Little consideration has been given to the genetic composition of populations associated with marine reserves, as reserve designation is generally to protect specific species, communities or habitats. Nevertheless, it is important to conserve genetic diversity since it provides the raw material for the maintenance of species diversity over longer, evolutionary time-scales and may also confer the basis for adaptation to environmental change. Many current marine reserves are small in size and isolated to some degree (e.g. sea loughs and offshore islands). While such features enable easier management, they may have important implications for the genetic structure of protected populations, the ability of populations to recover from local catastrophes and the potential for marine reserves to act as sources of propagules for surrounding areas. Here, we present a case study demonstrating genetic differentiation, isolation, inbreeding and reduced genetic diversity in populations of the dogwhelk Nucella lapillus in Lough Hyne Marine Nature Reserve (an isolated sea lough in southern Ireland), compared with populations on the local adjacent open coast and populations in England, Wales and France. Our study demonstrates that this sea lough is isolated from open coast populations, and highlights that there may be long-term genetic consequences of selecting reserves on the basis of isolation and ease of protection.


Glycopolymers offer many opportunities for interfacing synthetic materials with biological systems. However, the nature of the interactions between glycopolymers and their biological targets, lectins, and the structural features necessary to obtain high-affinity materials are not fully understood. Here, the enhancement in binding affinity of multivalent glycopolymers to their corresponding lectins is investigated by quartz-crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring (QCM-d). This technique allows the conformation of the adsorbed polymers to be probed and the direct observation of spanning of multiple binding sites on lectin-functional surfaces. The measured affinity was compared to the anti-adhesion activity of the polymers in solution, and it is shown that increased association constants did not directly correlate with inhibitory activity.


This paper considers the posterior contraction of non-parametric Bayesian inference on non-homogeneous Poisson processes. We consider the quality of inference on a rate function $\lambda$, given non-identically distributed realisations, whose rates are transformations of $\lambda$. Such data arises frequently in practice due, for instance, to the challenges of making observations with limited resources or the effects of weather on detectability of events. We derive contraction rates for the posterior estimates arising from the Sigmoidal Gaussian Cox Process and Quadratic Gaussian Cox Process models. These are popular models where $\lambda$ is modelled as a logistic and quadratic transformation of a Gaussian Process respectively. Our work extends beyond existing analyses in several regards. Firstly, we consider non-identically distributed data, previously unstudied in the Poisson process setting. Secondly, we consider the Quadratic Gaussian Cox Process model, of which there was previously little theoretical understanding. Thirdly, we provide rates on the shrinkage of both the width of balls around the true $\lambda$ in which the posterior mass is concentrated and on the shrinkage of posterior mass outside these balls - usually only the former is explicitly given. Finally, our results hold for certain finite numbers of observations, rather than only asymptotically, and we relate particular choices of hyperparameter/prior to these results.


The physiological roles of the granzymes A and K have been debated, especially concerning their involvement in cytotoxic and inflammatory processes. By performing N-terminal COFRADIC assisted N-terminomics on the homologous human granzymes A and K, we here provide detailed data on their substrate repertoires, their specificities, and differences in efficiency by which they cleave their substrates, all of which may aid in elucidating their key substrates. In addition, the so far uncharacterized mouse granzyme K was profiled alongside its human orthologue. While the global primary specificity profiles of these granzymes appear quite similar as they revealed only subtle differences and pointed to substrate occupancies in the P1, P1', and P2' position as the main determinants for substrate recognition, differential analyses unveiled distinguishing substrate subsite features, some of which were confirmed by the more selective cleavage of specifically designed probes.


Several philosophers of science have argued that epistemically rational individuals might form epistemically irrational groups and that, conversely, rational groups might be composed of irrational individuals. We call the conjunction of these two claims the Independence Thesis, as they entail that methodological prescriptions for scientific communities and those for individual scientists are logically independent. We defend the inconsistency thesis by characterizing four criteria for epistemic rationality and then proving that, under said criteria, individuals will be judged rational when groups are not and vice versa. We then explain the implications of our results for descriptive history of science and normative epistemology.


The fundamental motivation of the proposed work is to present a new visualization-guided computing paradigm to combine direct 3D volume processing and volume rendered clues for effective 3D exploration. For example, extracting and visualizing microstructures in-vivo have been a long-standing challenging problem. However, due to the high sparseness and noisiness in cerebrovasculature data as well as highly complex geometry and topology variations of micro vessels, it is still extremely challenging to extract the complete 3D vessel structure and visualize it in 3D with high fidelity. In this paper, we present an end-to-end deep learning method, VC-Net, for robust extraction of 3D microvascular structure through embedding the image composition, generated by maximum intensity projection (MIP), into the 3D volumetric image learning process to enhance the overall performance. The core novelty is to automatically leverage the volume visualization technique (e.g., MIP - a volume rendering scheme for 3D volume images) to enhance the 3D data exploration at the deep learning level. The MIP embedding features can enhance the local vessel signal (through canceling out the noise) and adapt to the geometric variability and scalability of vessels, which is of great importance in microvascular tracking. A multi-stream convolutional neural network (CNN) framework is proposed to effectively learn the 3D volume and 2D MIP feature vectors, respectively, and then explore their inter-dependencies in a joint volume-composition embedding space by unprojecting the 2D feature vectors into the 3D volume embedding space. It is noted that the proposed framework can better capture the small/micro vessels and improve the vessel connectivity. To our knowledge, this is the first time that a deep learning framework is proposed to construct a joint convolutional embedding space, where the computed vessel probabilities from volume rendering based 2D projection and 3D volume can be explored and integrated synergistically. Experimental results are evaluated and compared with the traditional 3D vessel segmentation methods and the state-of-the-art in deep learning, by using extensive public and real patient (micro- )cerebrovascular image datasets. The application of this accurate segmentation and visualization of sparse and complicated 3D microvascular structure facilitated by our method demonstrates the potential in a powerful MR arteriogram and venogram diagnosis of vascular disease.


The study aimed to establish the challenges in the implementation of the individualized educational plan in schools for students with hearing impairment at Ngala Secondary School for the Deaf in Nakuru County, Kenya. Data was collected from a target population of ninety-eight students, thirteen teachers and one administrator through purposive and stratified random sampling techniques. Purposive sampling was used on school administrators and teachers to select all 13 teachers and 1 school administrator. On the other hand, stratified random sampling was used to select a total of 24 students. The study sample comprised 24 students, 13 teachers and 1 administrator leading to a total of 38 respondents. The research instrument included the use of questionnaires, interview schedules and document analysis. A pilot study was conducted at Kedowa Secondary School for the Deaf to enhance the reliability and validity of the research instruments. Quantitative data were cleaned, labelled, coded, entered into a computer and organized using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 30. Quantitative data were analyzed statistically using descriptive statistics such as percentages and frequencies. The analyzed data were presented using tables, bar-graphs and pie-charts. Qualitative data collected were grouped into different themes, presented as a narrative and discussed based on the objectives of the study. Findings revealed that the major challenge towards implementation IEP was the lack of adequate teaching and learning resources. The study concluded that the major solutions to the challenges facing teachers in developing and implementing IEP suggest that the provision of adequate resources for IEP were anticipated to enhance the academic achievement of students with hearing impairment. The study recommended that the Ministry of Education and other stakeholders should help acquire adequate resources for students with hearing impairment.  Article visualizations:


An effort to assess the utility of 650 bp Cytochrome oxidase subunit I (DNA barcode) gene in delineating the members closely resembled marine fin fishes belonging to the family Latidae was made. To address the issue, all 40 barcode sequences of fishes belonging to Latidae family available at NCBI (National Centre for Biotechnological Information) along with the barcode data generated from commonly available fish Asian sea bass (Lates calcarifer) from Parangipettai coastal waters was used. The average GC content of selected three fishes belongs to Latidae was found to be 48.87%. Lates niloticus from Tanzanian waters showed less GC content (47.70%) whereas L. calcarifer from South China sea showed high GC content (49.61%) among the Latidae species studied. Compare to Australian, Indian and Singapore (48.1-48.89%) water L. calcarifer, Myanmar and South China species shows high average GC content (49.38-49.41%). The phylogenetic and genetic distance data showed that the maximum genetic distance is present in 3rd codon position in all the selected species. It is apparent from the genetic distance that the GD between L. calcarifer and L. niloticus was observed to be higher than the GD between P. waigiensis and L. niloticus in all the codon positions. The expected clustering of the species in separate internal branches was well observed in the constructed phylogram with high bootstraps. We conclude that COI sequencing (barcoding) in identifying the morphologically similar species of the family Latidae.


The most common connective tissue research in meat science has been conducted on the properties of intramuscular connective tissue of meat. The purpose of this study was to investigate histological properties of intramuscular connective tissues of left and right Quadriceps femoris muscle and Pectoralis superficialis muscles in the native chickens and the influence of sex on these properties. A total of 40 adult healthy native chickens (56 days) of both sexes (20 female and 20 male) were used. After fixation in 10% buffered formalin sections were prepared, using routine histological techniques. Tissue samples were stained with hematoxylin and eosin and a variety of special techniques for the determination of types of connective tissue fibers. The conventional histological study revealed that except the endomysium which was similar in both muscles, the other intramuscular connective tissues' layers varied between leg and breast muscles and were affected by sex. All the connective tissue fibers were observed in all the intramuscular connective tissues of both leg and breast meats. Tenderness in the leg muscle was higher than the breast muscle in native chickens, as well as in males than females. Elastic fibers showed no histological difference, not only among intramuscular connective tissues in both leg and breast muscles' meats but also between males and females. Keywords : Histology, intramuscular connective tissues, meat, native chicken, tenderness.


