The purpose of this paper is to provide a synthesis of the emerging literature in the field of education and fragility. We examine the various attempts to capture the contexts of fragility in a pragmatic manner, from both an operational and a policy-making perspective. We review the macro, statecentric definitions of fragility, which highlight the importance of the state and its institutions in driving fragility and as a partner for change, but also look at the limitations of this perspective. We then turn to more micro-level approaches to capturing the contexts of fragility, showing its difference from conflict, and looking in particular at more cross-sectoral and societal characteristics of fragility. Ultimately, we conclude this paper by acknowledging that, in practical terms, practitioners


We introduce Fulcrum, a network coding framework that achieves three seemingly conflicting objectives: 1) to reduce the coding coefficient overhead down to nearly n bits per packet in a generation of n packets; 2) to conduct the network coding using only Galois field GF(2) operations at intermediate nodes if necessary, dramatically reducing computing complexity in the network; and 3) to deliver an endto-end performance that is close to that of a high-field network coding system for high-end receivers, while simultaneously catering to low-end receivers that decode in GF(2). As a consequence of 1) and 3), Fulcrum has a unique trait missing so far in the network coding literature: providing the network with the flexibility to distribute computational complexity over different devices depending on their current load, network conditions, or energy constraints. At the core of our framework lies the idea of precoding at the sources using an expansion fieldGF(2h), h > 1, to increase the number of dimensions seen by the network. Fulcrum can use any high-field linear code for precoding, e.g., Reed-Solomon or Random Linear Network Coding (RLNC). Our analysis shows that the number of additional dimensions created during precoding controls the trade-off between delay, overhead, and computing complexity. Our implementation and measurements show that Fulcrum achieves similar decoding probabilities as high field RLNC but with encoders and decoders that are an order of magnitude faster. INDEX TERMS Decoding probability, random linear network coding (RLNC), resource-constrained devices, throughput.


Many student internships are short term and do not delay graduation. Some internships however are lengthier and delay graduation by a whole year. These internships, in addition to facilitating the transition from school to work, are expected to have educational benefits. This paper estimates the causal effects of year-long internships (known as work placements in the UK) on post-internship academic performance and degree classification. These effects are identified using instrumental variable methods that rely on detailed institution-level information. We find that the average internship effect on the post-internship grades is in effect zero, but the effect on the probability of a degree in one of the top two classes is in the order of 10 percent. Using (unconditional) quantile treatment effects we find two features that reconcile these estimates. First, internship effects decrease as one moves up the grade distribution. Second, internship effects are positive just below the threshold of a 'good' degree. These findings do not support skill-based arguments in support of subsidizing internships. Instead they suggest that students use work experience to update their beliefs on the market value of educational attainment and adjust their efforts accordingly.


ABSTRACT This paper addresses two questions: Which manufacturing industries are associated with the inception of knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS)? Do cross-sectoral interdependencies between the two sectoral macro-domains exhibit geographical heterogeneity? We use a job multiplier approach using decadal employment data of 399 municipalities in Spain over the period 1981–2011. The main result is that only traditional supplier-dominated industries exhibit significant employment effects, both positive and negative, on KIBS. Coherent with the prior literature, this is most prominent in denser areas. Our findings draw attention to the specificities of user industries, and lend support to the notion that KIBS are a heterogeneous group of activities.


Ceruloplasmin (Cp) is a sensitive indicator of inflammation and infection. It is a liver-derived a2-glycoprotein and is synthesized primarily as a positive acute-phase reactant. Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) is oft associated with suppurative infections and is recognized as an inherent member of the microflora of the skin of humans and dogs and is responsible for a diverse spectrum of diseases. This infection was chosen because Staphylococcus aureus presented in a lot of animals –dogs, horses, cats, pigs, cattle, pigeons. Our aim in this experiment was to examine Cp concentrations in dogs that were exposed to Staphylococcus aureus infection and then evaluate how Cp could be used as an indicator of this bacterial infection in dogs. For that, Cp concentrations were determined in plasmas from 9 mongrel male dogs (in experimental group) and 6 mongrel male dogs (in control group) at the age of 2 years and body weight 12-15 kg. The infection was reproduced by inoculation of 5 ml 24 h broth culture of S. aureus strain with density of 3.1x109 c.f.u./ml in the lumbar region of experimental animals and same quantity saline in control (non-infected) dogs. Blood samples were collected into heparinized tubes before inoculation (hour 0) then at hours 6, 24, 48, 72 and on days 7, 14, 21 at the same time was taking blood and from controls. One day after inoculation, we observed that Cp showed consistent upward trend and between 24 to 72 hours, the values were from 66.55 to 66.88 mg/L, after that we noticed a peak of the concentration on the 7th day (109.5±7.82 mg/L). At the end of the experimental period (21 days) this acute phase protein remained still higher (81.88±6.59 mg/L) compared to baseline. In conclusion, dogs experimentally infected with Staphylococcus aureus showed an acute phase response characterized by statistically significant (p<0.001) twofold increase in Cp concentration on the seventh day after inoculation. Therefore, the results of this study suggest that ceruloplasmin can be a useful marker for the presence of staphylococcal infection in dogs.


The authors hypothesize that social comparisons can have automatic influences on self-perceptions. This was tested by determining whether subliminal exposure to comparison information influences implicit and explicit self-evaluation. Study 1 showed that subliminal exposure to social comparison information increased the accessibility of the self. Study 2 revealed that subliminal exposure to social comparison information resulted in a contrast effect on explicit self-evaluation. Study 3 showed that subliminal exposure to social comparison information affects self-evaluations more easily than it affects mood or evaluations of other people. Studies 4 and 5 replicated these self-evaluation effects and extended them to implicit measures. Study 6 showed that automatic comparisons are responsive to a person's perceptual needs, such that they only occur when people are uncertain about themselves. Implications for theories of social cognition, judgment, and comparison are discussed.


HPC applications have been gaining lot of attention in the cloud computing world. Most of these applications are scientific applications that require large CPU capabilities and are also data intensive requiring large data storage. Traditionally they have always required large number of computers inter-connected in a network such as clusters or supercomputers. These clusters are difficult to setup and maintain both technically and financially. With the advent of cloud computing and benefits of Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) and Platform as a Service (PaaS), scientists and researchers are able to deploy their HPC applications in the cloud without worrying about the costs associated with the infrastructure and other costs involved. They also give guarantees on the quality of service (QoS). This paper focuses on documenting some of the research already done in the field of HPC applications and their current state in cloud computing.


Impact of some insecticides and their mixtures (Emamectin benzoate, Imidaclopride, Chlorfenapyr, Indoxacarb, Profenofos, Pyridalyl, Methomyl and Teflubenzuron) were evaluated against the tomato borers, Tuta absoluta (Meyrick) and Helicoverpa armigera (Hübner) population in tomato crop at Upper Egypt. Results of LC50 values indicated that Emamectin benzoate was the most toxic compound (LC50 0.461%) against T. absoluta, larvae. The carbamate insecticide, Methomyl, followed this descending order, showing almost similar toxicity, while Teflubenzuron and Chlorfenapyr were less effective (LC50 1.054 and 3.165%, respectively). Pyridalyl was found to be the most effective insecticide against larval stage of H. armigera. (LC50 0.513%). The corresponding toxicities of the other tested insecticides, arranged according to their LC50 values in descending order were as follow: Methomyl, Emamectin benzoate, Profenofos, Imidaclopride, Teflubenzuron, Indoxacarb and Chlorfenapyr. Their LC50 values were ranged between (0.513 and 0.872%). While, their toxicity indexes were ranged between (92.432 and 58.830%, respectively). On the other hand, there were no differences occurred among the treatments. Mean of percent infestation was decreased six weeks after six sprayings, and the per cent reduction in infestation was 79.73, 80.22, 78.41, 80.88, 80.50, 78.30, 79.64 and 78.25% using Emamectin benzoate, Methomyl, Imidaclopride, Pyridalyl, Profenofos, Indoxacarb, Teflubenzuron and Chlorfenapyr, respectively. The efficiency of the tested insecticides was increased with increasing the number of sprays from two to six causing reduction in insect borer infestation ranged between 68.02 and 80.88%, respectively. Generally, the tested insecticides and their mixtures achieved a considerable reduction in T. absoluta and H. armigera population.


Physical therapy is routinely delivered to patients after discharge from the hospital following knee arthroplasty (KA). Posthospitalization physical therapy is thought to be beneficial, particularly for those patients most at risk for poor outcome, the subgroup with persistent function-limiting pain despite an apparently successful surgery. Research teams have undertaken 3 large-scale multicenter Phase III randomized clinical trials designed specifically for patients at risk for poor outcome following KA. All 3 trials screened for poor outcome risk using different methods and investigated different physical therapist interventions delivered in different ways. Despite the variety of types of physical therapy and mode of delivery, all trials found no effects of the enhanced treatment as compared with usual care. In all cases, usual care required a lower dosage of physical therapy as compared with the enhanced interventions. This Perspective compares and contrasts the 3 trials, speculates on factors that may explain the no-effect findings, and proposes areas for future study designed to benefit the poor outcome phenotype.


Compounds containing bridged bicyclic carbon skeletons
are desirable building blocks for medicinal chemistry. However, as a result of
their inefficient, linear syntheses, commercially available compounds of this
sort are plagued by high costs and/or a lack of diversity in substitution
patterns. Herein we report the conversion of the readily available bicyclo[1.1.1]pentan-1-amine
substructure to a wide range of poly-substituted bicyclo[3.1.1]pentan-1-amines
using imine photochemistry. To our knowledge, this is the first reported method
to convert the bicyclo[1.1.1]pentane skeleton to the bicyclo[3.1.1]heptane
skeleton. Hydrolysis of the imine products gives complex, sp3-rich
primary amine building blocks.


