Hacking's (1985) concept of 'styles of reasoning' has prompted research into a multitude of markedly different areas, including: learning and teaching of science (Hawkins and Pea 1987), the history and philosophy of the use of case studies (Forrester 1996), epistemic differences in German and American embryology (Maienschein 1991), the relationship between philosophy and history of science (Radder 1997), and more recently even the relationship between sexuality, translation, and East Asian studies (Chiang 2009). This article attempts to add to this discourse by considering the concept of 'styles of reasoning' from the perspective of history of science and geography in China. First, it discusses observation and correlative thinking in the traditional Chinese science of dili (principles of the earth) and fengshui (wind and water), focusing on the meaning and difficulty of the translation of the concept shi, 'configurational force,' which embodied an astute early qualitative understanding of gravity and its relationship to fertility. Seminal texts from various dynasties considered in this discussion include the Book of Burial, Classic of Burial, Yellow Emperor's Classic of House Siting, Arousing the Dragon Classic, Twenty Four Difficult Problems, and Water Dragon Classic. The article then argues that this different 'style of reasoning' displayed in the discipline of dili became blurred in Western scientific styles of reasoning to become dilixue (geography). A journal article on the history of the development of the concept of 'mountain veins' in traditional Chinese science by a member of the Chinese Geological Survey, Weng Wenhao (1925), is indicative of this melding of Eastern and Western styles of reasoning. It is posited that even with the strength of China's early scientific foundations, the acceptance in China of Western scientific reasoning was markedly accelerated due to the environmental history of China (Elvin 2004). The environmental history of China over three thousand years is then compared to that of Australia over the past two hundred years using the traditional dili construct to argue that northern hemisphere peoples coming to the south have had to modify their styles of reasoning to perceive the ritualizations of knowledge inherent in northern knowledge systems, based on the generally more fertile geographies of the power bases of the north. It is argued that accepted 'universal' theoretical stances such as the market approach advocated by Hayek (1980 and 1976) have more of a geographic basis than is realized and that continuing to follow the 'logic of short term advantage' (Elvin 2004) and the 'ethics of chance' (Paton 2009) that have become major catalysts to present day market-based systems could have a very negative effect on the survival of the human species over the long term.


AGM's belief revision is one of the main paradigms in the study of belief change operations. In this context, belief bases (prioritised bases) have been largely used to specify the agent's belief state - whether representing the agent's 'explicit beliefs' or as a computational model for her belief state. While the connection of iterated AGM-like operations and their encoding in dynamic epistemic logics have been studied before, few works considered how well-known postulates from iterated belief revision theory can be characterised by means of belief bases and their counterpart in dynamic epistemic logic. This work investigates how priority graphs, a syntactic representation of preference relations deeply connected to prioritised bases, can be used to characterise belief change operators, focusing on well-known postulates of Iterated Belief Change. We provide syntactic representations of belief change operators in a dynamic context, as well as new negative results regarding the possibility of representing an iterated belief revision operation using transformations on priority graphs.


OBJECTIVES
This review describes the processes and effectiveness of the primary management systems that structure and sustain consistent behaviors and result in a transformed culture of continuous quality improvement (CQI) from top to bottom throughout the Henry Ford medical laboratory enterprise.

METHODS
Through a 17-year focus to achieve a functional CQI enterprise, quality management systems were developed and continuously improved by teams of laboratory leaders, managers, and quality specialists to coordinate and standardize human efforts, and provide actionable knowledge and data to engage improvement efforts at all levels of work. Lean and ISO 15189 discipline and requirements were addressed in annual management review of functionality and effectiveness to close gaps and further refine the management systems.

RESULTS
Improvements in the use and effectiveness of 4 management systems are illustrated.

CONCLUSIONS
The 4 primary management systems that provide structure and support transformation to a culture of CQI are the team leader, Plan-Do-Check-Act problem-solving, deviation management, and daily management systems. These management systems are designed to deepen the effectiveness of the continuous improvement culture by helping managers understand variation in the work they oversee and providing guidance for more effective employee engagement in the daily processes of quality improvement.


After St. Luke's Regional Medical Center in Boise, Idaho, reported a profit of $18 million, Ada County revoked its property tax exemption as a not-for-profit and billed St. Luke's for $3.4 million in property taxes. This article describes how St. Luke's successfully defended its tax exemption in an appeal to the Idaho Board of Tax Appeals and how proposed legislation would reduce uncertainty about taxation of not-for-profit hospitals in Idaho.


For many years, cookies have been widely used by websites, storing information about users' behaviour. While enabling additional functionality and potentially improving user experience, cookies can be a threat to users' privacy, especially cookies used by third parties for data analysis. Websites providers are legally required to inform users about cookie use by displaying a so-called cookie disclaimer. We conducted a survey study in 2017 to investigate how users perceive this disclaimer and whether it affects their actual behaviour. We found that while most participants had negative feelings towards the disclaimer, the disclaimer text had no significant effect on their decision to leave the website. Since the extensive media coverage of data protection issues that accompanied the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) entry into force in May 2018 may have sensitized users to privacy protection, we conducted a follow-up study in December 2018. Our results suggest that users did not change their attitude towards cookie use in favour of privacy protection, but got even more accustomed to the use of cookies, also by third parties. Moreover, many users seem to have misconceptions regarding cookie use. We discuss the implications of our results for the users' right to make an informed decision about their privacy.


The recent Family Law Reform in Quebec makes no mention of non-traditional unions. No formal legal regime regulates the economic responsibility of homosexual partners. The author studies the most flagrant pecuniary consequences of the inability of a homosexual couple to marry and explores the possible effects of such a union on the property rights of the partners. A contractual agreement that does not necessarily off end public order and good morals may appear to be a solution to the aspirations of certain couples.


Abstract. Shallow-water carbonate deposits are well-known from the Eocene of the US
Gulf Coast and Caribbean. These deposits frequently contain abundant larger
benthic foraminifera (LBF). However, whilst integrated stratigraphic studies
have helped to refine the timing of LBF overturning events within the Tethys
and Indo-Pacific regions with respect to global bio- and chemo-stratigraphic
records, little recent work has been carried out in the Americas. The
American LBF assemblages are distinctly different from those of Europe and
the Indo-Pacific. It is therefore essential that the American bio-province is
included in studies of LBF evolution, biodiversity and climate events to
understand these processes on a global scale. Here we present the LBF ranges from two previously unpublished sections
spanning 35 and 29 m of the upper Eocene Ocala limestone, as the early
stages of a larger project addressing the taxonomy and biostratigraphy of the
LBF of Florida. The study indicates that the lower
member of the Ocala
limestone may be Bartonian rather than Priabonian in age, with implications
for the biostratigraphy of the region. In addition, the study highlights the
need for multiple sites to assess the LBF assemblages and fully constrain
ranges across Florida and the US Gulf and suggests potential LBF events for
future integrated stratigraphic study.


Indigenous peoples are one of the strongest critics of the dominant paradigm of development because of how this has facilitated the violation of their basic human rights, which includes their rights to their lands, territories and resources, their cultures and identities. So-called "development�? also has led to the erosion and denigration of their indigenous economic, social and governance systems. Ten years after the MDGs came into being, it is about time to see whether these have taken indigenous peoples into account and whether the implementation of these have led to changes in the way development work is done. This paper examines the relationship of the Millenium Development Goals to the protection, respect and fulfillment of indigenous peoples' rights as contained in the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. It analyzes whether the MDGs as constructed and implemented have the potential to contribute towards a more dignified life for indigenous peoples. It looked into some of the efforts of various actors, such as indigenous peoples, part of the UN system, including the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, and NGOs have done in relation to the MDGs. The Permanent Forum is the highest body in the UN addressing indigenous peoples and which is mandated to look into human rights, economic and social development, education, culture, health and environment. Some recommendations which emerged from this study include the need to use the human-rights based approach to development in implementing the MDGs and the need to set up culturally-sensitive social services.


In the last years, great attention has been directed to potential problems caused by the "greenhouse effect". Man, through industrial activities, fossil fuel consumption, forest destruction, and adoption of some agronomic practices, has been the main responsible for such phenomenon. The main gases that cause the greenhouse effect are carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), and chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). Methane stands out amongst them by the amount produced and by its activity in the absorbing atmospheric heat. The main methane producing sources are soils naturally flooded or cultivated under flooding conditions, which represent approximately 40% of the total methane emitted; from this amount, 37% is emitted by rice cultivated under flooding conditions. In this context, the present review has as main purposes to describe processes responsible for methane production and emission, as well as to discuss management practices and rice plant characteristics which affect emission of this gas. From the total methane originated in rice fields during its growth cycle, between 60 to 90% comes from rice plants. Although methane is not the main gas responsible for the greenhouse effect and rice crop does not represent the main methane source, the reduction in the emission could be accomplished through changes in rice cultural practices. Amongst alternatives that can be worked out are management of irrigation water and fertilizer applied, and cropping of rice cultivars that present lower number of aerenchyma and lower biomass production, whereas maintaining rice grain yields potential.


Muntingia, or Jamaica Cherry, is a small, fast--‐growing tree that can reach up to 40 ft. tall at full maturity. The soft leaves are evergreen and have an alternate phyllotaxy. Leaves are dark green on top and light green underneath. The small, white flowers feature yellow stamens in the center. The small, round fruits are abundant, and depending on the variety, have a red or yellow color. Fruits are edible raw or made into jam. The fruit possessed potent anti-inflammatory activity. The flowers have antiseptic and antispasmodic qualities, and are made into medicinal teas. The M. calabura leaves exhibited potential anti-proliferative and antioxidant activities. The present study on Muntingia is to give an overview on traditional uses and pharmacological activity.


