This research examines how the situational accessibility of distinct self-views influences the persuasiveness of extrinsic popularity information used in advertising. Two studies provide initial support for the hypothesis that the accessibility of different types of selfviews affects how people interpret extrinsic brand popularity information used in advertising. Study 1 showed that the more individuals were accessible with interdependent selfviews, they were more likely to favorably evaluate a brand presented with extrinsic popularity information in advertising. Study 2 showed that individuals with interdependent self-views were more likely to favorably evaluate a brand presented with extrinsic popularity information than individuals with independent self-views. Conceptual Framework Prior work has suggested that consumers use the relative brand popularity as a positive indicator of the brand's quality (Dean 1999; Huang and Chen 2006; Szymanski, Bharadwaj, and Varadarajan 1993). However, while brand popularity information has been frequently incorporated into advertising as a common practice for companies (Dean 1999), the effect of distinct self-views on the persuasiveness of extrinsic brand popularity information is yet to be clearly understood. Therefore, this research examines how the situational accessibility of distinct self-views influences the persuasiveness of extrinsic popularity information used in advertising. In this research, I propose that, due to different types of goals associated with distinct self-views, consumers with interdependent self-views are more likely to favorably evaluate a brand presented with extrinsic popularity information than consumers with independent self-views. 982 / WORKING PAPERS The distinction between the interdependent and independent self-views has been made through the different types of conflicted structure of goals (Singelis 1994; Triandis 1989). Individuals with interdependent self-views tend to be more sensitive to situations and social contexts and contingent upon the feelings, thoughts, and behavior of others (Kanagawa, Cross, and Markus 2001). The goals of individuals with dominant interdependent self-views are flexibility and variability to be connected with and belonged to others. Thus, those with interdependent self-views show greater relationship-relevant self-view tendencies enacting appropriate behaviors based on others' views, fostering harmony and fitting in with others. Since interconnectedness with and belongingness to others are the central focus of individuals with interdependent self-views (Kitayama et al. 1997), these individuals are more likely to hold a flexible and variant selfview to conform to situational and contextual norms (Kim and Markus 1999) and act in accordance with behaviors and decisions of others over their internal, personal attributes or characteristics (Markus and Kitayama 1991; Signelis 1994; Stapel and Koomen 2001). In contrast, the goals of individuals with dominant independent self-views are uniqueness, individuality, autonomy, assertiveness, and independence distinctly separate from others (Aaker and Lee 2001). Thus, individuals with independent self-views tend to be more autonomous and invariant across situations and social contexts, and more focus on their own feelings and thoughts. Therefore, those with independent self-views show greater relationship-irrelevant self-view tendencies to accentuate self-related features and minimize the influence of others, resulting in emphasizing uniqueness, separateness, and distinctness of individuals (Baaren et al. 2003). Since expressions of one's unique, personal attributes are the main focus of individuals with independent self-views, these individuals are more likely to hold a bounded, stable and invariant self-view to pursue individualized internal characteristics and attributes that are clearly distinguished from others. The preceding discussions suggest that the impact of extrinsic brand popularity information should vary based on relative accessibility of interdependent versus independent self-views, due to goal (in)compatibility between different types of self-views and extrinsic brand popularity information. Specifically, I predict that consumers with interdependent self-views should interpret extrinsic brand popularity information as values by which they can harmoniously fit in with others and maintain interconnections with and belongingness to others (Aaker and Lee 2001). In contrast, consumers with independent self-views should interpret a brand with extrinsic popularity information less favorably than consumers with interdependent self-views, because their goals characterized with being unique, distinct, separate, and different from others (Aaker and Lee 2001; Singelis 1994; Triandis 1989) are not compatible with values extrinsic brand popularity information represent. Therefore, I hypothesize that the more consumers are accessible with interdependent self-views, the more they will favorably evaluate a brand presented with extrinsic brand popularity information (study 1). I also hypothesize that individuals with interdependent self-views will be more likely to favorably evaluate a brand presented with extrinsic brand popularity information in advertising than individuals with independent self-views (study 2). Study 1 To test H1, the extent of interdependent self-views was measured by instructing participants to write down short stories about similarities they have with family members or friends (Trafimow, Triandis, and Goto 1991). Then they were asked to indicate the degree to which they focused on others than selves (Lee, Aaker, and Gardner 2000) on a seven-point scale (1=not at all, 7=very much). Participants, were then asked to review the 2008 Tiburon GS print ad presented with extrinsic popularity information (i.e., the bestselling car! 89% of consumers who reviewed 2008 Tiburon GS selected this car) and indicate their favorability toward the brand on a seven-point scale (1=very unfavorable, 7=very favorable). As predicted, the results showed that the more participants were assessable with interdependent self-views, they were more likely to favorably evaluate a brand presented with extrinsic brand popularity information in advertising (F(1, 96)=6.618, p=.012). Study 2 In study 2, interdependent versus independent self-views were manipulated. Participants were asked to think about how they are similar to (interdependent) or different from (independent) family members or friends and write down short stories about their thoughts (Trafimow, Triandis, and Goto 1991). The procedure to measure brand favorability was similar to study 1. The results showed marginally significant effect of different types of self-views on the persuasiveness of extrinsic brand popularity information. Participants with interdependent self-views were more likely to favorably evaluate a brand presented with extrinsic popularity information than participants with independent self-views (Minter= 5.12 vs. Mindep=4.75, t(98)=1.804, p=.074). Results and Discussion These results are consistent with the previous findings showing that people tend to more focus on features, benefits, and values which are compatible with their goals of self-views (Aaker and Lee 2001; Gardner, Pickett, and Brewer 2000). Two studies reported here provide initial evidence that different types of self-views affect how consumers interpret extrinsic popularity information used in advertising. Distinct self-views encourage consumers to have different perspectives on goal pursuit (Aaker and Lee 2001; Lee, Aaker, and Gardner 2000) and then seek values and benefits which is consistent with their goals of self-views, which in turn affects their attitudes toward the brands shown in advertising. References Aaker, Jennifer L. and Angela Y. Lee (2001), " 'I' Seek Pleasures and 'We' Avoid Pains: The Role of Self-Regulatory Goals in Information Processing and Persuasion," Journal of Consumer Research, 28 (June), 33-49. Barren, Rick B., William W. Maddux, Tanya L. Chartrand, Cris de Bouter, and Ad van Knippenberg (2003), "It Takes Mimic: Behavioral Consequences of Self-Construals," Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84(5), 1093-1102. Dean, Dwane Hal (1999), "Brand Endorsement, Popularity, and Event Sponsorship as Advertising Cues Affecting Consumer PrePurchase Attitudes," Journal of Advertising, 28(3), 1-12.


37 Accurate quantification of below-ground biomass (BGB) of woody vegetation is critical to 38 understanding ecosystem function and potential for climate change mitigation from sequestration 39 of biomass carbon. We compiled 2 054 measurements of individual tree and shrub biomass from 40 across a broad range of ecoregions (arid shrublands to tropical rainforests) to develop allometric 41 models for prediction of BGB. We found that the relationship between BGB and stem diameter 42 was generic, with a simple power-law model having a BGB prediction efficiency of 72–93% for 43 four broad plant functional types: (i) shrubs and Acacia trees, (ii) multi-stemmed mallee eucalypts, 44 (iii) other trees of relatively high wood density, and; (iv) a species of relatively low wood density, 45 Pinus radiata. There was little improvement in accuracy of model prediction by including 46 variables (e.g. climatic characteristics, stand age or management) in addition to stem diameter 47 alone. We further assessed the generality of the plant functional type models across 11 contrasting 48 stands where data from whole-plot excavation of BGB were available. The efficiency of model 49 prediction of stand-based BGB was 93%, with a mean absolute prediction error of only 6.5%, and 50 with no improvements in validation results when species-specific models were applied. Given the 51 high prediction performance of the generalised models, we suggest that additional costs associated 52 with the development of new species-specific models for estimating BGB are only warranted when 53 gains in accuracy of stand-based predictions are justifiable, such as for a high-biomass stand 54 comprising only one or two dominant species. However, generic models based on plant functional 55 type should not be applied where stands are dominated by species that are unusual in their 56 morphology and unlikely to conform to the generalised plant functional group models. 57 58 59 Generic allometrics 3 Introduction 60 Both above-ground biomass (AGB) and below-ground biomass (BGB) contribute to the 61 woody vegetation sink within the global carbon budget (Le Quéré et al., 2015). Climate change 62 may result in shifts in the ratio of tree BGB to AGB (e.g. via changes in water deficit that affect 63 partitioning or the size distribution of trees), with far-reaching consequences for the global carbon 64 budget (Ledo et al. 2018). However, BGB cannot be quantified using remote sensing metrics as 65 has been done for the AGB component (Haverd et al., 2013; Mitchard et al., 2013; Chen et al., 66 2015). Therefore, the development of models to explain BGB is critical to informing predictions 67 of biomass yields or biomass carbon stocks (Richards & Evans 2004). 68 BGB can be estimated from AGB at either an individualor stand-level through the use of 69 root-to-shoot ratios (BGB:AGB, Ledo et al., 2018), and this approach has merit when broad-scale 70 AGB estimates are obtained via remote sensing products rather than via field-based assessments. 71 However, this approach has limitations. Estimating BGB based on predictions of AGB are subject 72 to relatively high uncertainties; for example, mean absolute prediction error of AGB was 15–39% 73 and 13% at the individualand stand-level, respectively, for plant functional types across the 74 Australian continent (Paul et al., 2016). In contrast, if BGB of an individual is predicted by 75 applying verified allometric models to field measurement of stem diameter (D), the uncertainty is 76 likely to be much lower because errors in D estimation are relatively small (e.g. 2–7%, Paul et al., 77 2017a). Moreover, BGB:AGB defaults obtained from the average of multiple stands of a given 78 ecosystem (Mokany et al., 2006) do not explicitly account for variations in stand density and the 79 mix of species; both of which influence BGB (Westman & Rogers, 1977; Bernardo et al., 1998; 80 Ritson & Sochacki, 2003; Xue et al., 2011; Gonzalez et al., 2013). Stand-based estimates of BGB, 81 resulting from application of allometric models with D as a predictor variable to each individual 82 within a stand, may inherently account for stand density and species-mix. 83 When developing allometric models for prediction of BGB of woody plants, it is unclear 84 to what extent data should be pooled or separated according to their morphological, phylogenetic 85 Generic allometrics 4 and/or phenological characteristics; variation often encapsulated by classification of species into 86 plant functional types. It is also unclear whether the inclusion of stand characteristics or bioclimatic 87 variables improves the performance of BGB allometric models above that attained when using D 88 alone. A true test of the accuracy of such models is a direct validation at the stand-level by 89 comparing allometry-predicted BGB against that measured through whole-plot excavation. 90 Although such stand-level validation has been undertaken previously by Paul et al. (2014) for 91 young plantings in southern Australia, no such validation has been undertaken for more broadly92 applicable BGB allometric models derived from root data sampled from both planted and natural 93 systems, and across a range of stand ages and ecosystem types. 94 Australia provides a good case study for testing generalised allometric models given its 95 long history of research contributions to BGB data sets (e.g. Forrest, 1969; Baldwin & Stewart, 96 1987; Applegate, 1982) spanning a broad range of ecoregions (i.e. arid shrublands to tropical 97 rainforests) with plant functional types ranging from shrubs and short multi-stemmed trees to some 98 of the largest trees in the world (Sillett et al., 2015; Specht & Specht, 2002, Specht & Specht, 99 2013). Improving the assessment of Australia's vegetation carbon sink is of global importance as 100 the high inter-annual variability that is characteristic of the global vegetation sink is in large part 101 due to variability in the carbon capture of the semi-arid ecosystems of Australia (Houghton et al., 102 2012; Poulter et al., 2014; Ballantyne et al., 2015). 103 Here we collated destructively-measured BGB datasets from individual trees and shrubs 104 sampled from a broad range of stands from differing climatic regions of Australia, including those 105 in natural ecosystems or otherwise established through human intervention (i.e. planted). We then 106 analysed this data set to assess whether D-based allometric models of BGB were improved: (i) 107 when based on species rather than broader categories such as plant functional groups; and (ii) by 108 the inclusion of stand characteristics (age and management) or climatic variables. Our objectives 109 were firstly to recommend the most appropriate allometric model(s) for estimating BGB in 110 ecosystems across the Australian continent, and secondly to quantify the accuracy of the 111 Generic allometrics 5 recommended model(s) when tested against direct measurements of stand-level BGB obtained 112 using whole-plot excavation across a range of contrasting sites. The recommended models for 113 predicting BGB were applied together with those previously recommended for prediction of AGB 114 (Paul et al., 2016) to provide estimates of BGB:AGB ratios for plant functional types of differing 115 allometry. 116 117