When researchers use statistical models to gain insights into various phenomena, they make a tacit assumption that most (if not all) of the important predictor variables with respect to the outcome are included in the analysis. However, in practice this may not always be possible, whether because some important variables could not be measured, or because a researcher was not aware of all such important predictors. Prior research has shown that when important variables are omitted from both linear and nonlinear regression models, the model coefficients can be biased, with greater levels of bias being associated with larger correlations between the missing and retained variables. However, very little work has examined how such omissions impact the performance of variable importance measures used with popular machine learning algorithms. Therefore, the purpose of this simulation study was to address this gap in the literature and thereby provide insights into the impact of such omissions on variable importance measures for classification and regression trees, random forests, and boosting algorithms. Results showed that when an important variable is omitted from an analysis, other predictors that are correlated with and/or involved in an interaction with it will have inflated variables importance measures themselves. An empirical example and implications of these results are discussed.
Journal of Statistical Research 2021, Vol. 55, No. 2, pp. 335-358


Before flashover across an insulator under high electric field in vacuum, there are charging phenomena occurring on the insulator surface, which significantly affect the developing process of flashover. Based on the secondary-electron-emission-avalanche model and by using the Monte Carlo method, a 2-D analysis of surface charge density on cylindrical and conical insulators prior to flashover in vacuum has been performed under unipolar voltage. Different materials are employed, i.e., alumina ceramic, PTFE, PMMA, and PI. The influences of materials, voltage amplitudes, and coning angles on charge distribution are investigated. The results reveal that negative charges exist in a small surface region near the cathode, while the surface charges positive in a larger region away from the cathode. With increasing applied voltage, both the negative charge density and region decrease, and even vanish, whereas both the positive charge density and region increase, and the peaks of both regions move toward the cathode. For the conical insulator with a negative angle, the positive charge density is greater than that with a positive angle, and the simulation describes well experimental data relating the coning angle, the surface charge, and the flashover voltage.


Bell's palsy is defined as an idiopathic unilateral facial nerve paralysis, usually self-limiting. Bell's palsy was first described by Charles Bell and is the most common cause of acute facial nerve paralysis (>80%). Immune, infective and ischemic mechanisms are all believed to play a role in the development of Bell's palsy, but the precise cause remains unclear. From corticosteroids to botulinum injections, wide therapeutic approaches have been employed for treating bell's palsy. Here, a case management and brief review of bell's palsy is discussed.


This paper puts forward policy scenarios for community well-being in Seoul Metropolitan City, Korea using system dynamics and the sensitivity analysis method, scenarios which it is hoped will be of great benefit to policy-makers and practitioners involved in the field of community well-being. In the process, it attempts to predict what, if these policy scenarios are applied, will happen in the area of community well-being and related phenomena in Seoul City in the future. In so doing, the paper constructs a causal model in order to analyse the complex interrelationships between the factors affecting community well-being in Seoul and to simulate the possible behaviour of community well-being over the period 2017-27.


The purpose of this work is producing bismuth telluride based alloys with both well-orientated texture and fine grains to improve thermoelectric properties. The angular extrusion process was applied to Bi1.9Sb0.1Te2.7Se0.3 foils which were prepared by a liquid quenching method [1]. The extrusion temperatures examined ranged from 380 to 540 °C. The microstructures of the specimens were characterized with an optical microscope and OIM. Recrystallized grains sizes ranging from 3.61 to 10.01 μm were obtained at these temperatures. The textures of the specimens show the basal plane preferably aligns along to the extruded direction. A maximum power factor of 4.18 × 10-3 W / mK2 was obtained in this work. These results indicate that the angular extrusion process is effective to improve the thermoelectric properties of bismuth telluride based alloy.


Registration is an important task in image processing used to match two or more images. In the field of medical imaging, registration is used to match anatomic structures from two or more images taken at different times to track for example the evolution of a disease. Intensity based techniques are widely used in multimodal registration. To have the best matching, a cost function expressing the similarity between these images is maximized. To resolve this problem, we evaluate two global optimization techniques that are genetic algorithms and simulated annealing. In this paper we show some results obtained in medical images registration.


To evaluate the efficiency of an inpatient stage of treatment in adult patients with tuberculosis (n = 4326, including 54.9% with lung decay cavities, 52.5% with bacterial isolation, 44.9% with new-onset tuberculosis), the authors examined the 2004 data of therapeutic department of 12 tuberculosis care facilities in the Republic of Bashkortostan. Drug resistance was established in 23.4%, including multidrug resistance in 13.3% (among those with new-onset tuberculosis, these figures were 13.2 and 4.8%, respectively). By discharge, complex etiopathogenetic treatment using artificial pneumothorax and pneumoperitoneum could cease bacterial isolation in 51.6%, including in 37.1% of those with drug resistance and in 31.8% of those with multiple drug resistance. Among the patients with new-onset tuberculosis, these figures were much higher and equal to 73.3, 66.9, and 60.5%, respectively. Decay cavity closure was achieved in 23.9%, including in 13.5% of those with drug resistance and in 9.5% of those with multiple drug resistance (among the patients with new-onset tuberculosis, these figures were 44.6, 33.3, and 24.3%, respectively). The important factors suppressing the higher efficiency of inpatient treatment are comorbidity and incompliance that reduce bacterial isolation cessation to 16.2 and 21.4%, respectively). In patients with new-onset pulmonary tuberculosis, an average of 156.4 bed-days were required to cease bacterial isolation and 169.7 bed-days were to close decay cavities. To enhance the results of inpatient treatment, it is necessary to perform an effective treatment of comorbidity, to eliminate the factors leading to incompliance, and to apply Law phi3-77 "On Prevention of Prevalence of Tuberculosis in the Russian Federation".


Infrared atmospheric transmission from 0.5 μ to 15 μ is shown as measured over three horizontal paths of 1000 ft, 3.4 statute mi, and 10.1 statute mi. The intense source, a 60-in. carbon arc searchlight, permits a resolution throughout of about 10 wave numbers. Work is continuing in an effort to obtain data taken under a wide range of atmospheric and meteorological conditions. The data presented here represent an average relatively clear winter day, a moderately dense fog and a snowstorm.


AbstractNumerical simulations are carried out to investigate the spreading of two-dimensional plane turbulent aerated and nonaerated jets in a tank filled with finite water depth. A multiphase model is applied to simulate the problem under investigation. The governing equations, their numerical scheme, and the boundary conditions are presented. Aerated and nonaerated turbulent jets are simulated for a range of the jet velocity and width at exit, the initial air content at exit, and the water depth in tank. The simulated results show that a self-similar Gaussian velocity distribution exists from the distance downstream being larger than five jet slot width for both the aerated and nonaerated jets. Good agreement between the simulated velocity profiles and available laboratory experiments is obtained. The simulated slope of the jet velocity decay along the jet center line is in good agreement with the experimental measurements. The effect of air content on pressure distribution and the maximum impinging hyd...


Despite the prescribed benefits of insulin widely used in treating diabetes, patients still feel the inconvenience and perceived pain related to multiple daily administrations by needle insulin injections. Approved inhaled insulin of the second generation has not so far achieved expectations. Design of needle-free delivery systems for insulin is an active area of research and this paper reports on the development of a new needle-free approach to deliver insulin treating diabetes. Porous TiNi-based alloys serve as high-density materials being capable of holding insulin solutions within the structure of the material, and infrared radiation promotes the directional diffusion of insulin from the TiNi porous structure into the skin. Taking these two facts into account, the needle-free device (NFD) for delivering insulin uses a new porous-permeable TiNi-based material and a novel infrared radiation mediated delivery system. The NFD described causes no skin irritation or lesions and is safe to use in practice. Its efficiency in delivering insulin was clinically assessed on 42 diabetic patients. The results show promising prospects as a new technology for delivering insulin and other liquid drugs. Copyright © 2016 VBRI Press.


A large number of municipal bonds are guaranteed by monoline insurers who are at the center of the subprime crisis. This article investigates the effect of insurer-related counterparty risk on municipal bond pricing using a comprehensive dataset. The authors estimate both insurer-specific and systemic components of a counterparty risk effect. Results show that the magnitude of the counterparty risk effect is of economic significance even in normal times and is magnified during the crisis. The findings also indicate that this effect is much larger than that documented for the credit default swap and repo markets. The counterparty risk premium is higher for speculative-grade and illiquid bonds and for bonds issued by troubled states.


This research studies the association- of the cervical condyloma with the intraepithelial neoplasia, during sex activity, pregnancy, diagnose methods, cytology and colposcopy in teenagers. The objective of this research is to study the propaedeutics for the uterine coli condyloma diagnose in a group of teenagers. For this purpose, we have studied 131 teenagers sexually active with ages between 14 and 19 years and presenting histologically confirmed uterine coli condyloma. Association with intraepithelial neoplasia, sexual ativity duration, method of diagnose, pregnancy analysis, cytology and colposcopy results and association with vulva and vagina injuries were evaluated. The high association rate with condyloma and intraepithelial neoplasia after a short time of sexual activity and the none presence of macroscopic warts in the genital organs in 80% of cases presenting cervical condyloma, demonstrate that: a more careful investigation with colposcopy.and biopsy of the inferior genitals of the women-teenagers sexually active is needed, when presenting modified cervical cytology.


