Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether first level measures in the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) declaring a cause-effect relationship by design are composite indices of lower measures, and if they converge into a single factor as is traditionally accepted in the BSC literature.

Design/methodology/approach

This study reports results of a quantitative case study that focusses on an Ontario (Canada) community hospital that has been using the BSC.

Findings

The results of this study challenge the cause-effect assumption of the BSC, particularly in a cascading context, and suggest that a lack of attention of how composite indices of lower measures converge into a single higher level measure may be the reason for ineffective use of the BSC.

Research limitations/implications

The BSC is a dynamic tool; as such there are several measures that have a very short history, thus limiting the observations available to be used in statistical models.

Practical implications

A key recommendation for practice that emerges from this study is the need to test if lower level metrics do merge naturally in the upper level measure of the BSC; if not, the upper level measure might not be linked to other measures rendering the BSC ineffective in the context of causality.

Originality/value

Although several studies have argued in favour of the cause-effect relationship of the BSC, none of those found in the literature have paid attention to the way in which first level measures are constructed. This may explain why certain measures are linked, while others are not, to those that are calculated as composite indices of several lower level indicators.


Abstract. While the burden caused by air pollution in urban areas is well documented, the origin of this pollution and therefore the responsibility of the urban areas in generating this pollution is still a subject of scientific discussion. Source Apportionment represents a useful technique to quantify the city responsibility but the approaches and applications are not harmonized, therefore not comparable, resulting in confusing and sometimes contradicting interpretations. In this work, we analyze how different source apportionment approaches apply to the urban scale and how their building elements and parameters are defined and set. We discuss in particular the options available in terms of indicator, receptor, source and methodology. We show that different choices for these options lead to very large differences in terms of outcome. In average over the 150 EU large cities selected in our study, the choices made for the indicator, the receptor and the source each lead to an average factor 2 difference. We also show that temporal and spatial averaging processes applied to the air quality indicator, especially when diverging source apportionments are aggregated into a single number lead to favor strategies that target background sources while occulting actions that would be efficient at the city center. We stress that methodological choices and assumptions most often lead to a systematic and important underestimation of the city responsibility, with important implications. Indeed, if cities are seen as a minor actor, plans will target in priority the background at the expense of potentially effective local actions.


Hyperferritinemia is most often found in patients as a result of iron overload, infection, inflammation, or malignancy. Danazol, a synthetic derivative of ethinyl testosterone, has not been reported to cause hyperferritinemia. We present three patients observed to have extreme increases in serum ferritin during treatment with danazol. CASES: The first case is a 67 year old male with autoimmune hemolytic anemia, whose ferritin level rose from 983 to 3472 μg/L six months after starting danazol 200mg three times daily. The second is a 79 year old woman with immune thrombocytopenic purpura, whose ferritin was found to be 1109 μg/L after one month on danazol 200mg twice daily (BID) then decreased to188 μg/L one month after discontinuation. The third case had the most dramatic findings. This is a 56 year old female with autoimmune hemolytic anemia characterized by both warm and cold agglutinins with a refractory course. After less than one month on danazol 200 mg BID her ferritin increased from 521 to 2877μg/L. Severe hyperferritinemia persisted until danazol was discontinued. At this time, there was an abrupt fall from 2628 to 191μg/L. In each of these cases, there was no alternative explanation for the changes in ferritin level. In particular, there was no evidence of activation of the acute phase response, nor any indication of hepatotoxicity as reflected in liver enzymes or bilirubin levels. Since observing these cases, we have monitored ferritin levels in 3 other patients being treated in our clinic with danazol, and have seen no change in ferritin level in these 3 patients. DISCUSSION: The effect of danazol in these cases may represent a direct androgenic effect or a non-specific effect. The synthesis of a number of plasma proteins by hepatocytes is known to be influenced by androgen receptor interactions, but this has not been reported to be the case for ferritin; instead it is thought that higher ferritin levels in men are a result of higher iron stores. Nonetheless it is possible that there is a previously unreported influence of androgens on ferritin synthesis, which might be more apparent in patients with moderate iron overload (two of our patients had mildly elevated baseline ferritin levels). An idiosyncratic effect unrelated to androgenic activity seems more likely. (Similarly, there is an inconsistent therapeutic effect of danazol in immune thrombocytopenia and hemolytic anemia and the exact mechanism of action, possibly related to immunosuppression rather than androgen effect, is unknown.) The rapid return of the ferritin level to baseline after discontinuation of danazol shows that the effect is not a result of a change in iron stores. The possibility that danazol (or a metabolite thereof) interferes with the assay of ferritin in serum is made unlikely by our observations in several other danazol-treated patients, in whom no change in ferritin levels were seen. The findings in our cases should be considered when measuring ferritin in patients receiving danazol. Hyperferritinemia in these patients is an unreliable predictor of iron overload. Whether this observation has any implication with respect to the toxicity of danazol is not known.


This paper presents thermodynamic and improvement potential analyses of a helium closed-cycle gas turbine power plant (Oberhausen II) and dominant plant components at four loads. DESIGN LOAD represents optimal operating conditions that cannot be obtained in exploitation but can be used as a guideline for further improvements. In real plant exploitation, the highest plant efficiency is obtained at NOMINAL LOAD (31.27%). Considering all observed components, the regenerator (helium-helium heat exchanger) is the most sensitive to the ambient temperature change. An exact comparison shows that the efficiency decrease of an open-cycle gas turbine power plant during load decrease is approximately two and a half or more times higher in comparison to a closed-cycle gas turbine power plant. Plant improvement potential related to all turbomachines leads to the conclusion that further improvement of the most efficient turbomachine (High Pressure Turbine—HPT) will increase whole plant efficiency more than improvement of any other turbomachine. An increase in the HPT isentropic efficiency of 1% will result in an average increase in whole plant efficiency of more than 0.35% at all loads during plant exploitation. In the final part of this research, it is investigated whether the additional heater involvement in the plant operation results in a satisfactory increase in power plant efficiency. It is concluded that in real exploitation conditions (by assuming a reasonable helium pressure drop of 5% in the additional heater), an additional heating process cannot be an improvement possibility for the Oberhausen II power plant.