Here, we report multinuclear organometallic molecular wires having (2,5-diethynylthiophene)diyl-Ru(dppe)2 repeating units. Despite the molecular dimensions of 2–4 nm the multinuclear wires show high conductance (up to 10−2 to 10−3G0) at the single-molecule level with small attenuation factors (β) as revealed by STM-break junction measurements. The high performance can be attributed to the efficient energy alignment between the Fermi level of the metal electrodes and the HOMO levels of the multinuclear molecular wires as revealed by DFT–NEGF calculations. Electrochemical and DFT studies reveal that the strong Ru–Ru interaction through the bridging ligands raises the HOMO levels to access the Fermi level, leading to high conductance and small β values.


Surveillance of infectious diseases can be organised in different ways. One of them is the compulsory notification of communicable diseases. In Flanders the policy is legally based on the law of the fifth of April 1995. Although the objective of this legislation is to focus on control measures, the registration of data is also very important. In 1996 the permanent increase of meningococcal diseases and the identification of collective scabies infections and outbreaks of foodborne diseases are remarkable. Comparing the data of the compulsory network with those of the laboratory surveillance, it becomes clear that the data of both surveillance systems are rather near to each other. By combining both methods, the global picture on communicable diseases is more complete and provides a more accurate approach.


(76) Inventors: William A. Kanitz, Sarasota, FL (US); Publication Classification Olson Lawrence, Sarasota, FL (US) (51) Int. Cl. Correspondence Address: G06F 9/00 (2006.01) Ralph W. Selitto Jr (52) U.S. Cl. ............................................ 700/109; 700/115 McCarter & English Four Gateway Center 100 Mulberry Street (57) ABSTRACT Newark, NJ 07102 (US) A tracking and labeling system (10) for collecting, recording and reporting data (38) on an item (12a, 12b, 12c) as the item experiences changes in state over time. The system has a plurality of node systems (18a, 18b, 18c, 18d, 18e, 18f) (21) Appl. No.: 10/568,267


11 Background: The PARADIGM trial showed longer median overall survival (OS) with first-line mFOLFOX6 plus panitumumab (PAN) vs bevacizumab (BEV) in patients (pts) with RAS wild type (WT) and left-sided metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) (37.9 vs 34.3 months, respectively; hazard ratio [HR], 0.82; P=0.031) and similar OS in right-sided pts (HR 1.09; Yoshino T, et al. ASCO 2022 LBA1). We evaluated the usefulness of negative hyperselection by gene alterations in ctDNA related to primary resistance to anti-EGFR therapy. Methods: Baseline plasma ctDNA (>10 ng/mL and >10 nM DNA) from pts enrolled in the biomarker study (NCT02394834) was assessed using a custom panel (PlasmaSELECT-R 91, PGDx). Preplanned gene alterations for hyperselection included KRAS, NRAS, PTEN, and extracellular domain EGFR mutations, HER2 and MET amplifications, and ALK, RET, or NTRK1 fusions. Results: Among 802 pts in the full analysis set, 733 (91%) had evaluable pretreatment samples for ctDNA analysis. Of these pts, 204 (28%) had at least 1 gene alteration, including KRAS/NRAS (8%), BRAF V600E (11%), PTEN (5%), EGFR (3%), HER2 (5%), MET (1%), and fusions (1%). In 529 (72%) hyperselected pts without any gene alterations, OS tended to be longer with PAN vs BEV regardless of primary sidedness; the OS HRs ranged from 0.76 to 0.82, and the median OS gains ranged from 6.6 to 8.0 months (Table). Meanwhile, OS was similar or inferior with PAN vs BEV irrespective of the primary sidedness in pts with any of these gene alterations (Table). Conclusions: Negative hyperselection using ctDNA rather than tumor sidedness may identify appropriate pts for first-line PAN over BEV. These results warrant further validation in additional cohorts. Clinical trial information: NCT02394834 . [Table: see text]


This paper presents microstrip band pass filter design which is orientated towards positioning of transmission zeros at particular frequencies as a design goal. This flexibility of choosing these transmission zeros helps in suppressing unwanted spurious or intermodulation components which otherwise requires higher order sharp skirt filter to achieve the stop-band rejection. If there are limited number of such spurious components, and a high rejection rate is required, this filter provides better design choice in terms of size and rejection level, rather using a conventional polynomial based cross-coupled filters. The design methodology is validated with a design of 4.5 GHz bandpass filter of 20 MHz bandwidth with attenuation zeros placed at ±500 MHz from the center frequency.


ABSTRACT The p-type Cu2O thin films on a quartz glass substrate were facilely fabricated at 180°C in air by spraying aqueous precursor solutions. The spray solutions were prepared in a diluted ammonia solution by dissolving Cu(II) formate and ammonium formate whose molar ratios to Cu(II) ion were 0, 2, 6 and 14. In the cases of the molar ratios at 6 and 14, the Cu2O thin films of 140 and 350 nm thickness respectively indicated a highly photocatalytic activity under visible-light irradiation of 0.45 mW cm–2, and the pseudo-first-order rate constants of 0.056 and 0.087 min–1 were respectively obtained by tracing the discoloration of a methyl orange solution. The O-defect site was found in the Raman spectra of these photocatalytic thin films whose adhesion strength onto the quartz substrate were larger than 5.6 N. The morphology, chemical component, and optical and electrical properties were also examined in detail.


In this study, the writer investigated the speech styles used by Gusti, a character in the sitcom Office Boy. The writer investigated the types of speech styles used by Gusti when he talked to his interlocutors named Taka, Hendra, and Sayuti. The theory of speech styles proposed by Nababan (1991), the theory of social status proposed by Holmes (2001) and Brown and Attardo (2001), and the theory of lexical and grammatical characteristics for standard Indonesian proposed by Chaer (2006) were used as the main theories of this research. In this study, the writer used descriptive quantitative approach. The result of the analysis showed that Gusti used four speech styles, i.e. (1) gaya or ragam resmi (formal style) (39.13%), (2) gaya or ragam usaha (consultative style) (30.43%), (3) gaya or ragam santai (casual style) (26.09%), and (4) gaya or ragam akrab (intimate style) (4.35%) when he talked to Taka. He used three speech styles, i.e. (1) gaya or ragam usaha (consultative style) (43.48%), (2) gaya or ragam santai (casual style) (34.78%), and (3) gaya or ragam akrab (intimate style) (21.74%) when he talked to Hendra. Gusti used two speech styles, i.e. (1) gaya or ragam santai (casual style) (78.57%) and (2) gaya or ragam akrab (intimate style) (21.43%) when he talked to Sayuti.


