BACKGROUND
Physicians are often insufficiently trained in bedside teaching and mentoring skills.

OBJECTIVES
To develop, implement and assess a simulation-based training program designed to improve clinical teaching among physicians.

METHODS
We developed a one-day tutor training program based on six simulated scenarios with video-based debriefing. The program's efficacy was assessed using questionnaires completed by the participating physicians and their students. Main outcome measures were self-perceived teaching skills at baseline, after participation in the program, and following completion of the tutor role. Secondary outcome measures were the students' perceptions regarding their tutor skills.

RESULTS
Thirty-two physicians (mean age 35.5 years, 56% females) participated in the program. Self-assessment questionnaires indicated statistically significant improvement following the program in 13 of 20 measures of teaching skills. Additional improvement was observed upon completion of the tutor role, leading to significant improvement in 19 of the .20 measures. Questionnaires completed by their students indicated higher scores in all parameters as compared to a matched control group of tutors who did not participate in the program, though not statistically significant. Most participants stated that the program enhanced their teaching skills (88%), they implement program-acquired skills when teaching students (79%), and they would recommend it to their peers (100%). Satisfaction was similar among participants with and without previous teaching experience.

CONCLUSIONS
A novel one-day simulation-based tutor training program was developed and implemented with encouraging results regarding its potential to improve clinical teaching and mentoring skills.


The objective of this work was to determine the factors of soil water availability (FSWA) that result in the highest agronomic performance of irrigated forage sorghum, with no changes in the plants' chemical-bromatological composition. The experiment was conducted at the Montes Claros State University, Janaúba campus, MG, Brazil, in a Typic Quartzipsamment (Neossolo Flúvico Psamítico Embrapa) with 59 mm of soil water storage capacity in the 0.0-0.3 m layer, under drip irrigation. A randomized block design with four replications and a split-plot arrangement was used, consisting of five FSWA (f0.2 = 0.20; f0.35 = 0.35; f0.5 = 0.50; f0.65 = 0.65, and f0.8 = 0.80) in the plots and two simple forage sorghum hybrids (Volumax ® and BRS-655) in the split-plots. The evaluations were based on fortnightly measurements of plant height, plant transversal diameter, number of leaves per plant, leaf area index, relative chlorophyll content, stem diameter, panicle length, dry matter yield, water use efficiency, crude protein, mineral matter, acid detergent fiber, neutral detergent fiber, and lignin. The FSWA of 0.20 and 0.35 increased dry matter yield and plant height of the two evaluated sorghum hybrids. The Volumax hybrid presented more crude protein content and acid detergent fiber. The evaluated FSWA did not change the chemical-bromatological composition of the sorghum hybrids.


The well known wave equation describes isentropic wave propagation. In this equation, non-isentropic
boundary layer effects are neglected. This is allowed if the characteristic dimensions of the acoustic domain
are large with respect to the thickness of the boundary layers. However, in small acoustic devices such as
hearing aid loudspeakers, the boundary layer effects are significant and can not be neglected. A model that
describes viscothermal wave propagation is needed to model such devices.
For viscothermal wave propagation, the compressibility of air depends on the thermal behavior that can
range from adiabatic to isothermal. Moreover, the propagation behavior can range from propagation with
negligible viscosity to propagation with negligible inertia (Stokes flow). This complete range is accurately
described by the low reduced frequency model. This model's major drawback is that it is only defined for
simple geometries such as thin layers and narrow tubes. It is not valid for arbitrary geometries.
To overcome this drawback, a three dimensional viscothermal finite element has been developed. Like the
LRF model, it covers the complete range from isothermal Stokes flow to isentropic acoustics. As opposed to
the LRF model, the viscothermal finite element can be used to analyze complicated geometries.
This paper presents the weak formulation of the finite element. Furthermore, two examples are presented in
which the results of the finite element models are compared to measurements.


This paper presents a robotic arm controller for reaching motions. This controller applies two principles inspired by current theories of human reaching motions, namely the multi-referential control of movements and the dynamical system approach to biological control. The controller consists of a stable dynamical system active in a hybrid cartesian-joint angle frame of reference. Our results show that this controller has interesting properties in terms of stability and robustness to perturbations, and that its redundancy can be exploited for a simple solution to the joint limit avoidance problem.


Immunization rates in Canada are suboptimal. Strategies such as making immunization mandatory for child care or school entry and financial incentives are used in other countries. Additional strategies that could work in the Canadian context include requiring accurate immunization records at school entry, implementing immunization registries at the provincial/territorial level, educating parents and school-aged children about vaccine-preventable diseases and making it more convenient for parents to ensure their children are fully immunized.


I wrote my first paper on bone tumors about 1902, based upon all the cases we had observed in the surgical pathological laboratory since 1889 and the literature which I had reviewed in Progressive Medicine yearly since 1899. During these twenty-four years which have passed, I have gone over the bone material at least once a year in teaching, and, in writing many articles, I have critically restudied the material from every possible standpoint. A number of impressions are prominent in my mind from this continuous study:

First , just as we finished a restudy of all the material and formulated apparently definite conclusions for clinical and x-ray diagnosis, new cases came under observation at an earlier period which are exceptions to the rules. So, in writing this article, I felt I could teach more if I took a series of recent cases and described, in this group at least, the actual methods and difficulties of diagnosis.

When all bone lesions are x-rayed and studied within a few weeks after the first symptom, we may be able to evolve general diagnostic laws.

Second, the great value of the x-ray. One, to be a diagnostician of bone diseases, should constantly restudy the x-ray films or lantern slides, and these should be kept in very accessible filing-cases. One of the greatest obstacles to the majority of roentgenologists is that they are dependent for the final diagnosis in cases operated upon on a pathologist who may be neither interested nor expert in diagnosis. For example, the roentgenologist has been told again and again that the benign giant-cell tumor is a sarcoma. Naturally he concludes that central sarcoma is common. Even in the benign bone cyst, the fibrous tissue removed from the wall has been diagnosed sarcoma. Our x-rays of bone lesions, before they are valuable in the study of the diagnostic features, must be associated with a verification of the diagnosis not only by the microscope but by the final result. If the patient, whose femur is illustrated in Figure 12 (Case 5), lives, the diagnosis of osteomyelitis is verified. That Case 4 died with definite evidence of metastasis to the chest verifies the diagnosis of sarcoma. If Case 2 (Fig. 4) lives, we will never have a verification of the diagnosis of sarcoma unless the section is submitted to a committee of pathologists and my diagnosis of sarcoma confirmed. The present behavior of Case 1 (Fig. 1) strongly suggests that the diagnosis of a benign ossifying lesion is correct. There is no doubt in Case 3 (Fig. 8) that the diagnosis of benignancy is confirmed by the present condition of the patient.

Therefore, when we study x-rays, we learn most from those in which the diagnosis has been verified. It is dangerous to study x-ray films in which the ultimate condition of the patient is unknown, in which the pathology is relatively uncertain, and when the patients are living after amputation.

Third, the growing importance of the frozen section to help in the diagnosis at operation. The advice that should be most helpful to the pathologist is that every pathologist who is called upon to make diagnoses from frozen sections during operation should practice daily on the fresh material with the polychrome-methylene blue stain of the frozen, unfixed tissue, and with the eosin-haemotoxylin stain of the tissue first fixed in formalin and then frozen. The majority of pathologists in this country connected with operating rooms are not frequently called upon by their surgical colleagues in the hospital for this frozen-section diagnosis, and they are not preparing themselves for this emergency. As the people in the different communities are becoming more enlightened and patients with bone and breast lesions are coming into the hospital quickly after the first symptoms, the diagnosis will rest more with the pathologist than with the roentgenologist.

Previous Literature. If one reading this article cares to compare it with the publications of previous studies, I would suggest the Journal of Radiology (I, 147-238) for March 1920, where I reported seventy cases of periosteal sarcoma and gave pictures of the various types.

In the Journal of Radiology (III, 310-317) for August 1922, I made my first report on the non-suppurating osteomyelitis of Garre, which I then called infectious ossifying periostitis. I hope the term chronic sclerosing osteomyelitis will finally be adopted.

I take this opportunity to make some additions and corrections to this article. Case 1, Pathol. No. 16865 (Fig. 1), the patient is living and well in 1926, confirming the diagnosis of a benign ossifying lesion.

Case 2, Pathol. No. 28771 (Fig. 6), in which we thought that the chronic sclerosing osteomyelitis was due to the gonococcus, the patient is still living in 1926, five years after the first observation, without symptoms.

Case 3, Pathol. No. 29084 (Fig. 8), diagnosed from the x-ray as a benign ossifying lesion of the upper end of the shaft of the femur, died after a hip-joint amputation. I have been unable to obtain the specimen to verify the operator's diagnosis of sarcoma.

All the other cases described there as infectious ossifying periostitis are living to verify the diagnosis, except Case 8 (Fig. 13), in which the disease was multiple and of the Paget type. After reporting this case (Pathol. No. 29831), I found metastatic carcinoma in the skull, the x-rays of which are pictured (Figs. 17 and 18). We knew that this patient's breast had been removed more than five years before, but the diagnosis had not been carcinoma. Dr. S. Ginsburg of New York, who followed this patient from the beginning to the end, has made a most complete report in the Archives of Surgery. In this instance a general disease of the skeleton of the Paget type of chronic sclerosing osteomyelitis or ossifying periostitis became secondarily involved with metastatic carcinoma.

The paper by Dr. S. Fosdick Jones appeared in the Journal of the American Medical Association (LXXVII, 986-990) September 24, 1921.

In the Journal of Radiology for February 1923 (IV, 46-51) I described the sclerosing type of osteogenic sarcoma. The case pictured in this contribution, in which the thigh was amputated after exploratory incision in 1922, lived in comfort for about two years and died of metastasis to the lung.