Initialization for numerical weather prediction models is of utmost importance especially in the short‐range forecast of the weather accompanying extreme events such as heavy rainfall, heatwaves, and so on. The balance relationship between wind and mass in the initialized field has been an important issue since Richardson's first attempt at numerical prediction. In a climatological framework, regressed‐linear and analytic‐nonlinear balancing methods are used to impose the wind–mass correlation onto the analysis increment, which results from data assimilation procedures. The advection of horizontal wind destroys the isotropy assumption by the regressed‐linear balance approach. The nonlinear balance equation approach including the advection process reduces this disadvantage more or less. However, it is shown that forecast ensemble correlation helps even the regressed balance approach to address the anisotropy in the hybridization framework. The regressed balance approach, in common with the nonlinear balance, experiences (a) considerable residual of the horizontal momentum conservation in the Antarctic stratosphere, and (b) lack of thermodynamic energy relationship between divergent wind and temperature in the Tropics. This study demonstrates with phenomenological examples that these weaknesses of the traditional (especially, regressed) methods are effectively resolved by forecast ensemble covariance.


As the U.S. academy increasingly markets "the global" and "diversity" for undergraduate student consumption, feminists face new challenges with respect to the decolonizing goals of teaching. Analyzing race, gender, and culture intersections that inform epistemological desires in the Women and Gender Studies classroom, this article examines the potential of a "pedagogy of unmirroring" to engage students in a decolonizing process of learning that facilitates intersectional and transnational feminist methods. The analysis draws from personal teaching experiences to argue that the languages of postcolonial feminist studies can be applied to a politics of knowledge in the classroom by rendering self–other relations of empire visible to the "mirror" of student perceptions in ways that help them confront epistemological desires rooted in imperialist assumptions.


It is proposed to use the solution of the fuzzy programming problem to calculate the optimal concentration of the ingredients of the polymer composition in order to best display the specified properties. The analysis of the latest achievements of the world science showed a rather high relevance of the problem under consideration. It is proposed to solve the task of fuzzy programming based on the decomposition of fuzzy numbers into alpha levels. As a result of such a decomposition, a complex of real quadratic programming problems is obtained, the solutions of which give the alpha levels of the original fuzzy programming problem. These alpha levels are approximated by a membership function, and the result is a vector of fuzzy numbers: a solution to a fuzzy programming problem. The proposed approach is illustrated by a computational experiment.


Land use planning often is implemented to control development on forests and farmland, but its impact on land use remains untested. Previous studies evaluating such programs have relied on anecdotal evidence rather than on data describing actual land use change. A model of land use is specified as a function of socioeconomic factors, land rent, and landowners' characteristics, to examine how well Oregon's land use planning program has protected forests and farmland from development. The empirical model describes the probability that forests and farmland in western Oregon and western Washington were developed to residential, commercial, or industrial uses, before and after Oregon's land use planning program took effect. Land use data are provided by the USDA Forest Service's Forest Inventory and Analysis program. Results suggest that Oregon's land use planning program has concentrated development within urban growth boundaries since its implementation, but its success at reducing the likelihood of development on resource lands located within forest use and exclusive farm use zones remains uncertain.


Abstract : The objective of this research was to design a compact lightweight communications antenna for a micro remotely piloted vehicle (MRPV). Based on a computer simulation of four potential antenna configurations it was found that a monopole on a cylindrical end cap provides the lowest voltage standing wave ratio (VSWR) and a nearly hemispherical radiation pattern. The data was generated at frequencies near 1 GHz using two method of moments computational electromagnetic codes: PATCH and NEC-Win.


Metabolic syndrome (MetS) has been associated with poorer cognition in old age, however this association has yet to be defined in midlife. We aimed to investigate the relationship of early adulthood to midlife MetS in relation to cognition and white matter integrity in midlife.


With the end of the military phase of counteracting religious extremism and terrorism, the ideological confrontation of individual social groups has become latent and weakly expressed. Today, in the vanguard of this confrontation are young people who are studying, and in their social enviroment there are obviously some ideas of social justice, morality, and morals that may be reinterpreted from the standpoint of Islamic dogma. This sociological research has shown that the majority of students at secular schools and universities in Dagestan show a weak dependence on the opinion of religious figures. However, about 10 % of students are under their influence. This may have some negative consequences in the situation of continued distrust of law en-forcement agencies on the part of 60 to 70 % of civilian population, which is not prepared to cooperate with law enforcement bodies in counteracting religious extremism and terrorism. In this regard, the authors propose to include in the preventive work the measures aimed at increas-ing the level of trust of citizens to law enforcement officers.


As the demand for higher capacity and longer reach of optical access networks is garnering momentum in recent years, coherent access technology attracts renewed interests in high-capacity optical networking. In this paper, designs of various coherent access networks are investigated and compared. From our results, it may be the most promising solution with high capacity at optimized cost. When coherent detection is employed in access network, the laser linewidth is a key design issue for optimized performance and cost as laser phase noise is larger with lower bit rate. One of our objectives is to examine the feasibility of employing a conventional DFB as carrier sources. We evaluated the performance of ultra-dense WDM access networking system. Experimental results show that 2.5GB/s QPSK data can be transmitted over 35-km SMF-28 with 6.5GHz channel spacing using DFB lasers.


