In this dissertation a suite of satellite, discharge and in-situ measurements is used to explore the spatiotemporal distribution of terrestrial constituents in coastal environments. The covariance between riverine delivery of optically active constituents and the corresponding optical variability in neighboring coastal waters for the Mississippi and Orinoco Rivers is documented. From this work, satellite-based indices of fluvial influence (IFI), are developed which contain information on the spatial extent of riverine constituents in coastal waters. The IFI is defined as the correlation between time series of riverine discharge and an ocean color satellite-derived property in the region proximal to a river's discharge point. These indices are employed to map the seasonal spatio-temporal variability of the Mississippi's sediment plume in the presence of discharge and wind stress fields. Here it is shown that: (1) the IFI techniques are useful for tracking terrestrial constituents delivered by the Mississippi's discharge; (2) coastal provinces dominated by fluvial influence have a different spatio-temporal distribution than those dominated by winddriven resuspension, and thus these provinces can be discriminated, and (3) wind and discharge play different roles in the seasonal dynamics of the Mississippi's plume. IFI techniques are used to isolate several individual river plumes in the northern Gulf of Mexico in which the relationship between in situ measurements of salinity and light absorption at 443nm were documented. Salinity vs. absorption relationships within the plumes were compared to modeled dissolved organic carbon fluxes from corresponding drainage basins. The results imply that variability in the flux of dissolved organic carbon across drainage basins imparts distinct variability in the optical characteristics of individual river plumes. Further, it is probable that ocean color sensors can help resolve this variability, and in fact have vast potential in aiding the understanding of the origin, persistence, trajectory and fate of riverine constituents in coastal waters.


The wavefront spacings and the Gouy phases are investigated in the strongly focused fields with four differently polarized incident waves. It is shown that these four incident polarizations will lead to nine axial field components, which are found actually to only have five kinds of wavefront spacings and Gouy phases. The four analytical and one numerical expressions are derived for these five kinds of wavefront spacings in the immediate neighborhood of the focus. Our results show that the polarization state, the semiaperture angle, and beam size influence the wavefront spacings and the Gouy phases in different ways. The difference between two very near wavefront spacings can be bigger than a half wavelength. It is also found that the axial field components with the polarization states orthogonal to that of the incident wave always have larger wavefront spacings.


Adults often exhibit a marked decline in cognitive function with aging. However, some adults show remarkable abilities to maintain cognitive function into older adulthood. There is increasing evidence that healthy lifestyle factors, such as sleep quality and physical activity, may benefit cognition in older adults. However, the pathway through which physical activity benefits cognition is unknown. Given that physical activity improves sleep (Lopez, 2008), and sleep often benefits cognition (Goel, Rao, Durmer, & Dinges, 2009), sleep may mediate the relationship between physical activity and cognition (Vitiello, 2008). The present study examined individual differences in sleep quality and executive function in young and older adults. Subjects wore an accelerometer armband for one week, which estimated minutes of physical activity and sleep. These estimates were used to calculate objective sleep quality operationalized as sleep efficiency (total time asleep/total time lying down) and physical activity, operationalized as average metabolic equivalents (METs) while awake ("awake METs"). Using a task-switching paradigm, which manipulated time to prepare, Study 1 showed that subjects with high sleep efficiency maximized time to prepare more so than subjects with low sleep efficiency. In Study 2, after controlling for age, gender, and education, sleep efficiency was a significant mediator of the relationship between awake METs and cognitive performance in terms of switching, inhibition, working memory, and memory retrieval: all executive functions that show age-related decline. Thus, the relationship between physical activity and cognition may be driven by sleep quality. In Study 3, time of day was shown to influence whether older adults exhibited impaired performance relative to young adults. Additionally, this effect applied specifically to older adults with low sleep efficiency. This finding suggests that sleep quality combined with time of day are important factors in whether or not older adults exhibit cognitive impairments.


ABSTRACT Objective Alcohol abuse causes several neurological disorders. Resveratrol is a natural polyphenol that occurs as a phytoalexin. In different studies, it has been investigated that resveratrol has positive effects on various mechanisms that are important in drug addiction or substance use disorder. The objective of the present study was to examine the effect of resveratrol on alcohol-induced conditioned place preference (CPP) in mice. Methods CPP was induced by intraperitoneal (i.p.) administration of ethanol (2 g/kg) in an 8-day conditioning program. The influence of reference drug, acamprosate and resveratrol on the rewarding properties of ethanol was tested in mice given treatment of acamprosate (300 mg/kg, i.p.) and resveratrol (25, 50, and 75 mg/kg, i.p.) 30 minutes prior to ethanol administration. Once established, CPP was extinguished by repeated testing, through which conditioned mice were administered acamprosate, various doses of resveratrol or saline daily. Subsequently, the potency of acamprosate and resveratrol in preventing reinstatement of CPP provoked by priming with low-dose ethanol (0.4 g/kg, i.p.) was also evaluated. Results The present findings confirm that resveratrol impairs acquisition, reinstatement and precipitates the extinction of preference for alcohol-induced CPP. Resveratrol presented a similar effect in the CPP phases to the acamprosate. Conclusions The effect of resveratrol on ethanol-induced CPP in mice demonstrated for the first time. As a conclusion, these findings may shed light on the fact that resveratrol can be utilized as an agent which is potentially beneficial to prevent the various harmful effects of ethanol, however, more research is needed to completely elucidate this attribute.


Introduction: The bonding process of the brackets to enamel has been a critical issue in orthodontic research. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the shear bond strength of 3 lightcured adhesives (transbond XT, Z250, light bond). Materials &Methods: In this study sixty extracted human premolars were collected and randomly divided into 3 test groups. All teeth were etched by 37% phosphoric acid. In first group brackets were bonded by Transbond XT adhesive, in group two brackets were bonded by Light bond adhesive and in third group were bonded by filtek Z250 composite. All of them were cured with Ortholux xt for 40 seconds. 24 hours after thermocycling, Shear Bond Strength (SBS) values of these brackets were recorded using a Universal Testing Machine. Adhesive Remnant Index (ARI) scores were determined after the failure of the brackets, using Stereo Microscope the data were analyzed using ANOVA and Chi-square tests. Results: Mean shear bond strength of Transbond XT, light bond and Z250 were 28.9±2.25 MPa, 25.06±1.98 MPa and 26.8±2.57 MPa, respectively. No significant difference was observed in the SBS among the groups and a clinically acceptable SBS was found for the three adhesives. ARI scores were not significantly different between the various groups (P>0.05). Conclusion: This study showed that the Z250 can be used as light bond and transbond xt to bond


PurposeThe purpose of this study is to propose a comprehensive efficiency evaluation approach to measure the efficiency of the retailers and to determine the relative importance of a wide variety of apparel retail-specific factors that support efficiency.Design/methodology/approachThe first stage of the proposed approach is the measurement of the relative efficiency of the apparel retailers by using data envelopment analysis (DEA) for identifying the best practice frontier and determination of the improvement ratios. The second stage is the prioritization of the factors that are important in the apparel retail efficiency using analytical hierarchy process (AHP).FindingsThe findings of the study revealed that the quantitative criteria to be considered for efficiency through input minimization and output maximization were "number of employees" and "profit before tax," respectively, however, focusing on output maximization was found to be more critical. In addition, it was seen that the most important qualitative components of efficiency were satisfied customers, qualified staff and branding.Practical implicationsThe managerial actors in the apparel retail industry can be alerted for new strategic actions to adopt best practices or take precautions for future inefficiencies with the help of the results obtained. The customized hierarchical structure allows determining the priority areas that need to be focused on for increasing the performance of apparel retailers.Originality/valueIn this study, DEA and AHP were combined to build a comprehensive efficiency evaluation approach in the apparel retail industry for the first time in the literature. Thus, both qualitative and quantitative variables that are important in apparel retail efficiency were put forward and evaluated. The originality of the hierarchical structure in AHP was its customization to the apparel retail industry.


Dealing with convergence in German speech islands in Russia, Brazil and the United states the article discusses the linguistic phenomena related to the notion of convergence from different vantage points including intralinguistic convergence (due to dialect-dialect contact), interlinguistic convergence (due to language-language contact), typological "convergence" (or intralinguistic change), pidginization, and cognitive processes of simplification.
Most of the German speech islands are considered to be contracting - if not dying - varieties with respect to the reduction of their grammatical systems. Evidently, for a long time language contact (and sometimes variety contact) have severely increased. Linguistic norms have been weakened in terms of both norm certainty and norm loyalty thus giving way to processes similar to those common to pidgin languages.
External induced changes are highly remarkable in all German speech islands. But the susceptibility for change and the ways of change are structured by systematical and typological constraints which probably turn out to be cognitive processes underlying quite "normal" linguistic change. This change is discussed as a subsequent process of "regularization" (of irregular forms), simplification (of rules) and loss of grammatical distinctions (and their compensation).
The linguistic description of these interrelated processes is based on an integrated approach providing methodology from sociolinguistics, dialectology and research on language change, including the attempt to highlight the cognitive structures which furrow the line for internal simplifications under external pressure. Comparative speech island research seems to be a promising field of application for the description of the intermesh of these processes.


The technical feasibility, of utilizing a local area network (LAN) as a multidrop local subscriber loop for a PABX is shown. The network capacity is found through simulation both with a contention protocol (CSMA/CD) and a virtual token protocol (GBRAM) used for media access. It is shown that a stable configuration, utilizing distributed call blocking procedures, will result in less than two percent of the voice packets being lost during busy periods. Listener tests with a packet phone and dropped packets confirm that this is acceptable to the user.


