the release of a peroxyl radical in an aerobic hydroperoxidase reaction, as the source of the carbonyl compounds formed by dismutation of the liberated peroxyl radical.


A traumatic hand injury can involve damage to a number of structures including skin, nerves, tendons, muscle bone, and soft tissue. Impairments such as pain or stiffness and loss of range of motion can last for many years and result in a moderate to extreme impact on a person's day-to-day life. Work, leisure, financial security, and emotional well-being often most affected. This commentary provides an analysis of those factors that inhibit (barriers) and support (enablers) the provision of hand therapy rehabilitation in rural and remote areas. Providing a collaborative and flexible rehabilitation programme to rural and remote residents following a traumatic hand injury can be seen as a challenge due to issues such as a limited access to health care services. Established protocols that work in regional or metropolitan locations are unlikely to be effective and innovative and pragmatic strategies are required. The provision of a collaborative and flexible rehabilitation programme regardless of residential location is an important part of the therapist's intervention plan.


Three experiments with different size groups of cod fry, 13, 49 and 465 mg wet-weight were offered 6 different artificial diets. The experiments lasted for 28 days. Growth, and for the medium size-group chemical composition and gross energy-content of the fish were measured. Mortality was recorded daily, and the fish were counted after 14 days and at end of the experiments to correct for cannibalism. Growth were similar on all diets, probably because of prominent cannibalism. Significant differences in biomass and survival were found. Survival ranged from 0 to 39 % for the smallest group and from 72 to 90 % for the largest group. Moist feed gave the best survival. About 50 % of the mortality was due to cannibalism.


ANALYSIS OF CLCS RECOMMENDATIONS IN LIGHT OF THEIR RELEVANCE TO THE DELINEATION OF A UNITED STATES EXTENDED CONTINENTAL SHELF (ECS) IN THE ARCTIC by Onni Irish University of New Hampshire, September, 2016 Article 76 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea provides a mechanism by which a coastal State can extend sovereign rights over the seafloor and subsurface outside of its 200 nautical mile exclusive economic zone. In order for a coastal State to delineate this region, often referred to as the extended continental shelf (ECS), bathymetric, geophysical and geological data must be collected and analyzed to define the limit of the juridical continental shelf defined within Article 76. The coastal State must present its ECS delineation to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS). The CLCS reviews coastal States' submissions and issues recommendations concerning the proposed ECS boundary and its accordance with Article 76. The United States has a potential ECS in the Chukchi Borderland region north of Alaska. This thesis examined two coastal States' CLCS recommendations in regions morphologically similar to the Chukchi Borderland, the Kerguelen Plateau (Australia) and Vøring margin (Norway), to assess the criteria that the CLCS utilized to classify these features in order to forecast the impact these recommendations may have on a potential submission of the United States in the Chukchi Borderland region. This thesis has found that the CLCS requires a coastal State with seafloor highs that are connected to its continental margin to show that these features are (or are not) morphologically and geologically continuous with the continental margin and landmass. If the coastal State can prove the seafloor high under question satisfies both of these criteria, it could potentially increase the coastal State's final ECS outer boundary. Application of these criteria to the Chukchi Borderland region found that available data could substantiate an argument that the Chukchi Borderland fulfills both criteria; however, further geological data may need to be collected from the northern extension of the Chukchi Borderland to support an Article 76 seafloor high classification. O. Irish MASTER of SCIENCE, THESIS 1


This article examines the impact of non-farm work on household welfare, differentiated by female, for rural households in the Punjab province of Pakistan. We employ an endogenous switching regression approach that accounts for selection bias due to observable and unobservable factors to examine the factors that influence the household's decision to participate in non-farm work and the impact of participation on household welfare. Given we find no substantial selection bias on unobservable factors; we also use PSM approach to check the robustness of our results from the ESR estimates. Separate estimates are also provided for male and female to address gender heterogeneity. The empirical results reveal that participation in non-farm work significantly increases per head expenditures and reduces household poverty level. This confirms the potential role of non-farm work in improving rural household welfare and poverty alleviation in rural areas of developing countries.


In the paper the galloping phenomenon is modelled by self-excited waves travelling along the cable. The critical conditions of air flow and corresponding changes in the lift coefficient are presented. The motion of the cable was described in relation to equilibrium configuration. Since the wavelengths are small with reference to considered distances and additionally the tension and curvature of equilibrium line of the cable are slowly varying functions of the arc co-ordinate, the problems concerning the travelling waves can be solved using the Wentzel-Kramers-Brillouin (WKB) method. Using this method the equations describing wave numbers and amplitudes of waves were derived. The results of the calculations of amplitudes are presented in the form of plots.