T HE first major social security program in southeast Asia came into operation in India on February 24, 1952. The program, which was initiated on a limited basis, will cover about 2.5 million factory employees when it comes into operation throughout the major industrial centers by January 1955. The Employees' State Insurance Act, which established the program, provides for medical services, continuing cash benefits due to employment injury or death, cash sickness benefits during periods of wage loss, and cash maternity beneflts. In addition, legislation providing for a separate system of old-age and survivors savings benefits was enacted in 1952. This program, initiated by the Employees' Provident Funds Act, provides for the establishment on a compulsory basis of company (savings) plans in certain industries. It applies to about 1.6 million employees. India, the second most populous country in the world and the eighth most important industrial nation, thus becomes another of the major countries to put into operation a social security system. Although the coverage of the system is limited, protection is afforded against a number of risks.


According to the dynamic and complex characteristics of the mine ventilation system,the algorithm of choosing the optimum circuit for the minimum regulation number of measuring airflow and evaluating resistance model was put forward.Combining with the real-time dynamic monitoring data of the air volume,the paper established the measuring airflow evaluating resistance model of the mine ventilation network based on the monitoring data.Because it easily constructed the ill-posed coefficient matrix while the model applied to the complex network,the solving method of parameters of the Tikhonov regularization based on the greedy algorithm was proposed to revise the model.The application shows that this method can reduce the severity of ill-posed matrix and moderately solve the resistance of the complex ventilation network.It exerts the real-time dynamic monitoring function of the monitoring system and provides the basic data to the dynamic simulation of mine ventilation system.


The effect of temperature on the anti-air missile is very grave.It has been an inevitable problem in the maintenance of anti-air missile.The effect of temperature on equipment was analyzed by researches of the mechanism of the failure.Some shielding technologies were introduced.An evaluation method for the temperature environmental worthiness of antiair missile system was put forward.


Complementary Tendencies in the Use of Regulatory Elements (Transcription Factors, Sigma Factors, and Riboswitches) in Bacteria and Archaea Gene expression in prokaryotes is regulated mainly at the level of transcription by transcription factors, sigma factors, and riboswitches. Chávez et al. (e00413-20) provided a comprehensive description of the most abundant COG, KEGG, and Rfam families of transcriptional regulators present in prokaryotic genomes according to their genome size and phylogenetic origin. Furthermore, they found a clear tendency for organisms to compensate for the low frequencies of a particular type of regulatory element (transcription factors) with a high frequency of other types of regulatory elements (sigma factors).


Teamwork is a prerequisite for the development of large complex software systems. In conventional software engineering coordination of teamwork is achieved by exchanging formal documents and by providing support for keeping these documents consistent even while several developers are evolving them. In order to support teamwork more effectively it is important to move the focus beyond coordination towards cooperation. The goal of the Beyond-Sniff project is to provide cooperation support in three ways. First, by providing a terminological and conceptional foundation for the field of cooperative software engineering. Second, by developing tools for computer supported cooperative software engineering. Third, by developing a platform for control and data integration, a technical prerequisite for computer supported cooperative software engineering.<<ETX>>


Mobile ad hoc network (MANET) is a collection of wireless mobile nodes. It dynamically forms a temporary network without using any pre existing network infrastructure or centralized administration i.e. with minimal prior planning. All nodes have routing capabilities and forward data packets to other nodes in multi-hop fashion. As the network is dynamic, the network topology continuously experiences alterations during deployment. The biggest challenge in MANETs is to find a path between communicating nodes. The considerations of the MANET environment and the nature of the mobile nodes create further complications which results in the need to develop special routing algorithms to meet these challenges. Swarm intelligence, a bio-inspired technique, which has proven to be very adaptable in other problem domains, has been applied to the MANET routing problem as it forms a good fit to the problem. In ant societies the activities of the individuals are not regulated by any explicit form of centralized control but are the result of self-organizing dynamics driven by local interactions and communications among a number of relatively simple individuals. This unique characteristic has made ant societies an attractive and inspiring model for building new algorithms and new multi-agent systems. In this paper, we have studied and reviewed Ant Colony based routing algorithms and its variants. Finally, a performance evaluation of the original ARA and the EARA is carried out with respect to each other.


A modification of the Counterion Condensation (CC) theory of linear polyelectrolytes has been developed to take into account the presence of specific interactions between the polymer and the counterions. The particular case in which the polymer is the Ionic Polysaccharide (IPS) K-carrageenan and the ions are monovalent alkaline ions with high atomic number (e.g. K + , Cs + ) has been considered. K-carrageenan in the presence of such ions undergoes a conformational transition eventually leading to the formation of side-by-side ordered pairs of chains, acting as junctions in a 3-D gel network. The presence of the conformational equilibrium leading to the fundamental ordered single chain (1h) and of the following one leading to chain pairing (1h.1h) complicates the description of the overall process. Nevertheless, they have been successfully accommodated together with the specific ion-polymer interactions to give a self-consistent set of thermodynamic equations. The application of the model to the experimental calorimetric data of mixing K-carrageenan with Cs + ions has been successful. The thermodynamic parameters for the main chain conformational changes, as well as those for the specific interactions, have been calculated. In addition, the approach allowed for the evaluation of the number of polymer repeating units in the cooperative units of both 1h and of 1h.1h. They are as large as 50 and 35, respectively.