The development and growth of prostate cancer depends on the androgen receptor and its high-affinity binding of dihydrotestosterone, which derives from testosterone. Most prostate tumors regress after therapy to prevent testosterone production by the testes, but the tumors eventually recur and cause death. A critical question is whether the androgen receptor mediates recurrent tumor growth after androgen deprivation therapy. Here we report that a majority of recurrent prostate cancers express high levels of the androgen receptor and two nuclear receptor coactivators, transcriptional intermediary factor 2 and steroid receptor coactivator 1. Overexpression of these coactivators increases androgen receptor transactivation at physiological concentrations of adrenal androgen. Furthermore, we provide a molecular basis for this activation and suggest a general mechanism for recurrent prostate cancer growth.


Efforts to limit the propagation of traffic noise tend to focus on the use of noise barriers and their associated insertion loss. Bearing in mind that the source which contributes most to roadside automobile noise at highway speeds is tire/pavement interaction, an investigation into the use of ''quiet'' pavements to reduce tire/pavement interaction noise, and thus attenuate traffic noise at the source, has been undertaken. Using the trailer method, onboard and roadside measurements have been made of tire/pavement interaction noise on various pavements currently in use in the state of Texas, as well as in the Western Cape and Gauteng provinces, South Africa. Preliminary results obtained with a test‐vehicle speed of 60 mph show that reductions in roadside noise levels from 4 to 15 dB can be achieved with ''quiet'' pavements. [Work supported by the Texas Department of Transportation.]


In order to characterize the does of a local Kabylian rabbit population raised in Algeria, a study of their milk production was carried out in the experimental rabbitry of the Tizi-Ouzou University. Milk production of does was measured every day during the 21 days following 299 parturitions by weighing each litter before and after the single daily suckling. The calculated parameters were the quantity of milk produced per day, per week and the total quantity produced in 21 days, as well as the intake of milk per young rabbit. The analysis concerned the effects of the parity order (4 classes: 1 to 4-and-more) and of the average number of young rabbits suckled per litter (7 classes: from 2-3 kits to more-than-8). During the 21 days of controlled lactation, the average litter size was 5.6 ± 2.3. The rabbit does of the local Kabylian population produced on average 2180 ± 719 g in 21 days, which is 104 g of milk/day. The milk intake of young rabbits increased from 12.6 g/day/kit during the 1 st week, to 27.2 g/day during the 3 rd week of lactation. The number of young per litter influenced the does' milk production very significantly: 62.8 g/d for 2 to 3 young per litter, and up to 127-131 g/day for more than 6 young, although milk production available per kit and per day decreased linearly with the number of kits in the litter for each of the 3 weeks considered. On the other hand, the average milk production expressed as quantity available per kit and per day was not significantly affected by the parity order: 20-21 g /kit /day on average for the 0-21 day period.


The prediction of climate effects on terrestrial ecosystems and water resources is one of the major research questions in hydrology. Conceptual water-energy balance models can be used to gain a first order estimate of how long-term average streamflow is changing with a change in water and energy supply. A common framework for investigation of this question is based on the Budyko hypothesis, which links hydrological response to aridity. Recently, Renner et al. (2012) introduced the climate change impact hypothesis (CCUW), which is based on the assumption that the total efficiency of the catchment ecosystem to use the available water and energy for actual evapotranspiration remains constant even under climate changes. Here, we confront the climate sensitivity approaches (the Budyko approach of Roderick and Farquhar, 2011, and the CCUW) with data of more than 400 basins distributed over the continental United States. We first estimate the sensitivity of streamflow to changes in precipitation using long-term average data of the period 1949 to 2003. This provides a hydro-climatic status of the respective basins as well as their expected proportional effect to changes in climate. Next, we test the ability of both approaches to predict climate impacts on streamflow by splitting the data into two periods. We (i) analyse the long-term average changes in hydro-climatology and (ii) derive a statistical classification of potential climate and basin change impacts based on the significance of observed changes in runoff, precipitation and potential evapotranspiration. Then we (iii) use the different climate sensitivity methods to predict the change in streamflow given the observed changes in water and energy supply and (iv) evaluate the predictions by (v) using the statistical classification scheme and (vi) a conceptual approach to separate the impacts of changes in climate from basin characteristics change on streamflow. This allows us to evaluate the observed changes in streamflow as well as to assess the impact of basin changes on the validity of climate sensitivity approaches. The apparent increase of streamflow of the majority of basins in the US is dominated by an increase in precipitation. It is further evident that impacts of changes in basin characteristics appear simultaneously with climate changes. There are coherent spatial patterns with catchments where basin changes compensate for climatic changes being dominant in the western and central parts of the US. A hot spot of basin changes leading to excessive runoff is found within the US Midwest. The impact of basin changes on the prediction is large and can be twice as much as the observed change signal. Although the CCUW and the Budyko approach yield similar predictions for most basins, the data of water-limited basins support the Budyko framework rather than the CCUW approach, which is known to be invalid under limiting climatic conditions.


Anthraquinone dye Reactive Blue (KN-R) is first selected as the model dye to test the treatment of UV-vis/Ferrioxalate/H2O2 system. The effect of parameters Fe2+/H2O2, pH and H2C2O4 are synthetically assessed. The optimum concentration is obtained at 1:15 of Fe2+/H2O2 and 30mg·L-1 of H2C2O4 at pH=3.0 in 30min. Under the optimum condition, the removal rate of color, chemical oxygen demand (COD) and total organic carbon (TOC) are more than 99%, 87.7% and 66.8% respectively. The results show that the reaction accorded with a pseudo-first-order and the degeneration velocity of KN-R is 0.2459[dye](mg·L-1/min).


Fetal exposure to caffeine is associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes. Animal and human studies suggest that caffeine may have effects on the developing reproductive system. Here we report on mothers' smoking, coffee and alcohol use, recorded during pregnancy, and semen quality in sons in the age group of 38–47 years. Subjects were a subset of the Child Health and Development Studies, a pregnancy cohort enrolled between 1959 and 1967 in the Kaiser Foundation Health Plan near Oakland, California. In 2005, adult sons participated in a follow-up study (n = 338) and semen samples were donated by 196 participants. Samples were analyzed for sperm concentration, motility and morphology according to the National Cooperative Reproductive Medicine Network (Fertile Male Study) Protocol. Mean sperm concentration was reduced by approximately 16 million sperms for sons with high prenatal exposure (5 cups of maternal coffee use per day) compared with unexposed sons (P-value for decreasing trend = 0.09), which translates to a proportionate reduction of 25%. Mean percent motile sperm decreased by approximately 7 points (P-value = 0.04), a proportionate decline of 13%, and mean percent sperm with normal morphology decreased by approximately 2 points (P-value = 0.01), a proportionate decline of 25%. Maternal cigarette and alcohol use were not associated with son's semen quality. Adjusting for son's contemporary coffee, alcohol and cigarette use did not explain the maternal associations. Findings for son's coffee intake and father's prenatal coffee, cigarette and alcohol use were non-significant and inconclusive. These results contribute to the evidence that maternal coffee use during pregnancy may impair the reproductive development of the male fetus.


A combination drug treatment can reduce agitation in patients with probable Alzheimer's disease and is generally well tolerated, preliminary research published in JAMA has shown.1

The phase II double blind randomised clinical trial showed that patients who received the combination dextromethorphan hydrobromide and quinidine sulphate had lower occurrence and severity of agitation than patients who received placebo. This combination is approved in the United States and the European Union for treating pseudobulbar affect, a neurological disorder characterised by uncontrollable episodes of crying.

Agitation and aggression are common in dementia patients, which can be distressing for the patient and can put carers …


The low energy cluster beam deposition (LECBD) technique is used to prepare original magnetic nanostructures from Co-based clusters preformed in the gas phase and subsequently embedded in non-magnetic matrices in ultrahigh vacuum. Nanostructured films of pure cobalt and mixed CoM clusters (with M = Ag or Pt) with controlled sizes and compositions have been investigated. We study the correlations between the specific structure, morphology and the resulting magnetic properties obtained for individual nanoclusters by the highly sensitive microSQUID magnetometry technique and on assemblies of non-interacting clusters by conventional techniques. From the role of various contributions, we will underline at the nanometre scale the dominant role of the surface/interface effects on the magnetic anisotropy.