3 large-scale studies -- a US study a New Zealand study and a study from Norway and Sweden -- have been reported during recent months of the relationship between oral contraceptive (OC) use and breast cancer. The studies from the US and New Zealand reported no association between OC use and breast cancer. The study from Norway and Sweden found no association between OC use and breast cancer among those who used OCs for 7 years or less but there was a suggestion of an association among those who had used OCs for 7-12 years and a significantly increased risk (up to 2.2) in those using OCs for longer than 12 years. Like the other studies the Norway and Sweden study was a matched case-control study involving 422 patients under age 45 whose breast cancer was newly diagnosed in May 1984 to May 1985 and 722 matched controls. A personal interview was used. The US study involved 4711 women aged 20-54 years with newly diagnosed breast caner and 4676 controls. The investigators found not only an overall relative risk of 1.0 for those who had used OCs but also a suggestion of a protective effect on users for 15 or more years -- relative risk 0.6. In contrast with the findings from Scandinavia the investigators did not detect a trend with duration of use. In New Zealand the study was conducted in a population with a history of exceptionally high OC use. Again investigators found no evidence that OC use at young ages increases the risk of breast cancer. New Zealand like Norway and Sweden maintains a National Cancer Registry which facilitates such inquiries. The New Zealand study compared 433 women aged 25-54 years with newly diagnosed breast cancer with 897 women randomly selected from the electoral rolls. The only increase in risk was among OC users who were ages 25-34 years at diagnosis but the numbers were few and the confidence interval was wide. The study results continue the uncertainty but at this time there appears no reason to change prescribing habits or advice to women who use OCs.


As a new paradigm for data warehousing demanded by today's decision support community, DW 2.0 recognized the life cycle of data with it, that make metadata evolution mechanism became one of the important research issues. The requirements of multi-version management for four data sectors in DW 2.0 environment are described. Then a novel metadata versioning meta-model is proposed, that is capable of storing and managing schemas versions, comparing and interpreting the results of versions queries, and tracing the version evolution. In implementation, the schema evolution with version is discussed in the abstract by model management operators; a verification engine to resolve the evolution inconsistencies is represented. The prototype has verified its feasibility and validity.


Technology probes were used to investigate what adolescents would find persuasive in digital devices supporting opportunistic (unstructured/unplanned) exercise. The probes comprised pedometers, handheld consoles with an exercise game and a customised social website with an exercise focus. Three groups of six adolescents participated in the field study. To contextualise the study their attitudes to exercise, and exercise behaviours, were collected at the start and end of the study. The participants logged their daily exercise and noted any barriers that they encountered over six weeks. They reflected on these experiences and took part in innovation activities to identify requirements for motivational exercise technology. Analysis of the results revealed that they desired individual customisation of devices that can capture a wide range of physical activity data. Moreover, social interaction is expected within digital media and positive messages reinforcing goal attainments are valued, whereas negative feedback demotivates. These findings support those reported in other studies of both children and adults. More specific to this age group was their openness to sharing information beyond their friendship groups, although this was counterbalanced by their lack of autonomy in the physical world. This highlights issues that could constrain the effective design of technology for this age group.


A seizure is defined as "a transient occurrence of signs and/or symptoms due to abnormal excessive neuronal activity in the brain". A subsequent advancement made in epilepsy and neuroscience research defines that the clinical diagnosis of a seizure is experimental and it depends on groups of certain signs and symptoms. This paper on electroencephalogram (EEG) signal analysis focuses on seizure signalsorting byeliminatingsomepossiblesimilar signals to seizures. Seizures have been classified in time and the borders of signals during a seizure, signals between seizures and after a seizure are separated. In this paper a feature extraction method based on EmpiricalMode Decomposition (EMD) is proposed. The sifting process decomposes the EEG signal into Intrinsic Mode Functions (IMFs) by the EMD algorithm and five statistical parameters are computed using these IMFs whichforms the input to a classifiers. Experimental results of two class classifiercarried out on the clinicaldataset show that an accurate classification rate of 96.3% is achieved in the discriminationbetween normal and ictal EEG, and an accuracy of 95% is reached in the classification ofinterictal and ictal EEG signals. The results are comparable or have done better thancurrentresearchpublished.


Negative databases -- negative representations of a set of data -- have been introduced in 2004 to protect the data they contain. Up to this day, there was no known solution to constitute biometric negative databases. This is surprising as biometric applications are very needy of such protection for privacy reasons. The main difficulty comes from the fact that biometric captures of the same trait give different results and comparisons of the stored reference with the fresh captured biometric data has to take into account this variability. In this paper, we give a first answer to this problem by exhibiting a way to create and exploit biometric negative databases.


Micro LED display technology has been spotlighted as the most promising technology compared to LCD and OLED. Its excellent advantages include higher brightness, self-illumination, higher resolution, lower power consumption, faster response, higher integration, higher stability, thinner thickness, longer life, etc. In terms of the unique benefits, it is attracting increasing attention from industries. With the commercialization of Micro LED technology, the following hurdles are identified: wafer manufacturing, full color, bonding, and mass transfer. Among them, mass transfer is so far considered as the most severe bottleneck. Several mass transfer technologies have emerged, including fine picking and placing, roll printing, laser transferring, and fluid self-assembly, which aim to solve the mass transfer problems. However, the aforementioned first 3 types of technologies still rely on the pick-and-place process, which is limited when the Micro LED die dimension shrinks to smaller scales due to processability and equipment precision. Fluidity self-assembly, on the other hand, will not be constrained by the Micro LED size and machine accuracy in the mass transfer process, which received increasing attention from researchers. In the self-assembly of component level, gravitational attraction, magnetic /electromagnetic fields, and capillary force are considered the mainstream force to facilitate the assembly process. Therefore, the component self-assembly becomes a prospective substitute for the Micro LED mass transfer solution, which overcomes the problems of the trade-off between throughput and the placement accuracy of the pick-and-place technology.


SUMMARY Liang & Zeger (1986) introduced methodology for the analysis of longitudinal data that provides an alternative to likelihood-based inference. They considered modelling the marginal means of the response follow-up measures, and proposed the use of unbiased estimating functions to handle inference. Here we wish to do the same for point or jump processes. We consider parametric models for the marginal means, and possibly the covariance structures, of processes that allow covariates. Inference is performed with unbiased estimating functions and robust variance estimates are provided. The optimal linear estimating function is presented in general. The special case of mixed Poisson processes is discussed in further detail with an asymptotic efficiency study and simulations.


Computer technology has improved tremendously over the past decade and has turned into a necessity for everyday living. The primary piece of hardware for Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) on computers is the mouse. The mouse is inappropriate in some real-world situations, such as when humans and robots communicate. The most natural and intuitive HCI technique and a viable substitute for the computer mouse is the use of hand gestures. Hand gesture recognition plays a significant role in Human Computer Communication. There are obviously many new technology advancements happening nowadays, such biometric authentication, which is typically found in cellphones. Hand gesture recognition is another contemporary method of human computer interaction, allowing us to control systems by waving our hands in front of a webcam. This research paper provides a detailed explanation and a fully flexible model that implements various cursor features of a mouse using algorithms and methodologies thereby implementing a "Multimodal Virtual Mouse" which outperforms the existing methodologies in terms of accuracy, robustness, adaptability, integration, latency, user acceptance, privacy and security.


This paper introduced the species and energy sources of microorganisms which inhabit in the vicinity of deep-sea hydro-thermal vents.The mineral depositing and leaching processes that microbes may take part in were expatiated as well.Based on the current achievement,the research directions should be focused on in the future was pointed out here.


The authors research into status quo and curriculums along with its questions on P.E health courses, discuss its science and rationality to make sure that students with mental and physical disease can also share the higher education as the healthy ones.


The equilibrium geometry, stability, and dimerization of the hitherto unknown fluoronitrile oxide, FCNO, are investigated by various ab initio and density functional methods. The equilibrium geometries are obtained from calculations at the B3LYP, MPn(n = 2–4), QCISD, QCISD(T), CCSD, and CCSD(T) levels with basis sets ranging from 6–31G* up to cc-pVTZ. Calculations were also performed at selected levels using larger, cc-pVQZ (B3LYP and MP2) and cc-pV5Z (B3LYP), basis sets. Potential loss processes for FCNO involving either unimolecular isomerization, or dimerization to a five-membered furoxan ring are investigated at the B3LYP/6-311G(2d) level. FCNO is demonstrated to be a feasible synthetic target in the dilute gas phase or matrix.


Spot instances offer a cost-effective solution for applications running in the cloud computing environment. However, it is challenging to run long-running jobs on spot instances because they are subject to unpredictable evictions. Here, we present Spot-on, a generic software framework that supports fault-tolerant long-running workloads on spot instances through checkpoint and restart. Spot-on leverages existing checkpointing packages and is compatible with the major cloud vendors. Using a genomics application as a test case, we demonstrated that Spot-on supports both application-specific and transparent checkpointing methods. Compared to running applications using on-demand instances, it allows the completion of these workloads for a significant reduction in computing costs. Compared to running applications using application-specific checkpoint mechanisms, transparent checkpoint-protected applications reduce runtime by up to 40%, leading to further cost savings of up to 86%.


The Modular Multilevel Converter (MMC) has become progressively an attractive solution for the medium-power and the high-power applications, due to its modularity, flexibility of redundancy or scalability, high efficiency and low production of harmonic contents. However, in order to have a reliable and robust MMC system, different concerns should be observed in terms of the converter control complexity and the required effective protection system. In this context, this paper presents a novel hardware protection topology for the MMC half-bridge submodule. The introduced scheme is based on new sensors technology that can be assembled near the power hardware, resulting in less perturbation and a very low signal delay. This allows the protection system to respond quickly to fault situations. The proposed protection scheme of half-bridge MMC submodules is a new contribution given the steadily increasing popularity of the MMC and that just a few scientific publications treat in detail the protection mechanisms of half-bridge submodules for MMC. The experimental results confirm the effectiveness of the proposed scheme after creating the fault overvoltage and overcurrent conditions on one MMC half-bridge submodule.