S IN T E F IC T , D ept. of A pplied M athem atics, P .O . B ox 124 B lin dern , N -0314O slo, N orwa y.A b strac t. W e con tin u e th e w ork th at w as in itiated in [7] on a ma rch in g me th o dfor sim u latin g tw o-p h ase in comp ressib le immi scib le s ow of w ater an d oil in a p orou sme d iu m. W e Þ rst p resen t an altern ative d erivation of th e ma rch in g me th o d th atreveals a stron g con n ection to mo d ern streaml in e me th o d s. T h en , th rou gh th e stu d yof th ree n u me rical test cases w e p resen t tw o d eÞ cien cies: (i) th e origin al ma rch in galgorith m d o es n ot alw ay s comp u te th e correct solu tion of th e u n d erly in g d i! eren ceeq u ation s, an d (ii) th e me th o d gives largely in accu rate arrival time s in th e p resen ceof large ju mp s w ith in th e u p w in d d i! eren ce sten cil. A s a reme d y of th e Þ rst p rob lemw e p resen t a n ew ad van cin g-fron t me th o d , w h ich is faster th an th e origin al ma rch in gme th o d an d gu aran tees a correct solu tion of th e u n d erly in g d iscrete lin ear sy stem.T o cu re th e secon d p rob lem w e p resen t tw o ad ap tive strategies th at avoid th e u seof Þ n ite-d i! eren ce sten cils con tain in g large ju mp s in th e arrival time s.T h e origin al ma rch in g me th o d w as in tro d u ced as a fast to ol for sim u latin g tw o-p h ase s ow scen arios in h eterogen eou s forma tion s. T h e n ew ad van cin g-fron t me th o dh as limi ted ap p licab ility in th is resp ect, b u t ma y rath er b e u sed as a fast an drelatively accu rate me th o d for comp u tin g arrival time s an d d erived q u an tities inh eterogen eou s me d ia.!c 2005 Kl u we r A cadem ic P u blishers. P rin ted in the N etherlan ds.article.tex; 11/05/2005; 14:15; p.1


To analyze the value and limitations of flow cytometry (FCM) in the investigation of patients with lymphadenopathy, a retrospective study of 196 patients, referred for fine‐needle aspiration (FNA) cytology, was carried out in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia, between 1992–1997. Complete cytological, flow‐cytometric, and outcome (clinical and histological) data were available on all the cases. The FNA appearances were read in conjunction with FCM findings. The following cytological categories were recognized: benign, 78 cases (39.8%); indeterminate, 9 cases (4.6%); and malignant, 109 cases (55.6%). None of the 78 cytologically benign cases had malignant outcome. All 109 cytologically malignant cases had malignant histology, and 8/9 of the cytologically indeterminate FNAs had malignant histology. The cytologically malignant category contained 106 B‐cell lymphomas and three T‐cell lymphomas. All 65 B‐cell lymphomas with K light chain predominance had K/L ratio greater than 3/1, and all 34 B‐cell lymphomas with L light chain predominance had an L/K ratio greater than 2/1. Clonality was therefore established for K/L and L/K at 3/1 and 2/1, respectively. When K/L and L/K ratios were below these figures (7 cases), other parameters, including the proportion of CD20 and the dual expression of CD19/CD10 and CD20/CD5, were used to determine the nature of the aspirate. In the B‐cell lymphomas without demonstrable light chain restriction, CD20 positivity in excess of 85%, CD19/CD10 positivity of more than 18%, or CD20/CD5 positivity greater than 35% were independently diagnostic of B‐cell lymphoma. In the T‐cell lymphomas, greater than 90% of the cells were T cells, and aberrant T‐cell antigen expression with loss of at least one pan‐T‐cell antigen was detected. In conclusion, the sensitivity of diagnosis of malignancy, false‐negative rate, and predictive value of malignant diagnosis with combined FNA cytology and FCM were 99%, 0%, and 100%, respectively. Diagn. Cytopathol. 1998; 19:274–278. © 1998 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


Abstract Simple between-group comparisons of category representation percentages can be misleading for investigation of differential group selection procedures—the presence of a strong selection factor can obscure the effects of intermediate factors. This paradoxical effect is easily resolved through elementary application of the Bayes theorem. Because category representation percentages are often convenient and intuitively appealing to the statistically naive, however, there exist diverse and pervasive opportunities for incorrect interpretation with fallacious conclusions. Toxic shock syndrome epidemiological data are used to illustrate the paradox.


We report on the first detection of maser emission in the J = 11-10, J = 14-13, and J = 15-14 transitions of the v = 0 vibrational state of SiS toward the carbon-rich star IRC +10216. These masers seem to be produced in the very inhomogeneous region between the star and the inner dust formation zone, located at ≃(5-7)R*, with expansion velocities below 10 km s-1. We interpret the pumping mechanism as being due to overlaps between v = 1-0 rovibrational lines of SiS and mid-IR lines of C2H2, HCN, and their 13C isotopologues. The large number of overlaps found suggest the existence of strong masers for high-J v = 0 and v = 1 SiS transitions, located in the submillimeter range. In addition, it could be possible to find several rotational lines of the SiS isotopologues displaying maser emission.


This chapter explores the relationship between homeland security incidents and the impact that those incidents have on enrollment at higher education institutions.


We predict that the audit-effectiveness benefits of richer visualization depend on how auditors categorize the procedures used to generate visualized evidence. We experimentally test our prediction using analytical procedures, which can be categorized either as risk assessment or substantive procedures under certain conditions. As predicted, audit-senior participants more frequently identify more richly visualized outliers as high risk, but only when these visuals arise from risk assessment procedures rather than substantive procedures. Richer visuals also increase the comprehensiveness of auditors' prescribed follow-up tests, again only when risk assessment procedures generate these visuals. Post-experimental responses corroborate our theory: Auditors view evidence as more persuasive and sufficient when categorized as substantive procedures rather than as risk assessment procedures, in which case they view evidence as more preliminary. We conclude that whether and the degree to which richer data visuals improve audit effectiveness depends on how audit procedures generating these visuals are categorized.


Higher performance characteristics of PM machines can be achieved by adopting PMs with more complex geometries, instead of the conventional rectangular shapes. However, modeling and sizing procedure of the new geometry will be a great challenge. In this paper, an efficient and accurate methodology is proposed for optimal sizing of PMs with arbitrary basis geometries. The proposed framework aims the artificial neural network to create a surrogate model as an alternative to physics-based models. The model is proper for iterative search-based optimizations. Finally, a multiobjective optimization method is applied to define the final solution according to certain objectives. The algorithm is implemented on a typical interior PM synchronous machine with crescent-shaped PMs. The results that are verified by finite element model, confirm the accuracy of the methodology.