In the Journal of Radiology for April 1923 (IV, 119-127), I have grouped together, with illustrations, examples of benign and malignant ossifying periostitis and benign ossifying myositis. There are no corrections to this article. The diagnoses remain as given, verified by the present condition of the patients.


Recent Supreme Court of Canada decisions under section 2(d) of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms have been notable as much for what they have decided as for what they have left unresolved. One of the key unresolved issues is the meaning and role of the constitutional duties to bargain and consult in good faith. The duty to bargain in good faith has long been present in Canadian labour legislation and labour boards have spent decades developing jurisprudence to give meaning to the term. In its decision in B.C. Health Services, the Court appeared to fold the existing, labour relations notion of good faith bargaining into the freedom of association analysis under section 2(d), thereby creating a constitutional obligation for parties to bargain in good faith. While the obligation of good faith under s. 2(d) is carried forward from Health Services to the Supreme Court's later decision in Fraser, the function and content of that obligation becomes murky. Good faith is no longer, as the reasoning in Health Services seemed to suggest, akin to the obligation to bargain in good faith developed under Canadian labour statutes. Since Fraser, the constitutional obligation to bargain and consult in good faith seems to have become something less robust than this, although according to the Supreme Court, it is still meant to ensure "meaningful discussion" and a process whereby employees may make representations to their employers. This paper highlights some of the ambiguities created by the Supreme Court's decisions in Health Services and Fraser. It also looks at the jurisprudence since Fraser with a view to discerning what the duty to bargain in good faith has come to mean under section 2(d).


This work presents main results of how inhabitants of Alto ParaAso de Goias are seeking alternatives to sustainable development through the implantation, by Embrapa, of a project about the rescue of coffee. Mining and farming activities were developed in the region until its main activity turned into tourism in 1960, with the creation of the National Park of the Chapada dos Veadeiros, and inauguration of Brasilia. In 2000, flow of tourists dropped due to problems related to public health, resulting in the stagnation of local economy. Over the last years, family producers woken up for the existence of a coffee that can be sold in niche markets for special coffees - organic and from defined origins - and counted on Embrapa to develop the research project. The study revealed that by unveiling values - history, culture and traditions -, it is possible to establish more efficient strategy for search in the market, from revealed experience in concrete job and producers culture. In addition, it revealed that rural development in that region must be sought through the development of activities of the new rurality and the implementation of a territorial approach.


OBJECTIVE
To investigate possible linkages between neurodevelopmental delay and neurodevelopmental spectrum disorders and exposure to medication with effects on serotonin reuptake inhibition during pregnancy.

METHODS
We systematically reviewed the epidemiological literature for studies bearing on this relationship in children born with neurodevelopmental spectrum disorder and related conditions, as well as animal studies giving serotonin reuptake inhibitors to pregnant animals and in addition reviewed the literature for proposals as to possible mechanisms that might link effects on serotonin reuptake with cognitive changes post-partum.The epidemiological studies were analysed to produce Forest plots to illustrate possible relations.

RESULTS
The odds ratio of Autistic Spectrum or related Disorders in children born to women taking serotonin reuptake inhibiting antidepressants during pregnancy in case control studies was 1.95 (95% C.I. 1.63, 2.34) and in prospective cohort studies was 1.96 (95% C.I. 1.33, 2.90).

CONCLUSIONS
There appears to be a link between serotonin reuptake inhibition in pregnancy and developmental delay and spectrum disorders in infancy leading to cognitive difficulties in childhood. More work needs to be done to establish more precisely the nature of the difficulties and possible mechanisms through which this link might be mediated.


In a study conducted at a large public university, the authors assessed, for an upper-division quantitative methods business core course, the impact of delivery method (online versus face-toface) on the success rate (percentage of enrolled students earning a grade of A, B, or C in the course). The success rate of the 161 online students was 55.3%, significantly lower (p = .000) than that (72.6%) of the 212 face-to-face students. Both students with a strong (A or B) grade in the lower-division statistics prerequisite and students with a weak (C or D) grade in the prerequisite had a significantly lower (by approximately 17 percentage points) success rate under online delivery than under face-to-face delivery. The study is contrasted with prior studies on the relative effectiveness of different modes of course delivery. Implications of the study's findings are discussed.


In the present study, pumpkin (Cucurbita Pepo L.) was grown under water stress to determine its effects on the chemical composition of the seeds (i.e., oil, protein, fatty acids and vitamin E), in Kayseri, Turkey. Irrigation treatments were designed to supply different portions of depleted moisture within the efficient root zone of the plants (60 cm). The treatments were arranged as supplying 100% (I100), 80% (I80), 60% (I60), 40% (I40), 20% (I20) and 0% (I0) of depleted moisture through a drip irrigation system. The effects of irrigation levels on the oil content of pumpkin seeds were found to be significant (p < 0.01). The oil contents of irrigation treatments varied between 26% (I0, dry) and 64% (I100, full irrigation). However, the effects of deficit irrigation on protein, fatty acids and vitamin E contents were not found to be significant. The vitamin E contents varied from 41.6 – 55.3 mg/100 g; while the protein contents varied from 28.5–37.7%. Six different fatty acids (linolenic, linoleic, oleic, stearic, palmitic and myristic acid) were examined. The average concentration of palmitic, stearic, oleic and linoleic acids ranged from 10.7–12.6%, 6.4–10.4%, 39.6–48.9% and 32.4–35%, respectively. Myristic and linolenic acids were not detected in the pumpkin seeds.


Williams syndrome (WS) is a rare genetic disorder involving a characteristic cardiac defect, typical facial appearance, and an uneven profile of cognitive strengths and weaknesses. WS is caused by a hemizygous deletion in chromosome band 7q11.23, including the gene for elastin (ELN). Typically, individuals with WS seem driven to greet and interact with strangers. The goal of the present study was to investigate age‐related changes in the expression of hypersociability in WS. Parents of 64 children with WS, 31 children with Down syndrome (DS), and 27 normal controls (NC) provided data concerning specific aspects of their children's social behavior using the Salk Institute Sociability Questionnaire (SISQ). Children ranged in age from 1 year, 1 month to 12 years, 10 months. Consistent with earlier findings, whole group analyses showed the WS group to be significantly higher on all aspects of sociability studied. Comparisons among the groups at different ages revealed that hypersociability is evident even among very young children with WS, and, significantly, children with WS exceed children with DS with respect to Global Sociability and Approach Strangers in every age group. The findings from children who have the typical deletion for WS are contrasted with data obtained from a young child with WS who has a smaller deletion and many physical features of WS, but who does not demonstrate hypersociability, providing intriguing clues to a genetic basis of social behavior in this syndrome. These data suggest the involvement of a genetic predisposition in the expression of hypersociability in WS. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


ABSTRACT The aim of this paper is to outline an analytic perspective on the notion of statehood, state authorities' performance in situations of exceptionality, and to present some insights from ethnographic research in the context of migration in contemporary Greece. Following Timothy Mitchell's thesis on the 'effect of state', taking into account Giorgio Agamben's and Michel Foucault's theories regarding the 'state of exception' and 'exceptionalised institutions', as well as Erving Goffman's 'dramaturgical perspective' on the studies of social interactions, it is argued that 1. the ongoing cases of illegal and unsanctioned practices carried out by police and army officers in the Greek migration context should be interpreted, first and foremost, as mere practices of statehood enactment; 2. the 'state of exception' is not merely a useful spatialised device used by state authorities for mobility-control purposes, but rather an essential trait of statehood enactment itself. In order to reconcile the internal ambiguities inherent in the convoluted ensemble of perceived notions about what 'a state' is and how 'a state' does what it is supposed to do, it will be argued that, statehood enactment, by its very definition and constitution, frequently requires recurring to an 'institutionalised state of exception'. From a broader viewpoint, these arguments question some supposedly non-problematic assumptions about the (concrete or abstract) nature of the state, while at the same time proposing an examination of the epistemological status of migranthood.


The bottled water market in the U.S. is a recent development. Most water bottlers had traditionally positioned their products as an alternative to tap water. A few imported waters were sold for health reasons. The real growth in the bottled water market took place in the second half of 1970s when Perrier was introduced as anon alcoholic, chic alternative to soft drinks and alcoholic beverages. Bottled water accounted for $3.2 billion sales in 1992 out of a total beverage sales of $159 billion. Although bottled water is the smallest in terms of revenue, its gallonage market share stood at 8.7 percent, and it is by far the fastest growing category of all beverages. The future prospects of the bottled water industry in the U.S. appear bright due to the deterioration of municipal water supplies, interest in healthy living, and the movement of bottled water into main stream as a refreshment beverage. Currently, there are over 700 bottled water manufacturers in the U.S. The leader among these is the Perrier Group with almost one-fourth of the market. Although the Perrier Group is a foreign firm, most of its sales are generated from U.S. brands that this company has acquired over the years. For example, its only imported brand Perrier, accounted for only 1.7 percent of the market in 1993. Overall, imports have less than 4 percent of the U.S. bottled water market. This situation is no different than in the beer or soft drink industry. But there is one exception. While lead players in the beer and soft drink industries are U.S. companies, in the case of bottled water the three among the first five industry members are foreign firms, (i.e., Perrier Group, Suntory International and Evian), accounted for about one-third of industry sales.


People who threaten to cause harm may either actualize their threat or bluff. To manage the risk that harmful acts will be perpetrated, it is of great importance to recognize differences between threatening behavior that will and will not be actualized. In this article we present what is, to our knowledge, the first study in which verbal threats are examined experimentally. We theorized that threats reflecting actual intentions come with implementation details (how one will actualize the threat), whereas bluffs linger in the formation of ideas (reasons why one makes a threat). In a mock-paradigm, participants (N = 181) threatened a company over the phone and were questioned about their threat during the call. Participants were either instructed not to actualize the threat (bluffers), to actualize it only if the company would not meet their demands (conditional actualizers) or to always actualize the threat (decisive actualizers). It was found that bluffers and actualizers differed in the amount of implementation details they provided. In contrast to our prediction, bluffers provided comparatively more details on implementation. Possible explanations for this result are discussed.