The purpose of international conflict-resolution efforts is, in the short term, to bring an end to violent armed conflict, and, in the medium to longer term, to prevent the revival of conflict. However, at least one of the mechanisms often utilised in conflict resolution and peace agreements, power-sharing, may not only prove problematic in early negotiation and implementation, but may potentially be at odds with the longer-term goal of preventing resurgence of conflict. Why might this be the case? Longer-term peacebuilding seeks to prevent conflict in part by building strong and sustainable states. Such states should be able to avoid reverting to armed conflict because they would be more responsive to grievances and more effective in dealing with violent dissent. However, power-sharing arrangements may undermine such efforts by placing in power individuals and groups not fully committed to, or unable to take part in, governance for the benefit of the entire populace; in part because it necessarily places in power those who have engaged in significant violence to achieve their ends. This is likely to create less democratic states, although we do not insist that democracy is or should be the only goal of peacebuilders. Rather, we suggest that power-sharing arrangements may tend not only towards undemocratic states, but towards states which are not responsive to the needs of the citizenry for security in ways which may undermine human security and state legitimacy.


Objective To analyse the association between anti-carbamylated protein antibodies (Anti-CarP) and interstitial lung disease (ILD) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients. Methods Cross-sectional study including RA patients fulfilling the 2010 ACR/EULAR criteria. The main population comprised two groups: (1) RA patients diagnosed with RA-ILD (RA-ILD group); (2) RA patients without ILD (non-ILD RA group). Non-ILD RA patients in whom ILD was suspected underwent a diagnostic work-up and, if ILD was diagnosed, were switched to the RA-ILD group. ILD was diagnosed by high-resolution computed tomography and confirmed by a multidisciplinary committee. An independent replication sample was also obtained. Three Anti-CarP IgG autoantibodies against fetal calf serum (Anti-FCS), fibrinogen (Anti-Fib) and chimeric fibrine/filagrine homocitrullinated peptide (Anti-CFFHP) and one Anti-CarP IgA against FCS (Anti-FCS-IgA) were determined by home-made ELISA. Associations between Anti-CarP and ILD were analysed using multivariable logistic regression adjusted by smoking, sex, age, RA disease duration, rheumatoid factor and anticitrullinated protein antibodies. Results We enrolled 179 patients: 37 (21%) were finally diagnosed with RA-ILD. Anti-CarP specificities were more frequent in RA-ILD patients (Anti-FCS 70% vs 43%; Anti-Fib 73% vs 51%; Anti-CFFHP 38% vs 19%; Anti-CarP-IgA 51% vs 20%, p<0.05 for all comparisons). Serum titers of Anti-CarP were significantly higher in RA-ILD patients. Anti-CarP specificities showed a robust effect towards increasing the odds of ILD in the multivariate analysis (Anti-FCS (OR: 3.42; 95% CI: 1.13 to 10.40), Anti-Fib (OR: 2.85; 95% CI: 0.83 to 9.70), Anti-CFFHP (OR: 3.11; 95% CI: 1.06 to 9.14) and Anti-FCS-IgA (OR: 4.30; 95% CI: 1.41 to 13.04)). Similar findings were observed in the replication sample. Conclusions Anti-CarP were strongly associated with ILD. The role of homocitrullination in RA-ILD merits further investigation.


Introduction Anna Fedele and Kim Knibbe 1. Cultivating the Sacred: Gender, Power and Ritualization in Goddess-oriented Groups Asa Trulsson 2. Spirituality within Religion: Gendered Responses to a Greek 'Spiritual Revolution' Eugenia Roussou 3. Individual Spirituality and Religious Membership among Soka Gakkai Buddhists in Spain Monica Cornejo 4. The Power of Submission? Personal Growth and the Issue of Power Among Umbanda Practitioners in Paris Viola Teisenhoffer 5. "Black" Madonna Versus "White" Madonna: Gendered Power Strategies in Alternative Pilgrimages to Marian Shrines Anna Fedele 6. From Crisis to Charisma: Redefining Hegemonic Ideas of Science, Freedom and Gender among Mediumistic Healers in Germany Ehler Voss 7. Spirituality, Charisma and Gender in a Jewish Spiritual Renewal Community in Israel Rachel Werczberger 8. Urban Witchcraft and the Issue of Authority Victoria Hegner 9. Gender and Power: Brahma Kumaris Spirituality and Hinduism in Portugal Ines Lourenco 10. Obscuring the Role of Power and Gender in Contemporary Spiritualities Kim Knibbe 11. In Search of Spirituality in Northeastern Mexico: Religious Change and Masculinity among Addicts in Recovery Ethan P. Sharp


Summary 1. Between 1996 and 2000 the appearance of bovine spongiform encephalopathy swiftly became one of the most serious public health and political crises concerning food safety ever experienced in the European Union (EU). Subsequent sanitary regulations led to profound changes in the management of livestock carcasses (i.e. the industrial destruction of around 80% of all animal carcasses), thereby threatening the last remaining healthy scavenger populations of the Old World and thus contradicting the long-term environmental policies of the EU. 2. Several warning signs such as a decrease in breeding success, an apparent increase in mortality in young age classes of vultures and an increase in the number of cases of vultures attacking and killing cattle, as well as a halt in population growth, suggest that the decrease in the availability of food resources has had harmful effects on vulture populations. 3. Between 2002 and 2005, a number of dispositions to the EU regulations (2003 ⁄ 322 ⁄ CE 2005 ⁄ 830 ⁄ CE) enabled conservation managers to adopt rapid solutions (i.e. the creation of vulture restaurants) aimed at satisfying the food requirements of vultures. However, these conservation measures may seriously modify habitat quality and have indirect detrimental effects on avian scavenger populations and communities. 4. Synthesis and applications. Conservation managers and policy-makers need to balance the demands of public health protection and the long-term conservation of biodiversity. The regulations concerning carrion provisioning need to be more flexible and there needs to be greater compatibility between sanitary and environmental policies. We advocate policies that authorize the abandonment of livestock carcasses and favours populations of wild herbivores to help to maintain populations of avian scavengers. Conservation strategies should be incorporated into new European Commission regulations, which should be effective in 2011.


EqL, a general-purpose language that combines the capabilities of functional and logic programming languages, is described. A program in EqL consists of a collection of conditional, pattern-directed rules, where the conditions are expressed as a conjunction of equations, and the patterns are terms built up of data-constructors and basic values. The computational paradigm in EqL is equation solving. Examples illustrating the major features of the language, nondeterminism, deferred evaluation of primitives, and logical variables are presented. The aspects of a sequential implementation for EqL, such as compile-time flattening of equations, run-time equation-delaying, and last-equation optimization, are also described. >


The effect of three different stirring techniques (magnetic, ultrasonic and double-step stirring) on the properties of hydroxyapatite (HA) prepared from calcium hydroxide [Ca(OH)2] and phosphoric acid [H3PO4] was investigated. The employed precipitation processes were found to be suitable for the production of nano-sized pure HA powders. Sample characterization was achieved by powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transformed infrared (FT-IR) transmission spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), density and surface area measurements. The double-step stirring technique played an important role to progress the homogenous reaction and the preparation of pure and fine HA powder.


: Laboratory information systems are charged with the responsibilities of controlling costs, improving productivity, improving reporting and expanding management control over operations. The LIS that can meet these challenges must allow significant flexibility, interfacing and integration with other systems, efficient operations and enhanced information management. In the current environment of "do more with less," a well-designed, cost-effective laboratory information system is essential to the economic survival of today's laboratory.


In healthcare, evidence-based practice (EBP) integrates clinical expertise with the best available external evidence from systematic research. Yet even with the aid of technology, implementation of EBP in many settings remains a challenge. This paper combines research from the fields of healthcare implementation science and social networks to present an integrated framework for the study of EBP-related information systems. We explore the application of the framework to a complex healthcare collaborative, the MRSA infection control project, a project intended to foster the implementation of EBP's to reduce the spread of MRSA infections. We also consider how the framework can be used with other theories, to inform EBP-related information system implementations.


I examined the implementation of a midstory herbicide treatment as the first phase in a twophase shelterwood prescription in upland hardwood stands in Alabama, Tennessee, and Kentucky. The initial prescription for all three sites was similar: use herbicide to reduce the density of the midstory, allowing increased light to the established oak (Quercus spp.) reproduction. The goal was to increase understory light to at least 20 percent of full sun to promote oak seedling growth and recruitment over other species. Light was increased, but ephemeral and not to the 20-percent full sun goal. Densities of large oak seedlings [>4 feet in height up to 1.5 inches diameter at breast height (dbh)] increased only on the Kentucky site, which had the most advance oak reproduction of all three sites prior to treatment. Response of competitors, including shade-tolerant sugar maple (Acer saccharum Marsh.), intolerant yellow-poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera L.), and ubiquitous red maple (A. rubrum L.), also responded. Treating small stems (<1 inch dbh) and other tending treatments prior to overstory may be warranted to maintain oak.