In recent years, concerns have been raised about the health and status of a range of marine species in UK waters, including the bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) and basking shark (Cetorhinus maximus). Disturbance and harassment from increasing inshore leisure traffic and a fascinated public have been identified as potential threats to these large marine species. This concern is coupled with a legislative framework that is perceived to be less effective in protecting key species than it could be, and difficult to enforce. This study examined the extent of anthropogenic disturbance to a range of marine wildlife in inshore waters around the South West peninsula and investigated people's knowledge of existing legislation and its perceived suitability. The results revealed a low level of reported incidents and a lack of awareness of marine protection legislation amongst all sectors. Confusion over the reporting process, roles and responsibilities was also identified. This study therefore recommends widespread promotion of the provisions of existing legislation, coupled with a more integrated approach between organisations involved in the management of the marine environment. It also highlights the availability of a range of management options including education and codes of practice. r 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.


For computer games, communications using avatars, and real-time animation systems, users want to move a character freely in a virtual world. However, the flexibility of the current motion control interface is very limited because currently character motion is simply controlled with pre-defined motion data. In this paper, we present a motion control method that uses two data gloves as an input device, making a virtual character perform various motions. Each part of the character's body is controlled using input from data gloves. For example, a user can control the character's left arm and left leg using their left hand. However, there are limited degrees of freedom using data gloves to control all the character's body parts directly. Moreover, it is difficult for users to perform complex motions such as stepping or jumping because multiple body parts have to be controlled at the same time. In order to solve these problems, we introduce three novel ideas. First, we change the mapping between the user's hand and the character's body parts dynamically. For example, when the both hands are moving in the same direction, they are used to control the pelvis instead of arms or legs. Then, we introduce a manual switch between arms and legs. A hand is used for controlling the arms or the legs by switching the mode manually with a finger. Second, we use mechanisms of real puppets to control multiple body parts synchronously. Third, we combine the motion data based control with the position based control. When it is needed, a motion is selected from the pre-defined motion data, and is then executed. We use this approach for locomotive motion such as rightward step, leftward step, backward step, and jump. A motion is selected when the character's waist is moved more than certain distance in a given direction. Using this approach, complex motions can be performed easily.


Efficiency and isolation, at low frequencies (700 MHz), are two of the most important metrics for successful multi-communication implementation. This paper presents an antenna concept, that exhibits a very high isolation between high-Q Tx and Rx antennas at 700 MHz. Furthermore, it is shown how coils can be integrating into the antenna structure for obtaining better efficiency. It is shown that by integrated coils into the antenna structure, the efficiency can be improved by 2dB for each antenna.


In all domains, from informal to formal, there are conflicts about property and ownership which resolution demands consideration of alleged claims from more than one party. In this work we asked adults (N = 359) to judge cases in which a character held a property claim over an item, but is challenged by a second character who holds a different, subsequent claim over it. The specific goal of this work is to investigate how the resolution of such conflicts depends on the social endorsement of ownership claims. To achieve this aim, we designed variations of conflictive situations over property in which we manipulated details regarding the knowledge of the second agent of other third-parties about the first agent's actions. In essence, our questions were: if an agent claims ownership of something which has a previous property claim on (1) does it matter whether said agent knew of the first's agent actions or not? And (2) does it matter whether third parties were aware or notified of the first one's claim? The results confirm that adults resolve the settling of property rights based not only on the nature of ownership claims but also on the social acknowledgment of such claims, in accordance with what is stipulated in legal systems worldwide. Participants considered the second character in the stories to hold a lesser right over the object under dispute when she knew of the first character's claim. Participants also considered that the first character's claim was reinforced when there were witnesses for her actions, but not when third parties were merely communicated of such actions. This is the first study to our knowledge that studies how social validation of ownership claims drives adults' judgments on property claims.


Using a quasi one-dimensional model, in which the latitudinal distributions of variables are assumed and only the vertical dependence is explicitly treated, the general circulation of the middle atmosphere interacting with internal gravity waves is treated. An ensemble of internal gravity waves with an isotropic spectrum are introduced at the lower boundary and their propagation in the prevailing zonal wind field are determined incorporating the effect of eddy viscosity, in the same way as done by Plumb and McEwan (1978). As the result of selective transmission due to the background wind effect, deceleration of the stratomesospheric wind system and generation of a reverse flow take place near and above the mesopause level, owing to the wave momentum flux. Results of numerical calculations are compared with those obtained by using the conventional Rayleigh friction.