These Ecole polytechnique federale de Lausanne EPFL, n° 835 (1990) Reference doi:10.5075/epfl-thesis-835Print copy in library catalog Record created on 2005-03-16, modified on 2016-08-08


Introduction: Inguinal hernias have plagued mankind for its upright gait since evolution. Around 16% of the patients presenting to surgery outpatient department have inguinal hernias. Various procedures like the use of patients' own tissues or prosthetic meshes have been used in the past to repair inguinal hernia with varying degrees of success. Laparoscopic hernioplasty is the latest technique with several advantages over open procedures like reduced postoperative pain and shorter recovery period. However, steeper learning curve and cost of the procedure have been cited as limiting factor. Aim: To study the outcome of laparoscopic transabdominal preperitoneal (TAPP) inguinal hernia repair in terms of operating time, postoperative pain, wound complications, and recurrence. Materials and methods: This is an analysis of patients that underwent TAPP inguinal hernia repair, from January 2013 to May 2015. Case records of 90 patients between 18 and 60 years that underwent TAPP by a single surgical team were followed prospectively. Data regarding operative time, complications, immediate postoperative pain, chronic groin pain, recurrence, and sensory disturbance were recorded and evaluated. Results: All the patients were males aged from 18 to 60 years. Mean operative time was 60 minutes (40–120 minutes). Postoperative pain as assessed by visual analog scale (VAS) 6 hours after has been low (mean: 2). Chronic pain occurred in 2 patients (2.22%), but that has not affected routine work or mobility. Conclusion: Short-term results of TAPP hernia repair using mesh demonstrated to be an effective and safe procedure with low prevalence of chronic pain that was generally of a mild, infrequent nature. Intraoperative bleeding and use of postoperative analgesia were considerably less. There was no incidence of early recurrence. Learning curve is not so steep as claimed, and considering advantages, the cost of the procedure should not be a limiting factor even in a developing country.


To test the hypothesis that contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) can dilferentiate reversible from irreversible myocardial injury, these modalities were used to study ischemia and reperfusion in a rat model. The presence of ischemia and reperfusion were confirmed with radiolabeled microspheres (n=6). Groups of animals were subjected to either 16 (n=17), 30 (n=14), 60 (n=1l), or 90 (n=14) minutes of left coronary artery (LCA) occlusion and 60 minutes reperfusion. After albumin-gadolinium (Gd)-DTPA injection, contrast-enhanced, Tl-weighted, spin-echo proton images were acquired at baseline and every 16 minutes during LCA occlusion and reperfusion. In separate experiments, 31phosphorus (31p) spectra were acquired at similar time points during ischemia and reperfusion. After 16 minutes occlusion, normally perfused myocardium enhanced significantly compared with ischemic myocardium on MRI (104±7.9% vs. 6ll11.0%,p<0.05, n=5, mean±+SEM, % of baseline value). MRS showed reduced phosphocreatine (PCr) and adenosine triphosphate (ATP) (58.8+2.4%, p <0.01; 81.4±2.4, p<0.01, n= 12). After 16 or 30 minutes ischemia, reflow resulted in uniform MRI signal intensity of the ischemic zone compared with normal myocardium (93.5±11.3 vs. 80.9+7.0, p=NS, n=11, % of baseline value at 30 minutes reperfusion) and PCr recovery on MRS (94.3 +4.0%, p=NS, n=20, % baseline value at 30 minutes reflow). After 60 and 90 minutes ischemia, reflow resulted in marked enhancement of reperfused compared with normal myocardium on MRI (254.0+±30.0 vs. 78.3±9.2, pO.01, n=10) and no recovery of PCr on MRS (64.1±3.0, p=NS, n=14). Triphenyltetrazolium chloride (TTC) staining revealed transmural myocardial infarction (MI) in all hearts subjected to 60 or 90 minutes ischemia and reflow, and small nontransmural MIs in only 2/11 hearts subjected to 16 or 30 minutes ischemia and reperfusion. Thus, 1) MRI with albumin-Gd-DTPA is useful for identifying myocardial ischemia by enhancing the contrast between normally perfused and ischemic myocardia; 2) MRI with albumin-Gd-DTPA is useful for identifying reperfusion after myocardial ischemia; and 3) after reperfusion, reversible can be distinguished from irreversible myocardial injury by characteristic findings on MRI and MRS. (Circulation 1989;80:969-982)


Photoluminescence of ZnSe-based scintillation crystals is studied. Photoluminescence intensities and spectra of isoelectronically doped ZnSe(Te), ZnSe(O), and ZnSe(O,Al) are compared. Frequency domain luminescence lifetime measurement technique was applied to study carrier dynamics at low density of nonequilibrium carriers, which is typical for operation of high-sensitivity ZnSe-based radiation detectors. Temperature-dependent competition between donor-acceptor-pair-type and exponential luminescence decay components was observed.


Background The Avon Breast Health Outreach Program (BHOP) supports community-based organizations to conduct education and outreach to link low-income and uninsured women to routine breast cancer screening and care. Through the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the number of uninsured individuals is expected to decrease as of 2014. While ACA implementation varies by state, BHOP grantees may benefit from understanding the health reform experience in Massachusetts (MA) in 2006 and its impact on the number and proportion of uninsured clients served over time. Objective Describe changes in client volume, health insurance status, and demographics following implementation of health reform in MA to anticipate upcoming impact of ACA on BHOP grantees. Methods Confidential client intake records of continuously funded BHOP grantees from 2004-2012 were analyzed; dataset included females aged 40-64, recruited for breast cancer screening. We compared records for 11,199 clients served by 4 'MA' BHOP programs with 283,720 clients served by 52 'control' agencies funded in the US during the same time period. We examined trends across years in agency-specific rates of health insurance coverage, and client volume adjusting for annual funding. Changes in key demographic characteristics over time were also analyzed. Results The proportion of uninsured MA clients decreased dramatically from 46.6% to 6.2% from 2004-2012, with the biggest decrease occurring in the 3 years following health reform (42.1% to 13.0% from 2006-2009); as compared to only a slight drop among controls from 2004-2012 (69.3% to 67.4%). After adjusting for changes in annual BHOP funding, MA experienced a 74% increase in client volume from 2006-2009, compared with a 15% increase among controls. From 2004-2012, the mean age of clients (53 years) remained stable and similar for MA and controls. The proportion of racial/ethnic minorities served increased considerably in MA, from 62.0% to 77.7%, versus a smaller increase of 60.1% to 63.0% in controls. Likewise, the proportion of clients born outside the US rose from 37.2% to 50.7% in MA, compared with 33.7% to 36.6% among controls. However, the proportion of low-income clients (annual household income Conclusion In BHOP, Massachusetts observed a marked decrease (most noticeably in the 3 years following health reform) in the proportion of uninsured clients served, while overall client volume and the proportion of racial/ethnic minorities and foreign-born women increased. Discussion Historically, many BHOP grantees have relied on funding from the CDC's National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program or charity funds to pay for screening services for uninsured clients. As more clients nationally gain access to health insurance, BHOP grantees need to be prepared for the changing landscape and potential increase in client volume, as experienced by MA. Additionally, grantees should plan to update systems that aid in health insurance eligibility determination, assist with enrollment, and strengthen provider partnerships and referral systems that accept multiple types of insurance. Citation Format: Lindsay Senter, Marvin R Aliaga, Yixin Hu, Kelly Morrison Opdyke, Kathryn Gates-Ferris, Marc Hurlbert. Anticipating ACA9s impact on breast cancer screening for medically underserved women reached through the Avon Breast Health Outreach Program: Understanding the Massachusetts experience [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Thirty-Seventh Annual CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium: 2014 Dec 9-13; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2015;75(9 Suppl):Abstract nr P1-17-01.


One of the most important outputs of human mind has been continuous stream of inventions over many eras of civilization. However, human mind has been inventing using what is called "trial and error" methods on its evolutionary journey. As our world becomes more complex, inventing through trial and error is unsustainable. Theory of Inventive problem solving (TRIZ in Russian acronym) has been developed through analysis of patents describing the logic of inventions. It categorized the inventions into five increasing levels of inventiveness based on sources of solutions and the quantum of change they created compared to existing systems. In this paper, we describe set of tools for thinking to invent strong, i.e., to invent at level 3 and above of TRIZ five levels. Thinking about new operating principles to deliver the functions, making the existing systems closer to an ideal system and resolving deeply embedded conflict in the system called physical contradiction are the key elements from TRIZ that we have included in the framework for invent strong. Three real case studies - for cracking of hydrocarbons, improving the digestive abilities of the cattle and choosing the stronger paths using Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) to invent - are described to give a flavor of how the invent strong framework can be applied. We propose using TRIZ for inventing strong is essential need of the world as it becomes more complex and requires stronger innovative solutions quickly. The human mind has to quickly learn to adapt to inventing strong. The how to invent strong framework described in this paper with its associated tools has proven to be an effective method to generate novel solutions and can be utilized for application in multiple fields.


The purpose of the current research was to examine the association between different facets of well-being and parenthood status. Specifically, using two longitudinal data sets, the present research explored whether individuals who possess high cognitive (Studies 1 & 2), emotional, and psychological well-being (Study 2) are more likely to subsequently become parents compared to their less happy counterparts. The results of both studies demonstrated that well-being at Time 1 positively predicted number of children at Time 2, controlling for a number of relevant variables (e.g. income, age). Additional analyses revealed that the relationship between cognitive well-being and subsequently having children was particularly strong for people who did not have any children previously. Potential mechanisms explaining how and why well-being may influence parenthood are discussed.


This paper presented a novel tape, which was used to open the corrugated cartons more easily and quickly. Structure of the tear tape consisted of backing materials (acrylic fibers), adhesive (acrylic pressure-sensitive adhesive) and release paper. Prepared tear tapes with different thickness, analyzed the influence of tear tape thickness on performance of open system and added them to the corrugated board, then tested the opening properties of the corrugated board above. The results indicate that the tape, with 0.18mm in thickness and about 25mm in width, can split high quantitative corrugated board smoothly, the tensile strength for opening is 105N at maximum, which means these tape can satisfy the needs of easy-to-open technique.