The selected molecule a vehicle for transporting the cells include SAINT molecules bound by electrostatic interaction with the selected molecule. SAINT molecule is covalently attached to a linker molecule, the linker molecule is coupled to the cell specific ligand. .BACKGROUND


Background:Worldwide, asthma is a major public health issue due to its high prevalence and debilitating effects. Asthma prevalence in children has steadily risen over the last 20 years. Asthma affects 300 million people worldwide and is expected to rise from 45% to 59% by 2025, according to estimates. Bronchial asthma affects 5-10% of children and teenagers. Objective:To Explore the correlation of NQO1 gene polymorphism and risk factors of childhood asthmaPatients and methods:Thisis a case control study. Theparticipants were divided into two main groups, 29 nonasthmatics as a control group, and 87 asthmatic children as cases.The cases were further subdivided into 3 subgroups according to their asthma control level. All children were assessed for the pulmonary functions. Genotyping of Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate Quinone Oxidoreductase 1 gene polymorphism was assessed by restriction fragment length polymerase chain reaction (RFLP_PCR). Results:Patients with uncontrolled, partially controlled, and well-controlled asthma were more likely to have family members who had asthma (96.6%, 86.2%, and 72.4%, respectively).FEV1 percent and FVC differed significantly between the four groups. There was statistically significant difference between the four studied groups as regard gene polymorphism, 75.9% of control group had CC genotype and 58.6% of uncontrolled asthmatic patients had CT genotype. The asthma group in the study had less CC genotype and C allele (42.5% & 67.8%) versus the control group (75.9% & 87.9%) Conclusion:The study has revealed a significant correlation between family history of asthma and the childhood asthma. The polymorphisms of NQO1 are correlated with the risk of childhood asthma, and it increases due to the dominant homozygous mutations of NQO1.


Close contact is unavoidable in the care of patients with neuromuscular diseases (NMD). In addition, respiratory physiotherapy and noninvasive ventilation generate massive amounts of aerosols. Caring for a patient suffering from coronavirus disease‐19 raises concerns about the risk of infection not only to the caregiver and/or medical staff but also to other individuals in contact with these personnel. We reviewed the points to be noted in infection control when a patient with neuromuscular diseases receiving respiratory care is infected with COVID‐19 and summarizes the recommendation. Infected patients must be isolated in a negative‐pressure or actively ventilated room. Clear zoning separating clean and infected areas should be performed for pathogen containment. Caregivers should wear appropriate personal protective equipment and thoroughly clean their hands. Leak‐prevention measures and the use of proper respiratory circuits and filters with virus‐removal performance are crucial to reducing aerosols in noninvasive ventilation. Although respiratory physiotherapy is essential, treatment should be minimized in consideration of the infection state and sputum status, and alternative therapies such as postural drainage should be carefully considered. Infection control is distinctly obligate; however, it impairs the quality of life and activity of daily living significantly. We should implement it with enough ethical consideration, adequate explanation, and patient consent. We hope that this paper will contribute to appropriate COVID‐19 infection control in patients with neuromuscular diseases requiring respiratory care.


From the abscess of the hen's feet a coryne-bacillus was isolated and necrosis was experimentally produced by inocultation of its pure culture into the soft structure of chicken soles.This bacillus may be considered as a cause of the avian disease mentioned above.Before closing, I wish to express my indebtedness to Dr. N. Nakamura for his helpful suggestions and advice.


In view of main characteristics of current anti-ship missiles, this paper analyzes some foreign typical attacking mode and maneuver simulation of anti-ship missiles. Adopting a simplified Six-degree-of-freedom dynamic model, and describing the typical track with mathematic representation, it puts forward a dynamic simulation model for each maneuvering patterns, such as S-bend, proportional navigation, track of terminal climb and down-thrust. Finally it achieves results of some typical track simulation, by which the naval ships are provided with theoretical supports upon anti-missile and air defense operations.


In this paper, an iterative method named accelerated predictor-corrector Halley method for finding the true anomaly from mean anomaly and the eccentricity for a planet in an elliptical orbit around the sun (Kepler's equation). With the purpose of reducing the number of iteration, we find that the purpose method is the most efficient versus the predictor-corrector Halley method and Newton method.


A parallel rendering method of large-scale battlefield electromagnetism based on PC cluster is proposed.This meth-od adopts ray casting direct volume rendering algorithm to render the electromagnetic environment,uses Octree to divide the rendering space and adopts preorder traversal Octree method to distribute the divided space.At last,Binary-swap algorithm is used to compose the images which are produced by PC nodes of PC cluster.Experiments show that the method can effectively satisfy the real time rendering of large-scale battlefield electromagnetic environment.


The impact of intake CO2 addition and exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) on engine combustion characteristics, NOx emissions, and soot oxidative reactivity was studied in a common rail diesel engine equipped with a cooled EGR system. The engine test results and the heat release analysis show that the reduced flame temperature, induced by the reduction of the oxygen concentration (dilution effect) is the dominant mechanism via which CO2 and EGR lower NOx emissions in diesel engines. On the other hand, the collected soot from the engine tests was examined for its oxidative reactivity using a thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA). Results show that EGR has a significant effect on soot reactivity and results in higher initial active sites compared to the CO2 case. We conclude that the reduced flame temperature (thermal effect) which is a consequence of the dilution effect is responsible for the observed increase in soot reactivity. These results confirm observations from our past work on flame soot, which showed that...


The complex roof movement from distortion to destruction must experience three stages, namely, the stage of changing of the relative position of layers the stage of divorcing between the layers and the stage of curving and breaking. The stage of changing of the relative position of complex layers is the initial stage. According to the mechanics analysis, the principle of prevention of the relative position movement of layer is by dint of the resisting shearing of the bolts to fortify the tangential impedance force between the layers to avoid the relative position movement, and by dint of the fix force of the bolts to fortify the stress on normal direction to increase the force friction the layers, therefore pointing out that the optimum Installing form of the bolt is that the middle bolts must be vertically installed and the other bolts that on both sides must be installed to incline towards the sides.


In this study, the herbicide MCPA sodium salt monohydrate (sodium (4-chloro-2 methylphenoxy) acetate has been studied as are presentative compound used in the agricultural field. Accordingly, direct photolysis and photocatalytic experiments under artificial irradiation simulating solar light in laboratorial conditions were performed. Photocatalytic experiments were performed using TiO2 dispersed powder and as an immobilized thin layer on the surface of blue glasses. The obtained results of photolysis showed a poor efficacy toward degradation of MCPA sodium monohydrate, with half-life (t1/2) 6931.5 min. While, the addition of TiO2 dispersed powder to the photocatalytic process enhances the process dramatically with (t1/2) equal to 36.5 min; furthermore, complete mineralization had been reached after approximately 4 hours, whereas the addition of TiO2 through immobilized system led to enhance the degradation rate with 2236 min. as t1/2. In spite of this, using TiO2 supported on glass substrates with more improvements could be a promising alternative to conventional TiO2 suspension, and provides a clean treatment method.


This work, organized into two ethnographical studies, aims at contributing to the development of the Utterance Intersubjectivity model considering aspects not yet included in such model.

The performed studies entail the use of videorecordings of ethnographic observations in multiple settings. In the first case, they are produced with a Focused Ethnography purpose in support to the observation, in the second case they are used after a preliminary qualitative step to perform an additional set of analyses.

The first study is a focused ethnography on a pilot project considering digital training for non digital-native users. The main outcome is the insight that the device results to be an impairment to the individuals collaboration, since they do not possess the required minimum level of knowledge and competence. In the second study a Social Network Analysis approach is used, with the objective to understand the interaction modalities that emerge within groups of co-located students working towards a common objective with the support of mobile devices.

Comparing the results of the studies emerges that mobile devices are effective in the construction of the shared intersubjective world only if they are transparent to the users, highlighting the need to promote and reinforce the everyday use of such technologies.


It is an unsettled question with me whether I shall leave Calais something handsome in my will, or whether I shall leave it my malediction. I hate it so much, and yet I am always so very glad to see it, that I am in a state of constant indecision on this subject.


A high-frequency high-voltage soft stabilizing power supply used for an electrostatic dust collector is composed of a breaker, an electric reactor, a contactor, a rectifier, a filter, a full bridge inverter, a high-frequency transformer, a voltage doubling rectifying circuit, an auxiliary power supply, a cooling blower, a soft-start circuit, a temperature detection circuit, a pulse driving protection circuit, a DSP control circuit, a sampling reactive circuit and a 485 communication circuit. The high-frequency high-voltage soft stabilizing power supply used for the electrostatic dust collector has good characteristics in soft stabilizing, and can be widely used in fume and dust treatment in industries of electric power, metallurgy, chemical engineering, cement and the like.


The purpose of this study was to develop a strategic plan to enhance Leadership IQ for administrators in Silesian schools in Thailand. There were fourteen schools in three types: girls, boys, and co educational, and 219 administrators in three levels: religious, administration staff and department heads. In addition, there were 360 teachers, 449 students, and 236 service-employees involved in this research. Questions (36 scenarios) were used to measure Leadership IQ of administrators based on the eight leadership roles: the selector, the connector, the problem solver, the evaluator, the negotiator, the healer, the protector, and the synergizer. The data was collected by randomly selecting from teachers, students, and service-employees for the best practices. Different statistical methods used in this research were descriptive statistics, ANOVA (F-test), and t-test. The findings were as follows: Most of the administrators at the three levels of leadership IQ Profiles had the role of the connector at a high level, while the other roles were in the middle to lower levels. As for education, all administrative levels had high scores in the role of the connector, and there was no significant difference in Leadership IQ between male and female administrators. Furthermore, after comparing the average of leadership IQs among administrators, the best practices were not significantly different (t = 0.36, -0.51, -0.89) in any leadership role. The results of the study indicated that most of the administrators had high scores in the leadership role of the connector. However, the other leadership roles should be emphasized and valued as important. Therefore, the strategic plan was developed to enhance the leadership roles of Silesian administrators.