: The experience with treatment of 86 patients with cholestatic form of hepatitis has been summarized. The operative intervention included drainage of the extrahepatic bile ducts, denervation of the hepatoduodenal ligament, marginal hepatic resection. In ineffective conservative therapy, the patients should be operated on at the early period. When establishing the indications for the operation, the functional state of hepatocytes should be considered.


In Ireland, all expectant mothers are entitled to free maternity care, covering antenatal visits, labour, delivery and postnatal care. This study presents findings from the first wave of data collection from the Growing Up in Ireland longitudinal cohort study. The sample of 11,134 nine month old infants was randomly selected from the national Child Benefit Register. From those, data from 10,912 mothers who provided valid answers to questions regarding antenatal care was included in the analyses. Data collection consisted of questionnaires completed with the mother addressing pregnancy, delivery and infant's health. Pearson's Chi Square tests and crude and adjusted logistic regression analyses were used for the analysis which was based on statistically reweighted data to represent the population structure of Ireland. Shared care (between GP and other health professional) was provided in 77.9% [95% CI: 77.1-78.7%], private consultant care alone in 12.4% [11.8-13.0%], hospital clinic care alone in 7.3% [6.8-7.8%] and other care in 2.4%. The chance for a normal delivery was highest if shared care was provided (adjusted for parity, maternal age, occupational household class and medical cared coverage) with an odds ratio of 1.21 [1.10-1.33; p<0.001] when compared to other form of antenatal care. In line with the NICE clinical guideline regarding antenatal care, our results emphasise that Midwife- and GP-led models of care should be offered to women with an uncomplicated pregnancy.


This paper seeks to explain the self-reported business performance of entrepreneurs who entered Canada through the Business Immigration Programme. The study draws upon a detailed face-to-face questionnaire with 90 entrepreneurs in Vancouver, a third each from Hong Kong, Taiwan and Korea. As suggested by the mixed-embeddedness model, state regulations provided a significant context for the economic actions of immigrant entrepreneurs. But opportunities were also narrowed by a perceived precariousness in the regional market. Overall, business performance was weak for entrepreneurs, despite significant pre-migration resources. Some factors regarded as encouraging entrepreneurialism were also important in shaping business outcomes. Human capital, though not the scale of investment capital, influenced business success. Consistent with European research, the ethnic enclave economy imposed a penalty on outcomes. Inter-ethnic variation was significant, with Korean-Canadians, who disproportionately sought mainstream markets, by far the most successful of the three groups. In addition they were less involved in transnational business activities, which seemed to compete with, rather than complement, Canadian enterprise.


ABSTRACT During the three years 1967-69, 781 cases of squamous cell carcinoma of the skin were reported to the Manchester Regional Cancer Registry. The proportions of males to females were significantly different (p <0·001) among the skin cancer sites. The age-specific incidence rates were significantly different (p <0·001) between the sexes for the five-year age groups of 55 years and above. Full occupational histories were obtained on 598 (77%) patients; a further 148 (19%) patients gave one main occupation only, while the remaining 35 (4%) patients were untraced. The numbers of patients observed in broad occupational groups (occupational orders) were compared with the numbers expected using the 1931 and 1951 censuses. For all skin cancer sites combined the occupations of farming and textiles were found to have highly significant excesses of 150% and 135% respectively for males. The corresponding excesses for females were 30% for textile workers and varied from 1140% to 590% for farmers, but only for the farmers were the excesses highly significant. For males the occupation of metal worker also showed excesses of 38% and 23% which were of borderline significance. The association between occupation and individual skin cancer sites was then considered. For males there were excesses in the arm for the occupational orders of chemical workers, paper/printing workers and fishermen, and in the ears for builders, but these excesses were of borderline significance. There was a significant difference (p <0·05) in the proportion of male patients with atopic skin conditions in each cancer site. However, this was not found for the female patients. For both male and female patients no significant associations were found between the skin site and either eye colour, residence in the tropics or smoking habit.


Most estuarine crab larvae emigrate from estuaries soon after they hatch, develop to the postlarval stage in the coastal ocean and then immigrate to estuaries and settle in adult habitats. We studled the patterns and mechanisms of immigration by postlarvae of 9 crab taxa in the small, highsalinity North Inlet estuary (South Carolina, USA) by sampling the plankton daily for 32 d over the length of the estuary. A concurrent study of larval production and flux showed that all taxa rapidly ernigrate, thereby establishing empirically the importance of immigration in this estuary and giving us the rare opportunity to compare the relative species abundance of emigrating larvae and immigrating postlarvae. Contrary to the popular view that planktonic developn~ent in the sea uncouples larval recruitment from production, the community composition of emigrants and immigrants were comparable. Postlarvae immigrated at night and primarily on large amplitude flood tides. We show that this pattern is common in other estuaries and we argue that it reduces fish predation on immigrating postlarvae. Saltatory, up-estuary immigration was evident in 5 species that moved from the lower to the upper estuary (4 km) in 1 to 3 d. Although immigration rates have not been measured directly in other estuaries, a study of postlarval settlement in Mobile Bay suggests that rates may vary geographically in relation to variation in the tidal regime.


This study assessed the feelings and attitudes of children toward their dentists and their association with oral health. Methods. A questionnaire designed to evaluate the attitudes of children toward dentists and preferences was completed by 200 children and their families. In addition, the children were examined and the World Health Organization (WHO) method was used to obtain dmft and DMFT scores. Results. The mean dmft and DMFT scores were 3.52 ± 2.44 and 1.35 ± 1.29, respectively. Of the children, 92.5% reported that they had visited a dentist before. Of the children who had visited dentists, approximately 71.5% reported that they enjoyed their visits. Of the children, 84% preferred female dentists, 76.5% preferred dentists that wore a colored coat, and 63% preferred a decorated dental clinic over a plain clinic. The mean dmft and DMFT values of children who were afraid of dentists were significantly higher than those of children who were not (P<0.01 and P<0.05, resp.). Conclusion. Children have strong perceptions and preferences regarding the appearance of their dentists and dental clinics. The results of this study might help dentists to improve their delivery of care.


This research examines to what extent and why nonprofit accountability mechanisms are adopted in human service organizations located in southwestern Pennsylvania. Its focus is twofold: 1) to assess the extent to which nonprofit leaders are familiar with and use the nonprofit accountability mechanisms that have been proposed in the literature and through nonprofit sector leadership organizations—to assess nonprofits' "accountability competency" and 2) to explore the motivations or incentives for instituting or resisting the practices. One hundred and fifty-six nonprofit human service executives in southwestern Pennsylvania participated in a mailed survey, and 20 of those respondents agreed to a follow-up personal interview. Results indicate that local nonprofits are more likely to adopt legal and financial accountability mechanisms, such as filing the IRS Form 990 and having a board approved operating budget, and less likely to adopt normative best practices, such as program evaluation, ethics codes and executive compensation policies. Further, study results examined through a dual lens of institutional and resource dependence theories, support the hypotheses that organizations are more motivated to adopt accountability mechanisms with greater degrees of organizational interconnectedness, external dependence on pressuring constituents, social legitimacy achieved, economic gain and legal coercion.


This letter presents a method for enhancing document images based on the multiresolution decomposition and fuzzy logic approach. The document image to be enhanced is obtained from a scanner and is a blurred binary image that is corrupted by additive noise. This type of image occurs in many situations when documents such as checks and credit card receipts become noisy and low-contrast images after scanning, thereby reducing its quality. Our task is to improve the readability of such images by reducing the noise and increasing the sharpness of the text. This is achieved using the multiresolution decomposition, fuzzy logic and contrast enhancement operator. The improvement is shown using simulation examples and compared with other enhancement techniques.


Apatite materials are interesting alternative solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) electrolytes because of their open structure including tunnels for the diffusion of oxide ions and their good chemical stability. However, the conductivity was still relative low when it was used as SOFC in the intermediate operating temperature range. So the apatite-type lanthanum silicates/germanates and doping were widely researched for enhancing conductivity recently. This study reports the influence of Ga doping on conductivity of the apatite phase La9.33(SiO4)6O2 according to the formula La9.33+x/3(SiO4)6-x(GaO4)xO2 where 0  x  2. Samples were prepared by a sol-gel process. The conductivities of all compositions have been obtained by impedance spectroscopy analysis. The conductivity enhancement observed for moderate x values and illustrates further influenced by the tetrahedral cation sublattice and the La vacancies in optimizing the conductivity.


Probiotics promote intestinal epithelial integrity and reduce infection and diarrhea. We evaluated the effect of Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG-produced soluble proteins (p40 and p75) on the hydrogen peroxide-induced disruption of tight junctions and barrier function in Caco-2 cell monolayers. Pretreatment of cell monolayers with p40 or p75 attenuated the hydrogen peroxide-induced decrease in transepithelial resistance and increase in inulin permeability in a time- and dose-dependent manner. p40 and p75 also prevented hydrogen peroxide-induced redistribution of occludin, ZO-1, E-cadherin, and beta-catenin from the intercellular junctions and their dissociation from the detergent-insoluble fractions. Both p40 and p75 induced a rapid increase in the membrane translocation of PKCbetaI and PKCepsilon. The attenuation of hydrogen peroxide-induced inulin permeability and redistribution of tight junction proteins by p40 and p75 was abrogated by Ro-32-0432, a PKC inhibitor. p40 and p75 also rapidly increased the levels of phospho-ERK1/2 in the detergent-insoluble fractions. U0126 (a MAP kinase inhibitor) attenuated the p40- and p75-mediated reduction of hydrogen peroxide-induced tight junction disruption and inulin permeability. These studies demonstrate that probiotic-secretory proteins protect the intestinal epithelial tight junctions and the barrier function from hydrogen peroxide-induced insult by a PKC- and MAP kinase-dependent mechanism.