Intravascular catheters are the most common cause of nosocomially acquired bloodstream infections. Bacteria found adhering to the intraluminal surfaces of catheters are the principal source and cause of these infections. Adherent bacteria overtime are known to form multicellular communities which become encased within a three dimensional matrix of extracellular polymeric material known as biofilms, which are thought to be responsible for persistent infections. Consequently, a number of technologies have been developed to help prevent and control biofilms in intravascular catheters. One such approach involves impregnating catheter material with antimicrobial agents. Unfortunately these methods are not universally effective in preventing catheter-related biofilm infections. Technologies that utilise antimicrobials, as catheter locks have been shown to have more potential for preventing biofilm formation and reducing the incidences of catheter related bloodstream infections (CRBSI). This article discusses the significance of biofilms in intravascular catheters and determines whether the treatments available today are proving to be effective for controlling biofilms and draws attention to future avenues which are being investigated to control biofilms and therefore CRBSI. (J Vasc Access 2007; 8: 69-80)


'Humour and topicality along a cold enigmatic trail of murder' Observer Life is a bed of roses for Patrick Aldermann when Great Aunt Florence collapses into her Madam Louis Laperrieres and he inherits Rosemont House with its splendid gardens. But when his boss, 'Dandy' Dick Elgood, suggests to Peter Pascoe that Aldermann is a murderer -- then retracts the accusation -- the inspector is left with a thorny problem. By then Police Cadet Singh, Mid-Yorkshire's first Asian copper, had dug up some very interesting information about Patrick's elegant wife Daphne. Superintendent Dalziel, meanwhile, is attempting to relive the days of Empire with Singh as his tea-wallah.


The Language and Style of the Letters of St. Basil. A Dissertation submitted . . . for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy. By SISTER AGNES CLARE WAY. Pp. xvi+230. Washington, D.C. : The Catholic University of America, 1927. T H I S work comprises Vol. XIII. in the Patristic Studies of the Catholic University of America. It is divided into three main parts, concerned with syntax, vocabulary, and style respectively. The author has obviously spent much labour on her task, and the book will prove useful to students of late Greek. Her special aim has been to deal with the unclassical element in St. Basil's letters. The part dealing with syntax, though good as far as it goes, leaves certain questions unanswered: one would have liked to hear something of npiv, Has, c<p' OTE, for example, and if these expressions do not occur in Basil, it would be interesting to note the fact. The use of iv with the dative to express means is called 'poetic' (pp. 6, 13), but it used to be considered a Hebraism till it was found in papyri : on p. 16 dcpetScbs and i\\nr£>s are wrongly placed among the adverbs formed from participles. The section dealing with vocabulary is perhaps the most welcome, though the writer does not appear to know Preisigke's Worterbuch, which would have given her full information of the vocabulary of papyri; nor does she seem to have studied inscriptions sufficiently. What is worse is that the Concordance to the Greek New Testament has not been scanned with sufficient care. For example, the word avfiUms (p. 132) occurs hundreds of times in the inscriptions of Asia Minor, and ei(f>pocrvvri, said (on p. 85) to occur only in poetry, occurs twice in the New Testament. On p. 47 npoKtrrdkfavai is given as a possible alternative form for npoKaraXeaiva; on p. 50 KKi/iaKrjSov is said to come from two nouns ; on p. 51 (TKavSaKi{a means / cause to fall, not / fall; under (pv\oicpivea> (p. 58) add Synesius, as also under eVairoW&j/u (p. 59) and tnap\os (p. 128) ; on p. 74 and elsewhere Tertullian is quoted, as if he were a Greek writer, for Greek words that he does not use, and where his only connexion is that of subject-matter; dn-oSexros (p. 89), irpouiccupos (p. 95), 8«i>ica>, / persecute (p. 138), an-o^Xijros (p. I2o), orepeoj/ia (p. 132) are in the New Testament; iroljivui (p. 105) should be noiiiviov, and \6yios (p. 115) should be \6yiov; the Christian meaning of <TVV8UIKOVOS is omitted (p. 119). The Latin words used by Basil (pp. 159 f.) are a very welcome and interesting list, as is also the writer's treatment of honorary titles for ecclesiastics, etc. (pp. 160 ff.). On p. 159 the error Sr)<repTopa>v for the correct hr)crepTe>pa>v might have been pointed out, confusion of o and a> being very common in MSS.; TpaKrevTrjs can hardly be called a Latin word (p. 160). The writer does not seem to suspect that the use of the iota subscript in the infinitive (p. 173) may be purely editorial. It appears to me that this, the most valuable part of the book, suffers rather from over-classification. The section on style, in which instances of various figures used by Basil are given, calls for no comment. The book is well indexed, but contains too many misprints, which are by no means confined to the Greek accents.


Values are lasting beliefs that are at the center of human behavior and not be often changed. Different values make different behaviors, and similar values form similar behaviors. Consumers` values affect not only the cognitive process but also behaviors in a powerful and comprehensive way. There have been many studies regarding prediction of consumer patterns and identification, measurement methods of values. This is because if we can accurately measure the value system, it can be used in many areas of marketing such as market segmentation, new product development, and advertisement. In case of seafood, it is also necessary to make marketing strategies by segmenting consumers based on their value systems. The objectives of this study are as follows: First, it is to find out the connection process from the properties of seafood products that consumers consider important, to the benefits, and finally to the values they pursue by applying the means-end chain theory, using the Laddering method. Second, using a two-step cluster analysis, we aim to segment seafood markets based on consumers` values and investigate characteristics of segmented markets. Based on objectives, it is expected that this study would provide informations on seafood consumers and help to establish seafood marketing strategies for producers and distributors. Analytical results of the value system using a means-end chain theory indicated that there were seven complete links, that is, ladders among fresh seafood products. In case of processed seafood products, there were total 9 complete ladders. The empirical analytical results of market segmentation according to the values showed fresh seafood products were divided into three groups. In case of processed seafood products were segmented into two groups.


Text is based on an evaluation of the existing development of the ethics of social consequences. Based on this analysis, chapter focus on the unfulfilled challenges which are opening up for this ethical concept. One area of possible further development of the ethics of social consequences is also the reflection of environmental issues as one of the important components of bioethical theory. The text therefore offers suggestions for further development of the ethics of social consequences in this thematic focus. Research analysis concludes the concept of ethics of social consequences should focus on new deeper (ontologically based) thinking of the axiological roots of the environmental issue (e.g. philosophical category "value of life"). Against the ethics of social consequences, other possibilities of theoretical development are being opened here. It could play an important role of an inspiration with the other contemporary philosophical concepts (e.g. evolutionary ontology).


Acetylcholinesterase (AChE)-based biosensing methods are limited due to facile denaturation and leakage during the immobilization process. Accordingly, enzyme mimics have demonstrated extensive potential in versatile catalysis applications, since they provide desirable advantages over natural enzymes, including low-cost scalable production combined with flexible experimental conditions. Herein, we investigate the performance of a functionalized polyacrylamide, polyhydroxamicalkanoate (PHA) for the hydrolysis of the acetylthiocholine (ATCh) substrate as well as paraoxon-ethyl dephosphorylation. Polyhydroxamicalkanoate contains hydroxamic and carboxyl groups inserted along its backbone acting as an active site. This mimetic model exhibited significant rate enhancements for ATCh hydrolysis of over 108-fold in pH 7.0 and over 107-fold in pH 8.0. In this contribution, density functional theory calculations were employed to explore, at the atomistic level, the interactions between the bio-inspired AChE material with ATCh in addition to paraoxon-ethyl. Vibrational analysis validates our structural models for ATCh, paraoxon-ethyl and PHA. Remarkably, the adsorption energy of paraoxon-ethyl–PHA is 3-fold higher than that of ATCh–PHA. The foregoing result implies that paraoxon-ethyl strongly inhibits the polymeric active site in comparison with ATCh due to a covalent bond between the phosphorus atom in the pesticide and the oxygen atom in the hydroxamate moiety in PHA, releasing p-nitrophenolate. This study sheds light on the interaction mechanism that an AChE-based bioinspired polymer undergoes in ATCh hydrolysis and paraoxon-ethyl dephosphorylation. The modeling strategy consolidates the experimental outcomes which reveals the potential application of this biomimetic PHA polymer as an alternative for biosensing approaches.


The second half of the sixteenth century: a turning point in the organization of the Kingdom of Sardinia defense In the second half of the sixteenth century, in accordance with the centralization and reorganization of the administrative and military apparatus desired by Philip II in the States of the Iberian Monarchy, military defense was reorganized in the Kingdom of Sardinia, against the threatened Franc-Turkish invasion of the Island. Until that time, in fact, the defense of the Kingdom was based only on the modernization of the main Royal Cities fortifications. The inspiring principle of this strategy was the medieval one: to defend the Kingdom, it would have been enough to defend the Royal Cities of Cagliari and Alghero. Instead, starting from the Parliament wanted in 1558 by Philip II and summoned by the viceroy Alvaro de Madrigal, attention is also paid to the defense of the coastal perimeter of the whole island. In this Parliament, convened with the sole purpose of providing for the defense of the Kingdom against the looming Franc-Turkish threat, the foundations are laid for the reorganization of the administrative apparatus of the Kingdom, limiting the centrifugal tendencies of local feudalism; but above all, they are laid the foundations for the creation of a homogeneous defense system, abandoning the extemporaneous initiatives taken up to that time. By the end of the century, reports for the construction of a static defense system will be commissioned and the Royal Administration of Towers will be established, with the task of building, arming and maintaining the static defense system.


We solve for optimal consumption and portfolio choice in a life-cycle model with short-sales and borrowing constraints; undiversifiable labor income risk; and a predictable, time-varying, equity premium and show that the investor pursues aggressive market timing strategies. Importantly, in the presence of stock market predictability, the model suggests that the conventional financial advice of reducing stock market exposure as retirement approaches is correct on average, but ignoring changing market information can lead to substantial welfare losses. Therefore, enhanced target-date funds (ETDFs) that condition on expected equity premia increase welfare relative to target-date funds (TDFs). Out-of-sample analysis supports these conclusions.