Abstract This paper is a recognition and exploration of alternative accounts of female political leadership in India, other than dynastic succession. It explores the varied paths to power which female political leaders in India have followed in the past two decades within the changing institutional environment of electoral politics. The paper argues that gender is an important factor of the path to power as well as the exercise of leadership and the sources of legitimacy that leaders draw upon. The paper critiques essentialised accounts of behavioural styles of gendered leadership, focusing on the moral capital argument. Structural gender bias and gender-biased perceptions and expectations are understood to have a significant impact on assessments of behavioural style and performance. Yet these sources of gender power can be utilised by leaders, reinforcing and legitimising stereotypes in exchange for political power. These insights are applied to the cases of three prominent female political leaders in India.


Review(s) of: Young people and sexting in Australia: Ethics, representation and the law, by Albury, Kath, Crawford, Kate, Byron, Paul and Mathews, Ben, ARC Centre for Creative Industries and Innovation/Journalism and Media Research Centre, University of New South Wales, 2013, ISBN 9 7807 3343 2804, iv+33 pp.


Rare varieties of malignant fibrous histiocytoma occurring in the maxilla are reported in this study.We observed 3 cases of malignant fibrous histiocytoma by light-and electron-mlcroscopy and examined the histiogenesis.Fibroblast-like cells, histiocyte-like cells, primitive mesenchymal cells, multinucleated giant cells and xanthomatous nucleated giant cells and xanthomatous histiocytes were recognized, and it was suggested that these tumors might be of primitive mesenchymal cell origin. When the clinical course is relatively good, myxoid type and giant cell type were shown and a number of fine granular materials were found in the stroma and rough endoplasmic reticulum.


Molecular dissection of hepatocellular adenomas has brought forward a diversity of well-defined entities. Their distinction is important for routine practice, since prognosis is tightly related to the individual subgroup. Very recent activity has generated new details on the molecular background of hepatocellular adenoma, which this article aims to integrate into the current concepts of taxonomy.


The currency exchange rate, fuel cost, regulation, etc. have an impact upon the aircraft operating cost since every aircraft has different performances and capabilities. The aircraft operating cost determines the price quotations that will offered to the customers. Thus, the right airfcraft selection is a fundamental aspect, because it leads to airline's profit and loss and will determine the sustainability of the airline. If the Total Operating Cost (TOC) of the aircraft is high, then the price offered to the passengers will be higher comparied to the competitors, and it leads the company to be not competitive. This study concerned to the aircraft cost structure, implemented analysis method which compare the TOC of the B737 MAX 8 and B737-800 NG based on the calculation of aircraft characteristics and aircraft utilization.


Examined whether inhibition should be considered a trait dimension, or whether those who manifest extreme inhibition constitute a discrete personality type. Also examined was whether there are sex ...


The article describes a new direction in constructing on permafrost (the new constructions are suggested) – a complex of self-cooling bearing systems, which is based on the winter transfer of cold from the atmosphere directly into the deeper layers of the soil by natural air convection. It presumes the spontaneous activating of cooling process in winter period and deactivating of it during summer. The complex is designed as a system of cavities and channels disposed at different angles to the vertical, which are partially located in the base soil and partially contact the open air environment. They may be closed and open for the access of the outside air, besides, all the elements of the system or some of them are the bearing structures of the construction object.


Actin filaments play a key role in force generation processes in the cell. Examples are lamellipodial cell migration due to actin polymerisation, or the mechanism for muscle cell contractility, which involves myosin motor proteins. It is known that myosin motor activity is important for cell contractility, and that the type and amount of crosslinks in the actin network are equally important. However, how these microscopic processes influence also contraction on a macroscipoc scale is unclear. To investigate this, I studied a model system with a biotin-streptavidin crosslinking complex, and purified myosin II motors. To study the model system, two approaches were followed. On the one hand, polystyrene microspheres were embedded in a crosslinked network. By recording the trajectories of these particles the contraction speed was obtained. On the other hand, a crosslinked network was loaded into a capillary sealed with biotinylated oil. By measuring the deformation of the oil/water contact surface upon network contraction, the contractile stress was determined. The contraction speed was found to increase with the number of crosslinks, while the network structure became more grainy with a higher crosslinking ratio.


A novel photoelectric device-Lateral PIN photodiode gated by a transparent electrode (LPIN PD-GTE) fabricated on SOI film is proposed. Its physical model is presented based on standard semiconductor equations. In this device, recombination of carriers is ignored due to its operation in depletion region and high electric field strength (E > 1 × 104V/m). Numerical calculation indicates that LPIN PD-GTE has high sensitivity and SNR (Signal to Noise Ratio). This model allows one to predict and optimize the photoelectric characteristics of LPIN PD-GTE.


The main technical procedures of comprehensive utilization of biogas residues and biogas slurry in Linzhang County were introduced from the aspects of construction of biogas digesters,property management,processing enterprises and base construction,then the economic,ecological and social benefits were analyzed.The recycling mode of biogas residues and biogas slurry in Linzhang County were briefly introduced taking the biogas stations of Ganglingcheng area in Linzhang town of Linzhang County.


The important human pathogen Streptococcus pyogenes (the group A streptococcus or GAS) causes diseases ranging from mild, self‐limiting pharyngitis to severe invasive infections. Regulation of the expression of GAS genes in response to specific environmental differences within the host is probably key in determining the course of the infectious process, however, little is known of global regulators of gene expression in GAS. Although secondary RNA polymerase sigma factors act as global regulators of gene expression in many other bacteria, none has yet been isolated from the GAS. The newly available GAS genome sequence indicates that the only candidate secondary sigma factor is encoded by two identical open reading frames (ORFS). These ORFS encode a protein that is 40% identical to the transcription factor ComX, believed to act as an RNA polymerase sigma factor in Streptococcus pneumoniae. To test whether the GAS ComX homologue functions as a sigma factor, we cloned and purified it from Escherichia coli. We found that in vitro, this GAS protein, which we call σX, directed core RNA polymerase from Bacillus subtilis to transcribe from two GAS promoters that contain the cin‐box region, required for transcription by S. pneumoniae ComX in vivo. On the other hand, GAS σX did not promote transcription of a GAS promoter (hasA) expected to be dependent on σA, the housekeeping or primary RNA polymerase sigma factor. Addition of monoclonal antibody that inhibited σA‐directed transcription had no effect on σX‐directed transcription, showing that the latter was not the result of contaminating σA. Transcription of both cin‐box‐containing promoters initiated downstream of the cin‐box and two different single basepair substitutions in the cin‐box of the cinA promoter each caused a severe reduction of σX‐directed transcription in vitro. Thus, the cin‐box is required for σX‐directed transcription.


The purpose of this multiple-case study was to investigate the abilities and needs of children in some comprehensive and specialised preschools adopting some form of inclusive education, and to describe the provided support that was designed to enhance children's participation and learning. Fifty-six children and eight preschools located in four municipalities were enrolled. The data was collected via observations, conversations, interviews and a questionnaire. The abilities of the children varied and the need of support among the children ranged from some needs to high and very high needs. Environmental and interpersonal support was integrated into ongoing activities, routines and plays, both in the comprehensive and specialised preschools. In the specialised preschools, one-on-one training and speech therapy, as well as an extended timeframe, were also provided. The descriptions of the preschool practices are related to national and international discussions concerning the topics of inclusive education and support provisions in preschools.


Electricity grid refers to a complicated system consisting of transmission lines, distribution lines, transformers, substations, control devices, protection devices, etc. to deliver electric power from power stations to all types of customers, i.e. residential, commercial, and industrial. Electricity networks were built in the late 19th century and gradually improved as technology in power engineering area advanced. Today, access to a reliable, affordable, and quality electric power is crucial mainly because of the world continuing improved standard of living as well as prosperity in industrial and commercial sectors. Hence, there is a need for an electricity network for today's digital and computerised systems that are highly dependent on a high-quality electricity. The new energy infrastructure, the so-called smart grid (SG) can do this. Smart grid combines information and control technology to collect information about every corner of the electricity network. One of the many benefits of smart grid for electricity companies is that making them enable to better manage their power system. The smart grid has benefits for consumer of electricity enabling them to have more information about their electricity usage to make a smart choice of what to use, when to use, and how much to pay for their electricity use. The current electrical networks are decades old, so they need to be updated with new technologies. Smart grid (using existing power structure) can updates the energy infrastructure to make sure that the electric power is delivered at high quality and that the electric power system is managed efficiently. The objectives of this paper are i) reviewing the current electricity structure, ii) the challenges the electricity grids are facing, iii) rationales for moving towards the smart grid, iv) characteristics of the smart grid, grid-integration of electric vehicle (EV), and its benefit for the grid.


In trying to improve health, particularly for the millions of older Americans with chronic conditions, many researchers focus solely on improving the professional health care system. Better medications, care protocols, and other clinical interventions are important, but much of chronic care takes place away from the clinic or hospital and in one's home or community (1). Evidence-based health promotion programs (EBP) are an important way by which community agencies and health professionals can work together to offer older adults and their families proven ways to take control of their health and live the lives they want (2).

Archstone Foundation is a private independent grant making foundation with a mission of preparing society to meet the needs of an aging population. During the last two decades, the Foundation has supported the development, evaluation, and dissemination of a range of evidence-based programs in areas including fall prevention, physical activity, chronic disease management, caregiver support, and mental health. It also funded the development of Better Choices, Better Health, the online version of the Stanford Chronic Disease Self-Management Course, to broaden its reach to underserved populations. Archstone Foundation has supported the cultural adaptation of EBP to meet the needs of increasingly diverse older adults. It has funded local and national coalitions to support the dissemination of EBP, including the Falls Free Initiative led by the National Council on Aging (3). Most recently, the Foundation has funded the Evidence-Based Leadership Council to ease the challenges of dissemination and adoption of EBP by community-based organizations and health care systems.

Whether it is foundation funding, Older Americans Act funds, or resources of the organizations offering the programs, funds are limited. So are participants' and program providers' time and energy. The development of EBP for older adults allows limited resources to be directed to programs with the greatest probability for positive impact. As a funder looking at hundreds of requests each year, confidence in the science is critically important. We recognize that when we support any given program, other programs may struggle. EBP give funders greater assurance that what we fund will deliver meaningful results.