High-density microelectronic circuity requires interconnection wire diameters of less than 0.005 inch and pad sizes less than 25 X 10-6square inch. Most ohmic contact pads on chips are aluminum as the material with the least of possible evils. Metallization of substrates to interconnect chips commonly consists of chromium for adhesion and gold or aluminum for conductivity. Substrate materials are chosen on the basis of dieleetrie strength, dielectric constant, dissipation factor, thermal conductivity, thermal expansion, and surface finish. Ultrasonic bonding avoids the troubles caused by the high temperatures employed for thermocompression and 'wedge bounding. Parallel-gap welding can be used on very small pads. Laser and electron beam welding techniques are still in the development stage. Difficulties associated with expansion coefficients of different materials in the evaporated leads bonding process can be avoided by careful choice of materials. Flip-chip bonding has the ad.vantages of reducing the number of interconneetion bonds and the package size, but it reduces accessibility for inspection and testing, sometimes requires multilayer cireuitry, and increases thermal resistance and turnaround time for design changes. Ultimately the choice of bond depends on such factors as cost, reliability, ar.d maintainability. When multilayer circuitry is required, choice of a dielectric to insulate crossover points becomes a problem. A knowledge of the advantages and disadvantages of all interconnection rnethods will enable the designer to preplan his circuitry so as to employ a method that is best for his particular application.


The creation of textile products with heating properties entails the manufacturing of a system based on a set of elements that must ensure the desired functionality of a particular fabric. Even if there are several types of textile heating elements, the study focuses on functional products whose structures incorporate various electroconductive yarns specially designed for this particular purpose. Currently, such yarns acquired characteristics which are similar to those of conventional textile yarns (fineness, flexibility, the ability to be processed on machines that are specific to the textile industry), due to their progressive evolution. As a consequence, the electroconductive yarns can be easily and effectively integrated into textile structures, thus allowing the use of a wide range of implementation and processing techniques that are specific to this field of activity.


SUMMARY: Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) is a new approach for treating Grades I and II hemorrhoids. In this procedure, the hemorrhoidal tissue is exposed to high frequency radio wave to produce coagulative necrosis and fixation of the vascular components of the hemorrhoids. This study reports the author's experience with this technique. The aim of this study was to determine the efficacy of RFA in the treatment of Grades I and II hemorrhoidal disease. The present retrospective study reviews the early and long-term effects of radiofrequency ablation. A separate prospective and randomized study compared the results of radiofrequency ablation and rubber band ligation (RBL) in 60 patients with Grade II hemorrhoids in terms of their effectiveness and patient comfort. Two hundred and forty patients with Grades I and II bleeding hemorrhoids were studied. Ellman radiofrequency generator was used for this procedure. Fisher's test was carried out for the statistical analysis of the outcome of the prospective study. Twenty three patients reported recurrence of bleeding, and 29 complained of pain or discomfort. The comparative study showed that though rubber band ligation was a more effective procedure (p<0.001), the rate and severity of pain was higher (p<0.001) than the radiofrequency coagulation. It is therefore concluded that radiofrequency ablation of hemorrhoids is easy to perform, is less painful, and has low rate of complications. It is better tolerated than RBL and can safely be repeated in case of recurrence of symptoms. It is however less efficacious.


The effects of development and the uncertainty of a changing climate in East Africa pose myriad challenges for water managers along the Blue Nile. Sudan's large irrigation potential, hydroelectric dams, and prime location within the basin mean that Sudan's water management decisions will have great social, economic and political implications for the region. At the same time, Sudan's water use options are constrained by tradeoffs between upstream irrigation developments and downstream hydropower facilities as well as by the country's commitments under existing or future transboundary water sharing agreements. Here, we present a model that can be applied to evaluate optimal allocation of surface water resources to irrigation and hydropower in the Sudanese portion of the Blue Nile. Hydrologic inputs are combined with agronomic and economic inputs to formulate an optimization model within the General Algebraic Modeling System (GAMS). A sensitivity analysis is performed by testing model response to a range of economic conditions and to changes in the volume and timing of hydrologic flows. Results indicate that changing hydroclimate inputs have the capacity to greatly influence the productivity of Sudan's water resources infrastructure. Results also show that the economically optimal volume of water consumption, and thus the importance of existing treaty constraints, is sensitive to the perceived value of agriculture relative to electricity as well as to changing hydrological conditions.


This study aims to detect if and how big data can improve the quality and timeliness of information in infrastructural healthcare Project Finance (PF) investments, making them more sustainable, and increasing their overall efficiency. Interactions with telemedicine or disease management and prediction are promising but are still underexploited. However, given rising health expenditure and shrinking budgets, data-driven cost-cutting is inevitably required. An interdisciplinary approach combines complementary aspects concerning big data, healthcare information technology, and PF investments. The methodology is based on a business plan of a standard healthcare Public-Private Partnership (PPP) investment, compared with a big data-driven business model that incorporates predictive analytics in different scenarios. When Public and Private Partners interact through networking big data and interoperable databases, they boost value co-creation, improving Value for Money and reducing risk. Big data can also help by shortening supply chain steps, expanding economic marginality and easing the sustainable planning of smart healthcare investments. Flexibility, driven by timely big data feedbacks, contributes to reducing the intrinsic rigidity of long-termed PF healthcare investments. Healthcare is a highly networked and systemic industry, that can benefit from interacting with big data that provide timely feedbacks for continuous business model re-engineering, reducing the distance between forecasts and actual occurrences. Risk shrinks and sustainability is fostered, together with the bankability of the infrastructural investment.


Visual analytics systems integrate interactive visualizations and machine learning to enable expert users to solve complex analysis tasks. Applications combine techniques from various fields of research and are consequently not trivial to evaluate. The result is a lack of structure and comparability between evaluations. In this survey, we provide a comprehensive overview of evaluations in the field of human‐centered machine learning. We particularly focus on human‐related factors that influence trust, interpretability, and explainability. We analyze the evaluations presented in papers from top conferences and journals in information visualization and human‐computer interaction to provide a systematic review of their setup and findings. From this survey, we distill design dimensions for structured evaluations, identify evaluation gaps, and derive future research opportunities.


Background We conducted a phase I trial to determine the safety of systemic chemotherapy prior to abdominopelvic robotic stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SABR) in women with persistent or recurrent gynecologic cancers. Methods Patients were assigned to dose-finding cohorts of day 1 carboplatin (AUC 2 or 4) and gemcitabine (600 or 800 mg/m2) followed by day 2 to day 4 Cyberknife SABR (8 Gy × three consecutive daily doses). Toxicities were graded prospectively by common terminology criteria for adverse events, version 4.0. SABR target and best overall treatment responses were recorded according to response evaluation criteria in solid tumors, version 1.1. Findings The maximum tolerated dose of chemotherapy preceding SABR was carboplatin AUC 4 and gemcitabine 600 mg/m2. One patient experienced manageable, dose-limiting grade 4 neutropenia, grade 4 hypokalemia, and grade 3 nausea attributed to study treatment. One patient had a late grade 3 rectovaginal fistula 16 months after trial therapy. Among 28 SABR targets, 22 (79%) showed a partial response and 6 (21%) remained stable. Interpretation Systemic chemotherapy may be given safely prior to abdominopelvic robotic SABR with further investigation warranted.


MR tomography of the liver using 1.5 T has been carried out in 63 patients with focal lesions in order to demonstrate haemangiomas and to differentiate these from primary and secondary malignant liver tumours. This differentiation was possible in all patients, using conventional spin echo and inversion recovery sequences in combination with sonography. Accuracy was much less good when using gradient echo sequences. With sufficiently large tumours, measurement of relaxation time made possible diagnosis of all the 22 haemangiomas.


INTEGRATING and sealing-over are terms that are frequently used to describe a patient's general style of coping with stress, especially the stress of an acute psychotic break. Work to date (McGlashan et al., 1975, 1976, in press; Levy et al., 1975) has defined these terms both clinically and dynamically within the context of a patient's relationship to his own psychosis. Integration and sealingover as concepts have also proved useful in understanding and describing interpersonal and group behavior on an inpatient psychiatric unit. A patient's ultimate style of recovery from an acute psychotic episode results from many forces-internal and environmental. The tendency to either review and assimilate (integrate) or deny and repudiate (seal-over) the often painful affects and ideas prominent during psychosis mobilizes various forces within the patient's social environment. The way in which the therapeutic milieu and patient interact with one another reflects and, in part, determines the manner and degree to which each party comes to master the patient's psychotic experience. This report explores this interaction as observed in an inpatient therapeutic community established to treat acutely schizophrenic patients.