The inward migration of the late 1990s and 2000s has changed
the fabric of society in Ireland. It altered the composition of media audiences
for Irish broadcasters, and raised questions as to how broadcasters
discuss migration and related issues; incorporate new audiences into
their programming; and deal with questions of media representation
and production.
Investigating the significance of media in a changing society
demands a multi-layered approach to research. This two-year research
project involved research interviews and surveys with media producers in
public, commercial and community radio and television; in-depth qualitative
research with Nigerian, Chinese and Polish research participants
nationwide; and an analysis of media policy nationally and comparatively
in Europe.
Irish media channels – in all sectors – have responded to this
changed social context through programming and a range of initiatives
concerning multiculturalism, interculturalism, and diversity. Part 1 of this
report discusses the background to these ideas in media policy, media
theory and wider public debate, and provides a basis for interpreting and
evaluating their use and significance in Ireland. It illustrates how these
ideas must be understood as relatively open discourses shaped by their
use in different contexts, rather than as set ideas or policy frameworks.
The regular media use of Nigerian, Chinese and Polish participants
discussed in Part 2 integrates local, Irish national, home-country national,
diasporic and transnational channels. This daily integration is facilitated
and limited by a range of material factors, notably newspaper circulation,
access to terrestrial Irish media, and Internet access. This integration is an
ongoing process influenced by language proficiency, length of time living
in Ireland, orientations towards past experiences and future horizons,
and cultural capital. Integrated media use involves relational viewing and
engagement, in which Irish media and other sources are compared and
contrasted, and organized in relation to each other according to different
needs, political readings, and pleasures.
A feature of daily, integrated media use is a fluid understanding of
local/national/international media. International news featuring issues/
contexts of interest is often intimately evaluated, and frequently seen
as being as consequential as representations of migrants in Ireland. The
presence of UK-based media in the public sphere in Ireland relativizes what
is understood as Irish media. For participants from countries as relatively
large and regionally complex as Nigeria, China and Poland, the national
horizons of Irish news were often understood as local or parochial, and
the scope of international news as being similarly limited;
Media monitoring and evaluation is more pronounced among
Nigerian participants, however all focus groups discussed the assumed
consequentiality of representations of migrants for their acceptance in
Ireland. As well as having a responsibility to provide fair and accurate representation,
many participants commented on the need for an increased
plurality of sources, perspectives and foci in Irish media.
This increased plurality was discussed in relation to news, and
also the spectrum of general programming available on television. This
understanding of diversity contrasted with the institutional idea of diversity
underpinning some public service broadcasting. Programming dealing
with multiculturalism – though frequently not primarily aimed at migrant
audiences – was often not received and interpreted as such. This understanding
of diversity does not preclude the importance attached by many
discussants to seeing increased diversity of people on Irish television.
Both mainstream Irish media and media aimed at national migrant
populations in Ireland were felt not to represent the internal diversity
and differences of migrant populations. Diasporic and transnational
media are centrally important for many participants across the focus
group streams, but not in obvious or predictable ways. News, lifestyle
and fictional programming on these services are watched relationally
and critically, and discussed according to a range of aesthetic, affective
and political criteria.
Much television use has migrated to Internet platforms, almost
to the same extent as newspaper use. This shift is a part of the pervasive
importance of Internet use for many participants. This viewing and listening
was integrated into a range of other multimedia and communicative
practices online. However Internet use is restricted for many by cost and
opportunity, and for those with the means, by widely criticized connection
speeds and coverage.
RTE has engaged consistently with the need to develop relevant
programming and institutional policies. Part 3 documents the development
of policy; the shift in radio programming away from first-wave
programmes – mainly aimed at representing migrant lives and experiences
to a mainstream Irish audience – to a still evolving emphasis on integrating
diversity into programming; the shift in television programming towards
a reliance on hybrid reality formats to normalize multiculturalism for a
national public audience
Community radio has been an important medium and space for the
development of migrant-produced programming, however the quantity and
scope of this programming has declined in 2009, for a variety of reasons.
Community television currently offers significant possibilities for both
migrant-led programming and for the integration of a broad spectrum of
perspectives and voices in media production
TV3 and TG4 regard specific policies in this area as overly rigid and
potentially counter-productive, and instead argue for an idea of diversity
emerging organically from the scope and focus of their programmes on
society in Ireland. The commercial radio sector is open to ideas and initiatives,
however pragmatic concerns regarding economies of scale and
the relationship between investment and return has meant that few such
initiatives – or radio programmes – have been developed. Exceptions to
this general trend are discussed in Part 3.
International, comparative research would suggest that broadcasting
in Ireland, particularly public service broadcasting, has reached
a point where first-wave programming primarily aimed at mainstream
audience understanding is no longer relevant, but where the challenge
of developing more integrated approaches to programme development
and media production – under the rubric of diversity – is only beginning
to take shape. The overarching conclusion of this report suggests that
this challenge involves a fundamental shift in considering how audiences,
and the public, are composed.
The recommendations of this report discuss different aspects
of this challenge by building on issues raised in the audience research.
In particular, the research emphasizes the need to focus as much on the
diversity of genres, programmes, and perspectives broadcast as the more
conventional idea of diversity as involving the representation of diverse
identities. This important difference in emphasis raises critical questions
concerning the current shift to frameworks of diversity as they are currently
understood and practiced in the different broadcast institutions.
The conclusions draw attention to the current and future importance
of training and the active inclusion of minorities in programme
development and production. While cognizant of the difficulties, pitfalls
and political controversies surrounding such issues, research suggests a
basic, if complex, relationship between the plurality of media workers and
a plurality of perspectives. The recommendations aimed at broadcasters
draw attention to a variety of ways that this could be done.


Under diazotrophic conditions in the absence of molybdenum and in the presence of vanadium, Azotobacter vinelandii reduces N2 to NH4+ by using nitrogenase-2, a V-containing enzyme complex encoded by vnfH (the gene for dinitrogenase reductase-2), and vnfDGK (the genes for dinitrogenase-2 subunits). Accumulation of the vnfHorfFd and vnfDGK transcripts occurred under Mo-deficient conditions in the presence and absence of V; however, in the case of vnfDGK, the protein products only accumulated in the presence of V. This suggests that V is required for translation of the vnfDGK transcripts. In addition, expression of vnfH-lacZ and vnfD-lacZ transcriptional fusions was only partially repressed in the presence of NH4+. Transcripts hybridizing with vnfH (1.4 and 1.0 kb), vnfDG (3.4 and 1.8 kb), and vnfK (3.4 kb) were detected in RNA extracted from wild-type cells cultured with NH4+ in the presence or absence of V. However, nitrogenase-2 subunits were not detected in extracts of cells derepressed for nitrogenase-2 in the presence of NH4+. These results indicate that this nitrogen source acts at the posttranscriptional level as well as at the transcriptional level. vnf transcripts were not detected in the presence of Mo (with or without NH4+).


The Elementary School teachers' first experiences after initial education are commonly followed by insecurity and by debates regarding the pressure established in the schools. The lonely and stimulusless work of the pairs causes difficulties to the teachers who are just starting. This research analyses the contributions that cooperation can bring to the Elementary School's first years teachers' building process in their initial teaching experiences in a context of reflexive and investigative practices related to Mathematics. The collaborating group was made up by the researcher and two teachers: Mel, who was experiencing her first teaching practices, and Ana, who, although she was newly graduated, has been a teacher for ten years, due to a High School teaching profession course, which enabled her to teach the first years. Cochran-Smith and Lytle (1999), Marcelo (1998), and Schon (1992) studies related to teachers' education were taken as the basis for this research. The analysis states that the lonely work interferes on the teaching practices and that the insertion in collaborative groups and the reflections on the practices, besides providing the teacher with security, enables the theorization of the practice.


In lowand middle-income countries (LMICs), at least 60 percent of the surgical operations performed are for emergencies. Contrary to widespread belief, it has been shown that the provision of treatment, which is often lifesaving for these patients, can be inexpensive. The staff and equipment required at first-level facilities for all categories of surgical emergency, including trauma (chapter 3) and obstetrics (chapter 5), are essentially the same. Accordingly, the treatment of general surgical emergencies requires little additional cost and should be part of the services offered at first-level facilities. This chapter


Seismic reflection profiles and two shallow cores have revealed a sediment drift complex in the northeastern Rockall Trough.The drift complex consists of an elongate drift with associated sediment waves, a broad sheeted drift with a larger field of sediment waves, and smaller, moat-related, isolated drifts. The internal reflection configuration of these features indicates consistent upslope migration throughout the late Cenozoic. The larger field of sediment waves has been described previously with a southerly migration; a reevalution of these waves suggests a migration direction to the east, conforming with the other drift complex features. The most vigorous current activity probably occurred during the Miocene, with a more reduced current flow prevailing during the Pliocene to Holocene interval. Core evidence from the elongate drift and the moat has revealed upper Pleistocene and lower Holocene glaciomarine sediments reworked to produce muddy-silty and sandy contourites. Sedimentation rates for the early Holocene (pre-7.5 ka) are up to 4-times greater on the drift compared to the moat. It is suggested that the sediment drift complex has formed through the interaction of a northward flowing slope current, of North Atlantic Deep Water origin, with an area of complex bathymetry at the northeastern end of the Rockall Trough, where the Wyville-Thomson Ridge intersects the Hebridean Margin.


