The French Ministry of Defence's procurement agency, the Direction Generale de l'Armement (DGA), is in charge of assessing and testing armament systems in order to equip the armed forces and prepare for the future. DGA Aeronautical Systems, the technical centre dedicated to evaluate and test aircraft, combines test and evaluation to clear, among others, parachute systems. The parachute evaluation is historically based on experimental data and so requires numerous flight tests which can prove expensive and time consuming. In order to have a greater understanding of the parachute dynamic behavior and to optimize the parachute systems flight tests, DGA Aeronautical Systems developed a modeling and simulation capability as a support to evaluation. For this purpose, DGA Aeronautical Systems, with the help of ISAE, developed Fluid Structure Interaction (FSI) simulations of parachutes using the LS-Dyna commercial Finite Element Analysis (FEA) tool. This tool is largely used for solving highly nonlinear transient problems and enables doing coupled multi-physics simulations such as FSI simulations. DGA Aeronautical Systems has been using the software since 2003. In the recent years, the parachute simulation has been much improved thanks to the implementation of a porosity algorithm in LS-Dyna at the common request of DGA and parachute industry. The paper presents recent improvements in Arbitrary Lagrangian Eulerian (ALE) techniques used to analyze the canopy inflation and the quasi-steady state descent phases characteristics. Up to now, only infinite mass type simulations were developed by constraining the parachute confluence point and applying a prescribed airflow to the fluid. The applied airflow velocity came from real in-flight measurements of paratrooper or load trajectory determinations. This simulation type is representative to wind tunnel tests. From now on, thanks to considerable computational resources, finite mass type simulations are also possible. It consists in applying the force of gravity to the parachute system. This allows simulating both the inflation phase (from vertical packed parachute geometry) and the quasi-steady state descent. Among others, the static line parachute of the new French Army troop parachute system called EPC (Ensemble de Parachutage du Combattant) was modeled at real scale. Modeling techniques are presented and results of the EPC static line parachute simulation are compared with real inflight measurements. The benefits of FSI simulations prior to parachute testing are presented. In a near future, incompressible and compressible Navier-Stokes solvers will be available in the next version of LS-Dyna. These code enhancements will be tested to simulate the parachute flight and hopefully will bring the ability to analyze more accurately the aerodynamics of the canopy and the structural behavior of the fabrics. These future capabilities are also discussed.


In this letter, a novel dual-mode bandpass balun filter is presented using a miniaturized cross-slotted patch resonator. This balun filter consists of a single slit-loaded patch etched by a pair of cross slots and a stepped-impedance open stub. An unbalanced input port is orthogonally arranged in-between two balanced output ports along the patch, and each feed line is connected to an additional stub for enhanced coupling. Due to the dual-mode characteristic of the patch resonator, two transmission poles can be easily constructed at both balanced passbands. Asymmetrical width and length of the cross-loaded slots perturb the field of the patch and excite two degenerate modes simultaneously, while the attached open-circuited stub provides an additional degree of freedom for performance tuning. Finally, two prototype balun filters are designed and fabricated at 3.48 and 1.80 GHz, respectively. Measured results achieve good filtering and balun performance and agree well with those from simulations.


This Best Practices session described multiple instructional and technological methods used to design and implement a graduate level online course in counseling skills. A challenge for the online counseling instructor is to provide opportunities for counseling students to both collaborate with fellow students, and demonstrate a proficient level of counseling skills. This session outlined one approach to overcoming these obstacles including the use of Discussion Board posts, group papers responding to an assigned book, webcam meetings with the professor, role play activities and student evaluation of those role plays. Each assignment is designed to hone the students' counseling skills and to encourage collaboration and engagement with other students and the professor. The presenter explained and demonstrated the use of Adobe ConnectPro, Discussion Boards, and Group Wikis in the delivery of an online counseling skills course. Student reactions and future plans for honing the course were also discussed.


The objectives of this study were to map genomic regions associated with QTL for aluminum (Al) tolerance in maize and determine the phenotypic effects of tolerance loci. QTL analysis for Al tolerance was carried out in a population of F2:3 progenies resulting from a cross between the contrasting lines LT 99-4 and LS 04-2. SSR (Simple Sequence Repeat) loci and AFLP (Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism) were used to construct the linkage map and to detect QTL mapped by composite interval mapping analysis. Nine tolerance QTL among eight linkage groups (chromosomes 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10) were mapped, which explained 70.3% of the phenotypic variance. The results confirmed three major QTL (bins 6.00, 8.05, and 10.01) that are described in the literature for Al tolerance, which accounted for most of the phenotypic variance (40.3%).


The knowledge revolution, global competition and growing expectations for performance drive every organization to enhance more efficient and effective learning in management and development of its human capital. Therefore, it is important for the organization to practice learning the theory of the organization in order to create continuous improvement in various scopes of work. This research is about the factors that influence learning organization among managers in City Hall of Kuala Lumpur. Factors of learning organization such as training and education, reward and recognition, information flow and vision and strategy have been identified in order to investigate whether or not these factors have a significant relationship with the dimension of learning organization. The survey was conducted in 24 departments in City Hall of Kuala Lumpur such as the Administration Department; Civil Engineering Department; Culture, Arts, Tourism and Sports Department; Human Resource Management Department; Information Technology and Communication Department and others. The sample size for this study was 100 officers who had a bachelor's degree in different courses study and involved decision making in City Hall of Kuala Lumpur. Data was obtained using two methods which were primary and secondary data. Respondents were required to answer the questionnaires that include the statements regarding the factors that influence learning about organization among managers in City Hall of Kuala Lumpur. Once the necessary data was collected, the data was analyzed and summarized in a readable and easily interpretable form. The Statistical Package for the Social Science (SPSS) version 12.0 was used to summarize the data. The results are in the form of reliability testing, descriptive statistics, ANOVA, t-test and correlation. Based on this research, the result indicates that all factors have a significant relationship between all the elements of learning organization which include continuous learning, inquiry and dialogue, team learning, empowerment, embedded system, system connection and strategic leadership. The conclusion of the study is the outcome of the survey analysis and findings. Based on findings, some recommendations have been suggested in order to help increase learning organization and for future research.


Men with moderate to severe lower urinary tract symptoms associated with BPH obtained significant symptom relief with the phosphodiesterase type-5 inhibitor tadalafil (Cialis) and the alpha-blocker tamsulosin (Flomax), both of which also improved urinary flow, results of a randomized trial showed.


To view the hidden video files by exploitation secret recognition system. [1] Video files are incorporated exploitation compression and extracted by decompression techniques. Cheating the hackers by showing solely the duplicate video file. [2] Making a brand new video player to play the incorporated files. Viewing the initial video file is feasible once trigger is generated. Files are incorporated exploitation compression algorithms. Here the MSA (Meheboob, Saima and Asoke) formula is employed to cyphering the key message and introduced a brand new organization methodology for generating the irregular key matrix that contains all 256 characters in sixteen X sixteen matrix to encrypt plain computer file and to decipher cipher computer file. To make the compression and therefore the decompression method all secured the authors has introduced multiple compression and multiple decompression strategies. [3] The utmost length of the text key is often of sixteen characters long and it's going to contain any character (ASCII code zero to 255). From the given text key one will calculate the organization variety and therefore the encoding variety exploitation a formula. Furthermore the multiple compression methodology makes the system more secured. To cover encrypted secret video enter the duvet file the authors have inserted within the 4-th little bit of every character of encrypted message enter eight consecutive bytes of the duvet file. The authors have introduced secret for concealment information within the cowl file. This methodology is also the foremost secured methodology in defense for causation some confidential video file.


Recent studies have revealed that dietary flavonoids are potent radical scavengers, acting in a manner similar to ascorbate and [alpha]-tocopherol. However, it is still not clear whether flavonoids have a similar antioxidative function in plants. We examined the possibility that flavonoids could function as stress protectants in plant cells by scavenging H2O2. Two major flavonoids, quercetin and kaempferol glycosides, were isolated from leaves of the tropical tree Schefflera arboricola Hayata. Both glycosides and aglycones of isolated flavonols were oxidized by H2O2 in the presence of horse-radish peroxidase and/or in a soluble fraction of S. arboricola leaf extract. The rates of oxidation were in the order quercetin > kaempferol > quercetin glycoside >> kaempferol glycoside. Judging from the effects of inhibitors such as KCN, p-chloromercuribenzoate, and 3-amino-1H-1,2,4-triazole, we conclude that guaiacol peroxidase in the soluble fraction catalyzes H2O2-dependent oxidation of flavonols. In the flavonol-guaiacol peroxidase reaction, ascorbate had the potential to regenerate flavonols by reducing the oxidized product. These results provide further evidence that the flavonoid-peroxidase reaction can function as a mechanism for H2O2 scavenging in plants.


THE EMERGENCE OF BUREAUCRATIC ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN A STATE EDUCATION AGENCY: A CASE STUDY OF CONNECTICUT'S EDUCATION REFORM INITIATIVES FEBRUARY 1999 CATHERINE W FISK, BA, UNIVERSITY OF VERMONT M.A.L.S., WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY Ph D , UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST Directed by: Professor Stephen P. Coelen This case study illustrates how agency bureaucrats within the Connecticut State Department of Education played a prominent role in crafting a comprehensive education policy agenda, launched by the Education Enhancement Act of 1986 This was an example of bureaucratically-driven state education reform in which leadership, a clearly articulated policy agenda, and a policy making model embedded in the notion of ideas and persuasion were instrumental in establishing, implementing, and sustaining that policy agenda over time It is out of this case study that a theory of bureaucratic entrepreneurship emerges—that is, when non-elected public managers and professional staff devise successful strategies to persuade legislators and other constituency groups to accept their policy agenda, develop and sustain policy innovations over time, and devise policy instruments that rely on inducements and capacity-building to leverage changes in educational practice at the local school district level This case study examines bureaucratic entrepreneurship within two contexts. First, a comparison of two state-level education reform attempts is made: the first a successful bureaucratically-driven policy initiative culminating in the Education Enhancement Act (EEA) of 1986 and the second being a largely unsuccessful reform effort launched by the business community in the early 1990s through the Commission on Educational Excellence in Connecticut (CEEC). Second, the development and evolution of Connecticut's teacher standards initiatives, an outgrowth of the EEA of 1986, is examined to illustrate the prominent features of bureaucratic entrepreneurship, including the exercise of leadership, opportunistic behavior in the face of rapidly changing environmental circumstances, and engagement in "creative subversion" and risk-taking in order to pursue innovative research and development. This study concludes that (1) successful bureaucratically-driven education reform requires strong leadership and technical capacity, (2) bureaucratic entrepreneurship is critical to sustaining policy innovation over time, (3) bureaucratic entrepreneurs can be "grown" by creating a climate within an organization conducive to innovation, learning and group problem-solving and fostering conditions for "team entrepreneurship," that is, when a collection of individuals combine their efforts to produce innovations; and (4) there is a strong role to be played by state departments of education in shaping educational public policy.