The human body schema is subjugated to utilitarian modes of being and colonised by hegemonistic, culturally limited, body paradigms. Could there be strategies for redesigning the body which do not depend on technological interference? In contrast to a humanist ideal of teleological rationality and perfectibility, and to the transhumanist concern with enhancement through technology, I suggest that the site for the posthuman is the diverse body itself; and that this posthuman body is an ongoing investigation.
Abstract art allows for complexity and pluralism in the body; there is a shift from the body being the subject of the work to the body as a site of sensory experience. Similarly, experimental dance practices promote a somatosensory reorganisation, enabling access to corporeal spaces and ways of inhabiting the body which break with cultural conditioning and preconceived limits of anatomy. These two practices share a heuristic, phenomenological approach that foregrounds a perpetual transforming and kinaesthetically active body in exchange with its surroundings. The borders of the body, and the scale of our relationship to our body, shift.
I propose that a posthumanism which gives attention to the dormant minutiae of the body can give us our bodies back. Through abstraction the ontological space of the body becomes, a kinaesthetic, active site: liminal and unfolding. Instead of a trajectory of progress there is an unearthing of dormant minutiae and a perpetual, delicate dance in a constellation of relations.


A plasmonic analogue of electromagnetically induced transparency is activated and tuned in the terahertz (THz) range in asymmetric metamaterials fabricated from high critical temperature (Tc) superconductor thin films. The asymmetric design provides a near-field coupling between a superradiant and a subradiant plasmonic mode, which has been widely tuned through superconductivity and monitored by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The sharp transparency window that appears in the extinction spectrum exhibits a relative modulation up to 50% activated by temperature change. The interplay between ohmic and radiative damping, which can be independently tuned and controlled, allows for engineering the electromagnetically induced transparency of the metamaterial far beyond the current state-of-the-art, which relies on standard metals or low-Tc superconductors.


When practitioners make decisions as well as treat and care for patients they interpret patient specific information according to evidence based medical knowledge. This process is complex as evidence is infrequently available in a form that can be acted upon at the time decisions must be made. The aim of this paper is to 1 explore how primary, secondary and municipality care in Sweden work with the process of managing knowledge, 2 explore how nurses and assistant nurses experience availability of medical knowledge when and where they need it and 3 conditions for developing a coherent IT-based knowledge portal for different areas of knowledge bases in healthcare. The results show significant deficiencies in the knowledge management process of the participating organizations. The knowledge management processes are not embedded in business processes, activities and relationships, which cause major difficulties for practitioners to keep up with the latest medical evidence.


Analyse the influence of Selol on progression of tumour and the changes in gene expression, connected to the cellular oxidative stress response, in cells taken from tumours induced in immunodeficient mice through subcutaneous inoculation with malignant LNCaP prostate cells. Based on the PSA levels (at 5 weeks following inoculation of LNCaP), the mice were divided into three groups. Selol and a placebo were given for the following 3 weeks. After this time, the animals were sacrificed, blood was taken (PSA) and tumours were isolated. RNA from samples was analysed using Real-Time PCR. Treating mice with Selol (21 days at a dose of 17 mg/kg of b.m.) resulted in a drop in the rate of body mass reduction and stopped the increase of plasma PSA levels. The fold changes in expression of the genes, in cells derived from tumours, treated with Selol, in the array, apart from 1 (NME5), failed to exceed the required 2-fold change. Treating tumour-bearing mice with Selol resulted in a reduced rate of body mass loss and halted the increase in plasma PSA concentration, then compared to mice receiving the placebo. The expression of genes, involved in oxidative stress following treatment with Selol, in LNCaP cells, didn't change.


More and more design and construction professionals in Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) areas have been and now are using Building Information Modeling (BIM). Unfortunately, there were very few efforts exploring the real-time communication and integration of BIM to the site and task conditions, and the interaction of BIM with the field crew. It is envisaged that Augmented Reality (AR) can fulfil this vision effectively through visualizing BIM right into the physical context of each construction activity or task. This paper discusses and investigates how BIM can be extended to the site via the "practical arm" of AR. Human factors are the core principle to investigate on, considering that AR, by nature, involves the human sensations with both real and virtual information sources. It is also found that AR should be ubiquitous and work together with accurate positioning technologies such as laser pointing. The framework also addresses how context-aware can be implemented in the integration of BIM and AR to achieve intelligent AR.


We propose a notion of a pluri-Lagrangian problem, which should be understood as an analogue of multi-dimensional consistency for variational systems. This is a development along the line of research of discrete integrable Lagrangian systems initiated in 2009 by Lobb and Nijhoff, however, having its more remote roots in the theory of pluriharmonic functions, in the Z-invariant models of statistical mechanics and their quasiclassical limit, as well as in the theory of variational symmetries going back to Noether. A d-dimensional pluri-Lagrangian problem can be described as follows: given a d-form on an m-dimensional space (called multi-time, m>d), whose coefficients depend on a sought-after function x of m independent variables (called field), find those fields x which deliver critical points to the action functionals for any d-dimensional manifold Σ in the multi-time. We derive the main building blocks of the multi-time Euler–Lagrange equations for a discrete pluri-Lagrangian problem with d=2, the so-called corner equations, and discuss the notion of consistency of the system of corner equations. We analyse the system of corner equations for a special class of three-point two-forms, corresponding to integrable quad-equations of the ABS list. This allows us to close a conceptual gap of the work by Lobb and Nijhoff by showing that the corresponding two-forms are closed not only on solutions of (non-variational) quad-equations, but also on general solutions of the corresponding corner equations. We also find an example of a pluri-Lagrangian system not coming from a multi-dimensionally consistent system of quad-equations.


We present algorithms to construct and do arithmetic operations in the algebraic closure of the finite field Fp. Our approach is inspired by algorithms for constructing irreducible polynomials, which first reduce to prime power degrees, then use composita techniques. We use similar ideas to give efficient algorithms for embeddings and isomorphisms.


Isometric exercise has been shown to increase metaboliasm in muscle. By contracting agonsit / antagonist muscle pairs, appreciable muscle activity can be achieved. An advanatge of isometric exercise is that no exercise equipment is needed; people can exercise at home on their own. In the present investigation 16 subjects were examined during an isometric co contraction exercise video compared to situps and 8 weight lifting exercises to assess how musch work was done on each. The results of the experiments showed that the video worked out all 10 muscle groups whereas the other exercises targeted specific muscle gorups. The video was equivalent to doing continuous situps for 8 minutes, lifting 20 lbs with a chest press, 10 lbs with a biceps curl, 10 lbs with a triceps curl, 30 lbs with a lats pull down, 60 lbs of back extension, 30 lbs of abdominal flexion, 40 lbs of leg extension or 50 lbs of a leg curl for 8 minutes.


This thesis presents a novel technique for automatically detecting colorectal polyps in computed tomography colonography (CTC). The objective of the documented computer assisted diagnosis (CAD) technique is to deal with the issue of false positive detections without adversely affecting polyp detection sensitivity. The thesis begins with an overview of CTC and a review of the associated research areas, with particular attention given to CAD-CTC. This review identifies excessive false positive detections as a common problem associated with current CAD-CTC techniques. Addressing this problem constitutes the major contribution of this thesis. The documented CAD-CTC technique is trained with, and evaluated using, a series of clinical CTC data sets These data sets contain polyps with a range of different sizes and morphologies. The results presented m this thesis indicate the validity of the developed CAD-CTC technique and demonstrate its effectiveness m accurately detecting colorectal polyps while significantly reducing the number of false positive detections.


Encapsulation of small molecules, proteins, and other macromolecules within the protective water core of reverse micelles is emerging as a powerful strategy for a variety of applications. The cationic surfactant cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) in combination with hexanol as a cosurfactant is particularly useful in the context of solution NMR spectroscopy of encapsulated proteins. Small-angle X-ray and neutron scattering is employed to investigate the internal structure of the CTAB/hexanol reverse micelle particle under conditions appropriate for high-resolution NMR spectroscopy. The scattering profiles are used to benchmark extensive molecular dynamics simulations of this reverse micelle system and indicate that the parameters used in these simulations recapitulate experimental results. Scattering profiles and simulations indicate formation of homogeneous solutions of small approximately spherical reverse micelle particles at a water loading of 20 composed of ∼150 CTAB and 240 hexanol molecules. The 3000 waters comprising the reverse micelle core show a gradient of translational diffusion that reaches that of bulk water at the center. Rotational diffusion is slowed relative to bulk throughout the water core, with the greatest slowing near the CTAB headgroups. The 5 Å thick interfacial region of the micelle consists of overlapping layers of Br(-) enriched water, CTAB headgroups, and hexanol hydroxyl groups, containing about one-third of the total water. This study employs well-parametrized MD simulations, X-ray and neutron scattering, and electrostatic theory to illuminate fundamental properties of CTAB/hexanol reverse micelle size, shape, partitioning, and water behavior.


In the late eighties and early nineties, almost all Western European nations adopted an increasingly restrictive policy towards the growing number of asylum seekers. We develop a push-and-pull model and evaluate whether these newly created deterrence measures had a significant impact on the number of asylum applications in Switzerland. The statistical tests in the form of Box-Tiao intervention analyses shows that states are only partially able to control global migration. We particularly demonstrate that only one of the unilateral measures adopted by the Swiss government reached the main goal and led to a substantial reduction in the number of applications in 1990. Further, legal reforms did not affect the number of asylum requests of refugees fleeing from a violent conflict in the neighborhood of the host country.


OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the utility of apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) and fractional anisotropy (FA) values obtained by diffusion-weighted MRI (DWI) at 3.0 T for differentiating intracranial neoplastic lesions from noninfectious inflammatory lesions (NIILs) in dogs.

ANIMALS
54 dogs that met inclusion criteria (ie, had a histologically confirmed intracranial lesion and DWI of the brain performed) with 5 lesion types: meningioma [n = 18], glioma [14], metastatic hemangiosarcoma [3], other metastatic neoplasms [5], and NIIL [14]).