Summary 192 patients with acromegaly were examined. Their reproductive disorders were found to be a result of the suppressed synthesis of gonadotropin hormones due to the tumor compression of the adenohypophysis, due to blocking effect of hyperprolactinemia on the gonadotropic function or as a result of the direct impact of insulin-like growth factor-I stimulating hyperplastic processes in target organs, such as ovaries, the glandular epithelium of the breast and myometrium. The structure of reproductive disorders in patients with acromegaly includes menstrual disturbances, infertility, early menopause and hyperplastic processes. Close management of the reproductive system, early detection of neoplasia and correction of the existing disorders are highly required during therapy for acromegaly. аcromegaly, growth hormone, insulin-like growth factor-I, hypogonadism, infertility, hyperplasia.


In this broad yet sympathetic survey — ranging from the Crusades to the modern day — this book explores the social, political, and cultural encounters between Britain and Islam. The book looks, for instance, at how reactions against the Crusades led to Anglo-Muslim collaboration under the Tudors, at how Britain posed as defender of Islam in the Victorian period, and at her role in rearranging the Muslim world after 1918. It argues that, contrary to current assumptions, Islamic groups have often embraced Western ideas, including modernization and liberal democracy. The book shows how the difficulties and Islamophobia that Muslims have experienced in Britain since the 1970s are largely caused by an acute crisis in British national identity. In truth, Muslims have become increasingly key participants in mainstream British society — in culture, sport, politics, and the economy.


User authentication based on username and password is the most common means to enforce access control. This form of access restriction is prone to hacking since stolen usernames and passwords can be exploited to impersonate legitimate users in order to commit malicious activity. Biometric authentication incorporates additional user characteristics such as the manner by which the keyboard is used in order to identify users. We introduce a novel approach for user authentication based on the keystroke dynamics of the password entry. A classifier is tailored to each user and the novelty lies in the manner by which the training set is constructed. Specifically, only the keystroke dynamics of a small subset of users, which we refer to as representatives, is used along with the password entry keystroke dynamics of the examined user. The contribution of this approach is twofold: it reduces the possibility of overfitting, while allowing scalability to a high volume of users. We propose two strategies to construct the subset for each user. The first selects the users whose keystroke profiles govern the profiles of all the users, while the second strategy chooses the users whose profiles are the most similar to the profile of the user for whom the classifier is constructed. Results are promising reaching in some cases 90% area under the curve. In many cases, a higher number of representatives deteriorate the accuracy which may imply overfitting. An extensive evaluation was performed using a dataset containing over 780 users.


The relationship between orthography, phonology and morphology varies with different languages and writing systems. These relationships are by no means random. They follow rules, albeit with exceptions, even for relatively irregular languages like English. In this paper, we present the PolyOrth approach to representing these relationships, which definines orthographic forms in terms of their phonological and morphological correspondences within inheritance lexicons. The approach involves defining Finite State Transducers (FSTs), but in a much more subtle way than traditional speech-to-text or text-to-speech transducers. We define FSTs to provide phoneme to grapheme mappings for onsets, peaks and codas, as well as a grapheme to grapheme FST which defines spelling rules. We demonstrate the approach applied to English, Dutch and German. These three languages are interesting because they share many features of all three levels (orthography, morphology and phonology) whilst also demonstrating significant differences. This allows us to illustrate not only a range of different orthography/ phonology/ morphology relationships within languages but also the possibility of sharing information about such mappings across languages.


We present a method for robustly detecting hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) in phase contrast microscopy images. HSCs appear to be easy to detect since they typically appear as round objects. However, when HSCs are touching and overlapping, showing the variations in shape and appearance, standard pattern detection methods, such as Hough transform and correlation, do not perform well. The proposed method exploits the output pattern of a ring filter bank applied to the input image, which consists of a series of matched filters with multiple-radius ring-shaped templates. By modeling the profile of each filter response as a quadratic surface, we explore the variations of peak curvatures and peak values of the filter responses when the ring radius varies. The method is validated on thousands of phase contrast microscopy images with different acquisition settings, achieving 96.5% precision and 94.4% recall.


AIMS
The effect of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol-lowering therapy with alirocumab or evolocumab on individual clinical efficacy and safety endpoints remains unclear. We aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of alirocumab and evolocumab in patients with dyslipidaemia or atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease.

METHODS AND RESULTS
We performed a review of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing treatment with alirocumab or evolocumab vs. placebo or other lipid-lowering therapies up to March 2018. Primary efficacy endpoints were all-cause death, cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction (MI), and stroke. We estimated risk ratios (RR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) using random effect models. We included 39 RCTs comprising 66 478 patients of whom 35 896 were treated with proprotein convertase subtilisin-kexin type 9 (PCSK9) inhibitors (14 639 with alirocumab and 21 257 with evolocumab) and 30 582 with controls. Mean weighted follow-up time across trials was 2.3 years with an exposure time of 150 617 patient-years. Overall, the effects of PCSK9 inhibition on all-cause death and cardiovascular death were not statistically significant (P = 0.15 and P = 0.34, respectively). Proprotein convertase subtilisin-kexin type 9 inhibitors were associated with lower risk of MI (1.49 vs. 1.93 per 100 patient-year; RR 0.80, 95% CI 0.74-0.86; I2 = 0%; P < 0.0001), ischaemic stroke (0.44 vs. 0.58 per 100 patient-year; RR 0.78, 95% CI 0.67-0.89; I2 = 0%; P = 0.0005), and coronary revascularization (2.16 vs. 2.64 per 100 patient-year; RR 0.83, 95% CI 0.78-0.89; I2 = 0%; P < 0.0001), compared with the control group. Use of these PCSK9 inhibitors was not associated with increased risk of neurocognitive adverse events (P = 0.91), liver enzymes elevations (P = 0.34), rhabdomyolysis (P = 0.58), or new-onset diabetes mellitus (P = 0.97).

CONCLUSION
Proprotein convertase subtilisin-kexin type 9 inhibition with alirocumab or evolocumab was associated with lower risk of MI, stroke, and coronary revascularization, with favourable safety profile.


An executive of one of the major research foundations recently said: "We are at a critical stage in the history of science. We have learned to recognize problems so complex that no one discipline is able to solve them. At the same time we know very little about how to maintain productive collaborative research among scholars representing divergent disciplines. Out of some two hundred or so interdisciplinary projects with which we are associated I doubt if more than ten or fifteen will be sufficiently productive to reach publication." Two psychiatrists and a linguistic-anthropologist have demonstrated in The First Five Minutes that cross-disciplinary collaboration can be fruitful if certain necessary conditions are met. First, investigators must be concerned with a real problem of common interest. In this case, in the broadest sense of the phrase, the authors wished to know "what actually happened during a part of a tape-recorded interview."


Accurate time series forecasting are important for displaying the manner in which the past continues to affect the future and for planning our day to-day activities. In recent years, a large literature has evolved on the use of evolving artificial neural networks (EANNs) in many forecasting applications. Evolving neural networks are particularly appealing because of their ability to model an unspecified nonlinear relationship between time series variables. This paper evaluates two methods to evolve neural networks architectures, one carried out with genetic algorithm and a second one carry out with differential evolution algorithm. A comparative study between these two methods, with a set of referenced time series will be shown. The object of this study is to try to improve the final forecasting getting an accurate system.


Introduction We investigated the relationship between organisational/management factors at work with health factors in the manufacturing sector. Materials and Methods A survey was undertaken in 23 establishments, including 630 workers, and 47 supervisors. In addition, 10 focus group discussions (FGDs) for workers, and 5 FGDs for supervisors were undertaken. Results Workers and supervisors both reported illnesses and job dissatisfaction. The survey found that the most prevalent issues among workers were: the need to upgrade skills (76.3%), feeling pressured in doing work (60.5%), fast paced work (60.5%), repetitive work (63%), and that work is both physically and mentally tiring (59.7%). Among supervisors the issues raised included: work described as challenging and stimulating (66%), needing regular upgrading of skills (46.8%), and needing literature on information technology (31.9%). Focus group discussions showed that workers and supervisors were confronted with stress, fast-paced work, the need to upgrade skills in order to accommodate new information technology into the work production, fatigue, re-engineering and downsizing by management, low job control and difficult worker-supervisor relationship. Conclusions This study was able to show that health of workers and supervisors is affected by both organisational and management factors at work.


The EDTA regressive staining procedure to detect RNA (Bernhard's technique) is based on the proposition that after staining ultrathin sections with uranyl the stain is preferentially removed from DNA rather than RNA by the action of the chelating agent EDTA. Whilst attempting to use the EDTA regressive staining procedure to detect the presence of RNA in the large granule complexes of chicken erythrocyte nuclei, certain anomalous staining patterns were observed in the chromatin of these nuclei. Essentially, these were that the edges of condensed chromatin bodies stained positively for RNA even though this molecule is known not to be present there in significant quantities. The staining patterns suggested that chromatin was retaining its stain in a manner expected of RNA but not DNA as a consequence of EDTA-containing species failing to pass freely through the section. This hypothesis was tested by carrying out the EDTA procedure on embedded specimens of a DNA-containing virus, simian virus 40 (SV40), small enough not to be exposed at the surface of the section. In this way it has been shown that virus particles completely surrounded by resin destain so much more slowly than chromatin, which is accessible at the surface of the section, that without any other information it would be concluded that the viruses contained RNA, not DNA. This apparently anomalous result arises because the difficulties encountered by stain or EDTA molecules in passing through a plastic section were not appreciated at the time of the initial publication of the technique. The observations are discussed in the light of recent knowledge that has been gained on the kinetics of staining by measuring the electron-scattering densities of stained sections, similar measurements having been made on sections stained by Bernhard's technique. A model for the mechanism of the EDTA regressive staining technique consistent with the experimental observations is proposed and the conditions under which Bernhard's staining procedure retains its specificity are defined. Briefly, these conditions are that: (a) the sections be stained for only a short period with uranyl before treating them with EDTA even though such brief staining is undesirable for quantitative measurements of stain uptake into biological material; and (b) that sections stained in lead only be compared as controls with sections stained by Bernhard's technique so that any specificity of lead for sub-cellular components is not confused with a positive indication of the presence of RNA. Unless these conditions are fulfilled, results obtained by the use of the regressive staining technique may be highly misleading.