ABSTRACT Using tethered American cockroaches walking on a trackball in a spherical virtual reality environment, we tested optomotor responses to horizontally moving black-and-white gratings of different vertical extent under six different light intensities. We found that shortening the vertical extent of the wide-field stimulus grating within a light level weakened response strength, reduced average velocity and decreased angular walking distance. Optomotor responses with the vertically shortened stimuli persisted down to light intensity levels of 0.05 lx. Response latency seems to be independent of both the height of the stimulus and light intensity. The optomotor response started saturating at a light intensity of 5 lx, where the shortest behaviourally significant stimulus was 1 deg. This indicates that the number of vertical ommatidial rows needed to elicit an optomotor response at 5 lx and above is in the single digits, maybe even just one. Our behavioural results encourage further inquiry into the interplay of light intensity and stimulus size in insect dim-light vision. Summary: The vertically shortest wide-field stimulus that causes an optomotor response in the cockroach is about 1 deg high, corresponding to one or just a few rows of ommatidia.


In this work, we propose to efficiently solve time dependent parametrized optimal control problems governed by parabolic partial differential equations through the certified reduced basis method. In particular, we will exploit an error estimator procedure, based on easy-to-compute quantities which guarantee a rigorous and efficient bound for the error of the involved variables. First of all, we propose the analysis of the problem at hand, proving its well-posedness thanks to Ne\v{c}as - Babu\v{s}ka theory for distributed and boundary controls in a space-time formulation. Then, we derive error estimators to apply a Greedy method during the offline stage, in order to perform, during the online stage, a Galerkin projection onto a low-dimensional space spanned by properly chosen high-fidelity solutions. We tested the error estimators on two model problems governed by a Graetz flow: a physical parametrized distributed optimal control problem and a boundary optimal control problem with physical and geometrical parameters. The results have been compared to a previously proposed bound, based on the exact computation of the Babu\v{s}ka inf-sup constant, in terms of reliability and computational costs. We remark that our findings still hold in the steady setting and we propose a brief insight also for this simpler formulation.


The design of many core systems-on-chip (SoCs) has become increasingly challenging due to high levels of integration, excessive energy consumption and clock distribution problems. To deal with these issues, we consider network-on-chip (NoC) architectures partitioned into several voltage-frequency islands (VFIs) and propose a design methodology for runtime energy management. The proposed approach minimizes the energy consumption subject to performance constraints. Then, we present efficient techniques for on-the-fly workload monitoring and management to ensure that the system can cope with variability in the workload and various technology-related parameters. Simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach in reducing the overall system energy consumption for a real video application. Finally, the results and functional correctness are validated using an field-programmable gate-array (FPGA) prototype for an NoC with multiple VFIs.


Robotic arms are complex mechatronic systems. Therefore, their design requires knowledge and experience from various technical fields, such as mechanics, electrical engineering, electronics or control. From the view of the requirements placed on developers, the design of robotic arms is one of the more complex tasks. Unfortunately, there is a lack of necessary specialists in this field of technology. Therefore, ways are sought to help existing specialists in their work and, simultaneously, reduce the time needed to design the required equipment. At the same time, there are also sought ways to open the way to this issue for developers who do not yet have enough experience. For this reason, algorithms and development tools have been developed to significantly simplify and reduce the time required to design robotic arms and simultaneously automate as much of this process as possible. The aim is to shorten the design time and achieve better results than in the case of designs according to classical procedures.


Lifting barriers to labor mobility across countries is controversial. Although the Japanese government is attempting to increase the number of skilled immigrants while curbing unskilled immigrants, immigration policy has been a contentiously debated issue in Japan from the perspectives of labor scarcity due to low fertility, industry competition, and the current demand for unskilled immigrant workers in Japan. This paper selectively discusses the recent research on international migration, emphasizing interactions with international trade and offshoring. Recent studies indicate that, given large productivity disparities across countries, liberalizing international migration yields much greater gains than pursuing further liberalization in trade or international capital transactions. Examining international labor movements and trade within unified frameworks reveals new insights into the consequences of international migration from the perspectives of terms of trade, scale economy, and task specialization. As for economic growth, empirical studies suggest that skilled immigrants will accelerate research and development (R&D), which may lead to increases in economic growth. However, it is still uncertain whether a higher economic growth rate owing to immigration will improve per capita welfare. Further empirical analyses are needed to gauge the empirical relevance on theoretical implications about international migration under free trade. Another promising research area is the political economy of international migration in which trade policy and migration policy are simultaneously determined.


In order to have a developed country, all regions of the country must move forward in uniform speed and uniform levels. Local government has been a system of central government through which it could distribute its public goods to all its systems. Through the local government the central government can be centralized some of the services which otherwise could be sort from the country"s headquarters a situation which is not only cumbersome but it"s also wasting and hence inefficient. However, there has been a hue and cry about the performance in local governments all over the country. This research project intended to analyze the various challenges influencing performance in Local Councils in Kenya. The objectives that guided the study include establishing how team work and motivation are factors influencing performance, to determine how leadership is one of the challenges influencing workers performance, to establish appropriate technology are factors affecting performance of local councils. The findings of this study are likely to go a long way to lift the standards of living of the Kisii residents, inform both the government and the local council leadership, and enable NGO s understand where to chip in and lend a hand to make Local authorities better services delivery instruments. The overall result of the research will contribute to the improvement of service delivery which is in tandem with the on-going public service delivery reforms. The researcher took Kisii Municipal Council as a case study. Given that, not only geographical, technological and economical but also other Kisii circumstances, being quite different from other areas in other parts of Kenya, it may not be possible to generalize the findings of this study. The study used descriptive, causal and explorative design. The study involved a stratified population of top management, middle and lower level employees as respondents. The total population was 424 whereby the management was 27 and the subordinates were 397. The study took a stratified sample of 20% on the employees (staff) by the use of simple random sampling procedure and census on management. A Self Administered Questionnaire (SAQ) which was given at least for two weeks to allow for free well thought answers was used to collect data. The data was analyzed using descriptive Statistics and SPSS program and presented by tables and charts.


: Due to the importance of possible differences in gastrin and parietal cell secretory functions related to gender, we attempted to determine whether normal men and women release gastrin differently in response to a standard meal. Eight male and 9 female volunteers (mean age 25 and 23 years) ingested a standard meal consisting of 15g of protein, 13g of fat, and 36g of carbohydrates. Plasma for gastrin determination was drawn at baseline and at 5, 10, 15, 20, 30, 40, 60, 90 and 120 minutes after eating. No significant differences were found in basal or meal-stimulated gastrin of males or females.


In this article, we test Putnam's claim that online interactions are unable to foster social capital by examining the formation of bridging and bonding social capital in online networks. Using Burt's concepts of closure and brokerage as indicators, we observe networks formed through online interactions and test them against several theoretical models. We test Putnam's claim using Twitter data from three events: the Occupy movement in 2011, the IF Campaign in 2013, and the Chilean Presidential Election of the same year. Our results provide the first evidence that online networks are able to produce the structural features of social capital. In the case of bonding social capital, online ties are more effective in forming close networks than theory predicts. However, bridging social capital is observed under certain conditions, for example, in the presence of organizations and professional brokers. This latter finding provides additional evidence for the argument that social capital follows similar patterns online and offline.


In each company the biggest flows of information emerge in the accounting area. Today's business environment, globalization processes, technological progress and other factors determine the necessity to manage it. Company's leaders, managers need timely, actual and relevant information for decision making. In the article is analyzed the conception of accounting quality and potential methods of accounting quality assessment, which can be found in the scientific literature. Accounting quality can be analyzed as construct, consisted of two components: technical quality and negotiated quality of deliverables. In the assessment area there were distinguished two research trends: assessment, based on accrual metrics and accounting quality assessment in informational aspect, which was chosen for practical testing. Research results have showed that there isn't united opinion among scientists for the concept of accounting quality. For the assessment of the accounting quality there are used accrual based metrics, measures of earnings aggressiveness, loss avoidance and value relevance, sometimes the list is complemented by timeliness indicator, but, in authoress opinion, it is not enough only financial measures in order to reflect the quality of accounting. It is necessary to see such characteristics of accounting information as accuracy, accessibility, comparability etc.


With a mission to conserve the precious soil and water natural resources by using technologies, in association with people, the Govt. of India, initiated watershed programs. One such watershed in Mysore district was selected for evaluation under Govt. funding during 2011-12. The study was conducted with objectives to assess the extent of soil and water conservation physical structures were achieved against the set target, status of forest and horticulture plantations survivability and extent of people's involvement in the watershed activities. The study found that though the watershed Dept., had achieved the progress with respect to achieving the target of completing the physical structures of soil and conservation, the forestry and horticulture plants, survivability in the watershed area was 70% and 80% respectively, which requires protection and maintenance through people's participation. The extent of people involvement, in the watershed programs was low (64%), as they were not fully motivated, to have sense of belonging and owning it and owe to preserve and undertake developmental activities with Govt., Private and NGOs; collaboration. This requires, the human resource developmental initiatives of capacity building activities involving all the stake holders, to reap the fruits of the watershed activities to the people and sustainable development and restoring the ecology.