Although explicit memory management is necessary to implement low-level software such as operating systems and language runtime systems, it is prohibited by conventional strictly typed programming languages because it violates the type preservation of memory regions, a property that ensures the type safety of programs. The alias type system allows explicit memory management without the loss of type safety by statically tracking pointers and their aliases. However, it suffers from limitations in handling recursive data structures because it requires complete information about the pointer aliases. In this paper, we propose an extension of the alias type system using separating implications, which are derived from separation logic. Separating implications enable us to handle recursive data structures with incomplete aliasing information by assuming aliasing relations in a part of memory. The proposed type system is capable of expressing tail-recursive operations on recursive data structures. For example, we can implement a FIFO queue with constant-time operations; this cannot be achieved using the original alias type system.


Vacuolar compartmentalization or cell wall binding in leaves could play a major role in hyperaccumulation of heavy metals. However, little is known about the physiology of intracellular cadmium (Cd) sequestration in plants. We investigated the role of the leaf cells in allocating metal in hyperaccumulating plants by measuring short-term 109Cd and 65Zn uptake in mesophyll protoplasts of Thlaspi caerulescens "Ganges" and Arabidopsis halleri, both hyperaccumulators of zinc (Zn) and Cd, and T. caerulescens "Prayon," accumulating Cd at a lower degree. The effects of low temperature, several divalent cations, and pre-exposure of the plants to metals were investigated. There was no significant difference between the Michaelis-Menten kinetic constants of the three plants. It indicates that differences in metal uptake cannot be explained by different constitutive transport capacities at the leaf protoplast level and that plasma and vacuole membranes of mesophyll cells are not responsible for the differences observed in heavy metal allocation. This suggests the existence of regulation mechanisms before the plasma membrane of leaf mesophyll protoplasts. However, pre-exposure of the plants to Cd induced an increase in Cd accumulation in protoplasts of "Ganges," whereas it decreased Cd accumulation in A. halleri protoplasts, indicating that Cd-permeable transport proteins are differentially regulated. The experiment with competitors has shown that probably more than one single transport system is carrying Cd in parallel into the cell and that in T. caerulescens "Prayon," Cd could be transported by a Zn and Ca pathway, whereas in "Ganges," Cd could be transported mainly by other pathways.


The article considers the self-rehabilitation program of patients with mature motor and spinal injuries with spinal cord injury based on personal training at home. The developed motor load distribution options for a particular class, day and week-cycle, taking into account age and motor abilities of the patient. The program is presented as a summary of the content of patient education for the upcoming action in individual self-rehabilitation, theoretical, methodological and practical classes, according to age and motor abilities test. The effectiveness of self-rehabilitation program developed motor prove the results of the study: the support function of the damaged lower limbs in terms of the experimental group increased more than 200%; positive developments have occurred in the physical performance of the experimental group, the increase in the results was 195%. The experimental results prove the effectiveness of the proposed program of motor self-rehabilitation of patients with spinal cord injuries with spinal cord injury after being discharged from the hospital because of personal training.


Inverse optimization describes a process that is the "reverse" of traditional mathematical optimization. Unlike traditional optimization, which seeks to compute optimal decisions given an objective and constraints, inverse optimization takes decisions as input and determines an objective and/or constraints that render these decisions approximately or exactly optimal. In recent years, there has been an explosion of interest in the mathematics and applications of inverse optimization. This paper provides a comprehensive review of both the methodological and application-oriented literature in inverse optimization.


Talk given at the XLVIII Rencontres de Moriond, Electroweak Interactions and Unified Theories, La Thuile, Italy, 2-9 March 2013, to appear in the Proceedings.


Background: Embryonic and fetal development are key determinants for pregnancy outcomes and life-long health. Preconception care aims to identify, manage and counteract risk factors to prevent or limit the impediment of this development. Moreover, it provides an excellent opportunity to improve couples informed decision-making by providing information on reproductive choices. Unfortunately, in most countries the uptake of PCC remains low. Moreover, it is usually provided infrequently and on an opportunistic basis. Objective: In response to the high prevalence of adverse pregnancy outcomes, especially among vulnerable women, and the poor uptake of PCC, an international and interdisciplinary expert meeting was organized in October 2016. The objective was to (i) discuss the key barriers in the provision, uptake and implementation of preconception care, (ii) to explore the gaps in current research and (iii) to explore the potential of new scientific insights to further improve pregnancy outcomes. Results: This report presents the most important outcomes of this meeting. These include the provision of tailor-made care; the definition and distribution of roles and responsibilities of caregivers; the inclusion of fertility counseling in preconception care and the development of pathways that cut across the medical and non-medical domains.


The results of disease and sanitation inspection showed that the meat of the cattle and pigs, which had been given immunostimulators, due to its organoleptic, physical and chemical and bacteriological indexes, corresponds to the All Union State Standard' requirements for fresh meat and its good quality.


An analysis is given of the work of the Scientific Research Institute of Measurement in recent years on the creation of a complex of devices for measurement and control, based on optoelectronic incremental displacement transducers. The demands made by modern mechanical engineering to the new generation of devices are formulated, and it is shown to be possible to satisfy them using incremental transducers. The results are given of a study made as a preliminary to the development of the new generation of measuring devices. The characteristics are given of the main group of measuring and control devices developed: multipurpose high-accuracy measuring systems, active control instruments, automated devices for controlling external and internal dimensions, and devices for controlling the kinematic error of toothed wheels.


In the era of globalization, competitive advantage is a strategy of companies to survive in the hyper-competitive market. On how the company to success in the business, they should therefore explore their owned uniqueness of competitive advantage. The purpose of this paper is to review the challenges faced in developing strategies of competitive advantage by adapting and finding the solution in integrating of the human capital concepts. Based on traps in the business and what action required as well as concepts of lean and Japanese culture to the system approaches, their relevancy as a differentiator of competitive advantage toward human capital is reviewed. Through Fit Management, the paper also review the performance challenges and measurements systems to help the companies enhancing their capabilities by continuously and effectively identifying and eliminating the waste regarding human capabilities, besides the initiatives and creativities for innovation.