This paper depicts a computerized framework that can distinguish brain tumor and investigate the diverse highlights of the tumor. Brain tumor segmentation means to isolated the unique tumor tissues, for example, active cells, edema and necrotic center from ordinary mind tissues of WM, GM, and CSF. However, manual segmentation in magnetic resonance data is a timeconsuming task. We present a method of automatic tumor segmentation in magnetic resonance images which consists of several steps. The recommended framework is helped by image processing based technique that gives improved precision rate of the cerebrum tumor location along with the computation of tumor measure. In this paper, the location of brain tumor from MRI isrecognized utilizing adaptive thresholding with a level set and a morphological procedure with histogram. Automatic brain tumor stage is performed by using ensemble classification. Such phase classifies brain images into tumor and non-tumors using Feed Forwarded Artificial neural network based classifier. For test investigation, continuous MRI images gathered from 200 people are utilized. The rate of fruitful discovery through the proposed procedure is 97.32 percentage accurate.


A study of ancient sites in Mexico and Central America finds that most are not aligned in any obvious astronomical direction, e.g., to north, or solstices or lunar standstills. While others have demonstrated some success in relating the alignments of structures at Mesoamerican sites to the surrounding landscape, important calendar dates, and certain constellations, this paper considers a different hypothesis – that the original builders aligned the sites to other locations that were points of reference at the time of construction. Among the 160 ancient locations examined in our study, we have found 64 sites/structures that point to four locations within 20° of the North Pole. These locations are correlated with Charles Hapgood's estimated locations of the geographic pole over the past 100,000 years. The angular distribution of our site alignments to past pole locations is consistent with orientation data collected by Gonzalez-Garcia and Sprajc. By their alignment to past poles, we hypothesize that these sites were first established by a previous (unknown) civilization that existed in this part of the world tens of thousands of years ago. Predating known history we evaluate our hypothesis in a mythological context and show that it supports an early version of the Mesoamerican legend of the Five Suns.


Eye movement deficits are frequently noted in multiple sclerosis during bedside clinical examination, but subtle dysfunction may remain undetected and might only be identified with advanced approaches. While classical neurology provides insight into the complex functional anatomy of oculomotor functions, little is known about the structural background of this dysfunction in MS. Thirty four clinically stable, treated relapsing-remitting MS patients with mild disability and 34 healthy controls were included in our study. Group difference and correlation with clinical parameters were analyzed in case of the latency, peak-velocity, gain, dysconjugacy index, and performance during a saccade and anti-saccade task. High-resolution T1 weighted, T2 FLAIR, and double inversion recovery images were acquired on 3T to evaluate the correlation between behavioral and MRI parameters, such as T2 lesion and T1 black-hole burden, global brain, gray, and white matter atrophy. VBM style analysis was used to identify the focal gray matter atrophy responsible for oculomotor dysfunction. Significantly increased latency in the prosaccade task and significantly worse performance in the anti-saccade task were found in MS patients. The detailed examination of conjugated eye movements revealed five subclinical internuclear ophthalmoparesis cases. The peak velocity and latency of the anti-saccade movement correlated with the number of black holes, but none of the eye movement parameters were associated with the T2 lesion burden or location. Global gray matter volume correlated with saccade and anti-saccade latency, whereas white matter and total brain volume did not. Local gray matter atrophy in the left inferio-parietal lobule and temporo-occipital junction correlated with anti-saccade peak velocity. Our results show that neurodegeneration-like features of the MRI (black-hole, gray matter atrophy) are the best predictors of eye movement deficit in MS. Concurring with the clinico-radiological paradox, T2 lesion burden cannot explain the behavioral results. Importantly, anti-saccade peak velocity correlates with gray matter atrophy in the left parietal regions, which are frequently implicated in attention tasks.


This study explored the relationships of serum insulin-like growth factors, IGF-I and IGF-II, and their binding proteins (IGFBP)-2 and IGFBP-3, with key clinicopathological parameters in 92 patients with colorectal cancer (cases). Comparisons were made with 57 individuals who had a normal colonoscopy (controls). Serial changes were examined in 27 cases. As IGF-related peptides are age- and sex-dependent, absolute concentrations were converted to standard deviation scores (SDS). Mean IGF-II SDS were elevated in Dukes A (n= 12P< 0.001) and Dukes B (n= 25P< 0.001) cases compared with controls, but not in advanced disease. Compared with controls, mean IGFBP-2 SDS were significantly elevated in patients with Dukes B (P< 0.001), Dukes C (n= 13P< 0.001) and advanced disease (n= 42P< 0.0001), with a significant trend from early to advanced disease (one-way ANOVAP< 0.001). Furthermore, IGFBP-2 SDS were positively related to tumour size (P= 0.01) and fell significantly in patients following curative resection (P= 0.04), suggesting that circulating levels reflect tumour load. We tested the potential tumour marker characteristics of IGFBP-2 SDS against three endpoints: metastasis alone; local pelvic recurrence alone; and metastasis and recurrence combined. The sensitivities for IGFBP-2 alone (≥ + 2SD) were modest at 55%, 46%, and 52%, but in combination with CEA, increased substantially to 90%, 77% and 86%, respectively. We conclude that the serum IGF-II and IGFBP-2 profiles may provide insights into underlying biological mechanisms, and that serum IGFBP-2 may have an adjunct role in cancer surveillance in patients with colorectal cancer. © 2000 Cancer Research Campaign


Many people, literary critics in particular, practice close reading, making annotations by hand while performing a detailed analysis of a text. Current digital tools for literary criticism, however, have many limitations with respect to annotation. In this work, we present an ethnographic study of 14 professional literary critics performing free-form annotations in the context of literary criticism, and a subsequent tool, MetaTation, for enhancing the close reading process, based on our findings. Our study revealed a set of cognitive processes supported through free-form annotation that have not previously been discussed in this context. We derived design guidelines for digital tools which augment active reading and annotation. The resulting system, MetaTation, uses an interactive pen-and-paper system with a peripheral display to provide analytic support while minimizing interference to the cognitive processes that guide the work flow. Through turning paper-based annotations into implicit queries, MetaTation provides well-organized and relevant supplemental information in a just-in-time manner.


The indiscriminate use of synthetic pesticides has brought undesired problems to human health, agriculture, and the environment. Integrated Pest Management (IPM) and Biological Control (BC) programs, which are based on minimum use of pesticides, are seen as alternative, more ecological solutions to the unintended problems associated with pesticide use. These programs combine the introduction, augmentation, and/or conservation of pest natural enemies, with other protection tools. Although patents and the process of commercialization of microorganisms has been the subject of various reviews, macroorganisms used for pest and disease control have stimulated less comprehensive analyses. From our review of patents, there has been an enormous increase in the number of macroorganism-related patents registered in the last two decades. Private companies own 65% of all these patents. Rearing methods and crop protection strategies are the main intellectual property patented, with parasitoid wasps and predatory mites being the primary Biological Control Agent (BCA) focus of patents. Among countries, Japan was the first country with these types of patents, followed by the United States, Canada and China. Increasing concern for pesticide risks by governments and the public is seen as the main impetus for change in "traditional" crop protection practices and for investment in other more ecological products like BCAs.


"A readable and much needed introduction to MDA." --Dr. Jim Arlow, coauthor of UML and the Unified Process (Addison-Wesley, 2002) and Enterprise Patterns and MDA (Addison-Wesley, 2004)"This book provides an excellent introduction to the ideas and technologies that will form the foundation of the model-driven architecture over the coming years. I recommend it wholeheartedly." --Dr. Andy Evans, Managing Director, Xactium Limited, UK"Excellent job of distilling MDA down to its core concepts." --Krzysztof Czarnecki, Univeristy of Waterloo, coauthor of Generative Programming (Addison-Wesley, 2000)As systems have grown more crucial to the operations of organizations worldwide, so too have the costs associated with building and maintaining them. Enter model-driven architecture (MDA), a standard framework from the Object Management Group (OMG) that allows developers to link object models together to build complete systems. MDA prevents design decisions from being intertwined with the application and keeps it independent of its implementation. The result is an application that can be combined with other technologies as well as other applications, and models that become highly reusable assets.MDA Distilled is an accessible introduction to the MDA standard and its tools and technologies. The book describes the fundamental features of MDA, how they fit together, and how you can use them in your organization today. You will also learn how to define a model-driven process for a project involving multiple platforms, implement that process, and then test the resulting system.MDA Distilled will help you understand: The MDA framework, including the platform-independent model (PIM) and the platform-specific model (PSM) The Meta Object Facility (MOF)--the OMG's adopted standard for metamodeling Horizontal, vertical, and merging mappings between models Building marks and marking models Elaborating models, including viewing generated models, and managing manual changes Building executable models with Executable UML Agile MDA developmentDevelopers and architects can dramatically improve productivity, portability, interoperability, and maintenance with MDA. Find out how with this essential reference, and quickly learn how to harness the significant power of this new framework.