PROCEDURES
Two observers, who were blinded to the histologic diagnoses, independently determined the mean ADC and FA values for each evaluated intracranial lesion on the basis of 3 circular regions of interest on DWI images. Findings were compared among the 5 lesion types, between all neoplasms combined and NIILs, and between the 5 legion types and previously determined values for corresponding locations for neurologically normal dogs.

RESULTS
The mean ADC and FA values did not differ significantly among the 5 lesion types or between all neoplasms combined and NIILs. However, 35% (14/40) of the neoplastic lesions had an ADC value ≥ 1.443 × 10-3 mm2/s, whereas all NIILs had ADC values < 1.443 × 10-3 mm2/s. Meningiomas and NIILs had FA values that were significantly lower than those for neurologically normal dogs.

CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE
In this population of dogs, the FA values for meningiomas and NIILs differed significantly from those previously reported for neurologically normal dogs. In addition, an ADC cutoff value of 1.443 × 10-3 mm2/s appeared to be highly specific for diagnosing neoplastic lesions (vs NIILs), although the sensitivity and accuracy were low.


Background We performed a retrospective review of the management of clinically well children presenting to our PED with a petechial rash. Our management follows the NICE petechial pathway, however we feel that many children with a low risk of meningococcal sepsis receive intravenous (IV) antibiotics unnecessarily. In this study we used the Systemic Inflammatory Response Syndrome (SIRS) criteria to review the management of children with a petechial rash. Methods We used SAP® Business Objects to search the hospital database for patients presenting with a petechial rash, September 2012–13. Cases were divided into those with or without evidence of SIRS (defined as core temperature <36oC or > 38.5oC, an elevated or depressed leukocyte count, tachypnoea and an abnormal heart rate). The management of the non-SIRS group was reviewed, including laboratory results, use of IV antibiotics and final outcome. Results 69 cases of petechiae were identified, of which 55 (80%) did not meet the SIRS criteria. 22 (40%) of this group were given IV antibiotics of which 9 (41%) were admitted and 13 (59%) were ambulated. Of these, 18 were pyrexial, mean 38.5oC (range 37.5–40.2oC), 18 had a raised C-reactive protein (CRP), mean 32 mg/L (13–106 mg/L) and 6 had abnormal leukocyte counts, mean 14.9 × 109/L (2.5–20.6 × 109/L). There were no cases of proven sepsis. All 22 children had an uneventful recovery after a mean of 2 doses (1 to 3) of IV ceftriaxone. The remaining 14 children who had SIRS all received IV antibiotics but none had proven sepsis. Conclusions In our study, 40% of children with a petechial rash but no evidence of SIRS received IV antibiotics. 59% were sent home with a line in-situ for ambulatory care, confirming the clinician view of a low risk of sepsis. No child proved to have sepsis. We believe the NICE petechiae pathway is over-cautious and we suggest that observation only is a valid strategy within a tight safety netting protocol. We recognise a larger scale study is needed to further assess our conclusion given the low prevalence yet significance of a case of meningococcal sepsis.


NbSi2 coatings were formed on niobium by halide-activated pack cementation process. The as-coated niobium samples were oxidized in air up to 1723 K by thermogravimetry method. The surface and cross-sectional morphology, phase composition and element distribution of the NbSi2 coatings before and after oxidation were characterized by SEM, XRD and EPMA. The results show that the as-formed coatings consist of single phase of hexagonal NbSi2 and the oxidation resistance of pure niobium can be greatly improved by pack siliconizing.


Abstract For centuries Central and Eastern Europe has been the scene of frequent changes of borders and numerous ethnic conflicts. Contemporary ethnic diversity of this region is much smaller, however, the growing nationalisms of the various societies, mutual mistrust, and the temptation of politicians to use ethnic issues in the regional geopolitical competition pose a real threat to the stability and peace in Central and Eastern Europe. The dynamic political, legal, social and economic changes which have been taking place in this part of Europe for three decades now, which overlay its clear civilization division into the Latin and the Byzantine parts and are intensified by historical animosities, must have had an impact on the situation and the perception of minorities. In contrast to Western Europe, the contemporary ethnic diversity of Central and Eastern Europe is primary the consequence of various, often centuries-old historical processes (settlement actions, voluntary and forced migrations, border changes, the political and economic expansion of particular countries), and in the ethnic structure especially dominate the indigenous groups, migrants, particularly from the outside of the European cultural circle, are of marginal importance. Moreover, national minorities are usually concentrated in the border regions of countries, often in close proximity to their home countries, becoming – often against their will – element of the internal and foreign policies of neighbouring countries. The main aims of the article are to explain the threats to peace arising from the attempts to use minorities in inter-state relations and regional geopolitics as well as engaging minority groups into ethnic and political conflicts (autonomy of regions, secession attempts) and still the very large role of history (especially negative, tragic events) in the shaping of contemporary interethnic relations in Central and Eastern Europe. However, the varied ethnic structure typical for this region does not have to be a conflict factor, on the contrary – it can become a permanent element of the identity and cultural heritage of each country.


Inserting a varying Lambda in Einstein's field equations can be made consistent with the Bianchi identities by allowing for torsion, without the need to add scalar field degrees of freedom. In the minimal such theory, Lambda is totally free and undetermined by the field equations in the absence of matter. Inclusion of matter ties Lambda algebraically to it, at least when homogeneity and isotropy are assumed, i.e., when there is no Weyl curvature. We show that Lambda is proportional to the matter density, with a proportionality constant depending on the equation of state. Unfortunately, the proportionality constant becomes infinite for pure radiation, ruling out the minimal theory prima facie despite of its novel internal consistency. It is possible to generalize the theory still without the addition of kinetic terms, leading to a new algebraically enforced proportionality between Lambda and the matter density. Lambda and radiation may now coexist in a form consistent with big bang nucleosynthesis, though this places strict constraints on the single free parameter of the theory, θ. In the matter epoch, Lambda behaves just like a dark matter component. Its density is proportional to the baryonic and/or dark matter, and its presence and gravitational effects would need to be included in accounting for the necessary dark matter in our Universe. This is a companion paper to Alexander et al. [Phys. Rev. D 100, 083506 (2019)10.1103/PhysRevD.100.083506] where the underlying gravitational theory is developed in detail.


Molecular self-assembly is pivotal for the formation of ordered nanostructures, yet the structural diversity obtained by the use of a single type of building block is limited. Multicomponent coassembly, utilized to expand the architectural space, is principally based on empirical observations rather than rational design. Here we report large-scale molecular dynamics simulations of the coassembly of diphenylalanine (FF) and triphenylalanine (FFF) peptides at various mass ratios. Our simulations show that FF and FFF can co-organize into both canonical and noncanonical assemblies. Strikingly, toroid nanostructures, which were rarely observed for the extensively studied FF or FFF, are often seen in the FF-FFF coassembly simulations and later corroborated by scanning electron microscopy. Our simulations demonstrate a wide ratio-dependent variation of nanostructure morphologies including hollow and solid assemblies, much richer than those formed by each individual moiety. The hollow-solid structural transformation displays a discontinuous transition feature, and the toroids appear to be an obligatory intermediate for the structural transition. Interaction analysis reveals that the hollow-solid structural transition is mostly dominated by FF-FFF interactions, while the nanotoroid formation is determined by the competition between FF-water and FFF-water interactions. This study provides both structural and mechanistic insights into the coassembly of FF and FFF peptides, thus offering a molecular basis for the rational design of bionanomaterials utilizing peptide coassembly.


The paper presents an in-depth investigation of the dynamic performance of the Static Synchronous Compensator (STATCOM) and the Static Synchronous Series Compensator (SSSC) theoretically and by exact digital simulation. A 24-pulse GTO dc-ac converter model is designed to represent the operation of the STATCOM and SSSC within a power transmission system. Two major factors of the STATCOM instability are analyzed and a new Automatic Gain Controller (AGC) is proposed to ensure the stable operation of the STATCOM under various load conditions. It is shown that the Phase-Locked Loop (PLL) inherent delay has a great effect on the dynamic operation of the SSSC and a new auxiliary regulator is proposed to enhance the dynamic performance of the SSSC. The proposed control schemes are validated by digital simulation.


The Bottom-mounted ocean-observation platforms installed on the seabed have been used for marine environment analysis. The role of the observing platform is to collect precise observation data without human assistance. However, their working environment is very harsh so the typical device could not afford to provide easy accessibility during their working period. Existing bottom-mounted ocean-observation platforms have been difficult to collect continuous observation data. Therefore, this paper suggests a new ocean-observation platform for precise measurement of the marine environment. Suggested platform uses a PID control method to be applied for error compensation of each axis of gimbal. To verify the system performance, the experiment was carried out in the air with the external force applied to this system.


The Rao-Blackwell theorem is utilized to analyze and improve the scalability of inference in large probabilistic models that exhibit symmetries. A novel marginal density estimator is introduced and shown both analytically and empirically to outperform standard estimators by several orders of magnitude. The developed theory and algorithms apply to a broad class of probabilistic models including statistical relational models considered not susceptible to lifted probabilistic inference.