SIRS, I read the article by Achem et al. with interest. Determining the 'cause' of unexplained (or noncardiac) chest pain (NCCP) in the absence of cardiac disease is a challenge for clinicians. Numerous studies have found an association of NCCP with gastro-oesophageal reflux disease, oesophageal motility abnormalities and oesophageal sensitivity so the gastroenterologist has become a focal point in evaluating these patients. Multiple reviews and consensus opinions have recommended a trial of proton pump inhibitors (a PPI test) 7 prior to evaluation as a primary work up with endoscopy and ⁄ or pH monitoring, yet this approach has not been found to have sufficient yield to be cost effective. Endoscopy, reflux monitoring and motility studies are thus performed after treatment in the majority of patients in 2011, an approach I find problematic but unavoidable in today's world of empiric medicine. Achem et al., now add another association – eosinophilic oesophagitis (EOE) – to be considered in these patients. The authors report a potentially important minority of their endoscopic database of patients endoscoped for NCCP (particularly males) to have histological and perhaps more surprising, endoscopic evidence of EOE – the oesophageal diagnosis 'du jour' these days. They now suggest (or at least imply) that endoscopy now needs to be part of the work up, although make no comments about where in the course of evaluation it is practical (still after PPI trial?). My questions are simple; have we missed this diagnosis all these years? I know I did not and do not see it in my practice. Is this another chance association without clear causality? I believe so. In the absence of a prospective study, I am concerned that 'hunting for EOE' whether in NCCP or refractory heartburn, especially with a normal endoscopy will lead to a diagnosis of a 'disease' that may not be causing symptoms, simply to have something else to treat.


In this work, the concept of a multipurpose mission that can explore both the Moon and Mars with a single launch is proposed, and potential launch opportunities are analyzed to establish an early-phase trajectory concept. The proposed mission applies the concept of a piggyback ride to a small-sized lunar probe, i.e., the daughtership, of the main Mars orbiter, i.e., the mothership. For the trajectory design, the Earth-Moon-Mars gravity assist (EMMGA) trajectory is adopted for the mothership to reach Mars, and the daughtership is assumed to be released from the mothership during lunar flyby. To investigate the early-phase feasibility of the proposed mission, the launch windows have been analyzed and the associated delta-Vs have been directly compared with the solutions obtained for typical Earth-Mars direct (EMD) transfer options. The identified launch windows (in the years 2031 and 2045) could be the strongest candidates for the proposed conceptual mission. Under the current assumptions, up to approximately 15% (in 2031) and 9% (in 2045), more dry mass is expected to be delivered to Mars by appropriately selecting one of the currently available launch vehicles, regardless of whether the EMMGA transfer option is used. For missions around the Moon using a SmallSat in 2031, the feasibility of a lunar orbiter case and an impactor case is briefly analyzed based on the delta-Vs required to divert the SmallSat from the mothership. Although the current work is performed under numerous assumptions for a simplified problem, the narrowed candidate launch window from the current work represents a good starting point for more detailed trajectory design optimization and analysis to realize the proposed conceptual mission.


'IovSatcxjv (FGrH 273 F 19) have attracted interest more by their curiosity value (a Hellenised Jew's attempt to present part of the Exodus story in the form of a Greek tragedy) than by any literary merit they possess. This new and learned edition by Howard Jacobson, which includes introduction, Greek text, English translation, commentary and an appendix on metre and prosody, aims to illuminate E.'s work 'within its literary, historical and cultural contexts', and here it is especially successful because the editor has a formidable command of both Hebrew and Greek scholarship, whose judicious cross-fertilisation seems to produce a rich crop of insights (although the reviewer's competence is limited to the Greek side and not equal to any evaluation of the Jewish material). The main value of this edition lies in the introduction and commentary. The former begins with an enthusiastic overestimate of E.'s qualities, but sensibly (if tentatively) places the dramatist in Alexandria during the second century B.C., writing perhaps for an audience of both Greeks and Jews. After reviewing some of E.'s sources—Jewish scriptural commentaries, the tragedies of Euripides and Aeschylus—J. goes on to speculate about the original structure of the Exagoge. Although he is aware of the limitations imposed by the evidence (only 269 lines of the Exagoge survive, possibly less than a quarter of the original play), he argues here most uncharacteristically beyond the evidence; E. demonstrably did not observe the unities of time or place, but J.'s theory of five-act structure for the play is neither supported nor opposed by the inadequate remains. J.'s usual sceptical sobriety returns for an excellent final • discussion of the question whether E. knew Hebrew, in which the conclusions are reservedly negative. The commentary is a discursive essay on the subject-matter of the fragments, not a line-by-line analysis of the text. Those who require a list of parallels for each unusual word, usage and construction must look elsewhere (particularly J. Weineke, Ezechielis Iudaei poetae Alexandrini fabula quae inscribitur ESAFQFH fragmenta [Diss. Miinster 1931]). J. concentrates on the analysis of E.'s material and identifiable sources with considerable success (e.g. 2 f, the seventy souls; 48 f, auyyeveis; 60 ff., Midian and Libya; 68 ff.; 90 ff.; 130, the suppression of any direct reference to leprosy; 112—74 spoken by God, 175—92 by Moses). J. is perhaps weakest in those places where a sensitivity to fine nuances in the Greek is demanded (e.g. 16, on KOafxov Wiencke is more useful; 85, i£avaoTrjo€is Opovov cannot mean 'you will establish a throne'; 158, TT;S TTpoadk VVKTOS cannot mean 'before nightfall', with TTpoaOe governing the genitive; 184, J. is wrong to reject Strugnell's iraax', w n ' c n alone combines pertinent sense and acceptable scansion). The text and translation may be treated more briefly. The former is printed without a critical apparatus, which immediately lessens its value in comparison with Sncll'sin TGrFi 128. Yet the corrupt tradition is usually handled with sound sense, if at times too conservatively (49, 82, 119); a few conjectures are relegated to the commentary (e.g. 106 S17 prj^drcov, 246 vwv; at 208 J. argues forcefully against efinovoi KOTTW, without realising that E. probably wrote eyKOTrot TTOVW). J.'s translation, which is printed opposite the Greek text, is intended for readers 'with little or no Greek', and so should have aimed at absolute fidelity. Unfortunately it is often loose and imprecise, sometimes inaccurate. Over twenty times in these 269 verses Greek words and phrases are not translated (e.g. 0$ Xeyw 156, Sv avQpwTTOS 4>ip€i 164). At times the impression is given of paraphrase rather than translation (e.g. 24, 64, i62f, 175). As a sample of the inaccuracies the following might be instanced: 133 f, not 'the river, all the springs and pools will flow blood', but 'all the springs and gathered waters will flow with river blood' (pace J.'s remarks, p. 206 n. 2); 176, not 'for their families' but 'family by family'.