C. elegans will orient and travel in a straight uninterrupted path directly towards the negative pole of a DC electric field. We have sought to understand the strategy worms use to navigate to the negative pole in a uniform electric field that is fixed in both direction and magnitude. We examined this behavior by quantifying three aspects of electrotaxis behavior in response to different applied field strengths: the mean approach trajectory angles of the animals' tracks, turning behavior (pirouettes) and average population speeds. We determined that C. elegans align directly to the negative pole of an electric field at sub-preferred field strength and alter approach trajectories at higher field strengths to maintain taxis within a preferred range we have calculated to be ~ 5V/cm. We sought to identify the sensory neurons responsible for the animals' tracking to a preferred field strength. eat-4 mutant animals defective in glutamatergic signaling of the amphid sensory neurons are severely electrotaxis defective and ceh-36 mutant animals, which are defective in the terminal differentiation of two types of sensory neurons, AWC and ASE, are partially defective in electrotaxis. To further elucidate the role of the AWC neurons, we examined the role of each of the pair of AWC neurons (AWCOFF and AWCON), which are functionally asymmetric and express different genes. nsy-5/inx-19 mutant animals, which express both neurons as AWCOFF, are severely impaired in electrotaxis behavior while nsy-1 mutants, which express both neurons as AWCON, are able to differentiate field strengths required for navigation to a specific field strength within an electric field. We also tested a strain with targeted genetic ablation of AWC neurons and found that these animals showed only slight disruption of directionality and turning behavior. These results suggest a role for AWC neurons in which complete loss of function is less disruptive than loss of functional asymmetry in electrotaxis behavior within a uniform fixed field.


In this paper, the sticker based DNA computing was used for solving the independent set problem. At first, solution space was constructed by using appropriate DNA memory complexes. We defined a new operation called "divide" and applied it in construction of solution space. Then, by application of a sticker based parallel algorithm using biological operations, independent set problem was resolved in polynomial time.


Background: Cancer is one of the major causes of death in children and adolescents. About 4% of deaths in children of age less than 5 years and 13% of deaths in children of age 5-15 years are due to cancer in Iranian population. The disease can cause many problems, which are usually detected by a psychologist, for the children and their mothers. Therefore, this study aimed to identify the psychological challenges of the children with cancer and their mothers' experience. Materials and Methods: This is a qualitative research conducted through thematic analysis approach. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect the data. Purposive sampling was conducted. The numbers of the children and their mothers participating in this study were 34 and 32, respectively. Results: Data analysis showed that the problems faced by children with cancer and their mothers fell into five main categories. These categories included spiritual, psychological (such as aggression, anxiety, depression), communicational problems, inadequate knowledge (about the disease, its treatment, and treatment complications), and care-related problems. Conclusions: The results showed that lack of awareness and spiritual problems were the most important problems of the patients and their mothers. If necessary knowledge about the disease and its treatment and complications is given to the children and their mothers at the time of diagnosis, and also, spiritual care interventions are administered during treatment, their psychological problems can be notably reduced.


A CMOS infrared wireless optical receiver front-end is presented. A stable variable-gain fully differential transimpedance feedback amplifier is designed employing a current-mode amplifier as the feedforward gain element. For a more than three times variation of the transimpedance gain, from 0.3 k/spl Omega/ to 1 k/spl Omega/, the variable-gain transimpedance amplifier achieves desirable gain-bandwidth independence.


Fast acting static synchronous compensator (STATCOM), a representative of FACTS family, is a promising technology being extensively used as the state-of-the-art dynamic shunt compensator for reactive power control in transmission and distribution system. Over the last couple of decades, researchers and engineers have made path-breaking research on this technology and by virtue of which, many STATCOM controllers based on the self-commutating solid-state voltage-source converter (VSC) have been developed and commercially put in operation to control system dynamics under stressed conditions. Because of its many attributes, STATCOM has emerged as a qualitatively superior controller relative to the line commutating static VAR compensator (SVC). This controller is called with different terminologies as STATic COMpensator advanced static VAR compensator, advanced static VAR generator or static VAR generator, STATic CONdenser, synchronous solid-state VAR compensator, VSC-based SVC or self-commutated SVC or static synchronous compensator (SSC or S2C). The development of STATCOM controller employing various solid-state converter topologies, magnetics configurations, control algorithms, switching techniques and so on, has been well reported in literature with its versatile applications in power system. A review on the state-of-the-art STATCOM technology and further research potential are presented classifying more than 300 research publications.