This paper is aimed to design for qualification structure and criteria for preparation of qualification test of the environmental impact assessor qualifications. In this study, a DACUM(Development A curriculum) method job analysis to extract contents such as task range, eligibility, examination standards, selection criteria of examination questions, examination methods, etc was done by an job analysis committee composed of 9 specialists in the industry and academia. In the first place, this report presents job analysis models by procedures for developing selection criteria of examination questions of the environmental impact assessor. The first step is preparation for job analysis(data research, interviews and selection of experts), the second step the establishment of job models(first expert council and site study), the third step the drawn-out of knowledge, skills, and tools(the second expert council and site study), the fourth step the selection of courses and an examination subject(the third expert council), the fifth step the establishment of guidelines for making questions(the third site study).


Segmentation and tracking of cells in fluorescence microscopy image sequences is an important task in many biological studies into cell migration as well as intracellular dynamics. The growing size and complexity of biological image data sets precludes manual analysis, and calls for increasingly advanced automatic algorithms that are generic enough to be easily tunable to different applications, yet robust enough to deal with different cell types and strongly varying imaging conditions. Active-contour based algorithms have proven to be very suitable for this purpose but still suffer from several shortcomings that limit their segmentation accuracy and tracking robustness. In addition, these algorithms are generally rather computationally expensive. In this paper, we present an advanced level-set based multiple-cell segmentation and tracking algorithm, which implements seven modifications compared to earlier algorithms that considerably improve its performance. Preliminary experiments on three different time-lapse fluorescence microscopy images demonstrate the potential of the new algorithm.


Numerical simulation of forming processes by the computer code Forge3(R) requires the description of a precise thermal and mechanical framework. The integral formulation of the problem is recalled and applied to the finite element with a mixed velocity and pressure formulation. The time discretisation scheme is presented with the incremental unilateral contact problem. During forging simulation of a complex part, the elements undergo excessive distortion so that a new mesh must be periodically rebuilt. 3-D automatic meshing and remeshing method are based on the concept of topology, which is particularly suited for local rezoning. Alternatively the ALE (Arbitrary Lagrangian Eulerian) method is introduced as a way to decrease the number of remeshing, The parallel version of Forge3(R) was developed, with an iterative method for solving linear system, and applied to the computation of complex parts discretised with a very large number of nodes.


We develop a modelling framework for estimating and predicting weighted network data. The edge weights in weighted networks often arise from aggregating some individual relationships between the nodes. Motivated by this, we introduce a modelling framework for weighted networks based on the compound Poisson distribution. To allow for heterogeneity between the nodes, we use a regression approach for the model parameters. We test the new modelling framework on two types of financial networks: a network of financial institutions in which the edge weights represent exposures from trading Credit Default Swaps and a network of countries in which the edge weights represent cross-border lending. The compound Poisson Gamma distributions with regression fit the data well in both situations. We illustrate how this modelling framework can be used for predicting unobserved edges and their weights in an only partially observed network. This is for example relevant for assessing systemic risk in financial networks.


This paper reports the development of a two-dimensional two states (2D2S) model for the analysis of thermal behaviors of Li-ion battery packs and its experimental validation. This development was motivated by the need to fill a niche in our current modeling capabilities: the need to analyze 2D temperature (T) distributions in large-scale battery packs in real time. Past models were predominately developed to either provide detailed T information with high computational cost or provide real-time analysis but only 1D lumped T information. However, the capability to model 2D T field in real time is desirable in many applications ranging from the optimal design of cooling strategies to onboard monitoring and control. Therefore, this work developed a new approach to provide this desired capability. The key innovations in our new approach involved modeling the whole battery pack as a complete thermal-fluid network and at the same time calculating only two states (surface and core T) for each cell. Modeling the whole pack as a complete network captured the interactions between cells and enabled the accurate resolution of the 2D T distribution. Limiting the calculation to only the surface and core T controlled the computational cost at a manageable level and rendered the model suitable for packs at large scale with many cells.


Elderly patients have an increased probability of dying after treatment in an intensive care unit (ICU), compared with younger patients. The risk of dying is largely determined by the admission type (patients with planned admissions have a better prognosis than those with unplanned admissions), severity of illness and functional status prior to admission. Elderly patients surviving ICU often experience a decline in functional status. No data are available on the factors that predict functional outcome. Elderly patients do not necessarily prefer life-sustaining treatment to palliative care. The willingness to undergo ICU treatment depends on the likelihood of survival and beneficial functional outcome. New prognostic models should be developed specifically to predict both survival and functional outcome in individual elderly patients after admission to ICU.


OBJECTIVE
To determine the prevalence, health care use, and costs of overweight children when compared with healthy-weight children.

DESIGN
Longitudinal cohort.

SETTING
Kaiser Permanente Colorado is an integrated, nonprofit health care system. Patients Eleven thousand six hundred thirty-six children who completed at least 1 body mass index (calculated as weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared) assessment between 2000 and 2004.

MAIN EXPOSURE
Overweight.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE
Health care use. Based on previous research that demonstrated a higher cost for obese adults when compared with healthy-weight adults, we hypothesized that, when compared with healthy-weight children, overweight children would have higher health care use patterns.

RESULTS
Thirteen percent and 14% of the sample, respectively, were classified as overweight or at risk of becoming overweight. At both year 1 (rate ratio [RR] = 1.11 [95% confidence interval (CI), 1.06-1.17]) and year 3 (RR = 1.06 [95% CI, 1.01-1.11]), overweight children had significantly more internal Kaiser Permanente Colorado medical visits, although the magnitude of the relationship was relatively small. Of particular note was the relationship between being overweight and increased use of mental health resources at both points (year 1 RR = 1.47; year 3 RR = 1.48). The calculated additional annual cost of use for 1000 overweight children (regression adjusted to control for comorbidities) was approximately $42 000 for primary care sick visits and $32 000 for mental health visits.

CONCLUSION
There is potential for cost savings or cost realignment with weight-management interventions from dollars that could be saved through the reduction of childhood overweight.


The interaction between software systems by means of mobile code is a powerful and truly effective method, particularly useful for installing and executing code dynamically. However, for this mechanism to be applicable safely, especially in industrial or critical applications, techniques that guarantee foreign code execution safety for the consumer or host will be necessary. Of course, tool support for automating, at least partially, the application of these techniques is essential. The importance of guarantee code execution safety originates numerous active research lines, among which Proof-Carrying Code (PCC) is one of the most successful. One of the problems to overcome for the PCC industrial use is to obtain lineal methods of safeness certification and verification. A framework for the generation and execution of safe mobile code based on PCC together with techniques for static analysis of control and data-flow, called PCC-SA, was developed later by the authors. The results of the group that allowed proving the hypothesis that the PCC-SA complexity in practice is lineal respect to the input programs length, as for certification as for verification processes are also presented. To achieve this, a C-program family, whose elements are referred to as lineally annotative, is defined. Parameters statically measured over their source code determine whether a program belongs to this family or not. Different properties of this family are demonstrated in this work, which allows formally showing that for all the programs of this family, the PCC-SA presents a lineal behavior. The parameters required for a large sample of programs keeping of standard packages, are calculated. This calculation finally determines that all the programs of the sample are lineally annotative, which validates the hypothesis previously stated.


Monuments of stone, earth and wood were built for the first time at the beginning of the Neolithic period in Scotland (4000 BC). While archaeological attention and investigation has focused upon monuments of stone and earth, those of timber have generally received much less attention and remain to be fully accepted and integrated into wider understandings of the Neolithic. This is despite a rich record of cropmark timber monuments held within the aerial archives of the National Monuments Record of Scotland (NMRS) and an increasing number of excavated timber monuments. This thesis is an attempt to remedy this imbalance. It examines all the evidence for timber monuments of Neolithic date currently recorded in Scotland, integrating those recorded as cropmarks with those uncovered during excavation and considers their place within the wider Neolithic repertoire. As the majority of timber monuments have been recorded as cropmarks, this thesis strives to move beyond cropmarks and the morphology of sites and argues that strict typologies serve to constrain the archaeological record. Instead a more contextual approach is taken whereby other factors, such as materialities or the use of space are taken into account. This is particularly put into practice within three case study areas where a landscape approach, employing field visits and a bodily engagement with the location of sites, is combined with GIS analysis and the consideration of the case study areas as a whole.

Consideration of timber monuments, both at a country-wide level and at the more detailed level of the three case study areas, demonstrates the wide range of timber monuments that were constructed and the important part they had to play within the wider monumental repertoire of Neolithic Scotland. Timber monuments can be suggested to reflect wider values and ideals shared by Neolithic communities as well as more local concerns and engagements by individual groups and communities. The monuments built may reflect some of the ways in which communities thought through and transformed their relationships to the forest and the wider environment and provide perspectives upon the importance of place and memory, the influence and important role of the environment, and the regional nature and diversity evident throughout Neolithic Scotland. Ultimately, this thesis demonstrates that timber monuments were important spaces and places that were used by Neolithic communities for many different purposes and so should form an important part of any consideration of the Neolithic period in Scotland.