The aim of the present special issue was to explore some recent advances in environmental biotechnology and chemistry with respect to the possibility of using bioresidues as renewable feedstock in the frame of 2nd generation biorefineries. As a matter of fact, pauperization of fossil resources is favouring the development of biorefinery platforms, where goods derive from biomass processing. Because of the ethical issues related to the use of food crops for fuel production, exploitation of organic residues present in agroindustrial, forestry, zootechnical, fishery, and municipal leftovers would enhance biorefinery competitiveness and social acceptance. This approach is referred to as "2nd generation biorefinery" and is still in its infancy, with the large majority of studies being conducted at laboratory scale and very few at pilot scale.

Among the major bioresidues/by-products generated by (agro)industries, lignocellulose is one of the cheapest and more abundant nonfood materials. It derives from plant biomass and it is made by 75% of polysaccharides, making carbohydrates an ideal basic platform for the generation of multiple products of societal and industrial interest. Lignin, another important compound of lignocellulosic-based biomass, may be also processed and/or extracted to increase the portfolio of such biorefineries. The present special issue majorly focuses on actual site lignocellulosic residues to produce either chemicals or fuels. Bioconversion of brewer spent grains (BSG) was described by R. Liguori, C. R. Soccol et al. using six Lactobacillus strains to generate lactic acid. Fermentation yields were compared with synthetic media also with respect to different pretreatments. Optimized cultivation reached as much as 22 g/L lactic acid. In P.-L. Tang et al. production of low molecular weight phenolic compounds was carried out using oil palm empty fruit bunch fiber (OPEFBF). While palm oil industry is rapidly expanding, an environmentally friendly solution to treat the lignocellulosic biowaste resulting from its processing is missing. P.-L. Tang et al. focused on the exploitation of lignin through enzymatic and chemical reactions following an alkaline pretreatment, which yielded a mixture of aromatic compounds such as hydroxybenzoic acid, vanillin, syringaldehyde, p-coumaric acid, and ferulic acid. V. Batori et al. reported on the generation of multiple products using whole stillage as renewable feedstock, a by-product from ethanol production from dry-mill grains. Edible fungi such as Neurospora intermedia and Aspergillus oryzae were used for the integrated bioconversion of this organic residue into ethanol and protein-enriched fungal biomass. Economic implications following the upgrade of the present industrial process with the proposed scheme are discussed. This study has close connections with the one by R. Liguori, E. Ionata et al. who exploited the biotechnological potential of fungal activity to produce sugars. Here, cellulolytic and hemicellulolytic enzymes (a mixture of cellulases and xylanases) from Pleurotus ostreatus were used to optimize the saccharification yields of Arundo donax biomass. The influences of temperature, pH, and time as operational parameters were investigated in a 33 factorial experimental design to find out the most critical ones. Significance of these experimental findings was described with respect to commercial enzymes. Finally, C. Nitsos et al. evaluated a number of methods to improve methane yields production by anaerobic digestion of three Mediterranean bioresidues. Pretreatment protocols applied hydrothermal, dilute acid, and steam explosion treatment to gain more energy from lignocellulosic residues such as olive tree pruning, grapevine pruning, and almond shells. Implementation of enzymatic hydrolysis was also tested for the lowest efficient treatments.

We believe that this collection of papers will be useful to people working in the area of green chemistry and biotechnology and will help to turn an environmental issue as waste disposal into a new opportunity for a sustainable biobased economy.

Alberto Scoma

Lorenzo Bertin

Maria A. M. Reis

Michael Kornaros

Marta Coma


In this research, 16 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in bread samples were simultaneously determined using microwave-assisted extraction and dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction (MAE–DLLME) coupled with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Effective parameters of MAE–DLLME were investigated and optimized using a response surface methodology based on central composite design (CCD). Under optimum conditions, linearity was obtained in the range of 1–200 ng g−1 for 16 PAHs, with a correlation coefficient (R2) better than 0.9833. The limits of detection and limits of quantitation for PAHs in real samples were over the ranges 0.1 to 0.3 ng g−1 and 0.3–1 ng g−1, respectively. The performance of the proposed method was investigated for the determination of PAHs in various bread samples and acceptable results were obtained.


In this study, POU1F1 gene polymorphism was detected in five sheep populations (large-tailed Han, small-tailed Han, Yuxi fat-tailed, Lanzhou large-tailed, and Mongolian sheep), using DNA pooling and sequencing, to provide theoretical basis for the breeding of excellent sheep varieties. Three single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) loci of POU1F1 gene were detected in five sheep populations, namely C355T (C/T), C71G (C/G), and C330G (C/G). C and T frequencies of C355T were 0.67/0.33, 0.81/0.19, 0.67/0.33, 1.00/0.00, and 0.93/0.07, respectively, in large-tailed Han, small-tailed Han, Yuxi fat-tailed, Mongolian, and Lanzhou large-tailed sheep. C of C355T locus was the dominant allele in five sheep populations. C and G allele frequencies of C330G locus were detected in Yuxi fat-tailed sheep; their frequencies were 0.75 and 0.25, respectively. C and G allele of C71G locus were only detected in Yuxi fat-tailed and large-tailed Han sheep; their frequencies were 0.87/0.13 and 0.87/0.13, respectively. The cluster analysis based on POU1F1 gene sequence showed that bactrian camel, dromedary, and wild camel clustered first, and dolphin and killer whales clustered according to taxonomy. Although the four species Tibetan antelope, buffalo, goat, and sheep were alone, they got close and the relative genetic relationship was intimate according to the dendrogram. The mutation site analysis of the POU1F1 gene in five sheep populations in this study would be favorable for uncovering the function of POU1F1 gene deeply.


Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) are developed to reduce fuel consumption and the emission of carbon dioxide. Common powertrain configurations of PHEVs (i.e., the configuration of the combustion engine, electric motor, and transmission) can be operated either in series, parallel, or power split hybrid mode, whereas powertrain configurations with multimode transmissions enable switching between those modes during vehicle operation. Hence, depending on the current operation state of the vehicle, the most appropriate mode in terms efficiency can be selected. This, however, requires an operating strategy, which controls the mode selection as well as the torque distribution between the combustion engine and electric motor with the aim of optimal battery depletion and minimal fuel consumption. A well-known approach is the equivalent consumption minimization strategy (ECMS). It can be applied by using optimizations based on a prediction of the future driving behavior. Since the outcome of the ECMS depends on the quality of this prediction, it is crucial to know how accurate the predictions must be in order to obtain acceptable results. In this contribution, various prediction methods and real-time capable ECMS implementations are analyzed and compared in terms of the achievable fuel economy. The basis for the analysis is a holistic model of a state-of-the-art PHEV powertrain configuration, comprising the multimode transmission, corresponding powertrain components, and representative real-world driving data.


Thomas Young, F.R.S., Philosopher and Physician. By F. OLDHAM. London, 1933. This monograph is an interesting account of a remarkable man. Linguist, doctor of medicine, scientist, and philosopher, he was no recluse but enjoyed riding, dancing, and social intercourse. As a teacher he was unsuccessful, the difficulties of ordinary minds being, for him, non-existent. Optics, the transmission of light, and capillarity were the subjects he studied most, especially the mechanism of the eye and the way sight is focused. He was one of the first to abandon the corpuscular theory of light in favour of the wave theory, advocating the latter in consequence of his experiments in partial reflection and "interference" of light, Having studied "interference" in water waves he perceived the similar effects in sound and light. His theories were most mercilessly attacked by the editor of the Edinburgh Review, Brougham, whom he had offended by adverse criticism. Young's dignified reply was in great contrast to Brougham's diatribes. To Egyptologists the most interesting chapter is the last, which describes Young's attempts to decipher the hieroglyphic inscription on the Rosetta Stone. In this he was aided by his knowledge of Greek. Having obtained copies of engravings of the three inscriptions, he compared them by pasting similar parts of each on parchment. Besides deciphering the names of PTOLEMY and BERENICE he reached the following conclusions: (I) That Demotic was a cursive writing of the hieroglyphics. (2) That the hieroglyphic signs were largely phonetic and could be used alphabetically. (3) That the cartouche enclosed a proper name (he did not realize it must be a royal name). (4) That the "semicircle" above an oval indicated a goddess. Champollion corrected and enlarged Young's list of alphabetical signs, and, helped by his knowledge of Coptic, he formulated the system of grammar and decipherment used to-day. In Fig. IO Young's arrangement of the last line of the Rosetta Stone only occupies the upper half. In Fig. 11 the name, Cleopatra, reads from right to left but the signs are drawn the reverse way. E. E. BoUGHEY.