To investigate the consequences of cyclometalation for electronic communication in dinuclear ruthenium complexes, a series of 2,3,5,6-tetrakis(2-pyridyl)pyrazine (tppz) bridged diruthenium complexes was prepared and studied. These complexes have a central tppz ligand bridging via nitrogen-to-ruthenium coordination bonds, while each ruthenium atom also binds either a monoanionic, N,C,N'-terdentate 2,6-bis(2'-pyridyl)phenyl (R-N(wedge)C(wedge)N) ligand or a 2,2':6',2''-terpyridine (tpy) ligand. The N,C,N'-, that is, biscyclometalation, instead of the latter N,N',N''-bonding motif significantly changes the electronic properties of the resulting complexes. Starting from well-known [{Ru(tpy)}(2)(mu-tppz)](4+) (tpy = 2,2':2'',6-terpyridine) ([3](4+)) as a model compound, the complexes [{Ru(R-N(wedge)C(wedge)N)}(mu-tppz){Ru(tpy)}](3+) (R-N(wedge)C(H)(wedge)N = 4-R-1,3-dipyridylbenzene, R = H ([4a](3+)), CO(2)Me ([4b](3+))), and [{Ru(R-N(wedge)C(wedge)N)}(2)(mu-tppz)](2+), (R = H ([5a](2+)), CO(2)Me ([5b](2+))) were prepared with one or two N,C,N'-cyclometalated terminal ligands. The oxidation and reduction potentials of cyclometalated [4](3+) and [5](2+) are shifted negatively compared to non-cyclometalated [3](4+), the oxidation processes being affected more significantly. Compared to [3](4+), the electronic spectra of [5](2+) display large bathochromic shifts of the main MLCT transitions in the visible spectral region with low-energy absorptions tailing down to the NIR region. One-electron oxidation of [3](4+) and [5](2+) gives rise to low-energy absorption bands. The comproportionation constants and NIR band shape correspond to delocalized Robin-Day class III compounds. Complexes [4a](3+) (R = H) and [4b](3+) (R = CO(2)Me) also exhibit strong electronic communication, and notwithstanding the large redox-asymmetry the visible metal-to-ligand charge-transfer absorption is assigned to originate from both metal centers. The potential of the first, ruthenium-based, reversible oxidation process is strongly negatively shifted. On the contrary, the second oxidation is irreversible and cyclometalated ligand-based. Upon one-electron oxidation, a weak and low-energy absorption arises.


In a prospective study of women with dysplasia of the cervix, there was an increase in severity of dysplasia and of conversion to cancer in situ in users of the contraceptive pill compared with users of other contraceptive methods. There was a delay in this adverse response. Nonreversal of dysplasia within the first 6 months of pill use is predictive of progression after prolonged exposure.


In large vocabulary continuous speech recognition, huge search space results in vast computational cost. While most pruning search strategies can reduce the computation, but the recognition rate often decreases. This paper aims to reduce the computation time without any sacrifice of the recognition rate. By means of the adaptive control theory, a novel pruning method is presented. It can automatically steer beam to make search space attain an expected size. In order to make the decoder more efficient, the average number of active model instances is used as the dynamic reference of the adaptive system. Compared with the baseline system with fixed beam and histogram pruning, the proposed method leads to a significant reduction in the computation time and a slight improvement in word accuracy.


By combining three mutually immiscible polymeric components in a mixed-arm star block terpolymer architecture, we have observed the formation of a previously unknown class of multicompartment micelles in dilute aqueous solution. Connection of water-soluble poly(ethylene oxide) and two hydrophobic but immiscible components (a polymeric hydrocarbon and a perfluorinated polyether) at a common junction leads to molecular frustration when dispersed in aqueous solution. The incompatible hydrophobic blocks form cores that are protected from the water by the poly(ethylene oxide) blocks, but both are forced to make contact with the poly(ethylene oxide) by virtue of the chain architecture. The structures that emerge depend on the relative lengths of the blocks and can be tuned from discrete multicompartment micelles to extended wormlike structures with segmented cores.


Abstract Virtualization has enabled the commoditization of cloud computing, as the hardware resources have become available to run different environments and share computing resources amongst different enterprises. Two technology types are commonly used in virtualization of hardware, namely, hypervisor and container. The present paper concerns only container technologies. A comprehensive overview of the container technologies for virtualization and the dynamics of their popularity have not been available yet. Without such an overview, the informed fast choice of technologies is hindered. To fill this knowledge gap, a systemic literature review was conducted to reveal the most popular container technologies and the trends in their research.


Haemobilia denotes an abnormal communication between a vessel of the splanchnic circulation and the biliary system. Patients typically presents with the triad of abdominal pain, upper gastrointestinal haemorrhage, and jaundice. Common causes for haemobilia are iatrogenic causes secondary to hepatobiliary system instrumentation and trauma. Management of patients with haemodynamic significant haemobilia is aimed at stopping bleeding, maintaining continuous flow of biliary system, and cure of the underlying aetiology. Iatrogenic haemobilia after ERCP polyethylene biliary endoprosthesis placement is extremely uncommon. Herein we present a case of iatrogenic haemobilia triggered by biliary endoprosthesis placement and was successfully managed by non-operative treatment. The management algorithm for a rational approach to haemobilia is discussed.


ABSTRACTAir quality forecasting using nearest neighbour technique provides an alternative to statistical and neural network models, which needs the information on predictor variables and understanding of underlying patterns in the data. k-nearest neighbour method of forecasting that does not assume any linear or nonlinear form of the data is used in this study to obtain the next step forecast of PM10 concentrations. Various function approximation techniques such as mean, median, linear combination and kernel regression of nearest neighbours are evaluated. It is observed that kernel regression of nearest neighbours outperforms the other individual models including bench mark persistence model for obtaining the next step forecasts. As the data may involve both linear and nonlinear patterns and any individual model cannot capture both types of patterns, combination forecasting is suggested as an alternative. The forecast error showed the outperformance of combination forecasting over individual forecast, which is quite obvious as it assigns more weightage to the model with minimum error. The study is useful when the data on predictor variables that influence the air pollutant concentrations is not available. The assumption on the underlying distribution of the data is also not required for the approach.


When he was a teenager, growing up in New York, Walter Nugents only knowledge of the West came through Dragnet and B-movies, watching cops and villains speed along streets lined with palm trees. For many in the East, the Midwest, and the South, the Great West has remained terra incognita, a diverse, dynamic region with mythic origins and enormous influence over our culture and economics. With the benefit of an outsiders eyes, Nugent has constructed a new, unified history of the people of the West from earliest times to the present, answering why people came west and why, for the most part, they stayed. Because Nugent has conceived a social-demographic history ... a history of the people, not of their politics or other doings, he warns readers not to look for chapter breaks at 1776, 1865, or 1945--economic booms and depressions played a bigger role in the West than politicians and generals, it seems. Likewise, geography is contested, receiving knowing treatment as Nugent digs into whether the West is the Plains to the Pacific, or just Dodge City to the Sierras. Nugent successfully pursues broad themes, such as the regions rapid urbanization and its central role in the baby boom and the death of homesteading. But Into the West shows equal affection for the more personal stories, such as the extended conflict between Anglos and braceros in the Great Plains and the nascent rise of turn-of-the-century tourism (the Rock Island Railroad promised in 1903 that a month in California will do you more good than all the medicine in Christendom). -Paul Hughes


Discussion and debate about adoption and foster care by gay, lesbian, and bisexual (GLB) parents occurs frequently among policymakers, social service agencies, and social workers. Three states currently restrict GLB people from adopting and more are considering similar policies. This report provides new information on GLB adoption and foster care from several government data sources. It offers a demographic portrait of the estimated 65,500 adopted children and 14,100 foster children living with gay and lesbian parents. It also assesses the costs to child welfare systems of proposed bans on allowing GLB people to foster.


Nonhydrostatic, multiscale processes are an important part of our understanding of ocean dynamics. However, resolving these dynamics with traditional computational techniques can often be prohibitively expensive. We apply the hybridizable discontinuous Galerkin (HDG) finite element methodology to perform computationally efficient, high-order, nonhydrostatic ocean modeling by solving the Navier-Stokes equations with the Boussinesq approximation. In this work, we introduce a distributed implementation of our HDG projection method algorithm. We provide numerical experiments to verify our methodology using the method of manufactured solutions and provide preliminary benchmarking for our distributed implementation that highlight the advantages of the HDG methodology in the context of distributed computing. Lastly, we present simulations in which we capture nonhydrostatic internal waves that form as a result of tidal interactions with ocean topography. First, we consider the case of tidally-driven oscillatory flow over an abrupt, shallow seamount, and next, the case of strongly-stratified, oscillatory flow over a tall seamount. We analyze and compare our simulations to other results in literature.


Huge contemporary trend is adding context awareness into software applications. It allows both better user experience as well as a lot useful features for application owner. Nowadays, there are various approaches enabling particular context awareness but none of them concerns security. We tackle this problem and describe it further in the paper. Our solution extends role based access control with certain context awareness elements. Based on already existing solutions we propose own lightweight, universal solutions, which allows instant enhancement of current RBAC even in existing applications. The uniqueness of our solution is based on using security levels, which are granted to user based on his context. Security levels represents how the users can be trusted and are determined during users login procedure. The levels are used as additional security constrain so to access resources in application user need to have not only right permission granted through roles, but also to have corresponding level.