This study addresses the uniqueness of the Malaysian capital market in which the Islamic Capital Market (ICM) runs parallel with the conventional capital market. Little research has been carried out on the determinants of earnings management, particularly in the ICM. This study extends this line of research by using Agency Theory as a basis for the occurrence of earnings management and investigating the relationship between earnings management and corporate governance characteristics in the Malaysian ICM, where there is no reason to suspect systematic management of earnings since such activities are not permitted by Shariah law. Selected corporate governance practices (board of directors, audit committee and institutional investors' characteristics) are examined along with specific characteristics of Shariah-approved companies (size, leverage, growth, profitability and industry) as factors that influence earnings management.
Using three established earnings management models (the Jones Model, the Modified Jones Model, and the Performance Matched Model); this study finds that there is income-decreasing earnings management in Shariah-approved companies that are listed on Bursa Malaysia. This study reveals a significant negative relationship between earnings management and the holding of multiple directorships. The results also indicate that there is a positive statistical relationship between the audit committee characteristics of independence and expertise with earnings management. Further analysis shows that having one audit committee member with financial expertise, as suggested by the Malaysian Code of Corporate Governance, does act as a control mechanism and is effective in reducing earnings management. In addition, a significant relationship between board size and earnings management is found. Consistent with previous studies, there is a significant relationship between firm size, leverage, performance and growth, and earnings management. Furthermore, companies in the Property and Construction sectors are found to be more likely to manage their earnings as compared to companies in other industry sectors.
This study provides early evidence that a stronger corporate governance mechanism is needed to enhance the quality of financial reporting in the Malaysian context. It is expected that the results of this study will give further direction to the Malaysian regulatory bodies regarding the mechanisms of corporate governance in the country. As the Malaysian ICM is new and unique, subject to Shariah law as well as 'conventional' rules and regulations, the result of this study may not be generalized to Islamic markets worldwide as the application of accounting standards and practices in Islamic finance may not be uniform in all Islamic jurisdictions.


Machado-Joseph disease (MJD) is an autosomal dominant neurodegenerative disorder which has been shown to result, in Japanese families, from the expansion of a CAG repeat in the MJD1 gene on chromosome 14q. We show that the same molecular mechanism is responsible for MJD in four large Brazilian kindreds of Portuguese descent. The behaviour of the mutation was evaluated in 28 affected and 19 asymptomatic gene carriers. The number of repeats in the expanded alleles ranged from 66 to 77 with a strong negative correlation with age at onset (r=0·79). A mean 1·6 repeats increase from generation to generation correlated with clinical anticipation. Instability of the CAG repeat was bidirectional, with expansions as well as contractions, and was more marked in paternal transmissions. Finally, linkage disequilibrium was complete at locus D14S280 in the four Portuguese-Brazilian kindreds and four previously reported French families with the same mutation, which suggests the existence of a common founder.


Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) is an ecologically and commercially important species in the North-Atlantic region. Cod is a top predator and information on its trophic ecology is integral for understanding predator–prey relationships and food-web dynamics. We present an analysis of the trophic patterns of Barents Sea (BS) cod using a unique 33-year time-series of stomach-content data from 1984 to 2016. We assessed patterns in diet (prey) composition across years, between seasons, as well as ontogenetic trends in diet, including predator–prey size relationships. Ontogenetic shifts in diet were observed, with fish becoming more important prey with increasing cod size. A very early onset of piscivory was found in <20 cm cod. Cannibalism was found in cod > 20 cm and increased with size. Juvenile cod exhibit a tendency towards consuming prey up to 33% of their body length, whereas larger cod feed on all prey sizes, resulting in asymmetric predator–prey size distributions. Diet varied significantly during 1984–2016, consistent with changes in both prey, cod abundance, and distribution. Seasonal differences were observed; capelin dominated the winter diet, whereas cod, polar cod, and other fish species were prevalent in summer/autumn months. This work represents an important step towards understanding trophic linkages that determine BS ecosystem dynamics.


This thesis is based on a qualitative study, which investigated how the. participants' beliefs and feelings about self influenced their ability to learn and, implicitly, to change. The purpose of the study was to explore the consequences of employing different self-theories, to determine if there are optimal ways of construing self, which facilitate change and if these self-theories can be learned. This was separated into three questions and the first was to identify self-theories which seem to facilitate or hinder change. The existing literature on self-theories has identified many aspects of construing which influence how individuals respond to situations, which require them to learn or change in some way. Individuals' beliefs about their level of intelligence and their personal abilities have been shown to dramatically influence their abilities. However, little is known about the precise mechanisms through which self-theories are elaborated. This thesis set out to explore why some primary school teachers were responding to a professional development course in a defensive and aggressive manner. The findings Indicate, that beliefs and feelings are inherently linked together and form the basis of individual meaning systems. There is evidence that when these early self-theories are sufficiently developed through childhood into mature meaning systems, they facilitate learning and change. In contrast, when early meaning systems are less developed these immature meaning systems hinder the ability to change. The participants in this study were construing their beliefs and feelings about self along a dimension. At one extreme 'beliefs about self were construed 'as hypotheses to be tested,' and at the other end, 'as truths to be validated.' In representing the different beliefs about self as dimensions and not as categories the intention is to emphasise that individual construing can be elaborated. In order to describe the findings the participants were divided into three categories to allow their self-theories to be more easily compared and contrasted. The three categories of participants were called 'Explorers', 'Changers' and 'Maintainers'. My interrogation of the qualitative data identified different self-theories, which were confirmed by the participants' characterisation of self as growth or validation seeking and their descriptions of change as being positive or negative on their repertory grids. The combined data clearly differentiated three categories of participants and their specific self-theories, which either facilitated or hindered change. The second question was to investigate if and when self-theories have been elaborated and how this was accomplished. A unique feature of this study is the insight provided, via descriptions provided by many participants of how they elaborated their self-theories. Two sets of beliefs and responses were constructed from the data and were called, respectively, exploratory beliefs and responses and sustaining beliefs and responses. Participants who had elaborated their construing were consistently employing exploratory beliefs and responses. What is particularly interesting about the data is the number of participants who described elaborating their beliefs from 'truths' to hypotheses. This seemed to facilitate the development of mature meaning systems, which in turn increased their ability to change. The third and last question was to determine if these 'optimal' self-theories could be learned. The 'Explorers', and to varying extents the 'Changers', were increasingly employing the exploratory beliefs and responses and often referring to how they taught themselves to use these new strategies, which indicates a kind of self-learning process. The 'transformative cycle of reflection' encapsulates how some participants elaborated their beliefs and feelings into more mature meaning systems. It identifies the knowledge and understanding about self-theories, which is required to encourage elaboration of early meaning systems. From the participants' accounts of elaborating construing it was possible to develop a new theory-based approach to reflection. This enhances previous understanding about reflection by including a theoretical understanding of how self-theories influence our responses and this enables more informed reflection to be practised. This approach, if incorporated into practice, would offer the possibility of enhancing development of mature meaning systems, which facilitate learning and change.


In the aftermath of World War II, many internationalists diagnosed the fundamental cause of international conflict as humanity's failure to realize the ideals of a world community grounded in global political institutions and common values. To prevent an apocalyptic third world war, internationalists affiliated with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco) identified two ways science could engineer a peaceful and prosperous world community: "technologically, by changing the material conditions of life, work and production; and intellectually, by changing the way in which men think." Grounded in archival research in four countries, "Patterns of Science" explores both strategies through studies of Unesco's environmental and social sciences programs. Environmental scientists emphasized the need to balance nature's books by adapting the pattern of natural resources exploitation to the requirements of global population growth. They conceived of scientifically guided development as a moral equivalent of war that could unite an international army for the conquest of nature. Social scientists stressed the importance of reforming parochial cultural patterns to construct "the defences of peace in the minds of men." By facilitating intercultural understanding, social scientists would help nations realize the ideal of "unity in diversity." The goal of both strategies was to produce objective global knowledge that would make the world scale real—"in the minds of men" as well as for politicians and planners. "Patterns of Science" reveals how internationalist scientists attempted to navigate the politics of the cold war, decolonization, and bureaucratic rivalries through case studies that demonstrate the interaction of international, national, and local scales. These cases range from the Los Angeles School District's implementation of a "Unesco program" during the height of McCarthyism to the establishment of a university chair of race relations in Southern Rhodesia, and from an arid lands research program that pitted "men against the desert" to the production of a Soil Map of the World. Although often mired in controversy or dismissed as naive, Unesco's work produced an international community of experts and global social and environmental knowledge that proved crucial to the emerging imperative for sustainable development in the early 1970s. Degree Type Dissertation Degree Name Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Graduate Group History and Sociology of Science First Advisor M. Susan Lindee Second Advisor Lynn Hollen Lees This dissertation is available at ScholarlyCommons: http://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/323 Third Advisor Sarah Igo


Abstract. Changes in the soil carbon stock can potentially have a large influence on global carbon balance between terrestrial ecosystems and atmosphere. Since carbon sequestration of forest soils is influenced by human activities, reporting of the soil carbon pool is a compulsory part of the national greenhouse gas (GHG) inventories. Various soil carbon models are applied in GHG inventories, however, the verification of model-based estimates is lacking. In general, the soil carbon models predict accumulation of soil carbon in the middle-aged stands, which is in good agreement with chronosequence studies and flux measurements of eddy sites, but they have not been widely tested with repeated measurements of permanent plots. The objective of this study was to evaluate soil carbon changes in the organic layer of boreal middle-aged forest stands. Soil carbon changes on re-measured sites were analyzed by using soil survey data that was based on composite samples as a first measurement and by taking into account spatial variation on the basis of the second measurement. By utilizing earlier soil surveys, a long sampling interval, which helps detection of slow changes, could be readily available. The range of measured change in the soil organic layer varied from −260 to 1260 g m−2 over the study period of 16–19 years and 23 ± 2 g m−2 per year, on average. The increase was significant in 6 out of the 38 plots from which data were available. Although the soil carbon change was difficult to detect at the plot scale, the overall increase measured across the middle-aged stands agrees with predictions of the commonly applied soil models. Further verification of the soil models is needed with larger datasets that cover wider geographical area and represent all age classes, especially young stands with potentially large soil carbon source.