Goal-Oriented Requirements Engineering represents the stakeholder objectives using goals for making decisions about the choice of suitable non-functional requirements in view of goal models. In a competitive environment, stakeholders' may have conflicting goals. Therefore, there is a need for a goal analysis method which offers an alternative design option that achieves the conflicting goals of different interdependent actors in a goal model. To address circumstances where there is uncertainty, this paper proposes a game-theory based probabilistic, mixed-strategy approach to choose the best alternative to resolve the conflicting requirements issue. In this paper, a framework is proposed that applies Nash equilibrium based on multiobjective values for selecting an optimum strategy in the i* goal model by considering the opposing goals reciprocally. By integrating Java with IBM ILOG CPLEX, the proposed method was developed and evaluated successfully using different case studies.


We describe the ``WEDGE'' immersive projection theater. The WEDGE has been built as an affordable installation for university VR infrastructure in Australia. It achieves a ``semi-immersive'' sense of presence without, apparently, give rise to significant discomfort. The vertex region of the theater appears to be especially effective in giving a sense of presence. See http://wedge.anu.edu.au/ for more details.


(1) Background: The Austrian supply of COVID-19 vaccine is limited for now. We aim to provide evidence-based guidance to the authorities in order to minimize COVID-19-related hospitalizations and deaths in Austria. (2) Methods: We used a dynamic agent-based population model to compare different vaccination strategies targeted to the elderly (65 ≥ years), middle aged (45–64 years), younger (15–44 years), vulnerable (risk of severe disease due to comorbidities), and healthcare workers (HCW). First, outcomes were optimized for an initially available vaccine batch for 200,000 individuals. Second, stepwise optimization was performed deriving a prioritization sequence for 2.45 million individuals, maximizing the reduction in total hospitalizations and deaths compared to no vaccination. We considered sterilizing and non-sterilizing immunity, assuming a 70% effectiveness. (3) Results: Maximum reduction of hospitalizations and deaths was achieved by starting vaccination with the elderly and vulnerable followed by middle-aged, HCW, and younger individuals. Optimizations for vaccinating 2.45 million individuals yielded the same prioritization and avoided approximately one third of deaths and hospitalizations. Starting vaccination with HCW leads to slightly smaller reductions but maximizes occupational safety. (4) Conclusion: To minimize COVID-19-related hospitalizations and deaths, our study shows that elderly and vulnerable persons should be prioritized for vaccination until further vaccines are available.


This article analyzes the ideological discourses of fathers on the use of paternity leave in Spain. The goal is to reconstruct the ideological positions that fathers from different social locations develop around the existence of paternity leave as well as to explore their attitudes toward the impending length equalization of paternity and maternity leaves. A qualitative analysis was applied through the configuration of eight focus groups with fathers from two Spanish cities, Madrid and Barcelona. The results show the diversity of the fathers' ideological positions in their representations about paternity leave. Different conceptions and degrees of legitimacy are observed, often conditioned by work, and institutional and gender contexts to which these fathers belong. Only some discourses and specific positions back up the change of legislation toward the equivalent duration of paternity and maternity leaves.


Abstract A steeply dipping set of quartz-chlorite-muscovite-biotite veins was emplaced, at depths of at least 14 km and temperatures >400°C, into Môna Complex metasedimentary rocks of Holy Island, after the D4 event. Vein trends range from northeast-southwest to north-northwest-south-southeast. Vein offshoots, consistently oriented c. 10–35° anticlockwise relative to the main vein, are common. Quartz fibres within different veins show a range of orientations, from northwest-southeast to east-west, and are interpreted as tracking vein opening directions. Vein and fibre orientations are integrated into a four-stage model for vein emplacement. At each stage, new main veins either open extensionally, with fibres subnormal to their boundaries, or by hybrid extension-shear. Hybrid main veins commonly have extensional offsoots. Extensional main veins are orientated progressively further anticlockwise with time from a dominantly northeast-southwest trend to a dominantly north-south trend, but hybrid main veins have out-of-sequence orientations and probably utilized pre-existing fractures. The dominance of extensional and hybrid extension-shear vein opening indicates that the differential stress was small and pore fluid pressure was high. A study of length-thickness relationships has revealed that this vein set is self-affine with vein widening progressing more quickly than elongation during growth. Linear transect analyses show that the vein spacings have fractal characteristics.


Previous research into homelessness has tended to focus on the demographics, survival needs and presumed disabilities of the homeless population, almost exclusively adopting quantitative methods.

The aim of this qualitative study was to explore the subjective experience of homelessness from the perspective of six participants (5 males and 1 female), who were or had been homeless within the last year.

Participants were asked to give their accounts during semi-structured interviews. The subsequent transcripts were analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis, where 3 superordinate themes were identified; The Impact of Homelessness, Coping with Homelessness and Positive Growth.

Overall, the findings illustrate that homelessness is a complex process of severe and multiple losses, impacting self-esteem, identity, relationships and psychological well-being. Participants also revealed homelessness to be an arduous journey of personal transformation, achieving positive growth through enduring hardship and overcoming adversity.

The findings are compared to previous research and future directions are suggested.


Fluidic flexible matrix composite (F2MC) tubes have been shown to provide actuation and stiffness change in applications that require isolated tubes or multiple tubes embedded in a soft matrix. Structural applications often require stiff and strong composites, however, so this article addresses the actuation performance of F2MC tubes embedded in structural media. Two analytical models are developed based on Lekhnitskii's solutions for a homogeneous orthotropic cylinder with axial force and pressure loading. These unit cell models are cylindrical and bilayer with the inner layer being a thick-walled F2MC tube and the outer layer representing the surrounding rigid composite and are composed of either homogeneous epoxy or a second FMC layer made with stiffer matrix material. The models are validated using ABAQUS. Free strain and blocked force are calculated for a variety of unit cell designs. The analytical results show that actuation performance is generally reduced compared to that of an isolated F2MC tube due to the radial and longitudinal constraints imposed by the surrounding structural medium. The free strain is generally two orders of magnitude smaller for an F2MC tube in structural media, requiring higher actuation pressures for bilayer F2MC structures. The blocking force of F2MC in either epoxy or composite is roughly an order of magnitude smaller than that of an isolated F2MC tube. The analysis shows a great degree of tailorability in actuation properties, so that the F2MC tube can be designed to minimize these differences. Higher actuation performance is achieved, for example, with a thick-walled F2MC tube, as opposed to the thin wall that maximizes performance in an isolated F2MC tube.


The mortality rates which we have seen now over several decades of routine provision of renal replacement therapy are truly remarkable – even if, with time, we have become familiar, if not comfortable, with them. The remarkable nature of this mortality issue is its severity, and persistence, despite numerous efforts to combat it with 'active interventions'. These have included, in no particular order, correction of anaemia, better provision of dialysis adequacy, use of more permeable dialysis membranes, better control of dyslipidaemia, better control of mineral and bone metabolic parameters, correction of hyperhomocysteinaemia, and use of ACE inhibitors. One can now in 2008 be forgiven for some pessimism, nihilism (sometimes known as 'renalism') about the prospects for useful prolongation of life on dialysis except of course by transplantation. In this article (a fuller version of which appears also in Nephrology Dialysis and Transplantation, I discuss the reasons for the failure of the trials to date, the likely obstacles to future trials succeeding, and some suggestions for alternative strategies to try to grapple with this immense burden of vascular and all-cause morbidity and mortality.


Purpose To investigate the effects of different doses of rocuronium on ischemia-reperfusion injury in skeletal muscle induced by tourniquet in patients undergoing elective unilateral total knee arthroplasty. Patients and Methods A total of 90 patients undergoing elective unilateral knee arthroplasty under general anesthesia combined with femoral nerve block were randomly divided into 3 groups: normal saline group (group S), rocuronium 0.6 mg/kg group (group L), and rocuronium 1.2 mg/kg group (group H). The primary outcome was the expression of dystrophin in skeletal muscle at 60 min after ischemia. Secondary outcomes included the concentration of malondialdehyde (MDA) and neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS) in blood at 5 min and 30 min after reperfusion. In addition, thigh girth at 24 h and 48 h after operation, the leaving bed time, the incidence of tourniquet-related hypertension and short-term (3 days after operation) complications (nausea and vomiting, swelling, blister, wound infection) and long-term (3 months after operation) complications (joint instability, stiffness, nerve paralysis, pain) were recorded. Main Results The expression of dystrophin in the rocuronium group was higher than that in group S after ischemia (P <0.05). The concentration of MDA in the rocuronium 1.2 mg/kg group was lower at 30 min after reperfusion (P < 0.05). There was no significant difference in nNOS among groups at each time point (P > 0.05). The change of thigh girth was the smallest in the rocuronium 1.2 mg/kg group after operation (P<0.05). The leaving bed time was significantly earlier after operation in the rocuronium group than that in group S (P <0.05). Conclusion Rocuronium can protect skeletal muscle from ischemia-reperfusion injury induced by tourniquet. The mechanism may be related to the fact that rocuronium can reduce the loss of dystrophin in skeletal muscle and have the effects of anti-oxidation and anti-stress. Trial Registration The study was registered at http://www.chictr.org.cn (ChiCTR1800019221, registered on 2018–10-31).