Archstone Foundation and many other funders have supported EBP out of a desire to improve health outcomes and quality of life for older adults. We value the programs' self-management strategies that empower older adults, while effectively improving their health. EBP have been supported out of a desire to provide high quality, effective, and sustainable programs with a broad reach, and proven outcomes when done with fidelity to the original model (4).

Healthy aging initiatives for older adults require broad and effective community collaborations (5). Researchers, community-based organizations, older adults, health care systems, government, and funders, are all important partners in the development and effective use of EBP. Funders vary in their approach to grant making and where in the process they can engage in partnerships. Some will fund program development, while others may fund evaluation, and/or replication.

Reflecting upon the last few decades, there has been a remarkable improvement in the number, variety, and quality of evidence-based programs. A few examples of the programs include: the Chronic Disease Self-Management Program, addressing several chronic conditions; A Matter of Balance, Stepping On, and Tai Chi for Better Balance, addressing fall prevention, PEARLS (Program to Encourage Active, Rewarding Lives for Seniors), and IMPACT (Improving Mood-Promoting Access to Collaborative Treatment) addressing depression; Fit and Strong! and EnhanceFitness, addressing exercise. There is now an alternative to the free-for-all of "do it yourself" programs, developed without standards or proof of outcomes, as was the case only a few years ago. We now have a system of programs with varying levels of evidence targeting a number of health and quality of life concerns. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the SAMHSA National Registry of Evidence-Based Programs and Practices, the Administration of Community Living, and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality are a few of the agencies that have established processes for evaluating, and certifying or registering programs as evidence-based. We are also seeing a growing number of programs addressing the needs of our diverse older adults (6). This entire Frontiers in Public Health journal issue is devoted to the study of EBP and their value.

It is important to recognize that there has been resistance to the widespread use of evidence-based programs. This resistance offers lessons in how to improve the field (7). Some have feared that EBP will stifle the creativity of practitioners and that the programs cannot respond to the unique attributes of a community, especially diverse communities. This should encourage researchers to look at how programs can be customized and better targeted to specific populations and their needs. A community-based participatory research approach that engages older adults and practitioners along with researchers in the development of new or adaptations of existing EBP may hold promise (8). Further, perceived costs and administrative barriers in offering EBP, key impediments to the spread of EBP, may suggest process improvements in these programs' management and delivery, such as those being explored by the Evidence-Based Leadership Council. Examples of improvements to support organizations that wish to offer multiple EBP could include shared data management systems, common evaluation tools, coordinated training and technical assistance, and common core curricula (9).

Looking to the future, our challenge is to expand the breadth of offerings, improve the quality, and ease the adoption of evidence-based programs. To realize the potential of EBP, we will need to prepare our workforce to understand, implement, manage, and promote the programs (10). The use of EBP for older adults is still a relatively new phenomenon, and we are far from bringing even the most established programs to scale. Evidence will change over time, and ongoing work will be necessary. The growing diversity in the older adult population will compel us to develop, evaluate, and disseminate new EBP. There is tremendous opportunity to build partnerships and to continue to grow this exciting movement for improving health and quality of life for older adults through evidence-based programs and healthy aging initiatives.


Taking the fuel test system tank of assembly plant in Airbus Tianjin as an example,the feasibility analysis of safety measures were carried out in points of technology,fire source,fire separation,fire safety method and safety management,and it was believed that the fuel test system tank capacity and fire safety design can satisfy the fire safety requirement.Suggestions on the fire safety design when C fuel intermediate storage tank capacity exceeds the specification requirement were put forward.


A readily reproducible synthetic medium which supported growth of Vibrio cholera, Pasteurella multocida, Shigella dysenteriae, Eberthella typhosa, and Salmonella pullorum was used over a period of two and a half years in in vitro tests of the activity of more than 1000 compounds. Approximately 15 per cent of these chemicals were able to inhibit completely the growth in this medium. Chemicals whose in vitro activity was also demonstrated in vivo were all recently developed sulfonamides such as 2-sulfanilamidopyrimidine, 2-sulfanilamidopyrazine, 2-sulfanilamidopyridine and their heterocyclic substituted chloro-, bromo-, and methyl compounds.
 None of the compounds showing in vivo activity as demonstrated by Little et al. (in press) failed to show in vitro activity.


A HISTORY OF ENGLISH CRIMINAL LAW AND ITS ADMINISTRATION FROM 1750. London: Macmillan Company Limited, 1948. Vol. I. A TREATISE ON CONTEMPORARY RELIGIOUS JURISPRUDENCE. By I. H. Rubenstein. Chicago: The Waldain Press, 1948. Pp. 120. $2.50. CASES AND MATERIALS ON CIVIL PROCEDURE. By Thomas E. Atkinson and James H. Chadbourn. Brooklyn: The Foundation Press, Inc., 1948. Pp. xxix, 910. $8.50. CASES AND MATERIALS ON TAXATION. By Paul W. Bruton. St. Paul. West Publishing Co., 1948. Pp. xxv, 976. FINAL LEGAL FICTIONS. By A. Laurence Polak. London: Stevens & Sons Limited, 1948. Pp. iv, 117. INTERNATIONAL LAW DOCUMENTS, 1946-1947. U. S. Naval War College. Washington: United States Government Printing Office, 1948. $1,75. INTERNATIONAL POLITICS. By Frederick L. Schuman. New York: The McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1948. Pp. xvii, 1026. $5.50. JUVENILE COURTS IN NORTH CAROLINA. By Wiley B. Sanders. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 1948. Pp. vili, 210. $4.00. NACCA LAW JOURNAL. Edited by Samuel B. Horowitz. Boston: The Lavale, Press, 1948. Pp. 29i. $5.00. No PLACE TO HIDE. By David Bradley. New York: Little, Brown & Company. Pp. 182. $2.50. POWER AND PERSONALITY. By Harold D. Lasswell. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc,, 1948. Pp. 262. $3.00.


In order to select an accurate,convenient method of edible fungi mycelia polysaccharide determination,the methods of phenol-sulfuric acid method and Anthrone-sulfuric acid method were compared.The results showed the RSD value of the two methods were 0.71 % and 1.40 % in stability experiment,2.10 % and 9.53 % in accuracy experiment,the average recovery was 125.42 % and 154.88 %,respectively.So phenol-sulfuric acid method was more stable and accurate than Anthrone-sulfuric acid method.The recovery was quite ideal.So the better method to determine edible fungi mycelia polysaccharide content was phenol-sulfuric acid method.


Intraluminal device, in particular, a catheter with a variable flexible element in the intermediate compartment of the device. The device, in particular, when used in the imaging and treatment catheter, within the lumen environment, resulting in improved delivery capabilities. The present invention relates to elongated lumen device such as a catheter. The present invention may, for example, to improve the control and delivery capacity for tortuous vasculature, provides improved design. Intravascular device disclosed is to add a variable stiffness element, is by transitioning from proximal stiffer the intraluminal device to a distal end of the flexible, it requires between stiffness and flexibility bring equilibrium.


External fixation is a readily available fixation method for some open tibia fracture grades. Pin site infection (PSI) is a common complication that leads to pin loosening and osteomyelitis. Understanding the predictive factor for PSI can reduce the incidence. This study aimed to determine the predictive factors for PSI in the external fixation of open tibia fractures.

This was a prospective observational study. The biodemographic variables of the patient collected were age, sex, marital status, mechanism of injury, body mass index, number of pins inserted, pre-operative hematocrit, comorbidity, duration of the hospital stay, Gustilo/Andersen grades of open tibia fractures, and bacterial isolates among those with PSI.

Thirty patients who met the inclusion criteria were included in the study with a mean age of 45.9 years ± 17.7 with a male-to-female ratio of 3.3:1. Motor vehicle accidents and motorcycle/motor vehicle accidents were the predominant cause of injury in 56.7% of the patients. The incidence of PSI was 36.7%, with Staphylococcus aureus being the most common bacterial isolated at 81.8%. Only grades of open tibia fractures are the predictive factor for PSI (adjusted odds ratio 18.33, 95% confidence interval of 1.609–208.864, P = 0.019).

The predictive factor that was statistically significantly associated with PSI in this study was the grades of the open tibia fractures.


: The no-tillage system associated with crops rotation affects the dynamics of soil organic matter, influencing the formation, reorganization and stabilization of aggregates and the carbon content (C) into soil aggregates. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of crop rotations under no-tillage system on C content and soil aggregation. The experiment was conducted at the Paraná Agronomic Institute in Ponta Grossa, PR, Brazil. The treatments consisted of six crop rotations, in a 3-year cycle, arranged in a randomized block design with four replications. Soil samples were collected at layers of 0-5, 5-10 and 10-20 cm. The aggregate classification was determined by the wet sieving methodology, and the Weighted Mean Diameter (WMD), Geometric Mean Diameter (GMD) and Aggregate Stability Index (ASI) were calculated. The C content in the aggregates was determined by wet oxidation. The results were submitted to analysis of variance and Tukey test at 5% probability. There was no difference among crop rotations for aggregate classes and aggregation indexes, but were higher in surface, decreasing in depth. The carbon content in the aggregates did not differ among crop rotations, but presented stratification in the soil profile, decreasing in depth. The cycle of three years with crop rotation was insufficient to express possible changes in soil C content and aggregation.


This paper records the Polish aspects of P. F. Lazarsfeld's sociointellectual biography and examines his impact on Polish sociology. The analysis is divided into three chronological parts. In the 1930s, Lazarsfeld's empirical work inspired Polish sociologists in their studies on unemployment. In the late 1950s and 1960s, his model of empirical social research shaped the style of sociological practice in Poland. In the 1990s, some of Lazarsfeld's substantive contributions, mainly in the area of election studies, were taken up in Polish sociology. Lazarsfeld's influence on Polish sociology was conditioned by changes in Polish society and sociology, which is emphasized in this analysis.