The nucleotide sequence of the entire chloroplast genome (150,519 bp) of a legume, Lotus japonicus, has been determined. The circular double-stranded DNA contains a pair of inverted repeats of 25,156 bp which are separated by a small and a large single copy region of 18,271 bp and 81,936 bp, respectively. A total of 84 predicted protein-coding genes including 7 genes duplicated in the inverted repeat regions, 4 ribosomal RNA genes and 37 tRNA genes (30 gene species) representing 20 amino acids species were assigned on the genome based on similarity to genes previously identified in other chloroplasts. All the predicted genes were conserved among dicot plants except that rpl22, a gene encoding chloroplast ribosomal protein CL22, was missing in L. japonicus. Inversion of a 51-kb segment spanning rbcL to rpsl6 (positions 5161-56,176) in the large single copy region was observed in the chloroplast genome of L. japonicus. The sequence data and gene information are available on our World Wide Web database at http://www.kazusa.or.jp/en/plant/database.html.


Introduction: The Enneagram is an old process for human personality typing, principally understood, and taught as a typology of nine interconnected personality types. The aim of this study was to develop a Turkish assessment tool based on the Enneagram principles.

Methods: An instrument based on expert opinion and the Delphic method was developed. The final questionnaire consisting of 27 questions, was applied to a sample of 199 Turkish-speaking participants. Expert validation, convergent validity, test-retest, and internal consistency were applied. Its categorization was validated against the personality type classification made by an expert and another Turkish inventory, the TaAŸtan Personality Inventory.

Results: Of the participants, 70 were females (35.2%), and 129 were males (64.8%). The mean age of the participants was 34.26 ± 12.33 years. Cronbach's alpha value for the total items was 0.756. The sensitivity and specificity of the results of the present study in detecting the different personality types ranged from 71.4% to 100.0%. Its overall performance was calculated as 90.8%.

Conclusion: It can be concluded that the Nile Personality Assessment Tool (Nile Enneagram Personality Test) is a useful tool in identifying personality types according to the Enneagram principles in Turkish-speaking people.


This is a review of the relation between supersymmetric non-linear sigma models and target space geometry. In particular, we report on the derivation of generalized K¨ahler geometry from sigma models with additional spinorial superfields. Some of the results reviewed are: Generalized complex geometry from sigma models in the Lagrangian formulation; Coordinatization of generalized K¨ahler geometry in terms of chiral, twisted chiral and semi-chiral superfields; Generalized K¨ahler geometry from sigma models in the Hamiltonian formulation.


Diphtheria is an uncommon infectious disease in Germany. Since 1994, approximately 150,000 new cases with about 5,000 deaths have occurred in the new independent states of the former USSR. Corynebacterium diphtheriae can be imported to Germany since only 20 percent of the adult population is vaccinated against diphtheria. Compared to other European countries, Germany has one of the lowest immunization rates against measles, mumps and rubella. Despite this fact, young parents still place a high priority for immunisation of their children. One reason for failure to immunize is lack of knowledge about serious complications of vaccine-preventable diseases. Immunization rates for diphtheria and tetanus are also low among the elderly. For example, nearly 70 percent of 60- to 70 years olds are not protected against tetanus. A concerted action is necessary to improve immunization rates among adults. In particular, primary care practitioners have a special responsibility to ensure that in every patient encounter, the opportunity for booster immunization is not lost.


Under intensive culture conditions, fish are subject to increased stress owing to environmental (water quality and hypoxia) and health conditions (parasites and infectious diseases). All these factors have negative impacts on fish well-being and overall performance, with consequent economic losses. Though good management practices contribute to reduce stressor effects, stress susceptibility is always high under crowded conditions. Adequate nutrition is essential to avoid deficiency signs, maintain adequate animal performance and sustain normal health. Further, it is becoming evident that diets overfortified with specific nutrients [amino acids, essential fatty acids (FAs), vitamins or minerals] at levels above requirement may improve health condition and disease resistance. Diet supplements are also being evaluated for their antioxidant potential, as fish are potentially at risk of peroxidative attack because of the large quantities of highly unsaturated FAs in both fish tissues and diets. Functional constituents other than essential nutrients (such as probiotics, prebiotics and immunostimulants) are also currently being considered in fish nutrition aiming to improve fish growth and/or feed efficiency, health status, stress tolerance and resistance to diseases. Such products are becoming more and more important for reducing antibiotic utilization in aquafarms, as these have environmental impacts, may accumulate in animal tissues and increase bacterial resistance. This study reviews knowledge of the effect of diet nutrients on health, welfare and improvement of disease resistance in fish.


Background: Congestive Heart Failure (CHF) is the most common diagnosis accounting for more healthcare costs than any diagnosis. CHF readmissions contribute significantly to this expenditure. Quality of care in heart failure is linked to process based performance measures. This study evaluated the relationship between adherence to performance metrics and 30 day readmission rates. Methods: This was a single center case-control study that evaluated 6063 consecutive patients admitted with CHF from December 2001 through December 2008. Data was collected for readmission to the hospital within 30 days and compliance to the heart failure performance measures at discharge. Results: The rate of readmission for CHF increased steadily from 16.8% in 2002 to 24.8% in 2008. Adherence to CHF performance measures increased concurrently during the same time frame from 88.7% to 98.9%.Except for left ventricular function (LVF) assessment, 30 day readmission rate was not associated with adherence to performance measures. Readmitted patients had twice the odds of not having their LVF assessed (OR: 2.0; p<0.00005; 95% CI: 1.45-2.63) Conclusions: Heart failure performance measures, except for the assessment of left ventricular function have little relationship with 30 day hospital readmissions after discharge. More studies need to be done to identify performance measures that correlate with quality of care in heart failure patients.


This paper examines the extent of integration between the regional energy markets of the Member States of the European Union and the countries of the wider Europe with special attention to the Eastern Partnership. Therefore, whether the aforementioned energy markets are in a position to conform to the acquis communautaire and ensure the security of energy supply to the EU in affordable prices. We will record what needs to be done for the integration of these regional energy markets with the EU common market and specifically: (a) the legal framework of the Eastern European non-EU regional energy markets, from the perspective of energy, trade and free competition. The impediments integration is facing and under which circumstances can it be achieved. (B) The required infrastructure and connectivity networks necessary to be completed in order to allow the utilization of the energy reserves in the third countries and the network connection of these third countries with the EU. The designated Trans European Network Strategy regarding the sectors of electricity, natural gas, oil and the Projects of Common Interest currently being constructed in Eastern Europe. (C) The promotion of investments that needs to be carried out in the wider European countries in order to ensure security of energy supply of the EU in the long term. The various forms of cooperation agreements between Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine, Armenia, Belarus and Azerbaijan with the EU and their contribution to the promotion of energy investments and the interconnection of cooperation agreements with the Energy Community.Keywords: EU, Eastern Europe, Free Trade Agreements, Infrastructure, TEN – E, PCI, Promotion of Investments


1. Contrary to expectation, it is found that metabolically useful substances pass into the urine and are reabsorbed in the rectum. 2. The kinetics of penetration have been investigated for six amino acids, three sugars and urea. 3. The evidence indicates that these substances enter the urine by passive diffusion. 4. The role of the Malpighian tubules in the insect9s excretory system is discussed in the light of these findings. It is suggested that the tubule is primarily a means whereby all soluble substances of low molecular weight are removed from the haemolymph and that in this respect it has analogies with the glomerulus as well as with the tubule of the vertebrate nephron.


Biogenic amines are low molecular weight organic nitrogen compounds. They are formed by the decarboxylation of amino acids or by amination and transamination of aldehydes and ketones during normal metabolic processes in living cells and therefore are ubiquitous in animals, plants, microorganisms, and humans. In food and beverages, they are formed by the enzymes of raw materials or are generated by microbial decarboxylation of amino acids. The structure of a biogenic amine can be aromatic and heterocyclic amines (histamine, tryptamine, tyramine, phenylethylamine, and serotonin); aliphatic di-, tri-, and polyamines (putrescine, cadaverine, spermine, spermidine, and agmatine); and aliphatic volatile amines (ethylamine, methylamine, isopentylamine, and ethanolamine). Many of them possess a strong pharmacologic effect, and others are important as precursors of hormones and components of coenzymes. The biogenic amine intoxication leads to toxicological risks and health hazards that trigger psychoactive, vasoactive, and hypertensive effects resulting from consumption of high amounts of biogenic amines in foods. The toxicological effects of biogenic amines increase when the mono- and diaminoxidase enzymes are deficient or drugs that inhibit these enzymes (pain reliever, stress, and depression drugs) are used. In this chapter, biosynthesis of biogenic amines, their toxic effects as well as their physiological functions, and their effect on health will be described.