Lyman J. Briggs (1874–1963), an early twentieth century physicist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), made many significant contributions to our understanding of soil-water and plant-water interactions. He began his career at the Bureau of Soils (BOS) in 1896. At age 23, Briggs published (1897) a description of the roles of surface tension and gravity in determining the state of static soil moisture. Concepts he presented remain central to this subject more than 100 yr later. With J.W. McLane, Briggs developed the "moisture equivalent" concept (a precursor to the idea of field capacity) and a centrifuge apparatus for measuring it. Briggs left the BOS at the end of 1905, under pressure from Milton Whitney, and moved to the Bureau of Plant Industry. Briggs' multi-state experiments with H.L. Shantz on water-use efficiencies showed that in a climate like that of the Great Plains, plants use water more productively in the cooler north than in the warmer south. In 1920, he moved from the USDA to the National Bureau of Standards (NBS), rising to Director in 1933. Among his other contributions to the American scientific community was his leadership, beginning in 1939, of a top secret committee that evolved into the Manhattan Project to develop an atomic bomb during World War II. A life-long baseball fan, Briggs at age 84, studied the speed, spin, and deflection of the curve ball, aided by manager Cookie Lavagetto and the pitching staff of the Washington Senators; he published these findings in a paper in the American Journal of Physics in 1959.


This paper presents the measurement of the sub‐micrometer deformation of biocompatible materials induced by mechanical and thermal loading with a newly developed stereoscopic microscope 3D digital image correlation (DIC) system. This technique combines a 3D DIC system based on two cameras in a stereoscopic setup with a stereoscopic microscope. This paper describes measurements of displacements in the range of 100 microns with an error of 0.1%, which is several times better than the accuracy provided by other comparable systems. The examined micro‐sized specimens are cut out of biocompatible material used for the construction of a pneumatic ventricular assist device. The results include a 3D surface profile, analysis of the sample surface deformations, and distribution of surface strains.


Cell walls of the fungus Helminthosporium spiciferum, prepared by mechanical grinding of the cells, were treated chemically and with helicase. The purified cell walls and the fractions were analyzed chemically and micromorphologically to localize the major cell-wall constituents and to determine the protective role of the pigments against degradative processes. The encrusting of the external area by the pigments associated with chitin formation leads to an increased resistance of this cell-wall area against the degradative processes.


Conducting research screening newborn hearing screening in terms of regional perinatal centers in Ukraine and further rehabilitation of children with hearing impairment is a key step in their integration into society. Universal newborn hearing screening should be mandatory, especially in perinatal centers, because it has significant medical, social and economic effects. It is also necessary to reorganize the existing regional offices surdologichesky and create on their bases and methodological Regional Medical Center hearing and speech problems, which will provide high-quality diagnosis, epidemiological data form, will hold the register of children diagnosed with hearing defects, organize them continuously active surveillance, hearing aids and effective rehabilitation, to ensure the quality of screening. Creating a distributed database for these patients, by far. Will achieve success in the integration of children with special needs in society.


We numerically investigate nonlinear regimes of shear-induced phase separation in entangled polymer solutions. Use is made of a time-dependent Ginzburg-Landau model describing two fluid dynamics of polymer and solvent. As a new dynamic variable a conformation tensor is introduced to represent chain deformations. Above the coexistence curve a dynamical steady states is attained, where fluctuations are enhanced on various spatial scales. At relatively large shear elongated polymer-rich regions form a transient network supporting most of the stress. Because such a network is continuously deformed in shear flow, the shear stress and the normal stress difference exhibit large fluctuations.


Abstract This paper offers an analysis of why the Hawaiian model of language revitalization, while quite successful so far in Hawaii, has not extended well to the mainland US and Native America, despite extensive contact between the two communities and assistance from Hawaiians. After a brief summary of the Hawaiian model, it first offers an analysis of socio-economic and demographic factors that make the extension difficult. It then suggests more profound reasons for the Hawaiian success, rooted in the particular history and socio-cultural conditions of Hawaii: in particular in the nineteenth-century independent monarchy, the twentieth-century multi-ethnic territorial experience, and the resultant "political" and "dispersed" nature of Hawaiian identity, across multiple practices and a large part of the population of Hawaii. The conclusion situates events in Hawaii within larger trends in the Pacific, suggesting that the "dispersed cultural" rather than "ethnic" form of Hawaiian-ness currently dominant is both a result of Hawaii's unique history, and a crucial factor for the current success of language and cultural revitalization there, while being largely absent in Native America.


Soft magnetic alloys at the nanoscale level have long generated a vivid interest as candidate materials for technological and biomedical purposes. Consequently, controlling the structure of bimetallic nanoparticles in order to optimize their magnetic properties, such as high magnetization and low coercivity, can significantly boost their potential for related applications. However, traditional synthesis methods stumble upon the long standing challenge of developing true nanoalloys with effective control over morphology and stability against oxidation. Herein, we report on a single-step approach to the gas phase synthesis of soft magnetic bimetallic iron aluminide nanoparticles, using a versatile co-sputter inert gas condensation technique. This method allowed for precise morphological control of the particles; they consisted of an alloy iron aluminide crystalline core (DO3 phase) and an alumina shell, which reduced inter-particle interactions and also prevented further oxidation and segregation of the bimetallic core. Remarkably, the as-deposited alloy nanoparticles show interesting soft magnetic properties, in that they combine a high saturation magnetization (170 emu/g) and low coercivity (less than 20 Oe) at room temperature. Additional functionality is tenable by modifying the surface of the particles with a polymer, to ensure their good colloidal dispersion in aqueous environments.


Cardiovascular disease (CVD) and type 2 diabetes (T2D) are increasing worldwide. This is mainly due to an unhealthy nutrition, implying that variation in CVD risk may be due to variation in the capacity to manage a nutritional load. We examined the genomic basis of postprandial metabolism. Our main purpose was to introduce the GEMM Family Study (Genetics of Metabolic Diseases in Mexico) as a multi-center study carrying out an ongoing recruitment of healthy urban adults. Each participant received a mixed meal challenge and provided a 5-hours' time course series of blood, buffy coat specimens for DNA isolation, and adipose tissue (ADT)/skeletal muscle (SKM) biopsies at fasting and 3 h after the meal. A comprehensive profiling, including metabolomic signatures in blood and transcriptomic and proteomic profiling in SKM and ADT, was performed to describe tendencies for variation in postprandial response. Our data generation methods showed preliminary trends indicating that by characterizing the dynamic properties of biomarkers with metabolic activity and analyzing multi-OMICS data it could be possible, with this methodology and research design, to identify early trends for molecular biology systems and genes involved in the fasted and fed states.


Integration testing is an important part of the testing process, but few integration testing techniques have been systematically studied or defined. The goal of this research is to develop practical, effective, formalizable, automatable techniques for testing of connections between components during software integration. This paper presents an integration testing technique that is based on couplings between software components. This technique can be used to support integration testing of software components, and satisfies part of the USA's Federal Aviation Authority's requirements for structural coverage analysis of software. The coupling‐based testing technique is described, and the coverage criteria for three types of couplings are defined. Techniques and algorithms for developing coverage analysers to measure the extent to which a test set satisfies the criteria are presented, and results from a comparative case study are presented. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Rates of nutrient cycling vary across landscape and regional scales. This biogeochemical variability can be partially attributed to patterns in plant community characteristics and abiotic and edaphic conditions across topographic gradients at the landscape-scale or across regional climatic gradients. However, it is also possible that concomitant changes in the microbial communities performing these biogeochemical processes occur across the same spatial scales and may therefore contribute to the observed biogeochemical trends. To assess patterns of microbial community composition across regional and landscape scales, we sampled upland and lowland topographic positions at three grassland communities spanning a 500-mm regional precipitation gradient across the central Great Plains. Soil microbial community composition and biomass were determined using phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) analysis. Microbial biomass increased across the regional gradient, and different microbial communities were associated with the different grassland community types. The relative abundance of fungi decreased while gram-negative anaerobic bacteria increased from shortgrass steppe to tallgrass prairie. There were no differences in microbial biomass at the landscape-scale, and the only alteration in microbial community composition between upland and lowland landscape positions was a shift toward more nonspecific bacteria in lowlands. The fact that the trends in microbial biomass and community composition at the landscape-scale were less pronounced suggests that variability in microbial community composition is larger regionally across the Great Plains than landscape variability associated with topographical features at any particular site. Alterations in the microbial community may play a role in determining the biogeochemical patterns of grasslands in the Great Plains region.


In this paper we present singular and singularly impulsive model of genetic regulatory networks. Concrete example consists of two gene — two proteins simple synthetic network, and posses two fundamentally present parts in biochemical networks — positive and negative feedback loops. These are important structural parts of biochemical networks and are interesting for control theoreticians. By investigating purpose of positive and negative feedback presence, we see for example that they lead either to bistability (or multistability, in general) in case of positive feedback or generate oscillatory behaviour in case of negative feedback what we show. Mathematical model is derived in form of nonlinear two dimensional dynamical system which is further approximated to singular and singularly impulsive dynamical system. Importance of this example is singular systems approximation which in this particular example leads to interesting and well known phenomena — of relaxation oscillation. This phenomena is consequence of multiple-scale network, i.e. fast-slow decomposition. Jump phenomena that appears as a consequence of time scale differences is very different from jumps (impulsive behaviour) that we have in impulsive systems approximation of, for example, sigmoidal function response by piece-wise linear function in order to reduce complexity.