High biocompatibility, variable size ranging from ≈5 nm, stable luminescence from its color centers, and simple carbon chemistry for biomolecule grafting make nanodiamond (ND) particles an attractive alternative to molecular dyes for drug‐delivery. A novel method is presented that can be used for remote monitoring of chemical processes in biological environments based on color changes from photoluminescent (PL) nitrogen‐vacancy (NV) centers in ND. The NV luminescence is driven chemically by alternating the surface chemical potential by interacting atoms and molecules with the diamond surface. Due to the small ND size, the changes of the surface chemical potential modify the electric field profile at the diamond surfaces (i.e., band bending) and intermingle with the electronic NV states. This leads to changes in NV−/NV° PL ratio and allows construction of optical chemo‐biosensors operating in cells, with PL visible in classical confocal microscopes. This phenomenon is demonstrated on single crystal diamond containing engineered NV centers and on oxidized and hydrogenated ND in liquid physiological buffers for variously sized ND particles. Hydrogenation of NDs leads to quenching of luminescence related to negatively charged (NV−) centers and as a result produces color shifts from NV− (638 nm) to neutral NV° (575 nm) luminescence. How the reduction of diamond size increases the magnitude of the NV color shift phenomena is modeled.


This paper is a phenomenological vindication of the Kantian claim concerning the Euclidean character of outer experience. The generally accepted view that the Kantian conception of space has been refuted either by the development of nonEuclidean formal geometries or by their empirical application within the framework of physical theories will be challenged. The significance of the Kantian claim for the modern Philosophy of Science will be expounded at the end of the text.


Supplemental Digital Content is Available in the Text. Objectives: To examine outbreak response–associated costs, lessons learned, and challenges encountered during a local health department's response to a mumps outbreak. Design: We conducted semistructured interviews with individuals directly involved in the response to a mumps outbreak and analyzed outbreak response–associated cost data. Setting: In March-July 2018, a mumps outbreak occurred in Chester County, Pennsylvania. The outbreak primarily affected an immigrant community, some of whom spoke little or no English and were uninsured and/or undocumented. This necessitated an urgent response from the Chester County Health Department, which implemented a variety of public health interventions, including outreach to local health care providers and the execution of vaccination clinics at 2 local mushroom farms where case contacts worked. A total of 39 suspected or confirmed mumps cases were reported in Chester County, and 22 suspected or confirmed cases were reported by 2 neighboring jurisdictions. Participants: Health department employees (n = 7) and community partners (n = 2). Areas of expertise included emergency preparedness, nursing, medicine, disease surveillance, and epidemiology. Main Outcome Measure: Operational challenges encountered and lessons learned during the mumps outbreak response, including outbreak response–associated costs, which could inform other communities' planning and preparedness for outbreaks in similar populations and improve outbreak response operations. Results: Immigration status emerged as a key challenge, which highlighted the importance of building trust through community outreach and partnerships and the need for culturally competent communication. In addition, vaccine availability, accessibility, and cost played a major role in response operations and necessitated the involvement of community partners to mitigate these barriers. Outbreak response–associated costs totaled $35 305. Conclusions: The challenges that occurred in this outbreak are broadly relevant to outbreaks that affect similar immigrant communities. Health departments that serve such populations can utilize these lessons to develop improved outbreak response plans that account for these challenges.


Fatigue is one of the most common symptoms experienced by people with multiple sclerosis (MS) and has a significant effect on all aspects of daily living and on quality of life. It is important for healthcare professionals working with patients with MS to identify fatigue where present and to be able to offer clinically effective treatment options. This article explores assessment and measurement of fatigue, evidence-based pharmacological and non-pharmacological treatments for managing fatigue and the role of MS specialist nurses and therapists.


Many African countries face escalating challenges of increasing disaster risk and anticipated impacts of climate change. Although disaster risk reduction (DRR) and climate change adaptation (CCA) are tightly linked and comprising virtually identical practices in vulnerable countries in Southern Africa, research has identified parallel governance structures across the region. This study applied comparative case study research, based on 27 semi-structured interviews, to investigate the reasons for and effects of such parallel structures for DRR and CCA in Botswana, Mozambique, the Seychelles, Tanzania and Zambia. It revealed overwhelmingly negative effects in terms of unclear mandates and leadership, uncoordinated efforts, duplication of efforts, suboptimal use of resources and competition over resources and control. The study identified both external reasons for the parallel structures, in terms of global or international initiatives or incentives, and internal reasons, with regard to the history and quality of the governance structures. Although the identified negative effects are common to a range of complex nexuses, there is a clear distinction with the DRR–CCA nexus comprising virtually indistinguishable practices in Southern Africa. There is, as such, no practical reason for keeping them apart. The parallel structures for DRR and CCA are instead the result of pervasive institutionalisation across the region, driven by coercive, mimetic and normative pressures coming from both within and abroad. Although much point to the difficulties of changing the studied institutional arrangements, these parallel structures for DRR and CCA must be addressed if the populations in Southern Africa are to enjoy safety and sustainable development.


Becoming an entrepreneur seems to be an endless topic in entrepreneurship research. In other words the question posed (often implicitly, but sometimes explicitly (e.g. Burns, 2005) is: can one become an entrepreneur, or are we born to be entrepreneurs? This is the story line that seems to have imbued the entrepreneurship discourse as one of the basic assumptions that works as a back-drop in writings on entrepreneurship, and is consequently often generally taken for granted. Moving away from the idea of the "born-to-become" entrepreneur there is a claim for other epistemological standpoints (e.g. Jennings et al., Lindgren and Packendorff, 2009). As well there has been some interest regarding how entrepreneurs are socially constructed (e.g. Goss, 2005), by different discourses in society (Berglund, 2006), a process that can be described as both complex and multi-faceted, going beyond notions from 'entrepreneurial' discourses (Watson, 2000), and which not always construct the heroic figure that is depicted by the entrepreneurship discourse (Kets de Vries, 1986, Shepard and Haynie, 2009). In this paper we aim to develop knowledge on the discursive construction of identity when it comes to an entrepreneurial setting that is multi-faceted. From following an entrepreneur on her journey in developing a business that could both be described as traditional (commercial) entrepreneurship and social entrepreneurship (fair trade) it is obvious that becoming an entrepreneur does not come from any prescribed recipe. On the contrary, entering an entrepreneurial route is followed by a number of identity dilemmas. Thus, we will elaborate on some examples considering how the CEO of Oria is challenged by different dilemmas when she combines the social part and the commercial part of her entrepreneurship in constructing an entrepreneurial identity. First we will discuss entrepreneurship from different logics.


Since the early 1970s scientists have been debating heatedly about the causes and consequences of global climate change. To date, there seems to be a strong consensus among scientists about continuing and remarkable changes in the global climate over the past 150 years. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC 2007), the global average surface temperature has increased by almost 1°C in the past 100 years. In general, climatologists and other experts agree that this global warming is partially attributable to the combustion of fossil fuels by humans. Other physical evidence pointing in the direction of global climate change is the global average sea level, which rose by approximately 17 cm during the 20th century. Thermal expansion of sea water and loss of land ice are the main causes of this effect. The IPCC (2007) further predicts that global warming will continue owing to ever-increasing human energy consumption and economic growth. Global average surface temperature will increase by another 2° to 4°C, and the sea level is projected to rise by another 20 to 60 cm during the 21st century.


Abstract Since a universally accepted dynamo model of grand minima does not exist at the present time, we concentrate on the physical processes which may be behind the grand minima. After summarizing the relevant observational data, we make the point that, while the usual sources of irregularities of solar cycles may be sufficient to cause a grand minimum, the solar dynamo has to operate somewhat differently from the normal to bring the Sun out of the grand minimum. We then consider three possible sources of irregularities in the solar dynamo: (i) nonlinear effects; (ii) fluctuations in the poloidal field generation process; (iii) fluctuations in the meridional circulation. We conclude that (i) is unlikely to be the cause behind grand minima, but a combination of (ii) and (iii) may cause them. If fluctuations make the poloidal field fall much below the average or make the meridional circulation significantly weaker, then the Sun may be pushed into a grand minimum.


This study aimed at identifying the argumentative writing skills among Arabic language teachers of the seventh grade in Jordan. To achieve the purpose of the study, the descriptive method was applied. The sample of the study consisted of (120) teachers (40 male and 80 female), who were chosen randomly.  The instrument of the study was a questionnaire divided into seven areas of argumentative writing, and the its psychometric properties were suitable data collection.  The results showed that the argumentative writing skills for Arabic language teachers were moderate.  There were statistically significant differences on the argumentative writing skills attributed to the gender variable in favor of the females.  There were no statistically significant differences among the sample participants ascribed to qualification variable. Finally, there were statistically significant differences on argumentative writing skills ascribed the experience variable, in the favor of (10) years of experience or more.


This article presents the primary theoretical and conceptual framework in which the elaboration of the pedagogical project for the 2010 Museology undergraduate program at the Federal University of Goiás (UFG), Brazil is based. It discusses the amplified concept of a museum, the place of Museology as a discipline of Applied Social Sciences and the specific research content within Museology. A moment of great expansion of the higher education in Brazil provided context for the creation of this programme, through a Federal Government project entitled Program to Support Restructuring and Expansion Plans of Federal Universities (REUNI) and also by the UFG's initiative through its Faculty of Social Science and Anthropological Museum, which has become the main laboratory for the new Museology course. We present the structural concepts of this course as museum, Museology as a Applied Social Science field and other discussions which were important to choose the disciplines offered in the program, if we consider the existence of a General Museology, a Special Museology and an Applied Museology, and also the existence of a museological chain of operation based on cultural heritage safeguard and communication, in opposition to the hegemonial program structure considering preservation, research and communication. In our view, the chain of operation implies the existence of museological applied research integrating it parts (which are documentation, conservation, expography and cultural educational action), and avoid to explicitly mention research because it can be misunderstood with systematic investigation and study of collections, which are also done inside the museum, but belongs to others fields' knowledge, external to Museology. We also try to demonstrate how the UFG's structure of Museology Course has privileged to prepare students for applied research in Museology, avoiding overlapping contents from other knowledge fields which also make researches and interpretations of museum collections.