Taking seriously Linda Martín Alcoff's suggestion that we reevaluate the extent to which poststructuralist articulations of the subject are truly socially constituted, as well as the centrality of Latina identity to her own account of such constitution, I argue that the discussion Alcoff and other Latina feminists offer of the experience of being Latina in North America is illustrative of the extent to which the relational and globally situated constitution of subjects needs further development in many social‐constructionist accounts of selfhood. I argue, however—contra Alcoff—that Michel Foucault's mode of investigating subjectivation, particularly as it is articulated in his later work, has room for just such an account, especially when it is supplemented by postcolonial theory. With this end in mind, I take as a case study the public discourse surrounding Sonia Sotomayor prior to her confirmation as the first Latina woman to serve on the United States Supreme Court, suggesting that an analysis of this discourse (including its position within and contribution to wider discourses of ethnicity, race, gender, and class) shows why the accounts of relational subject‐constitution offered by both Foucault and Alcoff are indispensable.


term and long-term mental health effects of husbands' layoff on wives. A sample of 149 mothers of young children, approximately half of whose husbands became unemployed due to layoff during the two-year study period, was examined. We hypothesized that husbands' layoff would cause elevations in psychiatric symptoms and that women with particular risk factors would be more vulnerable to the impact of this event. The effects of the following eight risk factors, measured before husbands' layoff, were examined: psychiatric history, familial psychiatric history, three or more children in the home, lack of employment outside the home, financial difficulties, low marital satisfaction, low social support from relatives, and low social support from friends. Although husbands' layoff did not have short-term effects on wives' symptoms, their levels of distress were elevated by the end of the study period. In addition, three risk factors\p=m-\familialpsychiatric history, financial difficulties, and low social support from relatives\p=m-\significantly increased women's vulnerability to long-term psychological distress following their husbands' layoff. (Arch Gen Psychiatry 1988;45:994-1000)


Objective. In many emergency medical services (EMS) systems, personnel without advanced life support (ALS) training are authorized to cancel responding ALS units before the ALS personnel arrive and examine the patient. This study was conducted to examine these cancellations in major U.S. cities. Methods. A survey was mailed to the physician medical directors of the EMS services of the 125 largest U.S. cities, with telephone follow-up of nonresponders. The survey requested information on system structure, and on policies governing cancellation of responding ALS units by non-ALS personnel. Results. Ninety-four cities responded (75%), from 35 states. Nineteen systems (20%) are all-ALS with no basic life support (BLS) tier, and these were eliminated. Of the remaining 75 systems, eight (11%) use BLS ambulances (BLS-A), 35 (47%) use BLS first responders (BLS-FR), and 32 (43%) use both. Of these 75 systems, 60 (80%) allow cancellation of responding ALS units by BLS personnel. Only 24 of these (40%) have written protocols for such cancellations, and only 12 of those (50%) involve specific medical criteria, with two (8%) relying on the best judgment of the BLS personnel with no medical criteria, and another eight (33%) allowing cancellation only for logistic reasons. Of the 60 systems that permit cancellation, 13 (22%) perform some type of medical oversight review of all such calls, 26 (43%) review some such calls (median 10%, range 2-80% for the 19 systems specifying a percentage), 15 (25%) do not review any, and six did not specify. Conclusions. Fewer than half of the surveyed EMS systems that permit non-ALS personnel to cancel responding ALS units use written protocols to guide these decisions, and only half of those protocols utilize specific medical criteria. Medical oversight review of these calls is highly variable, with many systems reviewing few or none of these cancellations. PREHOSPITAL EMERGENCY CARE 2000;4:227-233


The purpose of the present study is to define, based on a theoretical identification, the significance of production diversification in ensuring financial security of agricultural farms and a presentation of the specificity of multi-directional farms in Poland. The entities included in the research were the ones conducting agricultural activity of a mixed type: mixed cropping and mixed crops-livestock in the years 2007-2013. The analysis was carried out based on data obtained from the statistical publications of the Central Statistical Office. On the basis of an analysis of the structure and dynamics. The size of utilised agriculturally area and their use, economicsize, the type and structure of plantation as well as the species and number of farm animals were all taken into consideration in the analysis. Based on the theoretical considerations presented it is evident that production diversification plays an important role in the reduction of the agricultural activity risk, and thus it contributes to maintaining stability and thereby preserving the financial security of farms. The results of empirical research prove that those farms that diversify their production are mainly farms of small economic size, producing for their own use. Diversification acts as a safety buffer in the case of these farms. It ensures self-sufficiency in terms of consumption and fodder production as well as small income. In the case of farms with bigger UAA it ensures proper functioning and survival on the market.


BACKGROUND & AIMS
In a 2010 randomized trial (the PANTER trial), a surgical step-up approach for infected necrotizing pancreatitis was found to reduce the composite endpoint of death or major complications compared with open necrosectomy; 35% of patients were successfully treated with simple catheter drainage only. There is concern, however, that minimally invasive treatment increases the need for reinterventions for residual peripancreatic necrotic collections and other complications during the long term. We therefore performed a long-term follow-up study.

METHODS
We reevaluated all the 73 patients (of the 88 patients randomly assigned to groups) who were still alive after the index admission, at a mean 86 months (±11 months) of follow-up. We collected data on all clinical and health care resource utilization endpoints through this follow-up period. The primary endpoint was death or major complications (the same as for the PANTER trial). We also measured exocrine insufficiency, quality of life (using the Short Form-36 and EuroQol 5 dimensions forms), and Izbicki pain scores.

RESULTS
From index admission to long-term follow-up, 19 patients (44%) died or had major complications in the step-up group compared with 33 patients (73%) in the open-necrosectomy group (P = .005). Significantly lower proportions of patients in the step-up group had incisional hernias (23% vs 53%; P = .004), pancreatic exocrine insufficiency (29% vs 56%; P = .03), or endocrine insufficiency (40% vs 64%; P = .05). There were no significant differences between groups in proportions of patients requiring additional drainage procedures (11% vs 13%; P = .99) or pancreatic surgery (11% vs 5%; P = .43), or in recurrent acute pancreatitis, chronic pancreatitis, Izbicki pain scores, or medical costs. Quality of life increased during follow-up without a significant difference between groups.

CONCLUSIONS
In an analysis of long-term outcomes of trial participants, we found the step-up approach for necrotizing pancreatitis to be superior to open necrosectomy, without increased risk of reinterventions.


Since the traditional training method of HMM for text information extraction is sensitive to the initial model parameters and easy to converge to a local optimal model in practice ,a novel hybrid model of genetic algorithm (GA) and hidden Markov model (HMM) for text information extraction is presented. During the parameter training phase, the hybrid method combines GA and Baum-Welch algorithm to optimize HMM parameters globally. In the selection process of the HMM initial parameters, the hybrid method adopts GA which uses real number matrix encoding as the representation of the chromosomes and the likelihood values as the fitness values, and then utilizes a modified Baum-Welch algorithm to reevaluate parameters and construct HMM. And during the information extraction phase, an improved Viterbi algorithm is presented to obtain the optimal state sequence of test sample for text information extraction. Experimental results show that the new algorithm improves the performance in precision and recall.


In three patients, aged 79, 58 and 59 years, respectively, iron-deficiency anaemia (IDA) was diagnosed. All three had a right-sided colonic adenocarcinoma. In the first patient, a cardiologic cause was looked for instead of a simple laboratory investigation of the anaemia. The second patient received iron supplementation without sufficient diagnostic evaluation, and in the third patient the abdominal X-ray was inadequate for evaluation of the ascending colon; moreover, she responded well to iron supplementation therapy. IDA is a common problem in clinical practice that may have various causes. In the Netherlands, gastrointestinal bleeding is the major cause of IDA in men and women over 50 years of age. The three patients described illustrate that IDA should be considered a clinical sign. An accurate evaluation of the IDA to detect a convincing explanation is therefore necessary. Various causes can be found on duodenoscopy and colonoscopy, e.g. neoplasms, ulcers, angiodysplasia or polyps. Carcinoma of the ascending colon is a frequent cause of IDA, especially in those over 50 years of age and without upper gastrointestinal symptoms. Evaluation to exclude a right-sided carcinoma of the colon has a high priority in these cases.


Evaporate minerals are important industrial raw materials that have been used in diverse industries for many years. As one of the most extensively used evaporate minerals, gypsum is an important raw material in the construction, agriculture, textile, dentistry and chemical industries, resulting in a massive increase in demand of these minerals in recent years. The aim of this study was to demonstrate the responses of common remote sensing mapping techniques and further develop some of them while evaluating their success in well-known gypsum outcrops using Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) imagery. The region selected for the test area was Ankara Bala, which has gypsum outcrops with operational mines mapped in detailed studies by the General Directorate of Mineral Research and Exploration (MTA). The methods of band ratioing (BR), decorrelation stretch (DS), feature-oriented principal component analysis (FOPCA) and thermal indices were tested to map the mineral gypsum. For the BR method, the ratio 4:9, for DS the Red–Green–Blue (RGB) composite 1-4-8, for FOPCA Principal Component (PC) 3 and for thermal infrared (TIR) indices the previously known Quartz Index (QI) modified as the Sulfate Index (SI) were found to be successful in general terms for evaporate mapping. For an absolute accuracy assessment the results of these methods were checked in the field and, from the areas where the results showed common anomalies, samples were taken for field spectrometry analyses and X-ray analyses. For a relative accuracy assessment all of the results were compared with each other to evaluate the differences and their successes. We found that all of the methods were successful in mapping evaporates; however, despite its lower spatial resolution, the TIR data from ASTER when used as the SI yielded a more refined result than the other methods.


Abstract. Moringa (Moringa oleifera Lam.) is becoming an economically important crop because of its nutritional value, therefore, more land area is currently being devoted to its cultivation particularly by vegetable farmers. But right now, little is known about plant-parasitic nematodes as one of its probable pest problems. A survey was, therefore, carried out to determine the plant-parasitic nematodes (PPN) associated with Moringa tree in Adamawa State, Nigeria. Nine of the 21 local government areas (LGAs) of the state were randomly selected; and 10 moringa farms, indicating at least two household/home gardens, were picked from each of the selected local government area for the survey of PPN. In each selected sampling site, soil samples were taken from the base of randomly selected moringa plants to a depth of 15-25 cm using hand trowel and hoe. Composite sample from each LGA from root and soils were taken to Laboratory for nematode extraction. Nematodes were extracted from both soil and roots using Baermann Tray method. The Moringa tree root rhizosphere revealed the presence of 14 genera of plant-parasitic nematodes with specimens from Meloidogyne, Scutellonema, Aphelenchoides, and Hoplolaimus genera being more abundant and frequent. They recorded average prominence value of 123.96, 93.31, 63.83 and 61.83, respectively. Whereas in the roots, Meloidogyne and Scutellonema specimens were found more than the remaining plant-parasitic nematodes genera with an average prominence value of 50.92 and 22.26, respectively.