We have identified a region of the human tumor necrosis factor a (TNF-a) gene promoter that is necessary for maximal constitutive, virus-induced, and lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced transcription. This region contains three sites that match an NF-KB binding-site consensus sequence. We show that these three sites specifically bind NF-icB in vitro, yet each of these sites can be deleted from the TNF-a promoter with little effect on the induction of the gene by virus or LPS. Moreover, when multimers of these three sites are placed upstream from a truncated TNF-a promoter, or a heterologous promoter, an increase in the basal level of transcription is observed that is influenced by sequence context and cell type. However, these multimers are not sufficient for virus or LPS induction of either promoter. Thus, unlike other virus- and LPS-inducible promoters that contain NF-#cB binding sites, these sites from the TNF-ai promoter are neither required nor sufficient for virus or LPS induction. Comparison of the sequence requirements of virus induction of the human TNF-a gene in mouse L929 and P388D1 cells reveals significant differences, indicating that the sequence requirements for virus induction of the gene are cell 'type-specific. However, the sequences required for virus and LPS induction of the gene in a single cell type, P388D1, overlap. The


Water meters were used to indicate milk house wastewater flow rates in the milk houses of 16 dairy operations with between 41 and 130 milking cows. Wastewater samples (7 to 21) were taken from the first septic tank providing primary treatment of the milk house water to measure pH, biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5), chemical oxygen demand (COD), total suspended solids (TSS), fats, oils and grease (FOG), total phosphorus, total Kjeldahl nitrogen (TKN), and ammonia nitrogen concentrations. Average water flow rates across the 14 dairy operations without parlors ranged from 8.6 to 35.3 L/d/cow. Milk house water use per cow per day on individual farms varied by between 146% and 400%. Overall average BOD5 concentration across all sixteen operations was 1.44 g/L while individual farm averages ranged from 0.50 to 4.52 g/L. Overall average COD concentration was 2.26 g/L; farm averages ranged from 0.72 to 6.28 g/L. Overall average TSS concentration across all operations was 686 mg/L, farm averages ranged from 181 to 1,537 mg/L. Average FOG concentration was 477 mg/L, farm averages ranged from 45 to 1,334 mg/L. Median average pH level was 6.8, farm levels ranged from 5.9 to 8.0. Average phosphorus concentration across all operations was 56 mg/L, farm averages ranged from 18 to 101 mg/L. Average TKN concentration was 81 mg/L, farm averages ranged from 33 to 179 mg/L. Average ammonia concentration was 34 mg/L, farm averages ranged from 12 to 98 mg/L. Based on these results the authors recommend using 19 L/d/cow for the design milk house wastewater flow rate for milk houses for dairy operations with 130 or fewer cows. For sizing aerobic treatment units and infiltration systems, the authors recommend using 1.5 g/L for the design effluent BOD5 concentration for a milk house only. For designing irrigation land application systems based on annual TKN and P per cow for milk house only sites, the authors recommend using 0.6 and 0.35 kg/cow/yr, respectively.


Palindromic rheumatism is a syndrome characterized by recurrent, self-resolving, and inflammatory attacks in and around the joints that have long recognized association with rheumatoid arthritis. PR attacks mostly start in small joints i.e. knees, shoulder, and small joints of the hand. Whether PR should be considered as a single disease or prodrome of RA remains a thought-provoking question. Multiple genetic and environmental factors contribute to the development of PR. Many studies have explained the relationship between a high concentration of Anti-CCP antibodies and PR. Potential benefits of Gold therapy have been recognized in literature but still, there are some questions about toxicity and efficacy that need further considerations. In addition to that anti-malarial drugs, Abatacept, Tofacitinib, and Rituximab showed the variable result in different patients and needed further study to validate their medical use. Moreover, yarrow, oat, colchicum, dill, fennel, wild rue, bitter melon, willow, garlic, and burdock seem suitable candidates to treat rheumatoid although their use in PR is still not reported. Additional experimental researches on these drugs lead to an increase in our knowledge to fight against PR in the future using novel therapeutic approaches. We have attempted to cover this topic in a chapter form to provide a comprehensive view and hope that it will serve as a reference for clinicians who treat patients with PR.


Occupational exposure to perchloroethylene (PCE) was studied in a total of 106 workers in 78 dry cleaning shops in the province of Pavia, Northern, Italy. Environmental monitoring was performed by personal passive sampling. The median time weighted average (TWA) level of PCE was 57 mg/m3, i.e., about 30% of the current Threshold Limit Value (TLV) proposed by the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH). However, in 12 workers exposure exceeded this limit. Biological monitoring was performed via measurement of urinary trichloroacetic acid (TCA), i.e. the exposure index currently used in Italy, and urinary excretion of unmodified perchloroethylene (PCE-U) in samples collected at the end of the half-shift. Median levels of TCA and PCE were 1.03 mg/l and 17.7 micrograms/l respectively. The correlation coefficient between environmental TWA concentrations of perchloroethylene and PCE-U was 0.755 (0.809 after logarithmic transformation), compared to 0.660 for TCA values. The subjects were then classified as "low exposed" and "heavily exposed" according to whether personal exposure was lower or higher than 57 mg/m3, the median TWA value of the whole group. PCE-U levels were significantly correlated to exposure in both subgroups whereas TCA was correlated only in the "heavily exposed subjects", but not in those with lower exposure. The results of the study show that in the majority of dry cleaning shops exposure to PCE was well below the current occupational limits. Nevertheless surveillance of dry cleaners is recommended as nearly 10% of the workers exceeded the environmental and biological limits. Urinary excretion of unmodified PCE appears to be a very reliable indicator for biological monitoring of PCE exposure in dry cleaning and is also significantly correlated to exposure at low levels. The estimated biological equivalent exposure level (BEEL) for PCE-U, corresponding to the current TLV-TWA proposed by the ACGIH, is 55 micrograms/l. Urinary TCA seems to be less suitable for assessment of individual exposure to perchloroethylene in dry cleaners as it is poorly representative of exposure to low levels of the solvent, which is a very common occurrence in this occupational group nowadays.


Introduction The role of inflammation in tendon injury is uncertain and is a topic of current interest.1 Injury is likely the result of damage accumulation during cyclic loading for extended periods of time. However, the role of inflammation in damage accumulation and the initiation of tendinopathy is not easily investigated in human subjects, because the affected tendons are normally only assessed when advanced tendinopathic changes have occurred. Therefore, in vitro studies of the inflammatory response to induced tendon overload damage can serve as a valuable source of information on the early stages of tendinopathy. Abstract 98 Figure 1 Typical overloaded sample (1800 cycles) showing Bright field, COX-2 and DAPI. Staining is more intense in the interfascicular matrix (IFM) than in the fascicular matrix (FM). Bar – 10 μm Methods 12 samples of fascicle bundles were dissected from three bovine extensor tendons. Samples were divided into three groups: 1. statically loaded to 2% strain for 24hrs; 2. Cyclically loaded for 300 cycles (2–12% strain; 1Hz) followed by 2% static strain for 24hrs; 3. Cyclically loaded for 1800 cycles (2–12% strain;1 Hz) followed by 2% static strain for 24hrs. Tests were performed in the same custom-made loading chambers, with samples maintained in sterile DMEM at 37 degrees. After testing, samples were snap frozen in OCT embedding medium and then three 20 μm cryo-sections cut from each sample resulting in 108 sections for immunostaining. Dual immunostaining for inflammatory markers COX-2 and IL-6 or matrix degradation markers MMP-1 and MMP-3, MMP-13 and C1,2C was performed. Sections were imaged with a confocal microscope (Leica TCS SP2) and a qualitative assessment made. Results Cyclic loading of samples resulted in visible matrix damage, with disrupted collagen fibres and fibre kinks. Damage was especially concentrated in the interfascicular matrix. Inflammatory markers were only expressed in the cyclically loaded samples, and were more highly expressed in the samples loaded for 1800 than 300 cycles. COX-2 staining appeared stronger than IL-6 staining and was localised predominantly in the interfascicular matrix, see Figure 1. Matrix degradation markers MMP-1 and C1,2C were present in statically strained control samples. Staining become increasingly intense with increasing levels of cyclic loading. In the loaded samples MMP-1 and C1,2C were co-localised in many areas, but MMP-1 staining was more intense and more diffuse than C1,2C. These stains were mainly interfascicular matrix related, but with the high loading regime, C1,2C and MMP-1 were also expressed within fascicles and associated with tenocytes. Very little MMP-3 or MMP-13 was evident in control sections. However, in loaded samples, some sections shown intensive staining of these markers, again localised to interfascicular matrix regions. Discussion This study suggests that inflammatory markers may be expressed rapidly and early after tendon overload exercise, indicating that inflammation may be an early occurrence in tendinopathy. Interestingly, both inflammation and damage-induced matrix remodelling seem to be concentrated in the interfascicular matrix. Reference 1 Dakin, et al. Vet immunol immunop. 2014;158:121–127


Background A high percentage of patients with cancer experience cognitive impairment after cancer treatment, resulting in a decreased health-related quality of life and difficulty returning to work. Consequently, there is a need for effective treatment options to improve cognitive functioning in these patients. In a healthy aging population, multidomain web-based lifestyle interventions have been found to be effective in preventing cognitive decline and improving cognitive functioning. Objective This study aims to investigate the feasibility and effectiveness of the web-based lifestyle intervention Mijn Fitte Brein (My Fit Brain [MFB]) on cognitive functioning in patients with cancer returning to work. Methods The study consists of a feasibility study (N=10), followed by a randomized controlled trial (RCT; N=220). Patients will be recruited by their occupational physicians after their return to work following cancer treatment. Mijn Fitte Brein is organized into 4-week cycles in which patients set a lifestyle goal using the Goal Attainment Scale, receive weekly tips and support, and finally evaluate whether they succeeded in achieving this goal. Lifestyle goals are based on 6 domains: physical exercise, diet, sleep, stress, alcohol use, and smoking. In the feasibility study, data on user experience (structured interview) and usability, assessed with the Post-Study System Usability Scale, will be collected and used to optimize Mijn Fitte Brein. In the RCT, patients will be randomized 1:1 between an intervention group and a control group. Patients will be assessed at baseline, 3 months, and 6 months. The primary outcome measure is subjective cognitive functioning, assessed with the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy–Cognitive Function (FACT-Cog). Secondary outcome measures are lifestyle, objective cognitive functioning, and work and psychosocial factors. Results Recruitment for the feasibility study has started in February 2020. As of July 2020, however, no patients have been enrolled (due to COVID-19 restrictions). The findings of the feasibility study will be used to optimize the Mijn Fitte Brein intervention. Enrollment for the RCT will continue when possible. The feasibility study will take 6 months (including making adjustments to the intervention), and the RCT will take 2 years. The final results are expected in 2024. The results of the feasibility study and the RCT will be published in peer-reviewed journals. Conclusions This is the first time the feasibility and efficacy of a multidomain web-based lifestyle intervention will be studied in patients with cancer. If Mijn Fitte Brein is found to be effective in decreasing cognitive complaints in these patients returning to work, it will be a promising treatment option because of being both affordable and accessible. Trial Registration Netherlands Trial Register NL8407; https://www.trialregister.nl/trial/8407 International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID) DERR1-10.2196/22670


Journal of Consciousness Exploration & Research ("JCER") is a publication in which scientists, philosophers and other learned scholars publish their research results and express their views on the the nature, origin and mechanism of consciousness. JCER is not about a particular philosophical view of consciousness nor is it focused on philosophical debates which have been done over the millenia. Rather, it is a journal mainly dedicated to the scientific studies of consciousness. JCER is published by QuantumDream, Inc. We are committed to truth and excellence at JCER.