Study Design. Systematic review. Objective. The objectives of this systematic review were to determine whether fusion is superior to conservative management in certain psychological subpopulations and to determine the most common psychological screening tests and their ability to predict outcome after treatment in patients with chronic lower back pain. Summary of Background Data. Many studies have documented the effects of various psychological disorders on outcomes in the treatment of lower back pain. The question of whether patients with certain psychological disorders would benefit more from conservative treatment than fusion is not clear. Furthermore, the most appropriate screening tools for assessing psychological factors in the presence of treatment decision making should be recommended. Methods. Systematic review of the literature, focused on randomized controlled trials to assess the heterogeneity of treatment effect of psychological factors on the outcomes of fusion versus nonoperative care of the treatment of chronic low back pain. In the analysis of psychological screening tests, we searched for the most commonly reported questionnaires and those that had been shown to predict lower back pain treatment outcomes. Results. Few studies comparing fusion to conservative management reported differences in outcome by the presence or absence of a psychological disorder. Among those that did, we observed the effect of fusion compared with conservative management was more favorable in patients without a personality disorder, neuroticism, or depression. The most commonly reported, validated psychological screening tests for lower back pain are the Beck Depression Inventory, the Fear Avoidance Belief Questionnaire, the Spielberger Trait Anxiety Inventory, the Zung Depression Scale, and the Distress Risk Assessment Method. Conclusion. Psychological disorders affect chronic lower back pain treatment outcomes. Patients with a personality disorder appear to respond more favorably to conservative management and those without a personality disorder more favorably to fusion. Patients with higher depression and neuroticism scores may also respond more favorably to conservative management. Clinical Recommendations.Recommendation 1: Chronic LBP patients with depression, neuroticism, and certain personality disorders should preferentially be treated nonoperatively. Strength of recommendation: Weak.Recommendation 2: Consider the use of a validated psychological screening questionnaire such as the BDI, FABQ, DRAM, ZDI or STAI, when treating patients with CLBP. Strength of recommendation: Weak.


This is a film review of A Dangerous Method (2011), directed by David Cronenberg. This film review is available in Journal of Religion & Film: http://digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/jrf/vol16/iss1/22 The lush period piece, A Dangerous Method, directed by David Cronenberg, transports the audience to perhaps the richest academic conversation of the early 20 th century, namely the contentious birth of modern psychoanalysis. Set in the context of the European dialectic of Vienna and Zurich and against the backdrop of an impending World War, the film is ultimately a record of the undeniably defining relationship between the movement's iconic founders, Sigmund Freud (Viggo Mortensen) and his younger protege, Carl Jung (Michael Fassbender). But the especial value of the film lies in its recovery of another, mostly forgotten voice in this clash of titans, namely the voice of Jung's first mistress, the patient and future analyst, Sabina Spielrein (Kiera Knightley). The film opens with Spielrein, a 'hysteric,' being admitted to the Burgholzli clinic in Zurich, where the nascent Jung works as a clinician. A spate of therapies is on offer at the clinic, including 'hydrotherapy' and Jung's pioneering word-association test. But for Spielrein, Jung feels led to experiment with Freud's vague but vaunted technique of 'psychoanalysis.' Jung is inexperienced with the 'talking cure,' which includes intimate conversation of Spielrein's relationship with her father and, more importantly, of her deepest sexual desires. It turns out that the two are interconnected, and it becomes clear in the analysis that Spielrein's experiences of having been physically humiliated by her father's spankings were the sources of Spielrein's sexual shame, her 'hysterical' symptoms, and as Freud might have predicted, her most forbidden libidinal desires. Acknowledgement of the connection between desire and shame leads to a 'cure' of her putative hysteria, but also to an unintended consequence. The intimacy of the analysis between Spielrein and Jung results in an irresistible sexual alchemy, a 'transference.' 1 Wilkes: A Dangerous Method Published by DigitalCommons@UNO, 2012 Despite deep misgivings, Jung becomes embroiled in a passionate sexual affair with the inexperienced, curious, and sexually adventurous Spielrein. Jung is portrayed as both tortured by conscience and hopelessly complicit in the affair, despite a comfortable living, wealthy wife, and burgeoning family. A deciding factor in the decision to pursue the affair is the presence of Otto Gross (Vincent Cassel) at the Burgholzli clinic. Jung and Freud had already begun an exciting discussion of psychoanalysis, and Freud had sent Gross to Jung's clinic for treatment of cocaine addiction and other maladies. Gross, also a brilliant analyst and libertine, engages Jung in a discussion of modern sexual mores, and further convinces Jung of the Freudian conviction that sexual repression is the cause of all neurosis. Armed with the requisite reasons for rejecting any 'repression,' caught up in the allure of sexual adventure, and still inarticulate in his resistance to Freud's pervasive 'sexuality' theory, Jung will veritably become swept away by the moment. The relationship between Jung and Spielrein becomes even more complex when she decides also to obtain a career in psychology, for which she has considerable intuitive gifts. As part of her therapy with Jung, she excitedly participates in Jung's experimental sessions, including co-administering the word-association experiment to Jung's wife, Emma (Sarah Gadon). With penetrating insight, Spielrein discerns sexual anxiety in Emma and Carl regarding the birth of their children. Moreover, Spielrein expresses her own anxiety about being a virgin to Jung, seeing the condition as an obstacle to her ability to perform Freud's technique of psychoanalysis. Finally crossing the line from analysis to raw emotional connection, she kisses Jung and invites him to her room, explaining that the surprising sexual initiative is the product of 2 Journal of Religion & Film, Vol. 16 [2012], Iss. 1, Art. 22 http://digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/jrf/vol16/iss1/22 the male aspect of her own personality (and perhaps anticipating Jung's eventual distinction between anima and animus). In many ways, in fact, she becomes a muse to Jung, performing an extended psychoanalytic study of Wagner's opera Das Rheingold. Unbeknownst to Spielrein, Jung had also been working on a psychoanalysis of the work. Their discussions of the Siegfried myth in the opera lead Spielrein to theorize an alternative to Freud's understanding of sexuality, and this novel interpretation further empowers Jung to contemplate ideas outside of Freud's oppressive orthodoxy. Initially enlivened by Freud's lively correspondence and professional companionship, Jung's relationship to the patriarch eventually sours as both men begin to intuit that the fatherson dynamic they have established cannot be long sustained. Jung's eventual rejection of Freud's exclusively sexual interpretation of the unconscious notwithstanding, the conflict between them becomes essentially mystical and religious. In two poignant scenes, the giants clash, first over the reality of psychic phenomena, and second over the patricidal nature of the psyche in giving historical birth to monotheism. The first scene is archetypal. Jung is being scolded over the proscribed boundaries of proper, psychoanalytic science. Superstition and parapsychology are, in Freud's view, not healthy for 'the movement.' Nearly shamed into silence, a break in the conversation allows Jung to vent his own views, as a wooden bookcase nearby splits and cracks inexplicably, as if in response to Jung's passion. When Freud offers a naturalistic interpretation of the noises, Jung shows a gift for the precognitive, predicting that the event will occur again. Mere moments later, it does. (Jung later described the event as a psychic shattering of his 'father archetype.') In the second scene, Jung is so aggressive with Freud, and 3 Wilkes: A Dangerous Method Published by DigitalCommons@UNO, 2012 so dismissive of the patricide-concept, that the older man faints and begs for sweet death...an Oedipal conflict if ever there was one! Spielrein also plays a role in the epic split. When rumors surface that Jung has taken a patient as his mistress, Freud seems disapproving. Jung initially denies the rumor, prompting Spielrein to confess the truth to Freud herself and violently to insist that Jung also confess everything, so that she can become Freud's patient and protege. Leaving for Vienna to study with Freud, Jung is obviously desolate, having lost them both. The final scenes depict the now married and pregnant Spielrein on a final visitation with the Jung family. Carl, she learns privately, has taken another mistress, Toni Wolff. Spielrein somewhat playfully taunts her old lover, for Toni is also a Jewish analyst, and Jung, who seems strangely unaware of the obvious connection, describes Toni with admiration as a comfort to him, akin to his wife and family. But Jung is clearly haunted by his past actions, and perhaps more importantly, by visions of an impending European bloodbath. In fact, Jung seems highly disassociated and himself in need of analysis. Inversely, Spielrein seems robust, and finally healthily detached from Jung. While the film seems to have multiple messages and points-of-view, it is a rare joy to see such nuance and psychological complexity brought to the screen. The interplay of theoretical interpretation and lived action in the world remains satisfyingly ambiguous. In the end, none of the three protagonists is fully vindicated. Still, there is a threaded theme that unites the multiplicity of motives and perspectives here. The film is, finally, a testament to the often 4 Journal of Religion & Film, Vol. 16 [2012], Iss. 1, Art. 22 http://digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/jrf/vol16/iss1/22 invisible forces, sometimes benevolent and sometimes monstrous, which shape our minds and destinies. The connections between sex and intimacy, shame and confession, collegial ambition and final betrayal are tremendously complex and sometimes impenetrable to us. Indeed, why shouldn't they be? After all, they are inexplicably shaped in part by the ever-secretive unconscious, to which this film, and the figures that inhabit it, bear poignant witness as both its hopeless victims and relentless conquerors. 5 Wilkes: A Dangerous Method Published by DigitalCommons@UNO, 2012


The propensity for Australians to move about more often and over greater distances as part of their employment, recreation and social life presents challenges for governments in the design and management of equitable fiscal policy to fund infrastructure, education, health and welfare and other services traditionally predicated on place-based criteria. The acquisition of second homes, ostensibly for recreation purposes, is a widely cited example in the debate about who pays how much for locality-based services. Other examples can be found in health service funding, education provision and transport infrastructure. While most people who use two or more dwellings have the financial security and personal wherewithall to live across multiple dwellings there are others who have much less choice and live between different places because personal circumstances dictate this. This paper suggests that fiscal policy predicated on place-based criteria persists because it is administratively simpler for public managers already operating in complex public policy environments. Nevertheless, we argue that place-based and social mobility criteria are not mutually exclusive. Recognition of the growing trend of social mobility may lead to better policy decisions. The paper aims to provide policy makers and public managers with a more accurate understanding of population mobility such that they can begin to effectively factor such trends into place-based fiscal policy.