Graph Neural Networks (GNNs) have become important machine learning tools for graph analysis, and its explainability is crucial for safety, fairness, and robustness. Layer-wise relevance propagation for GNNs (GNN-LRP) evaluates the relevance of walks to reveal important information flows in the network, and provides higher-order explanations, which have been shown to be superior to the lower-order, i.e., node-/edge-level, explanations. However, identifying relevant walks by GNN-LRP requires exponential computational complexity with respect to the network depth, which we will remedy in this paper. Specifically, we propose polynomial-time algorithms for finding top-K relevant walks, which drastically reduces the computation and thus increases the applicability of GNN-LRP to large-scale problems. Our proposed algorithms are based on the max-product algorithm—a common tool for finding the maximum likelihood configurations in probabilistic graphical models—and can find the most relevant walks exactly at the neuron level and approximately at the node level. Our experiments demonstrate the performance of our algorithms at scale and their utility across application domains, i.e., on epidemiology, molecular, and natural language benchmarks. We provide our codes under


Representations of critical geography and border studies have developed concepts and methodologies for exploring the multifaceted and contradictory image of contemporary borders. Artists, scholars and social activists show increased interest in the narrative and visual documenting of border's closures. The border's visuality becomes a supporting argument for dissent and protest, giving the 'visual evidence' of the extremely quick border's re-territoriality. As a result, important events allow one 'to extracts sameness even from what is unique' (W. Benjamin). The mass migration and the pandemic return us to the reality of the human world with their non-freedom and illness. In the migration case, Europe has dealt with an 'alien body', and in the pandemic, with an 'infected or sick body'. The relationship between the image and the viewer is an important starting point in the representation of mass migration and pandemic. Mitchell's metaphor of 'live images' help us better understand the sense and reasons of new biological and politic events. Nowadays, the development, materialisation, and embodiment of European borders are the stable visual symbol of our existence.


Contrary to widespread belief, sex trafficking also targets lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) communities. Contemporary social and political constructions of victimhood lie at the heart of regulatory policies on sex trafficking. Led by the US Department of State, knowledge about LGBT victims of trafficking constitutes the newest frontier in the expansion of criminalization measures. These measures represent a crucial shift. From a burgeoning range of preemptive measures enacted to protect an amorphous class of 'all potential victims', now policies are heavily premised on the risk posed by traffickers to 'victims of special interest'. These constructed identities, however, are at odds with established structures. Drawing on a range of literatures, the core task of this article is to confront some of the complexities and tensions surrounding constructions of LGBT trafficking victims. Specifically, the article argues that discourses of 'exceptional vulnerability' and the polarized notions of 'innocence' and 'guilt' inform hierarchies of victimhood. Based on these insights, the article argues for the need to move beyond monolithic understandings of victims, by reframing the politics of harm accordingly.


In France, the issue of colonisation has been perceived according to two different lines of thought: the acknowledgment of the dark side of colonial history; and twenty-five years of "commemorations" (1980-2005), in which the concept of "victim" has emerged and come to dominate the semantics of memory. Colonial memory has led to a fracture in French society, always and systematically referring to the question of national identity and, consequently, to the presence of colonial and postcolonial migrants. This essay analyses the context of this French debate, which, in the last two decades, has revolved around the concept of "colonial memory"; a debate dominated by ideology, in which the role of the "victim" tends to be reversed: France is betrayed when this past is "badly" presented, leading to a kind of "false" and "penitent" history. The main purpose is clearly a reorganisation of history. On the other side of the Mediterranean, the new importance of memorialisation has been following the same path, thus making the possibility of reconciliation between these opposing memories even more difficult. Fifty years after the independence of Black Africa, and despite the extraordinary development of memorial and patrimonial projects since the 1980s, controversies have arisen, preventing not only the construction of places of common knowledge but also the institutionalisation of commemorations as political signs marking the assimilation of the colonial past into the great "national narrative".


The formation of shear localized chips in orthogonal machining of Ti-6Al-4V was investigated. The chips in different cutting velocities were collected and the structure of the adiabatic shear localization was examined by optical microscope and SEM after polishing and eroding. The serrated coefficient, serrated frequency and fibred coefficient were proposed in this paper to characterize the degree of serration and plastic shear flow of the chip quantitatively. Experimental results show that the width of the shear band decreased and the fibred coefficient of the shear band increased as cutting speed increased. The serrated and frequency, the serrated coefficient increased with the increase of cutting speed in the experimental range of cutting speeds.


Involution of the mammary gland following weaning is divided into two distinct phases. Initially, milk stasis results in the induction of local factors that cause apoptosis in the alveolar epithelium. Secondly after a prolonged absence of suckling, the consequent decline in circulating lactogenic hormone concentrations initiates remodeling of the mammary gland to the virgin-like state. We have shown that immediately following weaning TGFbeta3 mRNA and protein is rapidly induced in the mammary epithelium and that this precedes the onset of apoptosis. Unilateral inhibition of suckling and hormonal reconstitution experiments showed that TGFbeta3 induction is regulated by milk stasis and not by the circulating hormonal concentration. Directed expression of TGFbeta3 in the alveolar epithelium of lactating mice using a beta-lactoglobulin promoter mobilized SMAD4 translocation to the nucleus and caused apoptosis of these cells, but not tissue remodeling. Transplantation of neonatal mammary tissue derived from TGFbeta3 null mutant mice into syngenic hosts resulted in a significant inhibition of cell death compared to wild-type mice upon milk stasis. These results provide direct evidence that TGFbeta3 is a local mammary factor induced by milk stasis that causes apoptosis in the mammary gland epithelium during involution.


Peer-to-Peer (P2P) and Cloud Computing are two of the latest trends in the Internet arena. They both could be labelled as large-scale distributed systems, yet their approach is completely different: based on completely decentralized protocols exploiting edge resources the former, focusing on huge data centres the latter. Several Internet startups have quickly reached stardom by exploiting cloud resources. Instead, P2P applications still lack a well-defined business model. Recently, companies like Spotify and Wuala have started to explore how the two worlds could be merged by exploiting (free) user resources whenever possible, aiming at reducing the cost of renting cloud resource. However, although very promising, this model presents challenging issues, in particular about the autonomous regulation of the usage of P2P and cloud resources. Next-generation services need the possibility to guarantee a minimum level of service when peer resources are not sufficient, and to exploit as much P2P resources as possible when they are abundant. In this thesis, we answer the above research questions in the form of new algorithms and systems. We designed a family of mechanisms to self-regulate the amount of cloud resources when peer resources are not enough. We applied and adapted these mechanisms to support different Internet applications, including storage, video streaming and online gaming. To support a replication service, we designed an algorithm that self-regulates the cloud resources used for storing replicas by orchestrating their provisioning. We presented CLIVE, a video streaming P2P framework that meet the real-time constraints on video delay by autonomously regulating the amount of cloud helpers upon need. We proposed an architecture to support large scale on-line games, where the load coming from the interaction of players is strategically migrated between P2P and cloud resources in an autonomous way. Finally, we proposed a solution to the NAT problem that employs cloud resources to allow a node behind it to be seen from outside. Using extensive simulations, we showed that hybrid infrastructures can reduce the economical effort on the service providers, while offering a level of service comparable with centralized architectures. The results of this thesis proved that the combination of Cloud Computing and P2P is one of the milestones for next generation distributed P2P-based architectures.


ABSTRACT Geochemical and isotopic data obtained from three bimodal basalt-rhyolite fields in west-central Arizona point to significant variation in the sources of the siliceous products despite petrological similarities between them. The studied fields, which straddle the boundary between the Basin and Range and Colorado Plateau physiographic provinces, include Castaneda Hills (CH) in the Basin and Range, Kaiser Spring (KS) in the Transition Zone, and Mount Floyd (MF) in the Colorado Plateau. Two types of rhyolite (high-silica [HSR] and low-silica [LSR]) occur as lavas in the KS and MF fields, whereas all analysed CH samples are HSR. These lavas generally post-date low-angle extension of the Basin and Range crust and become generally younger towards the Colorado Plateau. Our isotopic data illustrate that the CH rhyolites require a source with comparatively radiogenic Sr, that most rhyolites require a source with comparatively unradiogenic 206Pb/204Pb, and that the MF-HSR require a source with comparatively radiogenic Nd and 206Pb/204Pb. The isotopic data clearly indicate that the western Arizona rhyolites contain a large crustal component. Importantly, the Pb isotopic compositions of the rhyolites illustrate the transition between two crustal provinces identified by other workers on the basis of Nd and Pb isotopic studies of Proterozoic granites. The Sr, Nd, and Pb isotopic compositions of our rhyolites can be modelled by mixing a basaltic component with three hypothetical crustal end-members which themselves may be formed by mixing two crustal components. One crustal component, which is characterised by unradiogenic Pb and Sr, may be similar to the mafic gneiss xenoliths of Tule Tank on the Colorado Plateau. The second crustal component, which has more radiogenic Sr and Pb, may be similar to the Proterozoic Fenner Gneiss of southeastern California. This conceptual model indicates an apparent increase in the contribution of the depleted Tule Tank source from the Basin and Range onto the Colorado Plateau and accommodates the notion that there is an underlying consistency to the petrogeneses of the western Arizona rhyolites as suggested by their chemistry and mineralogy. Although the CH and KS lavas require only one crustal end-member, the MF-HSR and LSR require two isotopically distinct sources. This difference may be attributed to the homogenisation of diverse crustal lithologies by ductile stretching during crustal extension.


Off-site Exhibition
Various locations around Southside, central Birmingham
4-10pm, free

Ikon, in partnership with Hippodrome Plus, presents an exhibition of international video art in the Southside district, showcasing a wide variety of free night-screenings by artists from the UK and abroad, in unusual urban spaces.