Background The majority of scientific research data promote the idea that OP and Atherosclerosis are inter-connected via OPG system. Scientists have speculation that OPG is the molecular bond between artery hardening and bone resorbtion. Thus the mechanism explained above makes obvious the co-existence of two: Artery hardening and Osteoporosis. Objectives There are number of ongoing Clinical trials on Denosumab therapy in patients with diagnosis of Osteoporosis and Atherosclerosis. The increase of Bone mineral density is associated with less intensive hardening of arteries. This fact inspired us to study bone mass in patients with cardiovascular events and atherosclerosis. Methods 1675 men, age range 38–78 years, mean age 59±4.3 Disease duration 6,4±1,75 with the diagnosis of Atherosclerosis (revealed on coronarography, assessed lipid profile).At the moment of research Stabile Angina Pectoris (Stable Angina) found in 20% (335); unstable angina non S-T elevation in 48% (804); - Myocardial Infarction 32% (536) Bone Mass was assessed by DXA Absorbtiometry technique (Hologic 1000) using T and Z Scores (WHO 1994). As a control group 680 healthy Georgian men 40–70 age range were assessed. Results Men having atherosclerosis are rather predisposed to Osteoporosis than health individuals.In Atherosclerosis subgroup normal bone mass was measured in 23% (385.25 patients) of patients; Osteopenia was diagnosed in 19% (315.25 patients), Osteoporosis was detected in 58% (971.5%) according to T-Score SD BMD records are shown in table 1.Table 1 Stable Angina Unstable angina nont S-T Myocardial Infarction Healthy n=335 n=804 n=536 N=680 L2- L4 -2.6±11 * -2.9±1.4 ** -3.1±1.1 ** -0.6±0.2 Prox. Femur Neck -1.8±0.5* -2.6±1.4** -2.5±1.6** -1.14±0.26 Prox. Femur Total -2.7±1.48** -2.7±0.2** -2.7±1.25** -1.05±0.5 *p<0.01 **p<0.001. Conclusions 1.According to our research more than 50% of men with verified Atherosclerosis are diagnosed to have Osteoporosis 2.The lowest BMD values were observed in Lumbar Spine L1-L4, indicating that trabecular bone is more deteriorated than cortical 3.Correlation between T Score values and clinical forms of Atherosclerosis were not observed 4. The best understanding of interrelations of mechanisms could point out the right direction for the simultaneous therapy against both targets – Osteoporosis and Atherosclerosis 5. Therefore the expectation of establishing novelty direction among other subtypes of the Medical Specialties as a Preventive Gerontology can be realistic Disclosure of Interest None declared


Purpose: To evaluate the effect of stenosis nature on success of silicone intubation for nasosolacrimal duct stenosis (NLDS) in adults (patent nasolacrimal duct with resistance to positive-pressure irrigation) Methods: An interventional case series of consecutive monocanalicular and bicanalicular silicone intubation for nasolacrimal duct stenosis in adults were reviewed. The severity of the stenosis was classified by the surgeon as simple (defined as an easy passage during the probing procedure) or tight (defined as a resistance along the nasolacrimal duct with difficulty in probe passage). Treatment success was defined as the complete resolution of epiphora or intermittent epiphora with normal dye disappearance test at one year after tube removal. Results: The study were included a total of 49 eyes of 37 patients (21 females and 16 males). The mean age at the time of surgery was 49.45±19.22 years (range, 14-79 years). Simple stenosis was found in 31 eyes (63.3%) and tight stenosis was found in 18 eyes (36.7%). Treatment success was achieved in 35 of 49 eyes (71.4 %). There was a statistically insignificant increase in treatment success of intubation in tight stenosis (88.8%) compared with simple stenosis (61.2%) (p=0.05). Conclusion: Silicone intubation was more successful in eyes with tight nasolacrimal duct stenosis. However, the severity of the stenosis was not a predictive factor for intubation failure.


Hidden Markov models using Gaussian mixture models as their hidden state distributions have been successfully applied in text-dependent speaker identification applications. Nevertheless, it is well-known that Gaussian mixture models are very vulnerable to the presence of outliers in the fitting set used for their estimation. Student's-t mixture models have been proposed recently as a heavy-tailed, tolerant to outliers alternative to Gaussian mixture models. In this paper we exploit the robustness of student's-t mixture models in the context of hidden Markov models by introducing a new hidden Markov chain model where the hidden state distributions are student's-t mixture models. We experimentally show that our model outperforms competing text-dependent speaker identification techniques.


Nifedipine, a calcium channel blocker exerts significant peripheral vasodilatory activity in hypertensive patients. It has been postulated that the antihypertensive effect of peripherally acting vasodilators is masked, by counter regulatory mechanism e.g. activation of renin-angiotensin aldosterone (RAA) axis. The present work was undertaken to study the effect of blockade of RAA axis using captopril, an angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor on the blood pressure lowering activity of nifedipine. Pretreatment with captopril in a dose of 25 mg. bd was carried out for 4 weeks in one group of 10 patients before administering nifedipine 10 mg bd for 4 weeks. The other matched group of 10 patients received nifedipine alone in the same dose. It was observed that although captopril by itself had no appreciable effect on blood pressure in the dose used, it significantly enhanced the blood pressure lowering activity of nifedipine. It appears that counterregulatory mechanisms play an important role in determining the net antihypertensive effect of peripheral vasodilators.


Background Medical education is a dynamic process, which needs to be improved to meet the new expectations of medical practitioners, health workers, and communities from different countries. An important part of medical students' education is to select an appropriate assessment method. In this regard, the objective structured practical examination (OSPE) can evaluate practical capabilities in a suitable step-wise, scientific, targeted and scheduled manner with direct consideration of student's performance during programmed test stations. The purpose of this study is to investigate the outcomes of the OSPE utilization versus traditional practical examination (TPE) for evaluating students in experimental physiology. Methods Totally, 120 medical students were chosen as the participants of this study: 1. TPE group (TPE used as a final exam; n=40); 2. TPE + OSPE group (TPE applied for half of topics and OSPE for another half; n=41); and 3. OSPE group (OSPE performed as a final exam; n=39). In order to evaluate the effect of OSPE, the average final grade of studied groups was compared. In addition, a 5-point Likert scale questionnaire, consisting of 10 questions was used to evaluate the students' attitudes toward using this method. Results The obtained results showed that the total grade in TPE group was significantly higher in comparison to TPE+OSPE and OSPE groups (respectively, P<0.01 and P<0.05), while according to students' expression, the average score for all of the items in feedback questionnaire was increased significantly in TPE+OSPE and OSPE groups compared with TPE group (P<0.001). Conclusion In summary, feedback from students showed that they were in favor of OSPE compared with the TPE, and according to their statements in a feedback questionnaire, OSPE can improve learning in physiology as well as increasing students' satisfaction.


In this paper, the problems associated with accurate path tracking control in off-road conditions is addressed with model-based adaptive control. In particular, the estimation of grip conditions is investigated through the derivation of a new observer and by gathering kinematic and dynamic models into a single framework. This new reference point employs a unique observer regardless of the velocity of the robots. Previous approaches necessitated the switching of models depending upon the phenomena encountered as well as robot dynamics. The observer proposed here allows an accurate and reactive estimation of sliding. This permits to feed relevantly a control law based on an extended kinematic model, enabling accurate path tracking, even in harsh conditions and when facing significant dynamic effects such as spin around.


Increased collaboration between private firms and State Agricultural Experiment Stations (SAES) raises fears that the independence, objectivity, and credibility of SAES and their scientists may be compromised. Likewise, there is concern that public funds provided to these institutions will be expended for private gain. This paper addresses the need for, and provides examples of, increased public/private collaboration and the policies and protocols used to avoid problems.


Enhancing anonymity in the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) is much more than sealing participants' identities. It requires methods to unlink the communication parties and relax their proximity identification. These requirements should be fulfilled under several prerequisites, such as time limitation for session establishment, involvement of several functional entities for session management, inter-domain communications and support of streaming services when the session is established. In this paper we propose the usage of a privacy enhancement framework, called Mist, as a solution to the anonymity issue in SIP. For achieving anonymity, the original Mist architecture was modified to be adapted in the SIP framework. We evaluate the adapted Mist framework to SIP and measure how efficiently it supports anonymity features.


OBJECTIVE
To examine effects of a teacher consultation and coaching program delivered by school and community mental health professionals on change in observed classroom interactions and child functioning across one school year.

METHOD
Thirty-six classrooms within 5 urban elementary schools (87% Latino, 11% Black) were randomly assigned to intervention (training + consultation/coaching) and control (training only) conditions. Classroom and child outcomes (n = 364; 43% girls) were assessed in the fall and spring.

RESULTS
Random effects regression models showed main effects of intervention on teacher-student relationship closeness, academic self-concept, and peer victimization. Results of multiple regression models showed levels of observed teacher emotional support in the fall moderated intervention impact on emotional support at the end of the school year.

CONCLUSIONS
Results suggest teacher consultation and coaching can be integrated within existing mental health activities in urban schools and impact classroom effectiveness and child adaptation across multiple domains.