Abstract This paper examines whether spillovers from local market human capital are important in explaining the distribution of productivity across Malaysia. We develop an empirical method for describing local human capital distributions based on the idea that spillovers are limited in scope by costs of interaction or economic distance between agents. We use estimates of the economic distance between agents to construct measures of local market human capital based on schooling rates of the population within a given radius. These measures are then used in estimating equations obtained from a simple local public goods model. Our regressions are estimated using spatial GMM, allowing for general spatial correlation across observations as a function of economic distance. We find positive wage and rent differentials associated with local human capital, evidence consistent with productive human capital spillovers. Our results for rent differentials obtain with two distinct human capital measures; however, those for wage differentials depend on the human capital measure used.


In January 2004, the Tricklock Ensemble premiered its second edition of The Glorious and Bloodthirsty Billy the Kid, the Greatest Serial Killer of Our Time-a Wild West Show & Cabaret! A first version (March 2003) had played to enthusiastic houses at Tricklock's small performance space in its home, Albuquerque, New Mexico. Both versions were created by the same ensemble of three men and three women under the literary and stage direction of Joseph Pesce, the company's Artistic Director. Designed to tour, the piece exploits one of the timeless mythic figures of Tricklock's state and region. Billy the Kid is mainly myth and legend. While a few western historians know a little something about William Henry Bonney-McCarry-Antrim, (1860-61?-1881) and others debate whether this shadowy figure was really The Kid, Billy exists today as postmodern construction of later theatricalizations. No sooner dead than fictionalized, Billy became a staple of pulp fiction and pop melodrama in the late nineteenth century. In silent, serial, and feature films, he has been incarnated by Johnny Mack Brown, Bob Steele, Buster Crabbe, Robert Taylor, Audie Murphy, Paul Newman, Kris Kristofferson, Emilio Estevez, and Val Kilmer. Lovers of junk culture might particularly treasure some of the legend's freakish variations, from Billy the Kid versus Dracula (John Carradine as the Count comes to the frontier, 1966) to Revenge of Billy the Kid (a real kid, i.e. a goat, who is the mutant offspring of a perverted farmer named McDonald, enacts his revenge in a farmyard splatter orgy, 1991). On the stage, where gunslingers are more difficult subjects, the most popular contemporary retelling of the Lincoln County saga is a poetic text with a postmodern slant, Michael Ondaatjes The Collected Works of Billy the Kid. Among alternative versions, Lee Blessing appealed to the contemporary taste for conspiracy theories in The Authentic Life of Billy the Kid (1979), which shows Pat Garrett killing Billy a second time in 1908. Novelist Rudolfo A. Anaya appealed to other New Mexicans by making Billy a Chicano outlaw (Billy the Kid, 1999). The most memorable Billy of contemporary drama is probably the violent sexual aggressor in beat poet Michael McClure's The Beard (1965), which Joe Pesce had already performed with his Tricklock collaborator Kerry Morrigan in Seattle and Albuquerque and on European tour (1999). But this Glorious and Bloodthirsty Billy the Kid is an ensemble creation, and the mythic rebel without a cause offers an opening for the company's young, thrusting energies and its main stylistic enthusiasm, physical theatre. COMPANY HISTORY Tricklock is a company without precedent in New Mexico's theatrical history and a model for young theatre people in other deserts, real and metaphorical. New Mexico has the oldest performative traditions in the United States. Native American performances involving song, dance, comedy, and religious narrative continue today on the same sites where they took place before any Europeans came over the mesa. 1598 saw the first European dramatic performances on soil that is now part of the US when colonists led by Don Juan Onate came north from Mexico bringing original and traditional folk drama, and those traditional performances likewise lived on uninterrupted and enriched to the present day. But New Mexico has proven chancy terrain for both traditional and experimental theatre in English. Community theatres have flourished since the early twentieth century in Santa Fe, Las Cruces, and Albuquerque, but they have seldom progressed beyond amateur performers and volunteer staff presenting seasons of metropolitan hits and deathless classics. The state had a bright modern LORT company, the New Mexico Repertory Theatre, but it collapsed financially after ten good years. Groups of young experimenters have arisen, sometimes for a few years each, but none has flourished by widening their mission or sinking roots into the state's poor financial soil. …


IntroductionMusculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) are the most prevalent chronic condition in Canada, and account for the highest disability costs. Gradual-return-to-work (GRTW) can improve health and labour market outcomes in an aging workforce at risk of MSDs. Linked longitudinal data enables us to generate evidence of GRTW to inform policy needs.
Objectives and ApproachThe objective of this study was to investigate the effectiveness and cost-benefits of GRTW for workers with a work-acquired MSD in British Columbia, Canada. We linked workers' compensation data, health services data, and prescription data from three governing bodies to 1) identify injured workers with an accepted MSD lost-time injury between 2010 and 2015; 2) identify trajectories of RTW states (injury, sickness absence, GRTW, RTW, and non-RTW) and the probability of transitioning between states; and 3) assess the association between workers characteristics and RTW trajectories, and analyze the cost-benefits of GRTW.
ResultsFinal results are expected early 2019. To our knowledge, this will be the first study linking workers' compensation data (in particular detailed RTW data), health services data and prescription data from three different governing bodies for a comprehensive, population-based investigation of work disability experiences over a longitudinal time period and within the Canadian context. Also, using this data for the purpose of assessing the cost-benefits is new, and will help to prioritize prevention resources and strategies to limit the health and economic impact of work-related MSDs on employers, workers' compensation boards and society.
Conclusion/ImplicationsEvaluating the effects of GRTW on work disability is essential to maximize the health and economic benefits for injured workers. The innovation of this project is that is links three population-based databases to capture multiple indicators of health and work status to build RTW trajectories over time.


This paper is dedicated to providing an introduction into multidimensional
integer trigonometry. We start with an exposition of integer trigonometry in
two dimensions, which was introduced in 2008, and use this to generalise these
integer trigonometric functions to arbitrary dimension. We then move on to
study the basic properties of integer trigonometric functions. We find integer
trigonometric relations for transpose and adjacent simplicial cones, and for
the cones which generate the same simplices. Additionally, we discuss the
relationship between integer trigonometry, the Euclidean algorithm, and
continued fractions. Finally, we use adjacent and transpose cones to introduce
a notion of best approximations of simplicial cones. In two dimensions, this
notion of best approximation coincides with the classical notion of the best
approximations of real numbers.


From a student's perspective, technology-assisted learning provides convenient access to interactive contents in a hyperlinked multimedia environment that allows increased control over the pace and timing of the presented material. Previous research examining different aspects of technology-assisted learning has found equivocal results concerning its effectiveness and outcomes. We extend prior studies by conducting a longitudinal field experiment to compare technology-assisted with face-to-face learning for students' learning of English. Our comparative investigation focuses on learning effectiveness, perceived course learnability, learning-community support, and learning satisfaction. In addition, we analyze the effects of different learning styles in moderating the effectiveness of and satisfaction with technology-assisted learning. Overall, our results show significantly greater learning effectiveness with technology-assisted learning than with conventional face-to-face learning. Learning style has noticeable influences on the effectiveness and outcomes of technology-assisted learning. We also observe an apparently important interaction effect with the medium for delivery, which may partially explain the equivocal results of previous research.


− In-situ transesterification of microalgae lipids using microwave irradiation has potential to simplify and accelerate biodiesel production, as it minimizes production cost and reaction time by direct transesterification of microalgae into biodiesel with microwave as a heating source. This study was conducted to research the effect of microwave irradiation with in-situ transesterification of microalgae under base catalyst condition. The process variables (reaction time, solvent ratio, microwave power) were studied using 2% of catalyst concentration. The maximum yield of FAME was obtained at about 32.18% at the reaction time of 30 min with biomass-methanol ratio 1:12 (w/v) and microwave power of 450 W. The GC MS analysis obtained that the main component of FAME from microalgal oils (or lipids) was palmitic acid, stearic acid and oleic acid. The results show that microwaves can be used as a heating source to synthesize biodiesel from microalgae in terms of major components resulting.


To date, no survey was done in Kosovo for the identification of orthodontic treatment needs. The aim of this study is to assess the prevalence of orthodontic treatment need among Kosovar children of ages 11-13, using the DAI and the DHC-IOTN in the identification of orthodontic treatment need.

 A sample of 185 children (50.3% female, 49.7% male), aged between 11-13, was randomly selected from one elementary school in Prishtina. Orthodontic treatment need was measured using the Dental Aesthetic Index (DAI) and the dental health component of the Index of Orthodontic Treatment Need (DHC-IOTN).