Coordinated movements require proprioceptive information, such as information about muscle tone as well as position and movement of extremities in space. The primary proprioceptive sensory receptors are muscle spindles. Muscle spindles are complex stretch-sensitive mechanoreceptors. They detect how much and how fast a muscle is lengthened. Muscle spindles consist of specialised skeletal muscle fibers, so called intrafusal fibers. In their central part, these fibers are surrounded by a proprioceptive afferent sensory neuron in an annulospiral shape. Here the speed as well as the length of the stretch is translated into action potential frequencies, which are proportional to the length change and the speed thereof. Both polar endings are innervated by efferent γ-motoneurons.
Previously it was shown that AChRs are concentrated in the polar region at the contact site between intrafusal fiber and sensory neuron. To investigate the function of these AChRs, extracellular recordings from single unit proprioceptive-afferents of wildtype murine extensor digitorum longus muscles in the absence of γ-motoneuron activity was performed. I investigated the response during ramp-and-hold stretches as well as during sinusoidal vibrations in the presence and absence of the AChR inhibitors d-tubocurarine,
α-bungarotoxin or of the choline reuptake inhibitor hemicholinium-3. In the presence of either drug, the resting action potential discharge frequency was not altered but the stretch-evoked action potential frequencies were increased. Additionally, the firing rate during sinusoidal vibrations at low amplitudes was higher in the presence of α-bungarotoxin compared to control spindles. These results indicate that ACh modulates muscle spindle function during stretch in the central region of intrafusal fibers by possibly fine-tuning muscle spindle sensitivity.
As a second project, I investigated the morphology and function of muscle spindles from murine models of muscular dystrophies. Muscular dystrophies comprise a heterogeneous group of hereditary diseases, which are all characterised by progressive degeneration and weakness of skeletal muscles. Murine model systems for two distinct types of muscular dystrophy with very different disease etiologies, i.e. dystrophin- and dysferlin-deficient mice, were analysed. The total number and the overall structure of muscle spindles in soleus muscles of these mice appeared unchanged. Immunohistochemical analyses of wildtype muscle spindles revealed a concentration of dystrophin and β-dystroglycan in intrafusal fibers outside the region of contact to the sensory neuron. Moreover, extracellular recordings from single units of sensory afferents from muscle spindles of the extensor digitorum longus muscle were performed during ramp-and-hold stretches, as well as during sinusoidal vibrations. I demonstrate that mouse models for muscular dystrophy have an increased resting discharge but no change during the dynamic or static phase of ramp-and-hold stretches. Mutant muscle spindles show a higher action potential firing rate during sinusoidal vibrations with small amplitudes and low frequencies. I observed no exacerbated phenotype in DMDmdx- dysf-/- double transgenic mice compared to either single transgenic animal. These results demonstrate that a lack of dystrophin and or dysferlin lead to a change in muscle spindle function and suggest that an impaired proprioceptive feedback might contribute to the instable gait and the frequent falls in patients with muscular dystrophy.
To test the hypothesis that an increased intracellular calcium ion concentration [Ca2+] in dystrophic muscles could cause the impaired proprioceptive function, extracellular recordings from single units of sensory afferents from muscle spindles of the extensor digitorum longus muscle were performed during ramp-and-hold stretches, as well as during sinusoidal vibrations in the presence and absence of the AChE inhibitor neostigmine and the calcium channel blocker nifedipine. After nifedipine and neostigmine administration an increased resting discharge but no change during the dynamic or static phase of ramp-and-hold stretches as well as a higher action potential firing rate during sinusoidal vibrations after neostigmine administration with small amplitudes and low frequencies was observed.
Overall, I show that murine models of muscular dystrophy have an impaired muscle spindle function, which could contribute to the instable gait and posture observed in patients with muscular dystrophy, that these changes could be due to an increased intracellular [Ca2+] in muscles and that the AChR in the central part of the muscle spindles negatively modulates muscle spindle responses during stretch.


This paper reports the experimental investigation of a simple design of plane-parallel electron chamber, which has very thin layers of copper (0.018 or 0.035 mm) as conducting material. Measurements comparing the prototype chambers with other ionization chambers (PTW/Markus, NACP) have been carried out, both in a 60Co gamma-ray beam and in high-energy electron beams. The results show that the Ce factors (proportional to the product of water/air stopping-power ratio and perturbation factor) for converting the in-phantom air-kerma-calibrated chamber reading to the absorbed dose to water are nearly constant for incident electron energies between 4 and 11 MeV for prototype chambers with 0.018 mm thick copper layers and between 4 and 15 MeV for chambers with 0.035 mm thick copper layers. Other aspects concerning these prototype chambers, such as polarity effect, cable effect, collecting efficiency and angular response, have also been studied and the results are presented in this paper.


The NSF Drinking Water Additives Program is the model for health effects evaluation of products and materials in contact with drinking water, including buried plastics pipe. One of the standards developed by the program , ANSI/NSF Standard 61 (Drinking Water System Components-Health Effects), covers the toxicology of indirect additives to drinking water for all types of potable water contact products and materials, including plastics, pipe. For many years, NSF Standard 14 (Plastics Piping Components and Related Materials) has been the model toxicological and performance standard for plastics pipe, serving regulators, users, industry, and the public. Although it remains a viable standard, health effects in NSF Standard 14 are now addressed by reference to ANSI/NSF Standard 61. How these Standards address potential health effects of plastics pipe and their impacts on specifiers, users, and designers is addressed. Extraction testing and toxicology requirements are provided special emphasis. NSF's product Certification (Listing) program for plastics is explained, along with a discussion of the problems and opportunities presented by consensus standards and third party product certification programs.


Abstract : This technical note proposes a structured approach for reviewing architecture documentation. Given the critical importance of architecture to software project success, it follows that the architecture cannot be effective unless it is effectively captured in documentation that allows the architecture's stakeholders to understand and use the architecture in the way it was intended. The approach does not assume a particular architecture methodology or a particular architecture documentation practice, although it was conceived in the context of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) Recommended Practice for Architecture Description of Software-Intensive Systems and the SEI Views and Beyond approach to documenting software architectures. Like both of them, our approach is centered on the stakeholders of the artifact, engaging them in a focused, guided way to ensure that the documentation carries sufficient quality to enable them to do their jobs and to help them point out gaps and weaknesses. Our approach is not intended as a complete framework for architecture evaluation; rather it is meant to be used within such a framework, when one is available.


ABSTRACT The DNA replication checkpoint (DRC) monitors and responds to stalled replication forks to prevent genomic instability. How core replication factors integrate into this phosphorylation cascade is incompletely understood. Here, through analysis of a unique mcm allele targeting a specific ATPase active site (mcm2DENQ), we show that the Mcm2-7 replicative helicase has a novel DRC function as part of the signal transduction cascade. This allele exhibits normal downstream mediator (Mrc1) phosphorylation, implying DRC sensor kinase activation. However, the mutant also exhibits defective effector kinase (Rad53) activation and classic DRC phenotypes. Our previous in vitro analysis showed that the mcm2DENQ mutation prevents a specific conformational change in the Mcm2-7 hexamer. We infer that this conformational change is required for its DRC role and propose that it allosterically facilitates Rad53 activation to ensure a replication-specific checkpoint response.


According to the official report, the first case of COVID-19 and the first death in the United States occurred on January 20 and February 29, 2020, respectively On April 21, California reported that the first death in the state occurred on February 6, implying that community spreading of COVID-19 might have started earlier than previously thought Exactly what is time zero, i e , when did COVID-19 emerge and begin to spread in the U S and other countries? We develop a comprehensive predictive modeling framework to address this question Using available data of confirmed infections to obtain the optimal values of the key parameters, we validate the model and demonstrate its predictive power We then carry out an inverse inference analysis to determine time zero for 10 representative states in the U S , plus New York City, United Kingdom, Italy, and Spain The main finding is that, in both the U S and Europe, COVID-19 started around the new year day


Background: People living in rural areas who have a diagnosis of cancer have poorer outcomes than people living in urban centers. The reasons for this are unclear. Little is known about the impact that living in a rural area has on the diagnosis and treatment decisions of these people and how these may in turn impact on care outcomes. Objectives: This study explored the reasons why people living in rural areas may delay diagnosis and what issues affected the decisions they made regarding their cancer treatment. Methods: In depth, semistructured interviews were conducted with 18 participants from 3 rural Western Australian health regions. Content analysis was used to develop themes. Results: Four themes were identified to describe the rural cancer experience. The first 3 themes, Experiences of Diagnosis and Referral, The Treatment Journey, and Managing your own Care, relate to the experiences of rural cancer patients during their journey through the health care system. The final overarching theme, Implicit Faith, described the level of confidence that rural cancer patients had in the health system, often despite delays and inconveniences. Conclusions: There is a need to improve primary health care and care coordination for rural cancer patients living in Australia and to promote self-advocacy and consumer empowerment for rural cancer patients. Implications for Practice: Rural patients need help and support throughout their cancer journey, including through the process of diagnosis.


Perturbations of the composition and function of the gut microbiota have been associated with metabolic disorders including obesity, insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. Studies on mice have demonstrated several underlying mechanisms including host signalling through bacterial lipopolysaccharides derived from the outer membranes of Gram-negative bacteria, bacterial fermentation of dietary fibres to short-chain fatty acids and bacterial modulation of bile acids. On top of this, an increased permeability of the intestinal epithelium may lead to increased absorption of macromolecules from the intestinal content resulting in systemic immune responses, low-grade inflammation and altered signalling pathways influencing lipid and glucose metabolism. While mechanistic studies on mice collectively support a causal role of the gut microbiota in metabolic diseases, the majority of studies in humans are correlative of nature and thus hinder causal inferences. Importantly, several factors known to influence the risk of type 2 diabetes, e.g. diet and age, have also been linked to alterations in the gut microbiota complicating the interpretation of correlative studies. However, based upon the available evidence, it is hypothesised that the gut microbiota may mediate or modulate the influence of lifestyle factors triggering development of type 2 diabetes. Thus, the aim of this review is to critically discuss the potential role of the gut microbiota in the pathophysiology and pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes.