There is an increasing amount of structure on the Web as a result of modern Web languages, user tagging and annotation, and emerging robust NLP tools. These meaningful, semantic, annotations hold the promise to significantly enhance information access, by increasing the depth of analysis of today's systems. Currently, we have only started to explore the possibilities and only begun to understand how these valuable semantic cues can be put to fruitful use. The workshop had an interactive format consisting of keynotes, boasters and posters, breakout groups and reports, and a final discussion, which was prolonged into the evening. There was a strong feeling that we made substantial progress. Specifically, each of the breakout groups contributed to our understanding of the way forward. First, annotations and use cases come in many different shapes and forms depending on the domain at hand, but at a higher level there are remarkable commonalities in annotation tools, indexing methods, user interfaces, and general methodology. Second, we got insights in the "exploitation" aspects, leading to a clear separation between the low-level annotations giving context or meaning to small units of information (e.g., NLP, sentiments, entities), and annotations bringing out the structure inherent in the data (e.g., sources, data schema's, document genres). Third, the plan to enrich ClueWeb with various document level (e.g., pagerank and spam scores, but also reading level) and lower level (e.g., named entities or sentiments) annotations was embraced by the workshop as a concrete next step to promote research in semantic annotations.


A newly discovered silicified brachiopod interval from the Upper Member of the Guanling Formation (Late Anisian, Middle Triassic) in Guizhou Province (South China) is described for the first time. The most remarkable feature of this brachiopod assemblage, besides the very good preservation, is the very low taxonomic evenness and diversity. This impoverished, low diversity/high density assemblage is represented by more than 700 recovered specimens belonging to three species within two spiriferinid genera (Pseudospiriferina multicostata, P. pinguis, and Punctospirella fragilis). It is characterized by the overwhelming abundance of an endemic spiriferinid species, P. multicostata, which contributes to more than 90% of the community. Silicified valves of P. multicostata and Punctospirella fragilis allow detailed descriptions of the internal morphology based on direct observation. Brachiopod paleoecology, assessed by considering host-rock lithology, shell disarticulation, and shell size suggests that this endemic brachiopod fauna represents a favourable niche for development of dense brachiopod-dominated communities, i.e., high energy, hard substrate, nutrient rich environment.


This paper, utilising the social exchange theory, examines the relationship between before hiring negotiation (ex-ante) and after hiring negotiation (ex-post), idiosyncratic deals (i-deals) and employee reactions (i.e., motivation, commitment, work engagement and organisational citizenship behaviour). I-deals refer to voluntary, personalized agreements of a nonstandard nature negotiated between individual employees and their employers regarding terms that benefit each party. The hypotheses of the study were tested applying structural equation modelling on data collected from 275 employees working in 39 companies operating in the Indian hospitality industry. The findings show that although ex-ante and ex-post negotiations are interrelated, the negotiating special terms and conditions at the time of hire are less common than negotiating these terms and conditions while on job. Additionally, the findings indicate that ex-ante negotiation relates positively and more strongly to flexibility i-deals than to task and career i-deals, whilst ex-post negotiation relates positively but more strongly to career i-deals that to task and flexibility i-deals. The analysis also confirms the positive but differential effects of task, career and flexibility i-deals on employee reactions. Implications of the findings for both research and practice are discussed.


Supercritical Carbon Dioxide (S-CO2) power cycles have gained interest in recent years because they have theoretically been shown to provide higher efficiency than more conventional cycles for heat source temperatures above around 800 K. The main benefit of a S-CO2 power cycles is the low compressor work when it is operated near the critical point, but this provides design challenges. Specifically, properties of S-CO2 vary rapidly, making the computational modelling challenging. The present work presents the aerodynamic design of a radial in-flow turbine for a 10 MWe S-CO2 power cycle. A radial in-flow turbine is designed using literature recommendations and then evaluated with computational fluid dynamics (CFD). The turbine off-design performance is characterized with off-design CFD simulations to create performance maps. Overall, the present work details the aerodynamic design of a radial turbine for operation in a 10 MWe S-CO2 power cycle based on meanline and computational methods.


Researchers have very limited understanding of how continuous usage intention of social media (SM) are associated with online benign envy and individual-level culture. This paper addresses this gap and provides a theoretical framework to illustrate how manifestations of national cultural values at the individual level of analysis may influence SM use behaviors through online envy. We argue that espoused individualism/collectivism and espoused uncertainty avoidance are important antecedents for eliciting benign envy, while the espoused power distance and espoused masculinity/femininity dimensions are salient moderators for the consequences resulting from online benign envy. Empirical results from a sample of 387 SM users supported the majority of the hypotheses, suggesting that espoused national culture interplaying with online benign envy are important factors for continuance use intention of SM. Finally, theoretical contributions and practical implications are provided.


How did British Jewry respond to the Holocaust, how prominent was it on the communal agenda, and what does this response tell us about the values, politics, and fears of the Anglo-Jewish community? This book studies the priorities of that community, and thereby seeks to analyse the attitudes and philosophies which informed actions. It paints a picture of Anglo-Jewish life and its reactions to a wide range of matters in the non-Jewish world. The book charts the transmission of the news of the European catastrophe and discusses the various theories regarding reactions to these exceptional circumstances. It investigates the structures and political philosophies of Anglo-Jewry during the war years and covers the reactions of Jewish political and religious leaders as well as prominent Jews acting outside the community's institutional framework. Various co-ordinated responses, political and philanthropic, are studied, as are the issues which dominated the community at that time, namely internal conflict and the fear of increased domestic antisemitism: these preoccupations inevitably affected responses to events in Europe. The latter half of the book looks at the ramifications of the community's socio-political philosophies including, most radically, Zionism, and their influence on communal reactions. The book raises major questions about the structures and priorities of the British Jewish community.


In order to evaluate the fracture characteristic near the crack tip of beryllium specimen, beryllium compact tension specimen with plane strain state is designed. The stress distribution near the crack tip is measured at different loading level by X3000 stress analyzer. Moreover, a finite element model for calculated the stress and strain fields in beryllium compact tension specimen has also been set up. As a result, the stress and strain distribution near the crack tip at different loading has been calculated by this model. According to the critical tension loading of beryllium specimen, the maximum plastic strain and the radius of the plastic zone near the crack tip are determined, where the maximum plastic strain near the crack tip is about 0.018 and the maximum radius of plastic zone is about 0.3mm. Altogether, the fracture toughness of beryllium is obtained, which is about 19.1MPam1/2.


Dimethyl diazomalonate (4) and thiobenzophenone (2a) do not react in toluene even after warming to 50°. After addition of catalytic amounts of Rh2(OAc)4, a smooth reaction under N2 evolution afforded a mixture of thiiranedicarboxylate 5 and (diphenylmethylidene)malonate 6 (Scheme 2 ). A reaction mechanism via an intermediate 'thiocarbonylylide' 7, formed by the addition of the carbenoid species 8 to the S-atom of 2a, is plausible. Similar reactions were carried out with 9H-xanthene-9-thione (2b), 9H-thioxanthene-9-thione (2c, Scheme 4 ), and 1,3-thiazole-5(4H)-thione 18 (Scheme 6). In the cases of 2b and 2c, spirocyclic 1,3-dithiolanetetracarboxylates 14a and 14b, respectively, were obtained as the third product. Reaction mechanisms for their formation are proposed in Scheme 5: S-transfer from intermediate thiirane 12 to the carbenoid species yielded thioxomalonate 15 which underwent a 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition with 'thiocarbonyl ylide' 16. An alternative is the formation of 'thiocarbonyl ylide' 17 via carbene addition to 15, followed by 1,3dipolar cycloaddition with 2b and 2c, respectively.


This thesis considers family and professional perspectives on the lived experience of
children with a learning disability and behavioural needs. The literature suggests that this
group of children experience an increased risk of exclusion from their peers and their
community due to their complexity of need and lack of appropriate support.
Twenty semi- structured interviews were conducted to gather data from parents and
professionals involved in the support of children with a learning disability and behavioural
needs. A phenomenological approach was adopted to consider the lived experience of
children through perspectives of the participants. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and
analysed using Attride-Stirling's (2001) model of thematic analysis.
A total of eight global themes were deduced from the findings. The parents' data yielded
four themes: finding our way; square services round needs; the price of behaviour; belonging.
The four professional themes identified were: the behaviour of services; complexity of need;
behavioural barriers; needing to know- knowing needs.
The child's experience of inclusion and exclusion ran through the findings as central tenets
of the participant perspectives on lived experience. The study adds to the body of knowledge
that considers the inclusion and integration of children with complex needs into mainstream
and specialist provision. Perspectives on lived experience highlight current practice that can
increase the vulnerability of children to the risk of exclusion from families, peers and
ultimately their community.
Recommendations call for proactive support to identify children in their early years at risk of
experiencing exclusion due to their behavioural needs. Appropriate and effective provision
will avoid the increased burden placed on families, and ultimately the state, of supporting
children who remain vulnerable and at increased risk of exclusion from their communities.