 Based on DAI, treatment was found as elective in 11.9 percent of the children. Treatment was found as highly desirable and mandatory in 5.9 percent and 4.3 percent of children, respectively. No gender-based significant differences were noted. According to IOTN DHC: 16.2 percent of children had borderline treatment need, while 66.5 percent had severe and extreme treatment need (grades 4 and 5). Again, no significant gender-based differences in the treatment need were found.

 High prevalence of orthodontic treatment need was identified in Kosovar children of ages 11-13, while no gender-based statistically significant differences were noted in the need for orthodontic treatment.


Based on the first order shear deformation shell theory, this investigation presents analytical formulations and solutions for the nonlinear buckling and postbuckling of imperfect eccentrically stiffened E-FGM thick circular cylindrical shells on elastic foundations in thermal environments. It is assumed that the shell is a mixture of metal and ceramic by exponential distribution law (E-FGM) and its properties depend on temperature. The shell is reinforced by the eccentrically stringers and rings stiffeners made of full metal. The Galerkin method is applied to determine load–deflection curves. The influences of inhomogeneous parameters, dimensional parameters, stiffeners, elastic foundations, initial imperfection and temperature dependent properties on the buckling and postbuckling of thick FGM circular cylindrical shells are discussed in detail.


Curved Exponential random graph models (CERGMs) are a popular tool for modeling social networks representing relational data, such as working relations or friendships. Additionally to the network itself some exogenous variables are often collected, such as gender, age, etc. CERGMs allow modeling of the effects of such exogenous variables on the joint distribution, but not on the marginal probabilities of observing a relation. In this paper, we consider a modification of CERGMs that uses a CERGM to model the joint distribution of a network, which is then subject to a marginal logistic regression model for the marginal probabilities of observing a relation. Explanatory variables depend on the exogenous variables, such as the difference in age between two nodes. This model approach, termed a marginalized CERGM, is a natural extension of a CERGM that allows a convenient interpretation of parameters in terms of log odds ratios. Several algorithms to obtain ML estimates and solutions to reduce the computational burden are presented. The methods are illustrated using the working relations between 36 partners in a New England law firm.


After a critical review of the impact of change on people's lives, we report on an empirical study highlighting three major aspects of academic life that the pandemic affected, providing supporting examples. The method used is first textual analysis for the critical review based on what the literature identifies as difficulties brought about by change (CBIA, 2022; Senge, 1990). The empirical study is of a qualitative nature (Creswell, & Poth, 2018) based on the analysis of observations in a personal journal, and aims at uncovering academic concerns during the pandemic. The findings will be valuable to academics to reshape their 'new normal'. Results include for the theoretical part of the literature review the fact that change impacts people and one cannot come back to prior positioning. Several findings from the analysis of the observational notes are centered around three main areas. The first issue was due to the short time span for new implementations and hence no time for foresight. This encompasses consequences of trial and error, more administrative control, and uncertainty of outcomes with contradictory discourses been held. Added to that there was a human cost that far exceeded what would normally be the case. For instance academic colleagues quitting or retiring early, unevenness in support provided, isolation in some cases compared to overabundance of support in others, perhaps even favoritism. The third major observation pointed to consequences on the instructional context. In this case, a number of positive outcomes were noted. More effort was placed on student engagement and learning, and it was all made visible. More activities were devised based on gaming strategies, and serious work was made more motivating. A better feel for knowledge integration was possible due to on-line learning for students who put some effort into it. Some observations however led to drawing conflicting conclusions. Finally, we discuss new future pathways. For instance, it is important to develop self-regulation in students and resilience for all concerned. There also appears to be a need to provide active support to everyone on an on-going basis as we move past the crisis.


We consider a high-dimensional mixture of two Gaussians in the noisy regime where even an oracle knowing the centers of the clusters misclassifies a small but finite fraction of the points. We provide a rigorous analysis of the generalization error of regularized convex classifiers, including ridge, hinge and logistic regression, in the high-dimensional limit where the number $n$ of samples and their dimension $d$ go to infinity while their ratio is fixed to $\alpha= n/d$. We discuss surprising effects of the regularization that in some cases allows to reach the Bayes-optimal performances. We also illustrate the interpolation peak at low regularization, and analyze the role of the respective sizes of the two clusters.


We propose a novel approach to measuring firm-level risk exposures and costs of equity. Using a simple consumption-based asset pricing model that explains nearly two-thirds of the variation in average returns across 55 anomaly portfolios, we map the relation between exposures to consumption risk and portfolio-level characteristics. We use this relation to calculate exposures to consumption risk at the firm level and show that the calculated consumption risk exposures yield portfolios with large differences in average returns and ex post consumption risk exposures consistent with those predicted by our calculated betas. Further, industry betas and risk premia implied by our procedure display economically intuitive variation over time. Finally, Fama-MacBeth regressions suggest that risk exposures calculated using our procedure dominate those from alternative factor models at explaining cross-sectional variation in returns.


Agri-environmental schemes (AES) have had a limited effect on European agriculture due to farmer's reluctance to participate in them. Information on the role that AES design can have on encouraging farmers to participate can be an important input into the design of such policies. This paper investigates farmers' preferences for different design options related to a specific AES in Spain using a mixed logit error component choice experiment approach allowing for preference heterogeneity and correlation amongst the non status quo alternatives. In particular, findings show farmers preference for greater flexibility in scheme implementation, presence of a fixed-rate payment per contract and additional advisory services. However, heterogeneity in the value of the AES attributes across regions and farmers is significant. The results show that there is room for improvement in current AES design that will lead to higher adoption rates however, farmer reluctance to AES sign-up is still substantial.


Family business are the dominant form of business in the world, and Chinese family business (CFB) is a unique type of family business that relies on collective action to survive. This paper argues that in CFBs, entrepreneurial actions are transgenerational collective endeavors, and successors are groomed as stewards of the family legacy. Work-life relationship in CFBs is about synergy and not balance because the family identity is the business identity, and vice-versa. Using five in-depth case studies, this research introduces an alternative understanding of CFBs and proposes a model of work-life synergy in transgenerational entrepreneurship based on discussion of five theory-based propositions. This model explains that through emphasizing on the business family's shared value and entrepreneurial legacy, elements of trust, shared identity and stewardship of family members are enhanced which leads to collective action and goal of the business family, resulting in transgenerational entrepreneurship. Limitations and future research are presented. Keywords— Chinese family business, family legacy, stewardship, transgenerational entrepreneurship, work-life synergy.


Transport of fluids and particles at the microscale is an important theme in both fundamental and applied science. One of the most successful approaches is to use an electric field, which requires the system to carry or induce electric charges. We describe a versatile approach to generate electrokinetic flows by using a liquid crystal (LC) with surface-patterned molecular orientation as an electrolyte. The surface patterning is produced by photoalignment. In the presence of an electric field, the spatially varying orientation induces space charges that trigger flows of the LC. The active patterned LC electrolyte converts the electric energy into the LC flows and transport of embedded particles of any type (fluid, solid, gaseous) along a predesigned trajectory, posing no limitation on the electric nature (charge, polarizability) of these particles and interfaces. The patterned LC electrolyte exhibits a quadratic field dependence of the flow velocities; it induces persistent vortices of controllable rotation speed and direction that are quintessential for micro- and nanoscale mixing applications.


1. The role of glutamate in slow excitatory synaptic transmission between small-diameter primary afferents and deep dorsal horn neurons was examined in neonatal rat spinal cord in vitro with the use of the whole cell voltage-clamp technique. 2. Single-shock electrical stimulation of large-diameter A beta-fibers evoked a short-latency (< 10 ms) fast (< 500 ms) excitatory postsynaptic current (EPSC). Stimulation of small-diameter A delta- and C fibers resulted, in addition, in a slowly rising and decaying EPSC (lasting up to 14 s) following the fast EPSC. The slow EPSC was never observed with stimulation of A beta-fibers. 3. Two patterns of EPSCs were observed, "type 1" and "type 2," which differed in their time course (lasting up to 1 and 14 s, respectively). The type 1 response was biphasic, with a fast monosynaptic component followed by an invariant, presumably monosynaptic, late slow component. The type 2 response was multiphasic, with a fast monosynaptic component followed by a slow component composed of fast polysynaptic currents superimposed on a slow current. 4. The fast monosynaptic component had a linear conductance, whereas the late slower component of the A beta-fiber-evoked response had a negative slope conductance at holding potentials more negative than -23 mV. Both currents reversed at a membrane potential of -1.2 +/- 2.8 (SE) mV. 5. With the use of selective non-N-methyl-D-aspartate (non-NMDA) and NMDA receptor antagonists [6-cyano-7-nitroquinox-aline-2,3-dione (CNQX) or 2,3-dihydroxy-6-nitro-7-sulphamoyl-benzo (F) quinoxaline and D(-)-2-amino-5-phosphonopentanoic acid (D-AP5), respectively] we showed that both the early fast (A beta-fiber evoked) and the late slow (A delta- and C fiber evoked) components were mediated by non-NMDA and NMDA receptors. CNQX suppressed both the early fast and late slow components of the compound EPSC, whereas D-AP5 suppressed the polysynaptic currents of the early fast component and the late slow component without significantly affecting the early fast monosynaptic component. 6. Slow EPSCs summated on low-frequency (1 or 10 Hz), repetitive stimulation and produced long-duration "tail" currents on cessation of the stimulus. The amount of temporal summation was proportional to the duration of the slow EPSC and the frequency of stimulation. 7. Our results suggest that slow ionotropic-glutamate-receptor-mediated EPSCs produced by the stimulation of small-diameter primary afferents play an important role in activity-dependent synaptic plasticity in the dorsal horn.