Abstract Purpose: To evaluate the effectiveness and perception of robotic rollators (RRs) from the perspective of users. Methods: Studies identified in a previous systematic review published on 2016 on the methodology of studies evaluating RRs by the user perspective were re-screened for eligibility based on the following inclusion criteria: evaluation of the human–robot interaction from the user perspective, use of standardized outcome measurements, and quantitative presentation of study results. Results: Seventeen studies were eligible for inclusion. Due to the clinical and methodological heterogeneity across studies, a narrative synthesis of study results was conducted. We found conflicting results concerning the effectiveness of the robotic functionalities of the RRs. Only a few studies reported superior user performance or reduced physical demands with the RRs compared to unassisted conditions or conventional assistive mobility devices; however, without providing statistical evidence. The user perception of the RRs was found to be generally positive. Conclusions: There is still no sufficient evidence on the effectiveness of RRs from the user perspective. More well-designed, high-quality studies with adequate study populations, larger sample sizes, appropriate assessment strategies with outcomes specifically tailored to the robotic functionalities, and statistical analyses of results are required to evaluate RRs at a higher level of evidence. Implications for Rehabilitation RRs cover intelligent functionalities that focus on gait assistance, obstacle avoidance, navigation assistance, sit-to-stand transfer, body weight support or fall prevention. The evaluation from the user perspective is essential to ensure that RRs effectively address users' needs, requirements and preferences. The evidence on the effectiveness of RRs is severely hampered by the low methodological quality of most of the available studies. RRs seem generally to be perceived as positive by the users. There is very limited evidence on the effectiveness and benefits of RRs compared to conventional assistive mobility devices. Further research with high methodological quality needs to be conducted to reach more robust conclusions about the effectiveness of RRs.


We analyzed theoretically the spectral dependence of polarimetric sensitivity to temperature (KT) and the susceptibility of phase modal birefringence to temperature (dB/dT) in several birefringent photonic crystal holey fibers of different construction. Contributions to dB/dT related to thermal expansion of the fiber dimensions and that related to temperature-induced changes in glass and air refractive indices were calculated separately. Our results showed that dB/dT depends strongly on the material used for manufacturing the fiber and on the fiber's geometry. We demonstrate that, by properly designing the birefringent holey fiber, it is possible to reduce its temperature sensitivity significantly and even to ensure a null response to temperature at a specific wavelength. Furthermore, we show that the temperature sensitivity in a fiber with arbitrary geometry can be significantly reduced by proper choice of the glass used in the fiber's manufacture. We also measured the polarimetric sensitivity to temperature and identified its sign in two silica-air fibers. The experimental values are in good agreement with the results of modeling.


The author examines the usefulness and therapeutic value of poetry groups with a chronically mentally ill population. A specific example of a group led by the author illustrates the beneficial properties of writing for people in a residential mental-health setting and the particular strengths and possibilities of such a population. Self-definition, self-expression, self-creation, and peer interaction are all promoted by poetry groups. The story further explores the importance and possibility of community linkage through artistic endeavors.


Artificial intelligence (AI) deep learning protocols offer solutions to complex data processing and analysis. Increasingly these solutions are being applied in the healthcare field, most commonly in processing complex medical imaging data used for diagnosis. Current models apply AI to screening populations of patients for markers of disease and report detection accuracy rates exceeding those of human data screening. In this paper, we explore an alternate model for AI deployment, that of monitoring and analysing an individual's level of function over time. In adopting this approach, we propose that AI may provide highly accurate and reliable detection of preclinical disease states associated with agingrelated neurodegenerative diseases. One of the key challenges facing clinical detection of preclinical phases of diseases such as dementia is the high degree of inter-individual variability in aging-related changes to cognitive function. AI based monitoring of an individual over time offers the potential for the early detection of change in function for the individual, rather than relying on comparing the individual's performance to population norms. We explore an approach to developing AI platforms for individual monitoring and preclinical disease detection and examine the potential benefits to the stakeholders in this technological development.


The nursing profession has sustained a state of disorder. The debate within the disorder historically exists in relationship to multiple educational pathways for entry into RN practice. Diploma BSN and ADN pathways still exist today as a means to enter into nursing practice through RN licensure. Historical research of the three pathway developments is significant and timely in that the evidence from the study helps to shed light on professional issues resurfacing in the "BSN in 10" proposals. The purpose of this research is to understand the socio-cultural-political context surrounding the decisions to develop the diploma BSN and ADN educational pathways; the historical debate concerning the role and functions educational pathway and professional identity of the entry-level RN; and the relationship between the educational pathway developments and the resurfacing historical debate. Historical case study research focused on three historical decision points for the educational pathway developments: Diploma-Bellevue Training School for Nurses in New York 1873; BSN-University of Cincinnati School for Nursing and Health in Ohio 1916; and ADN-Orange County Community College nursing program in Middletown New York 1952. Archival retrieval of primary documents for each case study was completed. Each educational pathway development revealed divisions of gender and paternalistic control over nursing divisions of class within nursing and an undefined division of nursing labor. Prolonged paternalistic control rooted in divisions of gender coupled with the divisions of class and unstructured divisions of labor within nursing prevented full realization of a professional collegiate education for entry into RN practice. The historical debate continues as a distinct professional identity and role does not exist for the entry-level RN. Lack of clear differentiation of role and functions within nursing practice for each pathway nurse creates an education-practice disorder sustains division within the profession of nursing and permits continued paternalistic control over nursing. Facing the "BSN in 10" proposals nursing must reach a decision regarding the needed division of labor within nursing for today's health care system. Nursing can resolve the historical debate by reframing Montag's practice model and delineating an educational preparation for each practice role.


The authors carried out the archaeometric analyses of 9 basalt preforms found at the Kadarta site in Veszprem county. Most of the analyses used non-destructive methods (macroscopic petrography, PGAA, MS and electron-microprobe (EDXEPMA) method developed within the frames of these investigations) and the traditional destructive petrographic and mineral chemical analyses were carried out on a small flake. All the analyses demonstrated that the nine basalt artefacts were prepared from the same raw material. According to the material collected so far from the basalt volcanoes of the Pannonian Basin, this raw material came from the volcanic territory of the Little Hungarian Plain and the Balaton Highlands. Within these territories the most probable provenance of the raw material is the lava rocks in the region of Boncsos-tető, although Hegyestű, Somlo and Halap cannot definitely be excluded.


This volume discusses issues of tribal identity and the Maoist rebellion in the face of Hindu kingship and caste organization. The 1990s witnessed the rise of two successive but interrelated movements that transformed society-ethnic revivalism and the Maoist rebellion. The author, who lived for some months in central Nepal before the emergence of these movements, studied a multi-caste and a multi-ethnic village community. The site of the author's fieldwork is a place where Hindus have been in very close touch with the tribal population. As far back as the fifteenth century, Hindu rulers had forged ties with the tribal chiefs. Of the indigenous people-who form a third of the country's population-the Magars are the largest group and developed the closest relationship with Hindu rulers. The essays explore the strategies of the Magars in building relations with high-caste Hindus and how these strategies were determined unilaterally by the Hindu rulers. Over a period of time, this created ground for tribals to join hands with Maoists to construct a model of society in opposition to caste organization and Hindu monarchy.


We present a novel approach on digitizing large scale unstructured environments like archaeological excavations using off-the-shelf digital still cameras. The cameras are calibrated with respect to few markers captured by a theodolite system. Having all cameras registered in the same coordinate system enables a volumetric approach. Our new algorithm has as input multiple calibrated images and outputs an occupancy voxel space where occupied pixels have a local orientation and a confidence value. Both, orientation and confidence facilitate an efficient rendering and texture mapping of the resulting point cloud. Our algorithm combines the following new features: Images are back-projected to hypothesized local patches in the world and correlated on these patches yielding the best orientation. Adjacent cameras build tuples which yield a product of pair-wise correlations, called strength. Multiple camera tuples compete each other for the best strength for each voxel. A voxel is regarded as occupied if strength is maximum along the normal. Unlike other multi-camera algorithms using silhouettes, photoconsistency, or global correspondence, our algorithm makes no assumption on camera locations being outside the convex hull of the scene. We present compelling results of outdoors excavation areas.