New commissions inspired by their location, alongside films from Ikon's recent programme, explore everyday city life. Works include Beat Streuli's New Street (2013), projected sequences of photographic stills across three large screens; Gillian Wearing's Broad Street (2001) which focuses on Birmingham's frenetic night-life and Oliver Beer's Pay and Display (2011), an experimental music video made in collaboration with the city's Ex Cathedra choir. Birmingham Hippodrome hosts Adel Abdessemed's Happiness in Mitte (2003) and Kelly Mark's Hiccup #2 (2006) whilst other venues show new commissions by Dean Kelland and Perry Roberts, plus Cornelia Parker's Chomskian Abstract (2007); and Grace Ndiritu's Nightingale (2003), amongst others.

About Town is supported by Arts Council England and Southside Business Improvement District.


This paper is a contribution to the analysis of intra-organizational trust. From a discussion of concepts of trust, we suggest that trust is something which is constructed for and by people in organizations, thereby producing some degree of predictability. Trust is a precarious social accomplishment enacted through the interplay of social or discursive structures, including those of work organizations, and individuated subjects. We argue that bureaucratic organizations effected this construction in such an efficient manner that it `disappeared' as an issue for organizational theorists, but that shifting organizational forms have re-opened it. We suggest that the advent of corporate culturism in the 1980s offered one kind of reconfiguration of trust in organizations. However, subsequent extensions of organizational reform have undermined corporate culture as a way of constructing trust. These extensions, which, with some caveats, may be called post-bureaucratic, have brought with them new potential bases for trust, and hence control, in organizations. We explore these in two ways. First, we discuss how various types of managerial languages and techniques have the capacity to provide a global `script' through which particular local contexts can be made sense of, and which allow possible subject positions and identities to be secured. Second, we develop this discussion with reference to two different kinds of employees whose work is in some senses post-bureaucratic: accountants and consultants in Big Five firms, and temporary workers (temps) working through agencies to provide clerical and other services. In a conclusion, we comment on the durability of post-bureaucratic modes of trust


The presence of carboxylated carbonaceous material in nitric acid-treated single-walled carbon nanotube (SWNT) samples has recently brought renewed focus on the processes by which covalent functionalization of such materials are carried out. Using a widely reported 2-step purification/oxidation procedure, we have investigated the effect of basic treatment and solvent washing on the functionalization and final properties and behavior of SWNTs. We have demonstrated, using a number of spectroscopic techniques, that in the absence of NaOH treatment, COOH functionality is introduced directly onto SWNTs, and not only onto carbonaceous material present in the sample. Covalent functionalization of the oxidized materials was also investigated by attachment of a fluorescent probe, and ultimately, whether treated with base or solvent washed, the resulting materials are close to identical with respect to both their appearance and properties. In addition, we have demonstrated that using either of these purification/ox...


For the past two years the hematology service of the Royal Victoria Hospital has been using several different anticoagulants in an attempt to determine which, if any, is the best for routine use and which are most suitable under special conditions. It is the purpose of this paper to describe our experience with the anticoagulants cyclocumarol, 3-( 1′-phenylpropyl)-oxycoumarin (Marcumar), and warfarin sodium * and to compare the action of these drugs with each other and with bishydroxycoumarin (Dicoumarol). Experience with cyclocumarol at the Royal Victoria Hospital has been reported elsewhere.† METHODS The selection of cases and the application of anticoagulant therapy have been discussed in detail in previous papers.† In brief, the patients utilized for these studies were those referred to the hematology service for anticoagulant therapy, and no special selection was made. The majority of patients suffered from myocardial infarction or venous thrombosis. In most cases the anticoagulant therapy


This paper proposes a modeling of fuel cell which replaces dc source during simulation. Fuel cells are electrochemical devices that convert chemical energy in fuels into electrical energy. This system has high efficiency and heat, no environmental chemical pollutions and noise. Proton exchange membrane fuel cells(PEMFC) are commonly used as a residential generator. These fuel cells have different electrical characteristics such as a low voltage and high current compared with solar cells. And there are different behaviors in the V-Icurve in the temperature and pressure. Therefore, the modeling of fuel cell should consider wide voltage range and slow current response and the resulting electrical model is applied to boost converter with fuel cell as an input source.


The impacts of egg weight (EW), egg shell temperature (EST), egg position in the incubator (EP) and incubator ventilation program (IVP) on embryonic mortality (EM) and hatchability of fertile eggs (HFE) of broiler breeders were investigated in this study. EW was determined total 1920 hatching eggs which were obtained from middle aged (31 weeks) Ross 308 broiler breeders. These eggs were classified according to weight as heavy (65.52±0.08g), medium (61.47±0.04g) and light (57.56±0.08g) then were randomly set in trolleys of four identical incubators sorted as near the heather side – door side, humidifier side – opposite side and top – middle – bottom. In two incubators 37.78°C (100.0°F) EST and 38.06°C (100.5°F) EST were provided in the other two. Similarly, two machines were operated on classic IVP system and the other two were operated on new IVP system organised specially for this project during first 10 days of incubation. At the end of the hatching period, data including EM and HFE data were examined in eggs with different EST, EW and EP. It was found that EW and EST were affected to EM and HFE. Lower last stage + pipped but unhatched embryo rates and accordingly higher HFE were determined in eggs with 37.78°C (100.0°F) EST and light. However, differences between IVP and EP data were not significant.


The unique characteristics of the search advertising industry encourage the development of anticompetitive monopoly power, facilitating the rise and dominance of companies like Google. First, the search advertising industry is subject to multi-sided network effects that create a positive feedback loop. An increase in the number of customers on one side of the market attracts increased numbers of customers on the other side, enabling dominant firms to entrench their market power. Second, and relatedly, the search advertising industry operates in an innovative market where firms compete not to outdo competitors on price but rather to displace one another's products entirely. In such a market, a dominant firm can acquire potentially displacing (but not substitutive) technology and thereby control future innovation, freeing itself from the burden of innovating further to maintain competitive advantage. Current regulatory enforcement, informed by traditional antitrust analysis, does not adequately account for the impact of multi-sided network effects or innovation-to-displace on competition. Retooling the regulatory regime governing merger enforcement, allowing the agencies tasked with enforcement to broaden their inquiries when investigating anticompetitive behavior of these firms, is therefore necessary to preserve competition in multi-sided innovative markets.


Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in cancer-related genes can act as low risk genetic factors for the development of this disease. SNPs have also been shown to influence the efficacy and toxicity of various cytotoxic agents used in the treatment of cancer. Progress in these important areas of cancer research relies upon rapid, inexpensive and accurate means of SNP genotyping. In the present study we describe a fluorescent PCR-based method that utilizes single strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) analysis to distinguish between different alleles. A real-time DNA fragment analysis platform and ultra-thin, re-useable gels allow short run times and hence a relatively high throughput to be achieved. A standardised procedure for the identification of optimal running conditions for each SNP is presented. We used this fluorescent-SSCP method to genotype SNPs in the MTHFR, p21, cyclin D1, MMP-2, vitamin D receptor, TNF-alpha and IL-6 genes. Multiplex PCR of two SNPs allows up to 500 genotypes per day to be evaluated with 100% accuracy. The low start-up and running costs make this method particularly well suited for SNP genotyping studies that involve up to 1,000 DNA samples.


Vanishing and exploding gradients are two of the main obstacles in training deep neural networks, especially in capturing long range dependencies in recurrent neural networks~(RNNs). In this paper, we present an efficient parametrization of the transition matrix of an RNN that allows us to stabilize the gradients that arise in its training. Specifically, we parameterize the transition matrix by its singular value decomposition(SVD), which allows us to explicitly track and control its singular values. We attain efficiency by using tools that are common in numerical linear algebra, namely Householder reflectors for representing the orthogonal matrices that arise in the SVD. By explicitly controlling the singular values, our proposed Spectral-RNN method allows us to easily solve the exploding gradient problem and we observe that it empirically solves the vanishing gradient issue to a large extent. We note that the SVD parameterization can be used for any rectangular weight matrix, hence it can be easily extended to any deep neural network, such as a multi-layer perceptron. Theoretically, we demonstrate that our parameterization does not lose any expressive power, and show how it controls generalization of RNN for the classification task. %, and show how it potentially makes the optimization process easier. Our extensive experimental results also demonstrate that the proposed framework converges faster, and has good generalization, especially in capturing long range dependencies, as shown on the synthetic addition and copy tasks, as well as on MNIST and Penn Tree Bank data sets.


Objectives To evaluate the outcome of maximal cytoreductive surgery in patients with stage IIIC to stage IV ovarian, tubal, and peritoneal cancer regarding overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS). Materials and Methods Five hundred twenty-seven patients with stage IIIC (peritoneal) and stage IV (pleural) ovarian, fallopian tube, and peritoneal carcinoma underwent surgery between January 2003 and December 2007 in 7 gynecologic oncology centers in France. Patients undergoing primary and interval debulking surgery were included, whichever the number of chemotherapy cycles. The extent of disease, type of surgical procedure, and amount of residual disease were recorded. A multivariate analysis of the outcome was performed, taking into account the stage, grade, and timing of surgery. Results Median DFS was 17.9 months, but median OS was not reached at the time of analysis. Complete cytoreductive surgery, without evident residual tumor at the end of the procedure, was obtained in 71% of all patients (primary surgery, 33%). After neoadjuvant therapy, the rate of complete debulking surgery was higher (74%) compared to primary cytoreductive surgery (65%). Twenty-three percent of patients needed "ultra radical surgery" to achieve this goal. The most significant predictive factor for DFS and OS was complete cytoreductive surgery compared to any amount, even minimal (1–10 mm), of residual disease. In the group of patients with complete cytoreductive surgery, the patients undergoing surgery before chemotherapy showed better DFS than those having first chemotherapy. Conclusion The findings confirm that complete cytoreduction is the criterion standard of surgery in the management of advanced ovarian, peritoneal, and fallopian tube cancer, whatever the timing of surgery. With experienced teams, surgery was completed, without evident residual tumor in 71% of the cases.