In 2015, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a final rule – the so-called "Clean Power Plan" – establishing emission guidelines for states to follow in regulating carbon dioxide from existing power plants. Many parties challenged the final rule in the D.C. Circuit, the only federal circuit court with jurisdiction to review such rules. Some of the challengers asked the D.C. Circuit to stay the rule pending the court's review, but the D.C. Circuit declined to do so, explaining that the challengers had not met the strict requirements for such relief. The challengers then moved on to the Supreme Court, filing five separate applications to stay EPA's rule pending judicial review in the D.C. Circuit. The applicants for a stay did not file petitions for certiorari or indicate that they intended to file petitions for certiorari, and they did not challenge the D.C. Circuit's decision denying a stay. Instead, they challenged the Clean Power Plan itself and asked that it be stayed pending initial judicial review of the rule in the D.C. Circuit. The Court's orders granting the stay ran directly to EPA's rule, not to any judicial decision. In staying EPA's Clean Power Plan, the Supreme Court for the first time stopped a nationally applicable agency regulation prior to an initial decision on the merits of the rule in a lower court. Equally notable, it appears that the Court may have used its general equitable authority, not to respond to a potentially erroneous decision from an inferior court, but to directly order the federal executive branch to stand down. In granting the stay, the Court likely doubled down on a set of highly problematic interpretive principles it has embraced in recent Terms and accepted a disquietingly broad view of the nature of the harm justifying a stay. The Court declined to follow any of the readily available and more deliberative procedural pathways to a decision of this consequence. The five justices who voted for the stay declined even to explain their decision, offering instead only five terse, identically worded orders in response to five differently argued applications for a stay. Having aggressively inserted themselves into one of the most intense legal and political battles of the day, the justices then sidled away, leaving advocates, the public, and the lower court that is now reviewing the merits of EPA's rule to guess at the basis for, and even the scope of, the Court's order. The Supreme Court had better choices than this. It could have, most simply, declined to grant the stay on the merits. It could have, as it has done in every other case it has faced involving a challenge to an agency rule, waited for an initial decision on the merits of the rule in a lower court before entering the fray. It could have treated the applications for a stay as petitions for certiorari and granted review on the question whether the D.C. Circuit had erred in declining to stay the Clean Power Plan. At the very least, it could have followed a more careful and illuminating process in acting on the stay. By far the soundest option was to decline to grant the stay. But any one of the other alternatives would have been an improvement on the Court's unprecedented and precipitous action.


Water distribution systems are seeing the increased deployment of new technologies that use Internet of Things (IoT) to gather, analyse and extract useful information from data; further enabling Smart Water Networks (SWNs). IoT type technologies have a huge potential to enable more efficient water resources management. Heterogeneous IoT sensors/devices/technologies from different vendors are starting to be employed in SWNs. The deployment of IoT sensors is a critical issue that significantly affects a wireless sensors network's real-time monitoring performance. The aim of the deployment of IoT sensors (i.e. nodes) for wireless networks is to find the most efficient number, type and locations of sensors that enable satisfying a SWN's hydraulic and water quality requirements (among the others) while considering issues such as energy consumption of the nodes and coverage of the target monitoring area, to mention just a few. This paper provides an overview of the SWN architecture and its components and scrutinises emerging sensor and communication technologies for developing SWNs focussing on the sensing and control, and collection and communication layers of the SWN architecture. Additionally, it presents a selective review of recent literature on issues related to the intelligent deployment of sensors in wireless sensors networks and on sensors deployment for water quality and leak detection/localisation applications in SWNs. The main aim of the literature review carried out and presented here has been to highlight the main challenges of developing IoT-enabled SWNs, so that interesting future research directions for achieving a context-aware IoT framework for SWNs can be identified.


This paper describes and considers explanations for changes in corporate governance and merger activity in the United States since 1980. Corporate governance in the 1980s was dominated by intense merger activity distinguished by the prevalence of leveraged buyouts (LBOs) and hostility. After a brief decline in the early 1990s, substantial merger activity resumed in the second half of the decade, while LBOs and hostility did not. Instead, internal corporate governance mechanisms appear to have played a larger role in the 1990s. We conclude by considering whether these changes and the movement toward shareholder value are likely to be permanent.


The design presented in this article is dedicated to end-fire antennas with a modulated surface-wave structure fed by a dipole or crossed dipole. For short, these are herein called modulated end-fire antennas. The studies were carried out with a modulated corrugated-rod (disks attached to a metal rod) surface-wave structure. The results obtained may be applied to other types of surface-wave structures, such as dielectric on a metal rod or dipole. The length of the investigated antennas ranged between 1.5lambda and 4.5lambda . The increase in directivity obtained was between 5 dB and 3.5 dB, compared to ordinary non-modulated end-fire antennas with the same lengths.


We demonstrate a significant improvement in the quality factor (Q) of film bulk acoustic resonators (FBARs) in liquid environments via the integration of microfluidic channels. Our device consists of a longitudinal-mode excited zinc oxide (ZnO) FBAR and parylene-encapsulated microfluidic channels. Considerable enhancement in the Q of the resonant system is obtained by confining the liquid in the microfluidic channels of thickness comparable to the acoustic wavelength. The improved FBAR achieves Q values of up to 120, which represents an improvement of a factor of eight over those of current state-of-the-art devices.


Control of the time duration of a laser pulse as it focuses spatially in a material provides a means for delaying the onset of nonlinear effects during propagation. We investigate simultaneous space-time focusing (SSTF) of femtosecond radially-chirped annular pulses in Kerr dielectrics. The energy and temporal chirp of pulses incident upon a grating-grating-lens system are varied in simulations that solve the unidirectional pulse propagation equation. This system is modeled by inserting transformations that act on the electric field obtained from propagation from one component to the next. The propagation is coupled to the time evolution of the free charge density as a function of space. The resulting "ionization tracks" are taken as a metric for predicting material modification and/or damage in bulk fused silica. As expected from linear-optical considerations, the temporal pre-chirp determines the overall pulse duration as the focusing annulus closes. We find in addition that, for a given pulse energy, the temporal pre-chirp also determines the on-axis intensity distribution as energy collapses onto the propagation axis. This effect determines how the local ionization-induced decrease in refractive index shifts energy in time relative to energy arriving on-axis from the spatially collapsing beam. The magnitude of the pre-chirp can thus control the spatial structure of ionization that may lead to material modification and/or damage.


The effect of pressing on temperature dependences of electrical conductivity σ(T) and thermoelectric power (Seebeck effect) S of single‐walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) transparent films on polyester substrate has been studied. σ(T) has been described by the fluctuation‐induced tunneling model (FIT) conductance in the temperature range 20–298 K. At a temperature T < 20 K, three‐dimensional variable range hopping conductivity (VRHC) has been observed. Based on the estimation of current concentration n ≈1020 cm−3 from VRHC dependence, it has been found that metallic SWCNTs have made the main contribution to conductivity at T < 20 K. The value n obtained from S has been similar to the value obtained from VRHC estimation. The energy barrier between SWCNTs has been changed by pressing of films. Such pressing has led to increase in the electrical conductivity of the film by two orders of magnitude at room temperature. The measurement of conductivity in the process of synthesis has allowed us to control the repeatability of results and select samples with the necessary resistance values. Raman and optical spectroscopy, SEM and TEM have been used to determine the structural and geometric characteristics of the SWCNTs.


The requirement for gluconeogenesis and the pentose phosphate pathway in sporulation of Saccharomyces cerevisiae was investigated using homozygous diploids with mutations in selected portions of the respective metabolic pathways. Mutations affecting the genes FBA1 (fructose-1,6-bisphosphate aldolase), GPM1 (phosphoglycerate mutase) and ZWF1 (glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase) were used. Homozygous diploids bearing either fba1-11 or gpm1 mutations were asporogenous, indicating an absolute requirement for gluconeogenesis in sporulation. A strain homozygous for the zwf1 mutation sporulated, but at a reduced level compared to the wild-type. Homozygous spd1-1 mutations restored the ability to sporulate in fba1-11 homozygous diploids; this is believed to occur as a consequence of reduced NH+4 levels in spd1-1-bearing strains, the reduced intracellular NH+4 content serving to promote gluconeogenesis via the residual low levels of enzyme activity present in such mutants.


Author(s): Amirbekian, Bagrat | Advisor(s): Henry, Roland G | Abstract: Diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (dMRI) allows us to noninvasively investigate the microstructural properties of brain tissue, and reconstruct the axonal pathways that connect distant brain regions. This enables us to infer the biological processes that give rise to thought and consciousness. However, despite significant advances in both imaging technology and computing power, our ability to estimate connectivity in a single subject using dMRI data remains quite limited. Barriers to accurate single subject estimates include poor accuracy and reproducibility of both fiber tracking and diffusion modeling results, and a difficulty in reproducing the methods of other researchers in this field. As a result, studies using different dMRI methods have drawn conflicting conclusions about the same biological systems. To overcome these barriers, I first present a technique to estimate the noise in dMRI data and show that this measure is a strong indicator of the reproducibility of dMRI measurements. Software engineering principles, such as modularization and thorough testing, were implemented and made publicly available in an open source library called Dipy. By providing a single platform where tools and methods from different developers can be implemented using shared constructs and made publicly available to users, Dipy aims to help the community more easily reproduce the findings of other researchers. In the last section of this work, I use these modeling and fiber tracking tools to reconstruct whole brain networks for individual subjects in a large population. The white matter tissue properties projected onto these networks show that regional differences in white matter integrity are strongly associated with body mass index in young, healthy individuals. This association helps explain the reduced cognitive ability in individuals with higher BMI. This study demonstrates the power of using single subject connectivity networks when studying the human brain and its role in health outcomes. In order to fully unlock the potential of dMRI imaging, methods development needs to continue to focus on improving the reproducibility and accuracy of dMRI studies.