A construction project involved ground improvement for a mat foundation with high pressure jetgrouting is described. The mat foundation is about 1700 m 2 in area. The soil profile consists of12 m of soft soil below the ground surface, which was improved by jet grout piles at 1.5 mspacing. There were two tests on individual jet grout piles and two plate load tests on thecomposite foundation. Observations of the foundation settlements during and after constructionshowed satisfactory performance of the ground improvement.


Is it possible to reliably predict TBM performance? This question is of vital importance both for tunnel owners and for contractors, as the quality of their estimates may determine the success of a project. Dr Olav Torgeir Blindheim reviews some of the available TBM performance prediction models.


In this study, the effects of culture supernatants on various activities of the monocyte, as a bone-resorbing cell, were compared between peripheral blood leukocyte (PBL) cultures from patients with periodontal disease and those from subjects with a clinically healthy periodontium. We have reported that normal human monocytes in vitro induce the release of calcium from synthetic hydroxyapatite particles and that the activity is enhanced by supernatants from cultures of stimulated or non-stimulated peripheral blood leukocytes. Monocytes from both patients and healthy subjects induced the release of calcium from hydroxyapatite particles (HA) to an equal degree. This activity of monocytes from healthy subjects showed a statistically significant increase by addition of supernatants from stimulated or unstimulated cultures of peripheral blood leukocytes from periodontitis patients. This increase was greater than that seen with supernatants from cells of healthy controls. The Nitro Blue Tetrazolium reduction activity and [3H]-thymidine incorporation of monocytes were also increased by addition of the supernatants from leukocyte cultures from either patients or healthy controls, but no significant difference was noted in the increase. These results suggest that the HA-resorbing activity of monocytes was enhanced by factors from cultured leukocytes. Furthermore, these studies showed that production of these factors by peripheral mononuclear cells from patients with periodontal disease was greater than that seen with cells from normal subjects.


Citation: Barua B, Majumder SP (2019) Bit Error Rate Analysis of an OFDM Subcarrier Modulated FSO Link with Optical Intensity Modulation and a Direct Detection Receiver. Int J Opt Photonic Eng 4:014 Copyright: © 2019 Barua B, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. *Corresponding author: Bobby Barua, Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, Dhaka, Bangladesh


When crime writer Agatha Christie went missing inexplicably in December 1926, a national scandal erupted as detectives and the public searched for the author. After eleven days she turned up in a hotel in Harrogate where she had registered under a false name. While speculation ensued that she had been suffering from memory loss, or mental instability after learning that her husband wanted to leave her for another woman, the full story behind the episode was never revealed. Kathleen Tynan published a novel in 1978 speculating what might have happened, and this was adapted for the screen as Agatha (Michael Apted, 1979), starring Vanessa Redgrave and Dustin Hoffmann. Drawing on papers in the Bill Douglas Cinema Museum, Exeter, and in the Film Finances archives, London, this article discusses the film's tortuous journey from script to release, causing controversy for reasons that exceeded the contested nature of its subject matter. Through the twists and turns of a fascinating case study of Anglo-American co-production and conflict, the article explores how a particularly intriguing set of circumstances connected the film to broader questions of celebrity, authenticity, memory and fiction that resonated in subsequent years as television and filmmakers continued to speculate about the eleven 'lost' days in Agatha Christie's life.


Founding religious toleration on uncertainty about the truth of one's own religious convictions is multiply flawed. It naively supposes that the sources of religious intolerance are primarily intellectual rather than social. It presupposes gratuitously that all religions are on an epistemic par. It fails to take account of the fact that some religions abet religious tolerance. Finally, the proposal is self-defeating because insofar as it presupposes the objectivity of certain moral principles, it actually supplies a defeater of major religious traditions.


The preparation and characterization of biocomposite materials with improved properties based on poly(lactic acid) (PLA) and bacterial cellulose, and, for comparative purposes, vegetal cellulose fibers, both in their pristine form or after acetylation, is reported. The composite materials were obtained through the simple and green mechanical compounding of a PLA matrix and bacterial cellulose nanofibrils (or vegetable fibers), and were characterized by TGA, DSC, tensile assays, DMA, SEM and water uptake. The bionanocomposites obtained from PLA and acetylated bacterial cellulose were particularly interesting, given the considerable improvement in thermal and mechanical properties, as evidenced by the significant increase in both elastic and Young moduli, and in the tensile strength (increments of about 100, 40 and 25%, respectively) at very low nanofiller loadings (up to 6%). These nanocomposites also showed low hygroscopicity and considerable transparency, features reported here for the first time.


Linguistic taboos are still quite widespread in Southern Africa, confronting women with the dilemma of either contravening tradition or agreeing to a radical self-censorship in their communication. This paper, which is exploratory in nature, examines possible rationales for hlonipha and discusses the linguistic, social and ethical implications of hlonipha. It sketches the dilemma young women are faced within a rapidly changing society, bringing together material from unpublished sources and data from informal interviews and discussions with students and academics at the National University of Lesotho and in South Africa.