Author(s): Ford, Becky R. | Advisor(s): Reid, Scott A | Abstract: For over 30 years, scholars, journalists, and politicians have debated the costs and benefits of Political Correctness (PC). Those who support PC claim that it benefits historically disadvantaged groups by protecting them from discrimination and encourages diverse representation. Opponents to PC claim that it inhibits freedom of expression and thus public deliberation. However, despite three decade of debate, PC is under theorized and has received little empirical investigation. In this dissertation, following theorizing by Robinson and Reid (2016a), and research on social identity, self-categorization, and public deliberation, I propose that PC is rooted in identity politics (on the right and left), and should be viewed as a tool to control discourse in intergroup conflict. This dissertation argues that PC is an ideology that (among other things) relies on adherents' perceptions of protected and perpetrator groups, involves the imposition of social sanctions and censorship, and justifies such actions by appealing to the moral failings of actors whose actions are judged anti-PC (e.g., sexist or racist). Further, individuals who believe that their views and actions may be perceived as anti-PC may be more likely to self-censor to avoid sanctions and being judged as immoral. This may ultimately affect public deliberation due to a decreased tolerance of diverse viewpoints. The relationships between PC, perceptions of victimhood, support for censorship, self-censorship, and public deliberation were tested across three studies. The survey findings from Study 1 indicate that participants' perceptions of victimhood were predicted by their political ideology, such that the more liberal participants were the more likely they were to perceive victimization among racial, sexual, and religious minorities, and the more conservative participants were, the more likely they were to perceive victimization among Whites, Christians, and males. The same effects of political ideology were observed for support for censorship of political opponents. Study 2 primed participants using either PC code words or a control that did not include code words, and found that the more conservative participants were, the more likely they were to report self-censoring, but only after exposure to a PC prime. Study 3 had participants engage in an online conversation with a confederate under either a PC or non-PC prime. Participants exposed to the PC prime argued with lower levels of integrative complexity (a measure of the extent to which people recognize alternative view points) than those in a non-PC condition, and the more liberal participants were, the less of integrative complexity they exhibited. Taken together, these studies confirm that PC involves competition between liberals and conservatives, that PC norms produce self-censorship among moderates and relatively conservative students, and produce less cognitively complex reasoning about political subjects, particularly among liberals.


In this study we investigate the employees job related attitudes impact on organizational commitment .Organizational commitment has been an increasingly field of study since past research shown it important to the organization as a whole. Despite the increase in attention given to the study of workplace commitments, there still appears to be considerable confusion and disagreement about what commitment is where it is directed and how it develops. This study tries to link the dimensions of organizational citizenship behavior as a consequent of the dimensions of commitment in the banking sector of Pakistan. By using the correlation, it is found that certain dimensions of commitment influence specific determinants of organizational citizenship behavior.


This paper investigated the nonlinear dynamic and vibration of eccentrically stiffened functionally graded plates under temperature using an exponential distribution law (E-FGM). Both E-FGM plate and stiffeners are deformed under temperature. The formulations are based on the classical plate theory taking into account geometrical nonlinearity, initial geometrical imperfection, temperaturedependent properties and thermal stresses in both plates and stiffeners. By applying Galerkin method and using stress function, effects of geometrical properties, temperature and eccentrically stiffeners on the nonlinear dynamic and vibration of the eccentrically stiffened E-FGM plate in thermal environments are analyzed and discussed.


This thesis proposes simple methods to improve the dynamic performances of a Direct Torque Control (DTC) of induction machines. The principles of direct control of torque and flux based on the selection of appropriate voltage vectors are reviewed. In DTC, the torque is directly controlled by the slip angular frequency which is determined by the irregular motion of stator flux vector. The stator flux is always forced to follow its circular reference by the application of active voltage vectors. During a large torque demand, no zero voltage vector is used. However, the active voltages are switched more often to increase (or decrease) rapidly the slip and the output torque as well. Moreover, this method does not give the fastest dynamic torque response because one of the two possible active voltage vectors switched during torque dynamic is not optimal. The effect of selecting two different voltages on torque dynamic response is investigated and evaluated. Based on the investigation, the most optimized voltage is identified, and it is used to perform a dynamic overmodulation to produce the fastest torque dynamic control. The improved torque dynamic control is verified by simulation and experimental results. Owing to the intrinsic characteristic of DTC switching, it is not possible for stator voltage to perform a six-step mode. The thesis proposes a simple overmodulation strategy for hysteresis-based DTC by transforming the flux locus into a hexagonal shape. This is accomplished by modifying the flux error status before it is being fed to a look-up table. In this way, a smooth transition of stator voltage from Pulse Width Modulation to the six-step mode is achieved as the number of application of zero voltage vectors, i.e. during the motor acceleration, is gradually dropped to zero. With the six-step voltage operation, it allows the DTC to extend a constant torque region and hence results in higher torque capability in a field weakening region. To verify the improvement of the proposed method, simulation and experimentation as well as comparison with the conventional DTC scheme are carried out. It can be shown that the improvement about 20% (in terms of extension of constant torque region) can be achieved through the proposed method. The improvements mentioned above can also be achieved in the DTC with constant frequency torque controller that offers constant switching frequency and reduced torque ripple. The improvements are verified by experimental results.


A practical path planning method for a multiple mobile robot system (MMRS) requires handling both the collision-free constraint and the kinematic constraint of real robots, the latter of which has to date been neglected by most path planning methods. In this paper, we present a practical cooperative path planning algorithm for MMRS in a dynamic environment. First, each robot uses an analytical method to plan an obstacle-avoidance path. Then, a distributed prioritized scheme is introduced to realize cooperative path planning. In the scheme, each robot calculates a priority value according to its situation at each instant in time, which will determine the robot's priority. Higher-priority robots can ignore lower-priority robots, whereas lower-priority robots should avoid collisions with higher-priority robots. To minimize the path length for MMRS, a least path length constraint is added. The priority value is also calculated by a path cost function that takes the path length into consideration. Unlike other priority methods, the algorithm proposed is not time consuming; therefore, it is suitable for dynamic environments. Simulation results are presented to verify the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.


Weak base therapeutic agents can show reduced absorption or large pharmacokinetic variability when coadministered with pH-modifying agents, or in achlorhydria disease states, due to reduced dissolution rate and/or solubility at high gastric pH. This is often referred to as pH-effect. The goal of this study was to understand why some drugs exhibit a stronger pH-effect than others. To study this, an API-sparing, two-stage, in vitro microdissolution test was developed to generate drug dissolution, supersaturation, and precipitation kinetic data under conditions that mimic the dynamic pH changes in the gastrointestinal tract. In vitro dissolution was assessed for a chemically diverse set of compounds under high pH and low pH, analogous to elevated and normal gastric pH conditions observed in pH-modifier cotreated and untreated subjects, respectively. Represented as a ratio between the conditions, the in vitro pH-effect correlated linearly with clinical pH-effect based on the Cmax ratio and in a non-linear relationship based on AUC ratio. Additionally, several in silico approaches that use the in vitro dissolution data were found to be reasonably predictive of the clinical pH-effect. To explore the hypothesis that physicochemical properties are predictors of clinical pH-effect, statistical correlation analyses were conducted using linear sequential feature selection and partial least-squares regression. Physicochemical parameters did not show statistically significant linear correlations to clinical pH-effect for this data set, which highlights the complexity and poorly understood nature of the interplay between parameters. Finally, a strategy is proposed for implementation early in clinical development, to systematically assess the risk of clinical pH-effect for new molecular entities that integrates physicochemical analysis and in vitro, in vivo and in silico methods.


In this Study, the evolution and history of petroleum contracts is discussed with a focus on the recent major shift witnessed from joint operating agreements (JOA) and Concession contracts to production sharing agreements (PSA) due to the increase in the complexity of operations and funding difficulties especially from the government's side. In addition to that, the fiscal system of PSA's is studied as a legal instrument to allocate risk between the parties, identify ownership of assets, commitments and operational control. This study aims to figure out the application of economic evaluation for PSA's using discounted cash flow analysis (DCF) which is considered to be powerful in evaluating the investment performance by calculating net present value (NPV) of cash flows and the internal rate of return (IRR). The estimated production profile submitted in the PSA of interest was exaggerated. When a Monte-Carlo simulation was run the riskier profile (P10) was the closest to the PSA production forecast. However, in such agreements usually the mid case scenario (P50) is taken into consideration. The NPV for the first 10 years in this project is around $0.45 Billion compared to the total NPV calculated using the economic model $1.26 Billion. However, the recent instability of the oil price in the last 10 years what causes this project in particular not to meet the target so far. The IRR calculated for the 10 years period is almost the hurdle rate 10% and this is again due to the unexpected NPV due to the oil price. To reduce the uncertainty, pilot projects needs to be conducted in the 1st year in smaller spacing to allow for the response to be detected faster and then develop a Field Development Plan (FDP).


In this thesis, which is supervised by Dr. David Penman, we examine random interval graphs. Recall that such a graph is defined by letting $X_{1},\ldots X_{n},Y_{1},\ldots Y_{n}$ be $2n$ independent random variables, with uniform distribution on $[0,1]$. We then say that the $i$th of the $n$ vertices is the interval $[X_{i},Y_{i}]$ if $X_{i}<Y_{i}$ and the interval $[Y_{i},X_{i}]$ if $Y_{i}<X_{i}$.
We then say that two vertices are adjacent if and only if the corresponding intervals intersect.

We recall from our MA902 essay that fact that in such a graph, each
edge arises with probability $2/3$, and use this fact to obtain
estimates of the number of edges. Next, we turn to how these edges
are spread out, seeing that (for example) the range of degrees for the
vertices is much larger than classically, by use of an interesting
geometrical lemma. We further investigate the maximum degree, showing
it is always very close to the maximum possible value $(n-1)$, and the
striking result that it is equal to $(n-1)$ with probability exactly $2/3$.
We also recall a result on the minimum degree, and contrast all these
results with the much narrower range of values obtained in the alternative
\lq comparable\rq\, model $G(n,2/3)$ (defined later).

We then study
clique numbers, chromatic numbers and independence numbers in the
Random Interval Graphs, presenting (for example) a result on independence
numbers which is proved by considering the largest chain in the associated
interval order.