Context. In this thesis, a GPU-based light culling technique performed with conservative rasterization is presented. Accurate lighting calculations are expensive in real-time applications and the number of lights used in a typical virtual scene increases as real-time applications become more advanced. Performing light culling prior to shading a scene has in recent years become a vital part of any high-end rendering pipeline. Existing light culling techniques suffer from a variety of problems which clustered shading tries to address.Objectives. The main goal of this thesis is to explore the use of the rasterizer to efficiently assign convex light shapes to clusters. Being able to accurately represent and assign light volumes to clusters is a key objective in this thesis.Methods. This method is designed for real-time applications that use large amounts of dynamic and arbitrarily shaped convex lights. By using using conservative rasterization to assign convex light volumes to a 3D cluster structure, a more suitable light volume approximation can be used. This thesis implements a novel light culling technique in DirectX 12 by taking advantage of the hardware conservative rasterization provided by the latest consumer grade Nvidia GPUs. Experiments are conducted to prove the efficiency of the implementation and comparisons with AMD´s Forward+ tiled light culling are provided to relate the implementation to existing techniques.Results. The results from analyzing the algorithm shows that most problems with existing light culling techniques are addressed and the light assignment is of high quality and allows for easy integration of new convex light types. Assigning the lights and shading the CryTek Sponza scene with 2000 point lights and 2000 spot lights takes 2.92ms on a GTX970.Conclusions. The conclusion shows that the main goal of the thesis has been reached to the extent that all existing problems with current light culling techniques have been solved, at the cost of using more memory. The technique is novel and a lot of future work is outlined and would benefit the validity of the implementation if further researched.


The influence of local geology and rock mass characteristics on deformations during a rockburst caused by a controlled blast was studied. This was done by means of visual examination, mapping and photography both before and after the blast. We found that the ejected material was bounded mostly by fractures associated with the bow-wave fracturing and bedding surfaces and that existed prior to the blast. Most of the damage was caused by shake-out. This information is important input for the design of rockburst resistant support systems under conditions of moderate stress.


How do "Latinos" or "Hispanics" fit in the country's "white racial frame"? Are they a "race" – or more precisely, a racialized category? If so, how and when did that happen? Does not the U.S. Census Bureau insist (or has since the 1970s) on putting an asterisk next to the label – uniquely among official categories – indicating that "Hispanics may be of any race"? Is it a post-1960s, post-Civil Rights-era term, not fraught with the racial freight of a past in which for more than a century, in Texas since 1836 and the rest of the Southwest after 1848, "Mexican" was disparaged as a subordinate caste by most "Anglos"? The use of the label "Latino" or "Hispanic" is itself an act of homogenization, lumping diverse peoples together into a Procrustean aggregate. But are they even a "they"? Is there a "Latino" or "Hispanic" ethnic group, cohesive and self-conscious, sharing a sense of peoplehood in the same way that there is an "African American" people in the United States? Or is it mainly an administrative shorthand devised for statistical purposes, a one-size-fits-all label that subsumes diverse peoples and identities? Is the focus on "Hispanics" or "Latinos" as a catchall category (let alone "the browning of America") misleading, since it conceals the enormous diversity of contemporary immigrants from Spanish-speaking Latin America, obliterating the substantial generational and class differences among the groups so labeled, and their distinct histories and ancestries? How do the labeled label themselves? What racial meaning does the pan-ethnic label have for the labeled, and how has this label been internalized, and with what consequences? This chapter considers these questions, focusing primarily on official or state definitions and on the way such categories are incorporated by those so classified.


Context Work was done within a busy community paediatric department. The work looked at how we assess and promote quality. Problem A lack of focus and evidence of quality. Assessment of problem and analysis of its causes Within the department we had completed audits over the years on an adhoc basis, there were guidelines and pathways which were used but they were not always up to date. There was no universal way documentation could be accessed to see what had been done when, or when it needed repeating/updating. This meant that there was variability in the service we provided. Intervention Initially we spent 2 days collecting data about the quality work being done already. Next we planned four interventions. We created a database of audits, who was responsible for them and when they needed repeating. The database also noted if there were protocols and audit tools and if the audit had been presented. We formed a centralised set of online files based on the current CQC standards. Supporting evidence was filed making it accessible to everyone in the department. Audit reports, pathways, patient information sheets, induction material and department protocols can be easily found. We asked each member of the department to join a "champions" group focused on different areas of change. New trainees in the department are allocated to a group. These included:- Staff Wellbeing ASD ADHD Patient Voice Expectations We organised a monthly "quality" meeting. This is an opportunity for the department to present any work so that we can all learn and share. Changes can be ratified quickly so consistent high quality care can be provided. Strategy for change The most important strategy was encouraging each team member to feel responsibilty for quality. An away day allowed us to develop a shared vision and the champion groups will feed back on their progress at the monthly meetings to encourage action and momentum. Measurement of improvement We have now completed departmental audits that are up to date and shared with the team. Our monthly meeting has a full agenda promoting and sharing best practice. Effects of changes These changes have allowed the department to move to a more cohesive and coherent view of their work around quality. We have helped to standardise care, share good practice and maintain a quality service for the future. The staff wellbeing group has started a free fruit and lunchtime walking initiative. While the patient voice group have raised the profile of recoding this in clinic letters and meetings. Lessons learnt One of the greatest challenges was getting colleagues to prioritise "quality" work above their clinical case load. In a busy department it can be hard find time to implement change. The quality day provided a different environment away from clinical duties to allow people to think about what we could do better. Message for others Identifying "quality" and the evidence required to show this is the first step. Forming a central easily accessed folder containing all the information along with an index or database to assess progress is the next. Using the CQC standards as a template for our files helped us to organise our thinking in line with national standards. Engaging colleagues and encouraging personal responsibility to support ongoing improvement is also essential.


Nonlinear aeroelastic responses of a flying wing aircraft due to different gust profiles are investigated. Three different gust profiles are obtained considering light, moderate, and severe turbulence. A flying wing configuration is designed for the purpose of this investigation. The structural properties of the wings are obtained using VABS software, and then the flying wing is simulated with Nonlinear Aeroelastic Trim and Stability of HALE Aircraft (NATASHA) computer program. The results of time domain analysis are reported for the cases when engine is placed at the root of the wing and close to the area of maximum flutter speed. It has been found that the flying wing experiences limit cycle oscillation, when the engines are mounted at the root of the aircraft, for all three gust profiles. However, when the engines are placed at the area of maximum flutter speed, the oscillations die out. In addition, the real and imaginary part of eigenvalues and the unstable mode shape of the aircraft are reported.


"Veins is a multimedia installation that makes reference to the Alberta landscape—Rita McKeough's home for the past decade. In it, a network of pipelines interlaces 'natural' terrain, as if an artificial system of blood veins. Dissecting the exhibition space is an asphalt road, both sides of which is peopled by animals, oversize poplar leaves, tree-trunks, train tracks, and a motorized oil pump jack. Slinking among these are giant mechanized snakes, as tree-trunks are beat gently by automatic drumsticks." -- publisher's website.


Previous researchers have observed differences in the quantity of teacher-pupil interactions experienced by pupils from different social backgrounds. However, there has been little attempt to explore the qualitative nature of such differences and their impact on pupil learning. In this paper I report on an ethnographic study undertaken in a Year 5 primary classroom in the UK focusing on pupil participation in whole-class discussions. I present a typology for identifying productive and non-productive interactions in order to explore the relationship between participation and pupil access to classroom learning processes.
 The qualitative analysis of audio and video data shows that some children engage in productive exchanges with teachers more often than others, and that this variation may be linked to an implicit set of social norms embedded in the classroom's micro-culture. The reasons behind such differences primarily relate to teacher expectations of ability and the cultural capital that pupils bring into the classroom, which both impact upon the communicative behaviour of teachers and pupils. Drawing on Lave and Wenger's theory of learning as participation in practice, I argue that patterns of unequal participation in whole-class discussions may lead to the construction of different types of pupil identities within the classroom. Pupils who are consistently involved in productive interactions come to see themselves as full participants or learners, whilst those involved in non-productive interactions find themselves marginalised from the practice of classroom learning. I conclude that, in order to tackle issues surrounding educational disadvantage, there is a need to address the systems and processes that reproduce wider social inequalities within the classroom micro-climate.


Background: Patients with peripheral artery disease (PAD) are at risk of major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events. There are no readily available risk scores that can accurately identify which patients are most likely to sustain an event, making it difficult to identify those who might benefit from more aggressive intervention. Thus, we aimed to develop a novel predictive model—using machine learning methods on electronic health record data—to identify which PAD patients are most likely to develop major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events. Methods and Results: Data were derived from patients diagnosed with PAD at 2 tertiary care institutions. Predictive models were built using a common data model that allowed for utilization of both structured (coded) and unstructured (text) data. Only data from time of entry into the health system up to PAD diagnosis were used for modeling. Models were developed and tested using nested cross-validation. A total of 7686 patients were included in learning our predictive models. Utilizing almost 1000 variables, our best predictive model accurately determined which PAD patients would go on to develop major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events with an area under the curve of 0.81 (95% CI, 0.80–0.83). Conclusions: Machine learning algorithms applied to data in the electronic health record can learn models that accurately identify PAD patients at risk of future major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events, highlighting the great potential of electronic health records to provide automated risk stratification for cardiovascular diseases. Common data models that can enable cross-institution research and technology development could potentially be an important aspect of widespread adoption of newer risk-stratification models.