Objective:To explore the Mechanism of Lipid Peroxidation in Renal Interstitial Fibrosis in Rats Intoxicated by Mercuric Chloride.Methods:Rats were orally administrated with 8 mg/kg mercuric chloride(HgCl2)for 9 weeks.The dynamic changes were observed at 5 time points(1 w,2 w,4 w,6 w,9 w).Renal function(Cr and BUN) and renal lipid peroxidation injury(GSH,GSH-Px,MDA and SOD) were tested with respective kits.Hydroxyproline(Hyp) content of kidney was assayed with hydrochloric acid hydrolysis;renal pathological changes were observed with HE and Masson staining.The expression and distribution of metallothionein(MT) was observed with immunohistochemistry.The activation of nuclear factor-kappa B(NF-κB) signal pathway which including the expression of inhibitor-κB(IκB) protein,phospho-IκB(P-IκB) protein,tumor necrosis factor-α(TNF-α) protein and α-smooth muscle actin(α-SMA) protein were observed with western blot.Results:Contrasted by normal rats and at the end of the 9th week,model rats had serum Cr and BUN increased(Cr,P0.05;BUN,P0.01),renal GSH content and GSH-Px activity decreased(GSH,P0.05;GSH-Px,P0.01),renal MDA content(P0.05) increased,but no difference in SOD activity(P0.05).In model rats,renal Hyp content also was increased(P0.05).During the formation of the model,inflammatory cells infiltration and increased ECM deposition were observed in renal interstitial space,renal interstitial space widened and some renal tubules atrophied,which were all in accordance with typical renal interstitial fibrosis.The expression of MT was found to be decreased gradually in model kidney,while the expression of IκB protein had no difference(P0.05) and that of P-IκB and TNF-α(P-IκB,P0.05;TNF-α,P0.01)increased.And the expression of α-SMA protein was also increased(P0.01).Conclusion:The mechanism of renal interstitial fibrosis in rats intoxicated by mercuric chloride was renal lipid peroxidation injury,which induced the activation of NF-κB signaling pathway and the activation of myofibroblast.And renal interstitial fibrosis formed as a result.


s should accompany all original articles. They should be up to 150 words long and should set out what was done, the principal findings, and their implications. References must be in the Vancouver style and their accuracy checked before submission. They should be numbered in the order in which they appear in the text. Each reference should include the names and initials of each author (or, if more than six, the first three followed by et at), the title of the article, the title of the journal (abbreviated according to the style of Index Medicus), the year, the volume, and the first and last page numbers. References to books should give the names of any editors, the place of publication, the publisher, and the year. Letters to the editor submitted for publication must be signed personally by all authors, who should include one degree or diploma. The editor reserves the customary right to style and if necessary shorten material accepted for publication and to determine the priority and time of publication. Detailed instructions are given in theBMJ dated 2 January 1988, p 48. 1288 BMJ VOLUME 297 19 NOVEMBER 1988


Flux-grown spinel samp les belonging to spinel s.s. -hercynite and spinel s.s. - magnesioferrite solid solutions were investigated by electron micro probe and sin gle-crystal X-ray diffraction. Results confirmed the compositional homogeneity of the samples, and str uctural refinements gave final disagreement factors R ranging from 1.33 to 3. 71%. The solid solution


On July 9, 2004, the International Court of Justice ("ICJ") handed down an Advisory Opinion concerning the Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. In producing the Opinion, the Court traversed issues concerning its jurisdiction to deal with the request, the applicable law, the adherence by Israel to that law, the right of self-defense and the consequences of its findings of unlawfulness. It is well known that the long running issue of Israeli and Palestinian reconciliation is a politically heated one and the work of the ICJ has not been immune from the effects of this context. This Article asserts that the context overtook the law in the production of the Opinion and has thereby distorted the result. As a consequence, the ICJ has done significant damage to its credibility and to the aspects of international law traversed in the Opinion. CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF THE INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE RULING ON ISRAEL'S SECURITY BARRIER


Among all types of vehicle accidents, rollover crashes are the most complex and least understood. During the last decades, a constant increase in the number of studies involving rollover crashes and injuries associated with it can be observed. The existing experimental standards and procedures to test rollover crashworthiness are still not suitable for direct computer simulation because of the huge computational effort required, and the need of faithful/overly complex representation of the aspects involved in actual crashes. Yet, numerical simulation plays a key role in keeping the design cost low and in delivering reliable structural predictions. The objective of the present work is to show a numerical methodology adapted to simulate three different procedures commonly used to assess vehicle roof strength. The models refer to commercial versions of a compact car and a sport utility vehicle. Results for roof crushing, normal ground force as well as other variables are compared, and the advantages/disadvantages of each standard are discussed and criticised. It was verified that one of the most used design procedures is not representative of realistic rollover phenomena, further supporting a recent change in it.


The purpose of research was to develop a methodology for testing the fire-resistant quality of a building fragment influenced by a real fire to substantiate the main calculation methodology provisions and determine the residual load-carrying ability. While testing, it was supposed to determine the technical state of reinforced-concrete structures after high-temperature exposure and further intensive extinguishment. High-temperature heating and further fire extinguishing with water leads to the surface layers' destruction and weakening of concrete. Impact on the structures of the open air leads to destruction and delamination of weakened concrete with further exposing of reinforcement and its corrosion. The approach, implemented in LIRA-SAPR software package, makes possible to take into account the influence of changes in the temperature regime of operation on the stress-strain state of the structure. After determining the temperature fields, it is necessary to reduce the rigidity characteristics of materials and perform a calculation of strength. When using this approach in order to determine the total deformations of the structure, it is necessary to take into account the creep deformation.


Objectives: Postoperative pain following mastectomy is often severe and pain management is necessary. We evaluated the analgesic efficacy of continuous pectoral nerve block (PEC) in comparison with that of the continuous thoracic paravertebral block (TPVB) and the intravenous opioid analgesia in patients scheduled for modified radical mastectomy (MRM). Materials and Methods: A total of 90 female patients aged 20 to 70 years, American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) I to III, undergoing unilateral MRM were randomly allocated into 3 groups. All patients received postoperative morphine patient-controlled analgesia (PCA). Continuous TPVB and continuous PECs were added in group II and group III, respectively. Postoperative morphine consumption during the first 48 hours and postoperative visual analog scale were recorded. Results: The cumulative morphine consumption in the first 24 hours postoperative was higher in the PCA-M group (27.47±4.95 mg) than that of the TPVB group (8.43±2.67 mg) and PEC group (13.47±3.89 mg) (P<0.001, confidence interval: 16.6-21.5 and 11.6-16.4, respectively). It was significantly higher in the PEC group as compared with the TPVB group (P<0.001, confidence interval: 2.6-7.5). On admission to postanesthesia care unit till 2 hours postoperative, the median visual analog scale score at rest was higher in the PCA-M group than that of the TPVB group (P<0.05) and PEC group (P<0.05) without statistical difference between the TPVB group and PEC group. Discussion: Continuous PEC and continuous TPVB reduced the postoperative morphine consumptions as compared with the intravenous opioid analgesia in patients undergoing MRM with greater reduction in TPVB and without increased adverse effects.


In the "Palace without Rival" at Nineveh, the Assyrian King Sennacherib immortalised his 701 B.C. campaign against Jerusalem with a series of spectacular wall relief sculptures. Amazingly, when the palace was rediscovered twenty-five centuries later in 1847, the sculpture in the throne room areas remained largely intact. But today, air pollution, animal damage, vandalism, neglect, and - worst of all - looting for the international antiquities market by Iraq's own sanctions-striken people, have brought ruin to the palace. The splendour of Sennacherib's palace now survives only in this irreplaceable book. Art historian and archaeologist John Malcolm Russell, who in 1989 set about creating the only extensive photographic record of the palace architecture, sculptures, and inscriptions ever made, has preserved in pictures much that has since been lost. This book is not only a major contribution to the understanding of Assyrian palatial art and architecture, it is also the key to safeguarding the treasures of Sennacherib's palace and other ancient sites, for Russell proposes standards in archaeological excavation, documentation, and public policy that will help preserve cultural artifacts in an unstable world.


It is the purpose of this paper to summarize the clinical studies presented in Part 111. Although throughout this monograph much emphasis has been placed on the importance of objective appraisals, I must admit that this summary necessarily will be colored by subjective factors. I t constitutes the reactions of one individual to the evidence presented and, therefore, the conclusions drawn do not necessarily reflect a consensus of the contributing investigators.


We present a method for analyzing spatially resolved fields in multilayer meta‐materials by combining plane‐wave decomposition with multilayer matrix theory and we show that optical effects like sub‐lambda imaging by a planar lens layer are treated accurately for finite diameter beams and can be interpreted by Fourier optical system analysis.


Solitary fibrous tumors (SFTs) are rare soft-tissue tumors that often occur in body cavities, especially the pleural space. A subset of SFTs is histologically malignant and tends to metastasize; rarely, they may induce paraneoplastic syndromes. Doege–Potter syndrome is paraneoplastic hypoglycemia induced by oversecretion of unprocessed insulin-growth factor-2. While localized SFTs are treated mainly by surgery, the standard therapy for metastatic SFTs is lacking. Here, we present a case with metastatic malignant SFT and Doege–Potter syndrome, which was treated initially by dacarbazine and bevacizumab with a period of good clinical response.


The crisis mine includes the real crisis and the fake crisis, in the deep of the fake crisis mine and around it, there is also potential of mining. Using the theory of mineral resources prognosis of synthetic information, the new mineral deposit or new mineral will be discovered, and the new mineral body will be made off, and searching for deep hide and difficult identified mineral deposit. The general idea of the theory of mineral prognosis of synthetic information is put forward in the resources of the crisis mine.