Long-term studies are essential to understanding the effects of urbanization on wetlands and the effectiveness of management actions. Using data from the National Wetlands Inventory (NWI) in combination with GIS analyses and field surveys, we tracked changes over 16 years (1982 –1998) in small (<-2 ha), palustrine emergent/open water wetlands (PEM/POW) in Portland, Oregon, USA. Wetlands identified on NWI maps and that had not been converted to other land uses at the time of the 1992 survey were surveyed in 1998. Data were collected on 164 of the 171 wetlands in the target population. Despite development pressure throughout the 1990s, loss of small PEM/POW wetlands slowed between 1992 and 1998, with only 6% of the sites being destroyed as compared to 40% between 1982 and 1992. Of 11 sites that were not identifiable due to drought in 1992, eight had recovered with the return of typical rainfall, three had been destroyed. Most of the wetlands existing in 1998 were in hydrogeomorphic (HGM) classes atypical to the region due to human manipulation. Hydrologic modifications were observed on 60% of the sites, but on-site disturbances like mowing, dumping, and trail building had decreased since the 1992 survey. Over the time period studied, land uses adjacent to the study sites shifted from undeveloped and agricultural to urban and residential use. Reflecting the common occurrence of on- and off-site stressors and modifications, we rated the condition of only 11% of the sites as good, with 46% fair and 43% poor. Our results demonstrate the utility of combining field surveys with GIS analyses to track the status of wetland resources over time. The next challenge is to use such data to develop strategies to manage urban wetlands in ways that maintain and ultimately improve the condition of the resource.


Lipoma arborescens is a rare intraarticular lesion characterized by diffuse replacement of the subsynovial tissue by mature fat cells, producing villous transformation of the synovium. The etiology of this benign condition is unknown. The most typical site of involvement is the knee, most notably at the suprapatellar pouch, although other joints can be affected. Symptoms consist of gradual joint swelling, variable pain, motion range restriction, and intermittent joint effusions or bleeding. We report a case of lipoma arborescens and discuss the clinical features, diagnosis, and treatment of this disorder based on a literature review. Although it is rare, lipoma arborescens should be included in the differential diagnosis of patients with chronic joint swelling or hemarthrosis.


This article analyses how the Australian current affairs programme, Four Corners, which follows a style modelled on the BBC programme Panorama, has represented Australian military history in two of its programmes, Gallipoli: The Fatal Shore and No Prisoners on Australian deserters at the fall of Singapore. Chris Masters was the reporter on both programmes. These historical documentaries claim to investigate Australian Anzac mythology. Four Corners is noted for its rigorous pursuit of issues in current affairs. Programmes construct argument that the journalists steadfastly pursue in order to 'expose the truth'. Rather than neutrally representing both sides of a debate, the programmes tend to take the side that the journalists perceive to be in the public interest. Examining how Four Corners has applied its own style of investigative journalism to the Anzac mythology is explored by outlining whether the programmes follow Ken Burn's ideas of documentary-makers as 'tribal story-teller' crafting stories that uphold national identity or Bill Nichols' view that documentary is an argument that is representative of reality rather than reflects reality. Examining the history of Gallipoli and the fall of Singapore in the Four Corners programmes tends suggest that the journalists working on the programmes preferred to reaffirm the assumptions of the Anzac legend, but attack or ignore historians and evidence that questions it. The programmes appear to be a mixture of Burns's and Nichols' ideas of documentary making.


In this prospective, longitudinal study, the relative impact of intracranial hemorrhage and prolonged mechanical ventilation on developmental progress during the first 18 months of life of infants weighing 1,200 g or less at birth was examined. A total of 159 surviving infants were divided into two groups: infants with and those without intracranial hemorrhage. These groups were then subdivided into groups of infants receiving prolonged mechanical ventilation (greater than 21 days) and those mechanically ventilated for 21 days or less, thus creating four subgroups. Group 1 (intracranial hemorrhage and prolonged mechanical ventilation) and group 3 (intracranial hemorrhage and no prolonged mechanical ventilation) showed no statistically significant differences for severity of intracranial hemorrhage, persistence of ventriculomegaly, or presence of periventricular leukomalacia. A repeated-measures analysis of variance demonstrated a main effect for prolonged mechanical ventilation on outcome as measured by the Bayley Mental Development Index and Bayley Psychomotor Development Index at 4, 8, 12, and 18 months of age (corrected for prematurity). Forward stepwise regression revealed prolonged mechanical ventilation to the best predictor of Bayley indexes at all ages except 4 months of age, for which the Psychomotor Development Index was best predicted by length of hospitalization. No main effect for intracranial hemorrhage was demonstrated, but the motor performance of infants with intracranial hemorrhage declined significantly with age. By contrast prolonged mechanical ventilation was associated with uniformly poor performance at every age and serves as a powerful marker for poor developmental progress during the first 18 months of life in infants weighing 1,200 g or less at birth.


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Ageratum conyzoideshas been utilized by herbal medicine practitioners in Eastern Nigeria intreatment and management of several disorders, such as; diabetes, inflammations, spasm, headaches, cancers, among others. The basis of these applications has not been well investigated. This present research studied the phytochemical, proximate, mineral and vitamin composition of leaves and roots of the plant.The chemical analyses were done according to standard procedures. Alkaloids, flavonoids, saponins, tannins, cardiac glycosides and anthraquinones were detected in both samples, while terpenoids were present in the leaves only. The values of these phytochemicals in the leaves were significantly higher (P<0.05) than those in the roots. Proximate analysis indicated that the leaves containedash (12.64%), crude fat (2.27%), fiber (23.50%), moisture (10.02%), crude protein (14.73%) andcarbohydrate (36.84%), while ash (16.95%), crude fat (2.01%), fiber (26.74%), moisture (13.35%), crude protein (9.89%) and carbohydrate (31.06%) were found in the roots. Na, K, Ca, Mg, P, Zn, Mn and Fe were present in the leaves and roots and their concentrations in roots were significantly higher (P<0.05) than in leaves. Both samples were found to contain vitamins B , B , C, E, thiamin 2 6 and niacin. Their values in the leaves did notdiffer significantly (P> 0.05) from those in roots. These chemical constituents of leaves and roots of Ageratum conyzoidesmay be responsible their applications in treatment and management of various disorders.


Photoacoustic imaging is a new non-destructive medical imaging technology based on photoacoustic effect. It can reflect the difference of light absorption energy by detecting photoacoustic signal. At present, the analysis methods of photoacoustic signals in biological tissues can be divided into two categories, namely, time-domain analysis of signals and frequency-domain analysis of signals. In time domain analysis, the envelope of the received photoacoustic signal is usually used to reconstruct the image. However, due to the influence of various external factors, the time domain signal cannot accurately reflect the characteristics of the absorber itself. Here, photoacoustic spectrum analysis was performed by using k-Wave to obtains the relationship between the structure, size, density of the absorber and the photoacoustic spectrum. Firstly, the relationship between the size of absorber and the photoacoustic spectrum is studied, and the slope and intercept are used to analyze the spectrum. Conversely, the relationship was used to predict the size of the absorber Finally, we used this relationship to predict the size of blood vessels.


Brain-Computer  Interface  (BCI)  enables  users  to interact with  a  computer  only  through  their  brain  biological signals,  without  the  need to  use  muscles.  BCI  is  an emerging research  area  but  it  is  still  relatively  immature. However,  it  is important  to  reflect  on  the  different aspects of  the  Human-Computer  Interaction  (HCI)  area  related to BCIs,  considering that BCIs will be part of interactive systems in the near future. BCIs most attend not only to handicapped users, but also healthy ones, improving interaction for end-users. Virtual Reality (VR) is also an important part of interactive systems, and combined with BCI could greatly enhance user interactions, improving the user experience  by  using  brain  signals  as  input  with  immersive environments  as  output.  This  paper  addresses  only  noninvasive BCIs, since this kind of capture is the only one to not present risk to human health. As contributions of this work we highlight the survey of interactive systems based on BCIs focusing on HCI and VR applications, and a discussion on challenges and future of this subject matter.


Sucrase-isomaltase (SI), a gene expressed exclusively in absorptive enterocytes, was used to examine the molecular mechanisms that regulate cell-specific gene expression in the intestinal epithelium. Transgenic mice were made with a construct containing nucleotides -8,500 to +54 of the mouse SI gene linked to a human growth hormone reporter gene. In adult transgenic animals, high-level transgene expression was limited to the small intestine, with low levels of ectopic expression in the colon. In contrast to the endogenous gene that is expressed only in enterocytes, the transgene was expressed in all four cell lineages, including enterocytes, enteroendocrine, goblet, and Paneth cells. To examine this process of lineage-specific expression further we studied Caco-2 and COLO DM cell lines, which model enterocytes and enteroendocrine cells, respectively. Reminiscent of results in transgenic animals, only Caco-2 cells transcribed the endogenous SI gene, whereas both Caco-2 and COLO DM cells supported transcription from chimeric SI reporter gene constructs. Taken together, these data suggest that each intestinal cell lineage has the cellular machinery to transcribe the SI gene. Moreover, these findings imply that transcription is normally repressed in nonenterocytic cells, possibly via a transcriptional silencer residing outside of the region of the SI gene examined in these studies.


The explanation is assumed as an essential feature of political studies as a special genre of political discourse. Two explanatory models, which have been developed in institutional political studies, are discussed in the article. Rational choice institutionalism and sociological institutionalism differ fundamentally in the understanding of social reality and the nature of social institutions. Deductive-nomological model inherent in rational choice institutionalism meets the requirements of logical positivism to a greater extent. Studied phenomenon is explained by applying general laws to it, i.e. by showing what happens in accordance with these laws in certain conditions. At the same time, such an explanatory model reveals some limitations. Firstly, "universalist claims", which are inherent in rational choice institutionalism, fall under suspicion. Another serious problem is the inability to explain the phenomenon of rationality as such. Finally, the phenomenon of rationality requires taking into account the social context, since the explanation based on rationality is not just a logical abstraction suitable for any empirical material. On the contrary, it is suitable for the specific social context in which people act rationally. Sociological institutionalism uses such explanatory models as categorial schemes that are muchmore flexible in comparison with deductive-nomological logic. They allow us to specify the concepts used, split them, if necessary, into several components as well as to enter new concepts that fix those phenomena of empirical reality that previously were not perceived as significant ones.