A study on population of Aulacophora indica was done in Felcra Paya Jenuang, Merlimau, Melaka from 25th July 2018 until 14th August 2018. The study aimed to determine the population of Aulacophora indica on different sampling dates and on different traps used. Previous study has shown Aulacophora indica's preference to the family of Cucurbitaceae as host plant. Yellow pan trap and manual method were used as sampling methods. The yellow pan trap contained soapy water while manual method such as sweeping net was used. Initial assumptions were done in which sampling done in different date was believed to have effect on number of Aulacophora indica collected. It is also believed that usage of yellow pan trap will yield more result as compare to manual method. Interval of 3 days for each sampling method was practiced. This measure was taken to ensure the uniformity of sampling time for both method. Study area was divided into 10 strata of 1 hectare each. 4 strata were used as sampling area. Results for different sampling dates has shown no significant difference while results for different type of traps used has shown a significant difference among them. One-way Anova analysis resulted in (F=0.696, df=5,138 & P>0.01) for different sampling date while unpaired t-test analysis resulted in (F=34.062, df=142,88.728 & P<0.01) for different type of traps used. The study has shown that economic threshold level of Aulocophora indica was not reached. The oil palm trees indicated more than 20% damage due to multiple attack from various insect pest including small number of Aulacophora indica as shown by the mean population thus ruling out their impact on the damage of the plantation area. However, appropriate control methods were suggested to ensure presence of insect pest in the area is under control.


HERPES simplex is one of the most widely disseminated viruses, and yet the occurrence of herpetic disease in newborn infants seems to be very rare. Scott 1 stated that he had never heard of it, and we have been unable to find any reported cases. 1a The present communication is concerned with a unique "experiment of nature." It is a report of an 11-day-old premature infant, one of triplets, who was observed to have blisters on the lips and subsequently a generalized vesicular eruption and meningoencephalitis. She survived with residual neurological defects and chorioretinitis. A virus was recovered from the vesicular fluid and was identified by its pathogenicity, serology, and morphology, as revealed by the electron microscope, as herpes simplex. The patient had neutralizing antibodies for this agent. The two other triplets were sent to different hospitals shortly after birth and thus serve as controls. One infant had no clinical disease,


The Baltic Sea provides a unique model system for studying genetic effects of postglacial colonization and ecological differentiation, because all marine organisms must have immigrated after the opening of the Danish Straits 8000 years ago and responded to the development of the steep Skagerrak‐Baltic salinity gradient. The red alga Ceramium tenuicorne shows conspicuous variation in growth and reproduction along this gradient. Herein we obtained reproductive data coupled with two types of molecular markers, one organellar (cox2–3 spacer sequences of mitochondrial DNA; mtDNA) and one mainly nuclear (random amplified polymorphic DNAs; RAPDs). Nine main populations were sampled in a nested spatial hierarchy including three salinity regions (Oslofjorden, Kattegat, and the Baltic Sea), and nine additional populations were sampled for the mtDNA analysis. Asexuality was frequent at low (Baltic) and medium (Kattegat) salinities but virtually absent at the highest salinity (Oslofjorden). Five mtDNA haplotypes were observed, of which two highly divergent ones were common. One was restricted to and fixed in Oslofjorden, and the other, which was closely related to the three rare haplotypes, was found from southernmost Norway via Kattegat into the Baltic. The RAPD data revealed, on the other hand, a continuous cline corresponding to the salinity gradient, with 27.4% divergence among salinity regions and most of the variation stored at the smallest spatial scale analysed (64.2%; within 1 m2 subpopulations). The combined data suggest colonization from a diverse Atlantic glacial gene pool followed by (1) lineage sorting of ancestral mtDNA polymorphisms and (2) strong differential selection among nuclear genotypes along the salinity gradient, including selection for nonrecombinant multiplication of those best fit to the marginal low‐salinity habitats.


While psychology has shown that perception is very important for the human decision process, agent perception has not been covered in sufficient detail within the agent directed simulation field. To contribute to such a solution, an open challenge lies in capturing the knowledge of human sciences, such as psychology, and making this knowledge usable for engineers. This dissertation addresses perception by describing an experimental method where agent perception simulates human perception. In particular, it presents engineering methods based on accepted psychological approaches resulting in a proof of concept. To prove the feasibility, an Artificial Perception (AP) meta-model is presented using logical assumptions, generalized Validation and Verification (V&V) approaches, cognitive testing, and experimental comparisons with similar state-of-the-art agents.
Current publications show that Human Behavior Representation (HBR) in agent simulations remains a top priority for the modeling and simulation community. Agents are a promising way to represent human behavior. However, there are limited methods for measuring and validating perception within simulated environments. Within a simulated environment, there are no clearly established methods for understanding surrogate HBR perception relationships with their authentic human behavioral representations. These present obstacles for advancing simulation of human behavior. The approach presented in this dissertation provides an engineering solution that allows bridging this gap and configuring agents based on human behavior evaluations using accepted psychological approaches, in particular, applied cognitive task analysis.
In many cases, the foundation for these engineering methods and the effects of agent perception are similar to "experimental frames" with some known potential for accomplishing a task. Effects of these tasks require accurate assessments beyond face validation. Agents play a critical role in HBR's capacity to accomplish specific tasks. An agent, in this sense, becomes less a matter of size or complexity, and more a matter of "viewpoint." This viewpoint makes it possible to infer an agent-oriented approach for conceptual modeling of AP, thus implying an agent-object relationship.
An experimental approach is provided using proven psychology perception measurements to help answer the question whether there is a correlation between human perception in the real world and its same representation in an artificial world. The results presented in this dissertation show that the method applied in the experimental approach can be generalized. Furthermore, the example used builds a proof of concept, as the resulting agent with AP reproduced the human behavior more closely than did the state-of-the-art approaches.


Digital hydraulics is a new technology providing an alternative to conventional proportional or servovalve-controlled systems in the area of fluid power. Digital hydraulic applications, such as digital pumps, digital valves and actuators, switched inertance hydraulic converters (SIHCs), and digital hydraulic power management systems, promise high-energy efficiency and less contamination sensitivity. Research on digital hydraulics is driven by the need for highly energy efficient hydraulic machines but is relatively immature compared to other energy-saving technologies. This review introduces the development of SIHCs particularly focusing on the work being undertaken in the last 15 years and evaluates the device configurations, performance, and control strategies that are found in the current SIHC research. Various designs for high-speed switching valves are presented, and their advantages and limitations are compared and discussed. The current limitations of SIHCs are discussed and suggestions for the future development of SIHCs are made.


Two-thirds of the world's population experiences water scarcity at least one month a year, according to the United Nations. Cooling towers in thermoelectric power plants are major consumers of fresh water. Pairing these towers with water vapor–capture systems could lessen industrial freshwater use, leaving more of the essential resource for people to drink. But these systems are too costly or use too much energy to be competitive. Now, researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles, led by Yongho Sungtaek Ju have improved the efficiency of one such system, called humidification-dehumidification (HDH) desalination. Like previous versions of the technology, the approach collects condensed water from humidified air. With the help of some cotton strings, Ju's team built a device with a condensation rate per volume up to three times as high as that of previous designs (Sci. Adv. 2019, DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aav7662). In the new device, cold water beads traveling down


This study investigates the effects of city context on the levels and predictors of perceived group discrimination (GD) among Turkish and Moroccan second-generation immigrants in Belgium. Based on the Integration of the European Second-generation (TIES) data, we address two main questions: (1) Are there significant differences in the levels of perceived GD between the two cities in Belgium (Antwerp and Brussels) within each immigrant group? (2) Who perceives more GD within each city? To answer these questions, possible composition effects should be controlled. Accordingly, we use propensity-score matching to make second-generation immigrant samples from the two cities reasonably comparable with respect to socio-demographic characteristics. Concerning the first research question, we find that after propensity-score matching, the Turkish second-generation perceive more GD in Antwerp than in Brussels. For the Moroccan group, however, the city differences in perceived GD are no longer significant after matching. With regards to the second research question, we find that those who are more socio-economically integrated and those who perceive more threat in their city are more likely to perceive GD.


Late modernity in developed nations is characterized by changing social and psychological conditions, including individualization, processes of competition and loneliness. Remaining socially connected is becoming increasingly important. In this situation, travel provides meaning through physical encounters, inclusion in traveller Gemeinschaft based on shared norms, beliefs and interests, and social status in societies increasingly defined by mobilities. As relationships are forged and found in mobility, travel is no longer an option, rather a necessity for sociality, identity construction, affirmation or alteration. Social contexts and the underlying motivations for tourism have changed fundamentally in late modernity: non-tourism has become a threat to self-conceptions. By integrating social and psychological perspectives, this paper expands and deepens existing travel and mobilities discussions to advance the understanding of tourism as a mechanism of social connectedness, and points to implications for future tourism research.


Users are often exposed to a sequence of short-lived marketing interventions (e.g., ads) within each usage session in mobile apps. This study examines how an increase in the variety of ads shown in a session affects a user's response to the next ad. The authors leverage the quasi-experimental variation in ad assignment in their data and propose an empirical framework that accounts for different types confounding to isolate the effects of a unit increase in variety. Across a series of models, the authors consistently show that an increase in ad variety in a session results in a higher response rate to the next ad: holding all else fixed, a unit increase in variety of the prior sequence of ads can increase the click-through rate on the next ad by approximately 13\%. The authors then explore the underlying mechanism and document empirical evidence for an attention-based account. The paper offers important managerial implications since it identifies a source of interdependence across ad exposures that is often ignored in the design of advertising auctions. Further, the attention-based mechanism suggests that platforms can incorporate real-time attention measures to help advertisers with targeting dynamics.