Autophagy is the process by which cytosolic components are trafficked to and degraded by the vacuole or lysosome. It plays a critical role in cellular health, aging, cancer, and neurodegenerative diseases. Atg7 and Atgl4 are enzymes required for the autophagic process in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. In this study, we hypothesized that Atg7 controls the size while Atg 14 controls the number of autophagosomes. Using western blotting, Pho8D.60 assay and transmission electron microscopy analysis, we found that Atg7 affects both the size and number of autophagosomes. In addition, we have created cells expressing various levels of Atgl4 using non-native promoters. In addition, we applied the significance of these results to better understand the therapeutic application of mammalian autophagy. Degree Type Open Access Senior Honors Thesis Department Chemistry First Advisor Dr. Steven K. Backues Second Advisor Dr. Hedeel Evans Third Advisor Dr. Deborah Heyl-Clegg


In the treatment of growing bimaxillary protrusion patients,Edgewise technique auxillary with extra oral anchorage and class III elastic help to improve the patient's chin shape,recover his beauty of lower facial part and get a good occlusion along with the growing of mandible.The purpose of this study is:analysis the force system in the treatment and evaluate the result of the treatment with some typical cases.


This study aimed to evaluate the effect of intramuscular application (IM) of seminal plasma on embryo survival in the alpaca after natural mating. The study was conducted in Puno, Peru. Seminal plasma was obtained from alpaca semen samples, which were collected and diluted 1:1 in phosphate buffered saline (PBS), then centrifuged and kept frozen in storage until use. Non-pregnant alpacas (n=117) were selected according to the presence of a dominant ovarian follicle (>7 mm) detected by transrectal ultrasonography. Females were naturally mated and assigned randomly into one of three groups: T1 (n=40): 1 ml of seminal plasma diluted in PBS, IM; T2 (n=39): 1 ml of GnRH analogue (0.0042 mg buserelin), IM; T3 (n=38) without administration of any product (control). Females were evaluated by transrectal ultrasonography on day 25 after mating to determine pregnancy and on day 62 for determining the embryo's survival rate. The results showed 67.5, 51.3 and 55.3% conception rate on day 25 and 92.6, 80.0 and 85.7% of embryo's survival rate on day 62 for groups T1, T2 and T3 respectively and without statistical differences between treatments. The results suggest that IM application of seminal plasma immediately after natural mating may increase embryo survival as compared to the application of GnRH or natural mating, however, this difference was not statistically significant.


Although the structures of Thioflavin T and another benzothiazole, BTA-1, are similar, they bind to Aß non-competitively, probably to different sites on the Aß (1–40) fibrils. The amyloid fibril-induced fluorescence of ThT that corresponds to a fraction of total ThT binding is not displaced by high concentrations of (S)-naproxen or (R)-ibuprofen, which are reported to potently block high affinity binding of the radiolabeled malononitrile FDDNP and derivatives. The binding of the benzothiazole ligands is significantly substoichiometric with respect to Aß (1–40) monomer peptide, unlike Congo Red, which binds to Aß (1–40) fibrils on a 1:1 basis with monomer peptide. These results indicate that there are multiple domains for ligand binding to amyloid fibrils and suggest that it may be possible to design ligands that bind selectively to particular forms of fibrils that are connected with the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease and potentially other protein misfolding diseases.


The graduate entry-level program in Physical Therapy is a professional entry level program designed to prepare students for licensure to practice as physical therapists. The program is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education of the American Physical Therapy Association. The Doctor of Physical Therapy program (DPT) was granted re-accreditation status by the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education (CAPTE) in May 2016. Prospective students having questions about the program's accreditation status should contact:


Milton's Aevum suggests that in Paradise Lost Milton discloses a part of the way prevenient grace operates in humankind by deploying an inner, secondary time structure. Running parallel to the explicit narrative of the Fall, this implicit chronicle of regeneration paradoxically intertwines two contrasting durations, one finite the other infinite, in this way applying the scholastic concept of the aevum . Translated from the Greek term aion and, possibly, associated with the Hebrew word olam , the concept of the aevum was used in the thirteenth-century as a tertium quid between eternity and time to describe the domain in which angels exist. The aevum is a formulation, or a kind of logic, that builds durations of the divine and the human into the same structure. In Milton's case the aevum thus fits neatly into the framework of an Arminian doctrine of grace in which regeneration is seen as a cooperation of God's grace and human free will.


Background and objective: Cerebrovascular diseases are attacks of sudden neurological deficits (motor, sensory or cerebellar). There are a lot of risk factors for stroke like age, diabetes, hypertension, smoking, hyperlipidemia, cardiac diseases and others. This study aimed to show if there is increasing rate of cerebrovascular events during Ramadan in   relation to fasting in our city during the summer season.
Methods: This case-control study was carried out in Rizgary Teaching Hospital, Erbil- Iraq from 1st of August to 30th of August 2011. Patients were included in this study if they were middle aged and elderly patients having clinical and radiological features of stroke, another group of in-patients was selected as a control group. Chi square test and logistic regression analyses were used to show the association between stroke and fasting.
Results: A sample of 60 patients and 60 control cases were included in this study. Fasting was significant risk factor for stroke in our studied sample, 66.7% of the cases were fasting compared with 40% of the control group (P = 0.03). Hyperlipidemia and history of ischemic heart disease found also to be associated with stroke (P = 0.017 and 0.011, respectively). Logistic regression analysis showed that only fasting and hypercholesterolemia were independent risks factors in causing stroke in our studied sample.
Conclusion: In Erbil, where the summer is too hot and the daytime (fasting hours) is long, fasting during Ramadan was found to be an independent risk factor for stroke, and specifically ischemic stroke.


Thanks to the fast progress in synthetic media generation, creating realistic false images has become very easy. Such images can be used to wrap rich fake news with enhanced credibility, spawning a new wave of high-impact, high-risk misinformation campaigns. Therefore, there is a fast-growing interest in reliable detectors of manipulated media. The most powerful detectors, to date, rely on the subtle traces left by any device on all images acquired by it. In particular, due to proprietary in-camera processes, like demosaicing or compression, each camera model leaves trademark traces that can be exploited for forensic analyses. The absence or distortion of such traces in the target image is a strong hint of manipulation. In this paper, we challenge such detectors to gain better insight into their vulnerabilities. This is an important study in order to build better forgery detectors able to face malicious attacks. Our proposal consists of a GAN-based approach that injects camera traces into synthetic images. Given a GAN-generated image, we insert the traces of a specific camera model into it and deceive state-of-the-art detectors into believing the image was acquired by that model. Likewise, we deceive independent detectors of synthetic GAN images into believing the image is real. Experiments prove the effectiveness of the proposed method in a wide array of conditions. Moreover, no prior information on the attacked detectors is needed, but only sample images from the target camera.


There has been a growing openness and importance in trade over time as indicated by an increasing ratio of trade to gross domestic product for the World. However, some recent movements have been more protectionist and less open to trade. The potential impacts of less trade are explored with the United States (US) taken as an example. Trade agreements have been important in increasing trade by the US, particularly for US agriculture which has had a trade surplus since 1959. Countries should benefit from trade according to economic theory. However, stances taken by the US administration during the first half of 2017 have resulted in the withdrawal of the US from the Trans-Partnership Agreement and an announced renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement. With falling US farm income, the potential undoing of trade agreement benefits, and possible trade retaliations, US agriculture is concerned about any potential disruption in exports and losses from less trade. In addition, US consumers and importers of US agriculture should be concerned about a potential decrease in trade.


The institutionalisation of supra-company apprenticeship training after its incorporation into the Vocational Education and Training Act in 2009 was a political signal to acknowledge a kind of third pillar next to school-based education and company-based apprenticeship training after compulsory schooling within the Austrian educational system. However due to the deep-rooted persistence of the dual system, it is still regarded as a "buffer" when the former fails to provide sufficient placements. As the Supra-Company-Apprenticeship Training is part of active labour market policy students are still clients of the Public Employment Service – and not (just) young persons to be educated. Therefore, one main challenge providers of SCAT have to cope with is to prepare students on the one hand for their placement within the regular apprenticeship system and on the other hand to provide high-quality vocational training as a valuable offer. This janus-faced pedagogical treatment of students has a major impact on the students' development of capabilities for education, for work and for voice in a system with notably transitory character. This contribution will first give a short overview of the case study's institutional embeddedness. After a brief introduction into the research methods used, we will outline the key findings of the case study from a capability perspective: First, the capability approach endorses education from two perspectives: Education is a capability to be achieved as such. Education also serves as a conversion factor for other capabilities. We will present findings for these two notions, including an analysis of the (two) crucial phases for choosing the educational pathway one has reason to value and a discussion of the training's empowerment dimension in terms of 'learning (how) to work'. Second, turning to the capability for work we will on the one hand question the principal notion of work proposed by the capability approach and then lay down the youngsters' perception of 'decent work' in labour processes. Finally, we will take a look at what opportunities for voice and for being able and 'free' to choose, aspire and follow the life, work and educational pathway they have reason to value do youngsters encounter before and while participating in SCAT.


Humans imitate biological movements faster than non‐biological movements. The faster response has been attributed to an activation of the human mirror neuron system, which is thought to match observation and execution of actions. However, it is unclear which cortical areas are responsible for this behavioural advantage. Also, little is known about the timing of activations. Using whole‐head magnetoencephalography we recorded neuronal responses to single biological finger movements and non‐biological dot movements while the subjects were required to perform an imitation task or an observation task, respectively. Previous imaging studies on the human mirror neurone system suggested that activation in response to biological movements would be stronger in ventral premotor, parietal and superior temporal regions. In accordance with previous studies, reaction times to biological movements were faster than those to dot movements in all subjects. The analysis of evoked magnetic fields revealed that the reaction time benefit was paralleled by stronger and earlier activation of the left temporo‐occipital cortex, right superior temporal area and right ventral motor/premotor area. The activity patterns suggest that the latter areas mediate the observed behavioural advantage of biological movements and indicate a predominant contribution of the right temporo‐frontal hemisphere to action observation–execution matching processes in intransitive movements, which has not been reported previously.