We study the stability of the Wilson-Fisher fixed point of the quantum O(2N) vector model to quenched disorder in the large-N limit. While a random mass is strongly relevant at the Gaussian fixed point, its effect is screened by the strong interactions of the Wilson-Fisher fixed point. This enables a perturbative renormalization group study of the interplay of disorder and interactions about this fixed point. We show that, in contrast to the spiralling flows obtained in earlier double-e expansions, the theory flows directly to a quantum critical point characterized by finite disorder and interactions. The critical exponents we obtain for this transition are in remarkable agreement with numerical studies of the superfluid-Mott glass transition. We additionally discuss the stability of this fixed point to scalar and vector potential disorder and use proposed boson-fermion dualities to make conjectures regarding the effects of weak disorder on dual Abelian Higgs and Chern-Simons-Dirac fermion theories when N = 1.


The current investigation was directed to analyze environmental education and practices in curriculum adopted in Pakistan, Turkey, and Canada at the primary level. For this purpose, General Science textbooks of the public schools in Ontario (Canada), Istanbul (Turkey), and Rawalpindi (Pakistan) were explored and their practical implementation was studied as primary data for the year 2008-2015. A close content analysis of the inscribed curriculum revealed that over time, Canada has taken significant steps to incorporate the elements of environmental awareness as their curricula and trained the teachers to deal effectively with environmental education, leading to creating awareness in problems and their solution among children regarding concepts of waste management, littering and sustainability. Topics related to awareness about reducing, recycle, reuse, and ecosystems were a vital part of the environmental curriculum and practices in Turkey. Exploring climate change and the environment was found to be part of the Science curriculum in Pakistan. However, the practical activities regarding environmental education were relatively less in Pakistan as the implementation of the curriculum is not in its mature stages. Comparison of the study reveals that incorporating environmental projects benefitting from national and international organizations in Pakistan would help as they have contributed constructively in creating awareness in the education sector in Turkey and Canada.


Generating and representing human behavior are of major importance for various computer vision applications. Commonly, human video synthesis represents behavior as sequences of postures while directly predicting their likely progressions or merely changing the appearance of the depicted persons, thus not being able to exercise control over their actual behavior during the synthesis process. In contrast, controlled behavior synthesis and transfer across individuals requires a deep understanding of body dynamics and calls for a representation of behavior that is independent of appearance and also of specific postures. In this work, we present a model for human behavior synthesis which learns a dedicated representation of human dynamics independent of postures. Using this representation, we are able to change the behavior of a person depicted in an arbitrary posture, or to even directly transfer behavior observed in a given video sequence. To this end, we propose a conditional variational framework which explicitly disentangles posture from behavior. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach on this novel task, evaluating capturing, transferring, and sampling fine-grained, diverse behavior, both quantitatively and qualitatively. Project page is available at https://cutt.ly/5l7rXEp


Since the global financial crisis, there has been renewed focus on the analysis of sys-
temic risk. Systemic risk refers to possibility that vulnerabilities across the financial
system and between the financial system and the real economy will be triggered. As
a result, intermediation activities may be curtailed and a financial crisis may occur.
There are a number of aspects to systemic risk and related financial stability analy-
sis. First, imbalances and risk can accumulate in both the financial system and in the
composition of economic activity during an economic upswing, due to either adverse
incentives or myopia by economic agents. Second, macro-financial linkages and conta-
gion channels between financial intermediaries not only amplify potential risk during
the boom period, but also exacerbate the economic impact when the cycle turns, or if
there is an adverse shock. This thesis focuses on two current issues in financial stabil-
ity research for the banking sector, namely the analysis of bank funding risk during a
financial crisis and the detection of unsustainable property price movements. Funding
risk and asset price bubbles, particularly in the commercial real estate market played
a significant role in the origins of both the Irish and the global financial crisis. Across
three chapters, this thesis presents original research on these topics using Irish data
as a statistical example.
Chapter one examines the determinants of weekly corporate deposit levels in Irish
banks over the period March 2009 to August 2010. This sample includes the early
stages of the Irish banking crisis, which began in 2008. The global financial crisis
resulted in Irish banks experiencing more acute funding dificulties than institutions
elsewhere. Using a unique high-frequency database and drawing on both the financial
crisis and market discipline literature, the sensitivity of corporate depositors to move-
ments in both idiosyncratic and systemic risk factors is tested. There is statistical
evidence that measures of risk for the Irish banking sector such as implied ratings and
credit default swap spreads can explain corporate deposit levels over the sample, val-
idating the market discipline hypothesis. These results further provide an empirical
link between counter-party credit risk and bank funding risks. Additionally, tensions
in European inter-bank markets are found to negatively impact corporate deposits
indicating contagion channels between funding markets during periods of systemic
stress. The empirical relationship between daily corporate and retail deposits is also
examined. Although retail deposit flows move in the same direction as corporate de-
posits, retail deposits appear to exhibit relatively higher inertia up to August 2010.
Chapter one has been re-drafted from a co-authored policy-orientated research paper
with Kieran McQuinn which is available as a Central Bank of Ireland Research Tech-
nical Paper (No.2/12) entitled "Modelling the corporate deposits of Irish financial
institutions: 2009-2010".
Expanding the dataset to early-2014, chapter two models the dynamic behaviour
of weekly customer deposits (i.e., both retail and corporate) held with Irish banks over
the period March 2009 to end-December 2013 using an ARDL(1,1) - GARCH(1,1)
framework. Over the sample, which covers the Irish systemic banking crisis, weekly
customer deposit flows are found to respond to measures of banking sector and
sovereign risk which is consistent with the theory of market discipline among de-
positors. Although the data cover resident and non-resident depositors, idiosyncratic
and Irish-specific risk factors seem to have more explanatory power for deposit growth.
Indicators of general stress in international financial markets are found to be statisti-
cally insignificant. Once market-based risk factors are included in the model, no direct
macro-economic infuence is found. Over the sample, statistical evidence of a regime
shift is found, with deposits switching from a high variance regime to a low variance
regime with the onset of an EU/ECB/IMF Programme of assistance for Ireland in
early-December 2010. Interestingly, evidence of a GARCH-in-Mean effect indicates
that the conditional variance of customer deposits negatively affects deposit growth
rates over the sample. An adverse reaction to risk as proxied by the conditional
volatility would be consistent with fight-to-quality theories of deposit behaviour.
Chapter three analyses price developments in the Irish commercial property mar-
ket over the period 1985Q1 to 2012Q4 using time-series techniques. First, three dif-
ferent statistical approaches are used to test if prices can be explained by fundamental
determinants such as income, interest rates and credit. Evidence of some deviations
between actual and fundamental prices over the sample period is found. Second, two
popular models of price misalignment from the stock price literature are used to test
whether these estimated misalignments between actual prices and fundamentals (i.e.,
non-fundamental prices) suggest that there is an irrational fad or a rational bubble in
Irish commercial property prices over the period under study. To distinguish between
these two models, regime switching methodology is used. The study funds evidence
of a number of periods where commercial property prices deviate from fundamentally
determined values for a sustained period. The periods of estimated misalignment are
found to be broadly consistent across the various approaches. In testing between a
rational bubble and the irrational fad hypothesis, evidence of regime shifts over the
sample provide some support for the presence of a bubble. However, the point es-
timates of expected returns in each regime are not fully in-line with the theoretical
predictions of the rational bubble theory. Therefore, the results are not conclusive in
favour of the rational bubble hypothesis.


Universal Design for Learning (UDL) aims to increase accessibility to learning by extending the concepts of Universal Design (UD). UD arose in the field of architecture and suggests that one can increase the accessibility of an architectural feature if certain considerations are made to the design of that feature prior to its construction. The essence of UDL is to extend accessibility of a learning module to the largest possible group of learners by considering particular design principles prior to construction of that learning module. This paper describes an experiment in which UDL principles were applied in a "treatment" section of a graduate management information systems course but not in an identical "control" section of the same course. The paper methodology section opens with a list of specific classroom actions that support UDL principles, and continues with descriptions of the experiment and data analysis, then a discussion, and finally some conclusions.


The literature on childhood cancer provides a very limited understanding of healthy siblings' perceptions of supportive interventions during the childhood cancer experience. The purpose of this article is to discuss the development of the Nurse-Sibling Social Support Questionnaire (NSSSQ). Instrument methodology for the study involved item development, face and content validation, and internal consistency reliability as described by Hockenberry-Eaton, Manteuffel, and Bottomley (1997). Item development for the research instrument evolved from an extensive review of the literature and clinical experience of the principal investigator. Content validity of the instrument was accomplished by five experienced pediatric oncology nurses according to the methodology described by Lynn (1986). Using the content validity index, each nurse rated each item as either 4 or 5, indicating 100% agreement among experts that these items measured the concept of social support. Readability for the instrument was determined by using a computerized program. Results showed that readability was concordant with the grade school level for all items. Twenty-five school-age siblings of children with cancer and their mothers were asked to complete the questionnaire. Instrument completion was accomplished in less than 1 hour. The NSSSQ showed high internal consistencies (alpha coefficients > .90). Results indicated that siblings' perceptions of social support differed from those of their mothers. Siblings perceive emotional and instrumental support as greater in importance, whereas mothers perceive emotional and informational support as more beneficial to siblings. Support issues for siblings of children with cancer have been difficult to assess because of the lack of appropriate instruments. This study finding provides exploratory evidence to suggest that the new instrument can help measure siblings' perceptions of social support during the childhood cancer experience. © 2000 by Association of Pediatric Oncology Nurses