The NADPH dehydrogenase quinone oxido-reductase 1 (NQO1) enzyme is an antioxidant and metabolic enzyme that performs two electron reduction of quinones and other chemicals. Based on the physiologic role(s) of NQO1, we hypothesized that expression and activity of this enzyme would vary with age and other demographic variables. Cytosols from 117 archived human livers were investigated for changes in NQO1 with age, sex, obesity, and ethnicity. Protein expression but not activity of NQO1 was weakly negatively correlated with age (Spearman r = -0.2, P = 0.03). No sex differences were observed for either protein expression or activity and for ethnicity; Caucasians had greater NQO1 activity than Asians (P < 0.05). Overweight children had statistically significantly higher NQO1 activity as compared with ideal weight children (P < 0.05) although this difference was not observed in adults. These findings establish that NQO1 is approximately as active in children as adults. However, modeled NQO1 clearance (both allometric and physiologically based pharmacokinetics) predicted maturation at 23 to 26 years. This is almost certainly an overestimate, with error in the model resulting from a small sample size and inability to scale for age-related changes in hepatic cellularity and/or cytosolic protein content, and indicates a delay in reaching maximum clearance through the NQO1 pathway that is affected by physiologic development as much, or more than, biochemical development. Obesity may increase hepatic NQO1 activity in children, which is likely a protective mechanism in oxidative stress, but may also have significant implications for drug and chemical disposition in obese children.


This qualitative case study reflects the voices and experiences of five veterans who engaged in a self-expressive writing session over a period of eight weeks. The purpose was to explore whether or not self-expressive writing could be used as a therapeutic intervention. Findings indicated that the intervention helped participants express emotions, increase their awareness of personal issues, helped separate problems from self, and foster a sense of empowerment. This study reveals the potential usefulness of physically expressing problems and interacting with them deliberately over time. Such interventions may be useful components of therapy and help those populations who have limited access to therapy services or who are reluctant to be present for therapy.


Terrestrial reptile remains are very rare in the Lower Cretaceous of South Australia, but include the holotype of the small theropod Kakuru. Here, we review this taxon and other archosaur specimens collected from the Bulldog Shale (Aptian) of Andamooka and Coober Pedy. Kakuru possesses no unique characters or character state combinations and is regarded as a nomen dubium, representing an indeterminate tetanuran theropod. Two other specimens (a left metatarsal and astragalus) can be referred to Dinosauria, but the identity of several other specimens (phalanges and a centrum) can only be resolved to the level of an indeterminate archosaur.


Myoelectric signals [electromyograms (EMGs)] can be collected using either surface or fine-wire electrodes. Application of the latter results in higher-frequency contents of EMG. In the field of impact biomechanics, surface electrodes are more often utilized than fine-wire ones. However, the removal of motion artefacts from EMG recorded under transient loads requires application of high-pass filters with relatively high cutoff frequencies, which may eliminate a significant part of the surface EMG power spectra. Therefore, in the current study, both surface and fine-wire electrodes were utilized to record the EMG of cervical muscles under conditions simulating a rear-end car collision at low speed. The results indicated that application of high-pass filtering at 50 Hz can be necessary to remove motion artefacts from the EMG collected under such conditions. Such filtering resulted in a higher decrease in amplitude of the surface EMG than that of the fine-wire one. However, the reflex times obtained here were not significantly affected by the type of the electrodes utilized to collect EMG.


In recent years, organic-based, especially carbonyl-based, Li-ion battery electrode materials have attracted great attention due to their low-cost, environmentally friendly nature and strong Li-ion bonding abilities. However, new research is required to further increase the electron mobility and cycling performance of organic materials. The performance of a high-carbonyl C6O6 molecule-functionalized graphene electrode for Li-ion batteries is investigated using the density functional theory. The binding energy calculations indicate that the C6O6 molecule is adsorbed on graphene via physisorption. C6O6@graphene maintains excellent electronic conductivity with 1 to 6 Li ions. By our statistical method, the reduced voltage of the C6O6@graphene cathode displays a voltage between 2.6 V and 1.5 V with 2 phases from 1 to 6 Li ions with energy density of approximately 155 mA h g-1. The results obtained reveal that C6O6@graphene is a promising electrode material for renewable Li-ion batteries.

publisher-specific, author manuscript: http://rsc.li/journals-terms-of-use


Infectious disease accounts for the major cause of mortality and morbidity in past decays which create a serious and growing concern to treat communicable disease. P. aeruginosa 'superbug' responsible for hospital acquired nosocomial infections is versatile gram negative aerobe and pathogenecity caused by this ubiquitous organism is quite difficult to treat due to its rapid developing inherent resistance mechanism against antimicrobials and disinfectants. Variety of antimicrobials available to treat this notorious bacterium and there's a gradual decline in sensitivity pattern upon development of new evolution of antimicrobials which reflects inadequate utilization of antimicrobial. The purpose of this study is to estimate the degree of potency of antipseudomonas drugs by retrospective comparative analysis of susceptibility and resistance pattern in public and private health sector of intensive care units and community acquired infections in past two years. About more than 200 isolates tested against wide range of antimicrobials. In past two years, there's a gradual decline in susceptibility of amikacin (41%), gentamycin (45%), tobramycin (51%) and ciprofloxacin and emergence of initiation of resistance against carbapenems (23-29%), piperacillin (23%) & colisthemetate (33%) respectively. Quantitative estimation of this comparative studies we conclude antimicrobial resistance and susceptibility has close association with irrational utilization and inadequate evaluation of adaptive resistance mechanism against superbug called p.aeruginosa.


In the present work we present the results of a simple laboratory experiment which fulfils the mechanical conditions of formation of fracture and faults in earthquakes and also helps us understand the relation between inter- and intraplate earthquakes. Although many experimental investigations have been undertaken in an attempt to understand this relationship, they were not successful due to the difficulty in duplicating the conditions causing earthquakes using experimental methods. We discovered that the stress field around a subsurface crack growing under rolling contact fatigue fulfils the mechanical conditions of a plate subduction boundary, and also that subsurface crack branching is similar to the fracture of earthquake faults.


This paper provides the solution of the team "commendo" on the Track2 dataset of the KDD Cup 2011 Dror et al.. Yahoo Labs provides a snapshot of their music-rating database as dataset for the competition, consisting of approximately 62 million ratings from 250k users on 300k items. The dataset includes hierachical information about the items. The goal of the competition is to distinguish beteen "High rated" and "Not rated" items of a user. The rating scale is discrete and ranges from 0 to 100, while a "High" rating is a rating≥80. The error measure is the percent of false rated tracks over all users, known as the fractions of misclassifications. The task is to minimize this error rate, hence the ranking should be optimized. Our final submission is a blend of different collaborative filtering algorithms enhanced, with basic statistics. The algorithms are trained consecutively and they are blended together with a neural network. Each of the algorithms optimizes a rank error measure.


The microgravity condition is one of the ideal conditions for the measurements of diffusion coefficients in high temperature melts because of the absence of convection in the liquid sample. Many kinds of experimental techniques, such as the long capillary method and the shear cell method, have been devised in ground based researches for the measurement of diffusion coefficient in such high temperature melts. Recently, the shear cell technique coupled with the microgravity condition was applied to the measurements of high temperature metallic melts. This technique enables us to measure the diffusion coefficient with high precision. In this paper, a brief discussion is given about the trends of previous diffusion experiments in space performed particularly by Japanese researchers. Recently, the Japanese space agency, JAXA, has developed the shear cell technique for future space experiments in JEM. The current status of the development of our shear cell technique is summarized and new results are presented as typical experiments on the ground by using test samples, for example, liquid silver–gold alloys.


BACKGROUND
 Search engines display helpline notices when people query for suicide-related information.

 OBJECTIVE
 In this study, we aimed to examine if these notices and other information displayed in response to suicide-related queries are correlated with subsequent searches for suicide prevention rather than harmful information.

 METHODS
 Anonymous suicide-related searches made on Bing and Google in the United States, the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, and Taiwan in a span of 10 months were extracted. Descriptive analyses and regression models were fit to the data to assess the correlation with observed behaviors.

 RESULTS
 Display of helpline notices was not associated with an observed change in the likelihood of or future suicide searches (P=.42). No statistically significant differences were observed in the likelihood of people making future suicide queries (both generally and specific types of suicide queries) when comparing search engines in locations that display helpline notices versus ones that do not. Pages with higher rank, being neutral to suicide, and those shown among more antisuicide pages were more likely to be clicked on. Having more antisuicide Web pages displayed was the only factor associated with further searches for suicide prevention information (hazard=1.18, P=.002).

 CONCLUSIONS
 Helpline notices are not associated with harm. If they cause positive change in search behavior, it is small. This is possibly because of the variability in intent of users seeking suicide-related information. Nonetheless, helpline notice should be displayed, but more efforts should be made to improve the visibility and ranking of suicide prevention Web pages.


This paper presents an experimental investigation of the effect of interlayer hybrid fiber dispersion on the low velocity impact response of the carbon-flax/epoxy hybrid laminates at low carbon volume fractions. Five different hybrid laminates with similar carbon to flax weight ratio but varying stacking sequences were fabricated. Three impact energy levels were selected to produce a non-perforated and a perforated damage state in the hybrid laminates for study. The results showed that the stacking sequence with all the stiffer carbon plies at the impact face does not necessarily lead to enhancement of the impact properties of the hybrid composite. However, shifting the carbon plies to the back face of the plate led to a significant improvement in the damage initiation and the energy absorption behavior compared to the non-hybrid flax composite with similar thickness.


area or location. In so doing, it is useful to distinguish between excursionist and overnight stay markets because it is the latter that generally make the highest contributions by virtue of their need for lodging, food, and entertainment. This article reports the results of a study to develop predictive models for overnight stay behavior. Models predicting the probability of an overnight stay and the probability of staying in paid versus nonpaid accommodations are presented and discussed.