Last, we make some brief remarks about other ways to define random
interval graphs, and extensions of random interval graphs, including
random dot product graphs and other ways to define random interval
graphs. We also discuss some areas these ideas should be usable in. We close with a summary and
some comments.


Object Relational Databases (ORDB) are complex in nature than traditional relational databases because they combine the characteristics of both object oriented concepts and relational features of conventional databases. Design of an ORDB demands efficient and quality schema considering the structural, functional and componential traits. This internal quality of the schema is assured by metrics that measure the relevant attributes. This is extended to substantiate the understandability, usability and reliability of the schema, thus assuring external quality of the schema. This work institutes a formalization of ORDB metrics; metric definition, evaluation methodology and the calibration of the metric. Three ORDB schemas were used to conduct the evaluation and the formalization of the metrics. The metrics are calibrated using content and criteria related validity based on the measurability, consistency and reliability of the metrics. Nominal and summative scales are derived based on the evaluated metric values and are standardized. Future works pertaining to ORDB metrics forms the concluding note. Keywords—Measurements, Product metrics, Metrics calibration, Object-relational database.


Marijuana is the dried leaves, stems, and flowers of a 1- to 5-m weed originating from Central Asia. The most common varieties are Cannabis sativa and Cannabis indica. It is usually inhaled as smoke but can also be used as a vapor, taken by mouth as a spray, ingested in tea or as butter in baked goods, or in capsule form and used as an oil. Cannabis has been widely used to treat many medical conditions such as multiple sclerosis symptoms, mood disorders, pain, sleep disorders, and seizures among others. Preclinical and clinical studies have been done over the past decade, among them there are few randomized placebo-controlled trials. In the last few years, Cannabis has been proposed as a potential therapy for patients with drug-resistant epilepsy. This review analyzes the best information about the use of cannabis in adult patients, reviewing aspects of efficacy and safety.


The survival of mice and rats bearing well established transplanted carcinoma, leukemia, and lymphosarcoma was markedly extended by weekly doses of the cyclic phosphamide alkylating agent, Cytoxan. Complete regressions were obtained with four types of tumors. The activity of Cytoxan against these tumors was compared with the effects pre viously obtained with two other alkylating agents, uracil mustard and nitrogen mus tard. Under the conditions of these experiments Cytoxan was the most effective of these antitumor agents, and it had substantial activity over a wide dose range.


Multiple sclerosis (MS) is the most common chronic inflammatory demyelinating disease of the CNS. Myelin-specific CD4+ Th lymphocytes are known to play a major role in both MS and its animal model experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE). CCR7 is a critical element for immune cell trafficking and recirculation, that is, lymph node homing, under homeostatic conditions; blocking CCR7+ central memory cells from egress of lymph nodes is a therapeutic approach in MS. To define the effect of CD4+ T cell–specific constitutive deletion of CCR7 in the priming and effector phase in EAE, we used an active EAE approach in T cell reconstituted Rag1−/− mice, as well as adoptive transfer EAE, in which mice received in vitro–primed CCR7−/− or CCR7+/+ myelin Ag TCR-transgenic 2d2 Th17 cells. Two-photon laser scanning microscopy was applied in living anesthetized mice to monitor the trafficking of CCR7-deficient and wild-type CD4+ T cells in inflammatory lesions within the CNS. We demonstrate that CD4+ T cell–specific constitutive deletion of CCR7 led to impaired induction of active EAE. In adoptive transfer EAE, mice receiving in vitro–primed CCR7−/− 2d2 Th17 cells showed similar disease onset as mice adoptively transferred with CCR7+/+ 2d2 Th17 cells. Using two-photon laser scanning microscopy CCR7−/− and CCR7+/+ CD4+ T cells did not reveal differences in motility in either animal model of MS. These findings indicate a crucial role of CCR7 in neuroinflammation during the priming of autoimmune CD4+ T cells but not in the CNS.


The presence of Law Number 11 of 2020 concerning Job Creation invites many pros and cons from various parties. On the other hand, the Job Creation Law also provides new hope for business actors, especially those on a small scale and who are just starting to be able to establish a legal entity for a Limited Liability Company. The presence of the Company for Micro and Small Enterprises (MSE) provides a number of concessions for MSE entrepreneurs, as well as aims to improve the national economy. As a new business model in Indonesia, the Company for MSEs requires adequate regulations to realize the ease of doing business effectively and efficiently. This article discusses the opportunities that can be maximized from this form of business as well as the challenges that both the government and business actors must anticipate. This study on the Company for MSEs which adopts the concept of One Person Company or Single Limited Liability Company in Indonesia also refers to the practice and regulatory experience in Germany and India. From the results of the study, it is necessary to immediately implement an implementing regulation of the Job Creation Law, especially the Limited Liability Company sector which is comprehensive and in accordance with the needs so that the Company's practice for MSEs can be realized in Indonesia.


Classification is one of the data mining problems receiving great attention recently in the database community. This paper presents an approach to discover symbolic classification rules using neural networks. Neural networks have not been thought suited for data mining because how the classifications were made is not explicitly stated as symbolic rules that are suitable for verification or interpretation by humans. With the proposed approach, concise symbolic rules with high accuracy can be extracted from a neural network. The network is first trained to achieve the required accuracy rate. Redundant connections of the network are then removed by a network pruning algorithm. The activation values of the hidden units in the network are analyzed, and classification rules are generated using the result of this analysis. The effectiveness of the proposed approach is clearly demonstrated by the experimental results on a set of standard data mining test problems.


Augmented Lagrangian method is one of the algorithms in a class of methods for constraint optimization that seeks a solution by replacing the original constrained problems by a sequence of unconstrained subproblems. In this paper, we would like to discuss the real-world applications in the field of engineering optimization with the help of Augmented Lagrangian Algorithm (ALA) in nonlinear programming (NLP) problem. This problem is formulated as a constraint NLP and solved using updated ALA. It covers the fields of engineering which is commonly used in the optimal design. An iterative process consisting of ALA optimization also introduced with some numerical results. We use the optimality criteria with equality and inequality constraints and then employed to obtain an optimal feasible solution of the problem. These optimality criteria introduced with constraint qualification in Karush– Kuhn–Tucker conditions. Aus. J. Bus. Sco S. & IT. Vol  4(4),  October 2018, P 167-176


Economics at the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) supports both the competition and consumer protection missions of the agency. In this year's essay we discuss a range of activities focusing on data-intensive antitrust cases in the hospital and consumer products industries. We also discuss our most recent work on gasoline pricing. Policy-focused research and competition advocacy takes center stage as we discuss some health care advocacy work in the administration of pharmaceutical insurance benefits and efforts to understand the real estate business more completely. Finally, we describe our efforts to quantify the extent of "identity theft".


GA approach suitable for solving object Recognition problem is described and evaluated using a series of simple model problems. Usually GA calculation produces enormous amount of data that contains rich information, of which only a tiny section is commonly utilized runs through the design optimization. An application of Genetic Algorithm optimization with Noise characteristics would give many insights into how to allocate various image reconstruction options in different echelons, GA employing a global search might identify a better solution in an different area of the search space.


ABSTRACT Analyses of sidescan-sonar records supplemented by available bathymetric, sedimentary, subbottom, and bottom-current data reveal the distributions of the following three categories of sedimentary environments within the glaciated, topographically complex Boston Harbor estuary in Massachusetts. 1) Environments of erosion appear on the sonographs either as patterns with isolated strong reflections or as uniform patterns of strong reflectivity. These patterns define outcrops of bedrock or till and coarse lag deposits that are being scoured and winnowed by tidal- and wave-induced currents. Erosional areas are located primarily along mainland and insular shores, within large channels that have strong tidal currents, atop submerged ridges and knolls, and across much of the harbor entrance. 2) Environments of deposition are depicted on the sidescan-sonar records as smooth, featureless surfaces that have low to moderate reflectivity. Depositional environments are found predominantly over shallow subtidal flats and in broad bathymetric lows where tidal currents are weak. Sediments within depositional areas are organic-rich sandy and clayey silts that are accumulating at rates ranging from 0.01 to 0.11 g/cm2/yr or 4000 to 46,100 metric tons/yr. The cumulative mass of modern mud in harbor depocenters is 24.3 million metric tons. 3) Environments of sediment reworking constitute areas affected by a combination of erosional and depositional processes. They are characterized on the sonographs by mosaics of light and dark patches produced by relatively subtle and gradational changes in reflectivity. Reworked sediments have diverse grain sizes that overlap and are transitional between those of the other two sedimentary environments, and they are indicative of highly variable bottom currents.


A conceptual framework is presented for academic library educational foundations (theory, ethics, history, and administration) develop in a nuanced continuum— from support staff certificates, to the PhD.

This model accounts for the evolving problem in academic libraries whereby advanced tasks and competencies of support staff and research specialists—and their training—blur into traditional realms of MLS-degreed librarians. The term 'professional' is reconsidered in context of these changing competencies.

The literature asserts that unified recognition of competency standards—as guidelines for library staffing and education, and for clarity of changing job descriptions—benefits the Academy.

Analysis of the American Library Association's 2010 American Library Support Staff Certification Program is provided.
For support of interdisciplinary broadening and re-shaping of academic curricula—including increasing academic specialization—academic libraries need parallel specialist competencies for support staff.

Specialist certificates—as part of an overall continuum of library education—accommodate and improve holistic blending of the work of academic library professional and support staff.