In this study, we introduced a novel multiobjective optimization algorithm, Nondominated Neighbor Immune Algorithm (NNIA), to solve the multiobjective clustering problems. NNIA solves multiobjective optimization problems by using a nondominated neighbor-based selection technique, an immune inspired operator, two heuristic search operators and elitism. The main novelty of NNIA is that the selection technique only selects minority isolated nondominated individuals in current population to clone proportionally to the crowding-distance values, recombine and mutate. As a result, NNIA pays more attention to the less-crowded regions in the current trade-off front. The experimental results on seven artificial data sets with different manifold structure and six real-world data sets show that the NNIA is an effective algorithm for solving multiobjective clustering problems, and the NNIA based multiobjective clustering technique is a cogent unsupervised learning method.


This article argues that long-duration Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities (TIPS) should play an important role in the portfolios of workers who are within 10 to 20 years of retirement. Long TIPS effectively help hedge retirees against fluctuations in the real wealth required to sustain a given level of consumption in their retirement years. As such, long-duration TIPS act as the "risk-free asset" in the context of retirement savings, and, for investors on a reasonable savings path, an allocation to this asset class may increase the likelihood of a successful retirement outcome.


In recent years information technology has been integrated into education to produce a series of trends, beginning with "electronic learning" (e-learning), through "mobile learning" (m-learning) and finally to "ubiquitous learning" (u-learning), which aims to improve learner motivation through overcoming the conventional limitations of time and location. U-learning practices are still being developed, and learners frequently experience difficulty focusing on learning objectives, and effective learning strategy tools are still lacking. This study reports the design of a context-aware astronomy learning system. The system integrates several technologies, including radio frequency identification, wireless communication networks, handheld mobile devices, and databases to help students learn astronomical concepts. Two content modules were developed in the context of natural science education for fifth-grade elementary school students in Taiwan. Indicators of user experience with the system were collected for further phenomenographic analysis, based on four perspectives of the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology model to assess learner willingness to use this novel u-learning approach. Results show that ease-of-use and the availability of immediate operational or technical support are key factors in increasing learning motivation and performance.


This paper focuses on how to calculate diluted earnings per share (DEPS) when a firm has outstanding employee stock options (ESOs). Three possible methods are described and compared. The first is the current International Accounting Standard 33 – Earnings Per Share (IAS 33) approach which is based on the intrinsic value of the ESOs. The second method, advocated by Core et al. (2002), is very similar to that of IAS 33 but instead of the intrinsic value uses the fair value of the outstanding options. This paper derives an alternative method which adjusts the earnings for the year by the change in fair value of the outstanding ESOs, with no adjustment to the denominator in the DEPS calculation. The three methods are compared using a simple firm. The earnings adjustment method best describes the change in economic value of the current shareholders, the fair value is more useful in predicting future profits, and the intrinsic value method appear to provide no additional information to that already contained in the other two measures. The earnings adjustment method has a further advantage in that it provides an identical result at a DEPS level to that which would have been obtained if the ESOs were cash-settled and treated as liabilities in terms of IFRS 2. Thus using this method will improve comparability as cash-settled and equity-settled options have a very similar economic effect on current shareholders.


In 1953 DNA was discovered and the Everest was conquered but also a great invention was developed: the heart-lung machine, which allowed the treatment, and in many cases, the cure of most cardiovascular illnesses. In fact, on May 6, 1953 John Gibbon crowned with success the work of his entire life closing for the first time an atrial septal defect in a young woman using a heart-lung machine of his own invention. Before that, surgeons had explored other roads like hypothermia, cooling the patient in a cold water tub and then rapidly performing the surgical correction of a heart malformation. After his first success, the following 4 patients of Gibbon died, which led him to abandon heart surgery and produced a generalized pessimism about extracorporeal circulation. However, a year later Walton Lillehei reverted this situation with the introduction of controlled cross-circulation in which a patient, usually a child, was connected to a "donor", usually his father or mother, whose heart and lung served as a pump and oxigenator, allowing the performance of open heart surgery. Finally, it was Lillehei again who a year later introduced the bubble oxigenator, simple and inexpensive, opening the doors of open heart surgery to all surgeons around the world. For this, and many other reasons, Walton Lillebei is considered by most surgeons as the "Father of Open Heart Surgery". Lillehei visited Chile in 1963 and operated on a patient in the surgical theaters of the Hospital Clinico de la Universidad Catolica and was named an Honorary Member of the School of Medicine of this University. Before that, in 1957 Helmut Jaeger at the Hospital Luis Calvo Mackenna performed the first successful surgical closure of an atrial septal defect with extracorporeal circulation in Chile using a De Wall-Lillebei bubble oxigenator.