The bond energies of a range of gem-diols, CH3R′C(OH)2 (R′ = H, F, Cl, Br, CN, NO2, CF3, CH3CH2, CH3CH2CH2, CH3CH2CH2CH2, ((CH3)2)CH, (CH3)3C, ((CH3)2CH)CH2, (CH3CH2)(CH3)CH, C6H5, and (CH3CH2)(CH3)CH), which serve as models for binding to a surface, have been studied with density functional theory (DFT) and the molecular orbital G3(MP2) method to provide thermodynamic data for the analysis of the photochemistry of ketones on TiO2. The ultraviolet (UV) photon-induced photodecomposition of adsorbed acetone and 3,3-dimethylbutanone on the rutile TiO2(110) surface has been investigated with photon-stimulated desorption (PSD) and temperature-programmed desorption (TPD). The C−CH3 and C−C(R′) bond dissociation energies in CH3R′C(OH)2 were predicted, and our calculated bond dissociation energies are in excellent agreement with the available experimental values. We used a series of isodemic reactions to provide small corrections to the various bond dissociation energies. The calculated bond dissociation energies...


Achieving sustainable buildings is a challenging task. Building sustainability involves "green building" design and construction, taking account of both environmental elements and economic benefits, along with social obligations to the society we live in. This article aims to critically review and analyse studies of the building and construction industry that deal with aspects of sustainability, including environmental life cycle assessment, life cycle costing, social life cycle assessment and cleaner production strategies, and to examine the research gaps in order to generate recommendations for further research. About 807 refereed research articles on residential buildings published over the last 10 years (2009–2019), were downloaded, having been searched from online databases (including Scopus, Web of Science, ScienceDirect and Compendex) using keywords. Building materials, embodied energy and operating energy were found to contribute chiefly to the environmental and socio-economic objectives of the construction industry. Many studies covered only the life cycle tools (such as environmental life cycle assessment, life cycle costing, and social lifecycle assessment) used in the sustainability assessment process. The "carbon footprint" concept is the most commonly used indicator in building sustainability assessments, underlining the urgent need to deploy more diverse environmental impact categories in order to avoid trade-offs among environmental, social and economic objectives. The social life cycle assessment tool needs a methodological breakthrough to improve its application in the building industry. In most of the studies, only an approximate evaluation of buildings' service life is the main consideration in life cycle assessments, while the important factor of the quality of the materials used in buildings is often neglected. However, a methodological approach to estimate the service life of structures that considers the durability of different building components would provide a more realistic life cycle assessment. Hence it would be judicious to address the thematic and methodological gaps identified in this paper, thereby optimising the understanding and communication of life cycle outcomes in building sustainability.


The present invention is a method for producing a secondary battery electrode, surface treating the current collector so as to have a morphology which forms the magnitude of the surface roughness of the 0.001~10μm across the surface in general (R Method of manufacturing a secondary battery electrode according to the present invention, by including a step of surface treating the current collector to have specific morphology across the surface in general, it is possible to increase the surface area of the current collector, which to improve the adhesion between the collector and the electrode active material of the manufactured electrodes by, such as improved charge-discharge cycle characteristics, it is possible to improve the various properties of the secondary battery.


Devastating earthquakes continue to occur around the world causing extensive damage and loss of life. In the past decade there has been no shortage of such events. In 1999. the Turkish and Taiwanese earthquakes caused a very large loss of life, with extensive property damage from ground shaking, direct faulting, and ground failures. The 1995 earthquake near Kobe. Japan, resulted in about 5000 deaths and extensive property damage in a highly developed and industrialized nation. The 1994 earthquake in Northridge. CA. USA, resulted in much lower loss of life but an economic loss estimated around USD 20 billion.


The Advanced Photon Source (APS) is a 7-GeV, third-generation synchrotron radiation source. To provide more stable beam for users, we are pursuing a new operating mode called "top-up". In this mode, the beam current is not allowed to decay as it normally would, but instead is maintained at a high level through frequent injection. A safety question with top-up mode is, during injection with photon shutters open can injected beam ever exit a photon beamline? This might happen, for example, due to full or partial shorting of a dipole coil. Extensive, detailed tracking studies were performed to assess the possibility of such an accident given the planned safety measures. We discuss the safety philosophy, the scenarios simulated, and the advanced computational techniques employed. A companion paper discusses analytical estimates of top-up safety.


Thesis: S.M. in Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, School of Engineering, Institute for Data, Systems, and Society, System Design and Management Program, 2016.


An irrigated mixed pasture of short rotation ryegrass (Lolium multiflorium x L. perenne) Phalaris tuberosa L. and white clover (Trifolium repens L.) was grazed at six- and eight-weekly intervals and at six-weekly intervals with two summer grazings omitted. Yields of the components were measured for three years. Short rotation ryegrass contributed very little to yield after its first flush of growth following sowing. At the end of the three years, short rotation ryegrass in the six-weekly grazing treatment was contributing six per cent of the total yield, two per cent in the eight-weekly treatment, and one per cent in the rested treatment. Resting for eighteen weeks in summer favoured the development of Phalaris and hence reduced clover dominance. At the end of three years, Phalaris was contributing forty-four per cent of the total yield in the rested treatment and twenty-three and thirty-seven per cent in the six-weekly and eight-weekly grazing treatments.


This study presents the seismic assessment of wall-diaphragm connections in New Zealand unreinforced masonry buildings, particularly on the bolted connections applied to the existing timber members of the floor and roof diaphragms. Because of the lack of data on the local indigenous hardwood bolted connections, the experimental study to assess their strength performance was initiated. Materials tested were recycled Matai and Rimu hardwoods, which are typically used in the construction of diaphragms in New Zealand unreinforced masonry buildings. The basic properties of the timber used were determined by conducting the following tests: (1) moisture content and density tests; (2) embedding strength tests parallel to the timber grain; and (3) yield compression strength tests perpendicular to the timber grain. The main timber bolted connection tests were conducted in accordance with the ISO/DIS 10984-2. Eleven groups of different bolted connection details with at least ten replicates for each group were tested. A steel-wood-steel connection type was applied to all tested specimens. Based on the current design equations of New Zealand code, European Yield Model, and Row Shear Model, the strength prediction values were compared with the test results obtained. From the comparison made, the effectiveness of those equations to predict the bolted connection strength was identified. The use of European Yield Model and Row Shear Model equations to assess the bolted connection strength in New Zealand hardwoods is recommended. A procedure that was particularly developed to assess the walldiaphragm connections in New Zealand unreinforced masonry buildings is also presented in this thesis. Abdul Razak Abdul Karim i


Inaction" in the Taoist philosophy has three realms. Seemingly taking no action while efforts are in fact made is the first realm, in which something will surely be accomplished while some others abstained from. Knowing that something is beyond ability, yet one does not give up efforts. This is the second realm, in which nothing is feared yet nothing will be accomplished. Hence an "inaction" in nature. The third realm of "inaction" calls for the following of the universe law. It seems that no effort has been made, but it follows that everything has been achieved. The seeming "inaction" is "action" indeed.


The purpose of this study was to examine prevalence, correlates and predictors of mental health in children in New Orleans 15 months post-Hurricane Katrina. Analyses were conducted on 195 children who completed self-reports of hurricane and lifetime trauma exposure, social support, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, and depression. Teachers completed the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. Children reported high incidence of PTSD symptoms: 36.9% moderate to severe and 23.6% mild. In multiple regression analyses, gender, social support, and lifetime trauma exposure, but not hurricane exposure, significantly predicted PTSD. Age, social support, and lifetime trauma exposure, but not hurricane exposure, significantly predicted child depressive symptoms. Teachers reported lower levels of problems and no significant predictors of teacher reports other than age and school. PTSD and depression were significant problems for children 15 months post-Hurricane Katrina. Lifetime trauma exposure was the strongest predictor of both PTSD and depression. Effective and accessible treatment is needed for such children.


In an attempt to surpass the genre of travelogue, three Americans—Merian C. Cooper, Ernest B. Schoedsack, and Marguerite Harrison—traveled to southwestern Iran to film the biannual migration of the Bakhtiari tribes and their flocks from winter to summer pastures. In Grass: A Nation's Battle for Life (1925), Schoedsack's exquisite framing of long shots captured the vast movement of an estimated 50,000 people and 500,000 animals in desert caravans, grassy plains, icy river crossings and snowy mountain vistas. The technical requirements of Grass alone suggest its importance in early ethnographic and documentary film, but problematic elements, such as its flimsily contrived storyline and melodramatic and essentializing intertitles, have presented problems for its perceived importance in ethnographic film history and as a representation of Iran. In 1976, Anthony Howarth (with consulting anthropologist David M. Brooks and narrator James Mason) filmed People of the Wind, again following the Bakhtiari tribes along their migration, and employed cinematography emphasizing the great color and sounds of the movement of people en masse. This paper uses theoretical frameworks from visual anthropology and film theory to complicate the reading of these films, first by placing Grass within the context of the intentions and ideological imperatives of its filmmakers. This paper complicates the reading of both films, arguing that despite the fifty years of filmmaking between them, Grass and People of the Wind are actually limited in quite similar ways.


This paper presents a design method of FIR digital filters that meet simultaneously magnitude and group delay specifications using a successive projection method. Generally, the design problem of FIR digital filters with low group delay is expressed as the minimization problem of the complex magnitude error, which includes the magnitude and phase information, and it is minimized instead of the group delay error. Therefore, the group delay characteristics of the filter obtained by solving such a design problem may be distant from the desired group delay. In the proposed method, we define separately the approximation problems of the magnitude and the group delay characteristics, and these two approximation problems are solved alternately using successive projection method. As a result, the proposed method allows the direct approximation of the group delay characteristics, and it can also restrict the group delay characteristics within the preselected allowable errors. The usefulness of the proposed method is verified through some design examples.


The object boundary of an image plays an important role in image interpretation. In this paper, we introduce a concept of hierarchical mesh-based image segmentation for finding object boundaries. In each hierarchical layer, we employ neighborhood searching and boundary tracking methods to refine the initial boundary estimate. We also apply a local region growing method to define closed contours. Experimental results indicate that reliable segmentation of objects can be accomplished by the proposed low complexity technique.