 Key words: Hlonipha, linguistic taboos, women in Southern Africa.


Objective To assess the value of color Doppler ultrasonography in detection of blood flow in deep veins of lower limb with varicosis of great saphenous vein.Methods Color Doppler ultrasonography and high frequency ultrasonography were used to detect state of blood flow in deep veins of lower limbs in 76 patients.2D ultrasonography was applied to examine vessel wall and thickness of valve,to measure the inner diameter and to diagnose thrombosis of vein.Color Doppler ultrasonography was used to observe blood flow engorgement and to measure blood flow rate.Valsalva test and gastrocnemius muscle squeeze test were applied to observe the function of venous valve and to measure contraflow time and speed.Color Doppler ultrasosography was used to observe the luminal recanalization after thrombosis.Results In 76 patients with varicosis of great saphenous vein,there were 40 cases with venous valve functional defect in deep vein of lower limb,the incidence rate was 52.6%.There were 4 cases with thrombosis in deep vein of lower limb,and the incidence rate was 5.3%.Compared with the diagnostic rate of pathological changes in deep vein of lower limbs by angiography,the diagnostic sensitivity and specificity of color Doppler ultrasonography were 95.7% and 96.7% respectively.Conclusion Pathological changes happened in part of patients with great saphenous vein phlebeurysma.Color Doppler ultrasonography is direct-viewing,non-invasive,real-time,repeatable and cheap,it is the first choice for detection of such kind of disease and it can provide valuable information for further examination with invasive method and selection of treatment plan.


The paper discusses the problem and effects of sulphuric acid attack in sewers, the method of generation of the acid in the saver walls, and methods for prevention of, or increasing resistance to attack. I suggested method of increasing resistance is by the use of pozzolanas, the derivation and effect of which are described. Experiments arc described which showed that the use of a naturally occurring pumicite obtained from Takanini, near Auckland, increased the resistance of portland cement concrete to attack by sulphuric acid up to concentrations of 2k weight for weight. The paper further describes investigations into tin other properties of the pumicite which showed that, when mixed in as a slurry, the naturally occurring pumicite would act as a moderate to strong pozzolana without additional treatment.


Random Forest classification was applied to create mineral prospectivity maps (MPM) for orogenic gold in the Rainy River area of Ontario, Canada. Geological and geophysical data were used to create 36 predictive maps as RF algorithm input. Eighty-three (83) orogenic gold prospects/occurrences were used to train the classifier, and 33 occurrences were used to validate the model. The non-Au (negative) points were randomly selected with or without spatial restriction. The prospectivity mapping results show high performance for the training and test data in area-frequency curves. The F1 accuracy is high and moderate when assessed with the training and test data, respectively. The mean decrease accuracy was applied to calculate the variable importance. Density, proximity to lithological contacts, mafic to intermediate volcanics, analytic signal, and proximity to the Cameron-Pipestone deformation zone exhibit the highest variable importance in both models. The main difference between the models is in the uncertainty maps, in which the high-potential areas show lower uncertainty in the maps created with spatial restriction when selecting the negative points.


The purpose of this pilot study was to determine both the feasibility and effects of music therapy on children who have been exposed to ongoing child abuse and poverty in South Korea. Four out of the 42 children, who had been identified as being exposed to the ongoing child maltreatment and poverty with marked behavioural problems, were randomly selected to receive once a week individual music therapy for 15 consecutive sessions. Both standardized measurements and behavioural observation were used to establish the effects and feasibility of music therapy. While the descriptive statistics for the mean scores of the pooled results were considerably reduced after music therapy in every measure, indicating overall improvements in both internalizing and externalizing behavioural problems, there was a conspicuous variability in individual scores that contradicted the group results. Effect sizes of change scores for most sub-scales were medium to large, however these were non-significant. The preferred musical activities of the children were recorded, as well as their behavioural and musical characteristics. The overall quantitative and observational findings are generally in support of music therapy intervention for children in this study, highlighting the importance of careful consideration for both the implementation of music therapy programmes and the interpretation of results.


The research included in the paper concerns a class of symmetric block Jacobi matrices. The problem of the approximation of eigenvalues for a class of a self-adjoint unbounded operators is considered. We estimate the joint error of approximation for the eigenvalues, numbered from \(1\) to \(N\), for a Jacobi matrix \(J\) by the eigenvalues of the finite submatrix \(J_n\) of order \(pn \times pn\), where \(N = \max \{k \in \mathbb{N}: k \leq rpn\}\) and \(r \in (0,1)\) is suitably chosen. We apply this result to obtain the asymptotics of the eigenvalues of \(J\) in the case \(p=3\).


Spatial and temporal patterns in the daily rainfall regime of Catalonia (northeastern Spain) recorded for the 1950–2000 period are analysed from several points of view, including the irregularity of the time series in terms of entropy, the Mann–Kendall test for time trends, a principal component analysis (PCA), an average linkage (AL) clustering algorithm and, finally, a power spectrum analysis, which includes a comparison of white‐noise and Markovian red‐noise hypotheses. The analyses are based on three monthly variables derived from the amounts recorded on a daily basis: the average daily rainfall and the standard deviation of the daily rainfall for each month, together with the corresponding coefficient of variation. The joint spatial–temporal variability is manifested by the irregularity index, which is characterized by relevant values in all cases and gradients from the north (Pyrenees and Pre‐Pyrenees mountain ranges) to the south (Ebro Valley) and to the Mediterranean coast. The interpretation of the factor scores derived from the PCA and of the clusters obtained from the AL algorithm also describes the complex spatial distribution of the daily rainfall regime, given that the effects of atmospheric circulation patterns on rainfall regimes are conditioned by the complex orography of Catalonia and its proximity to the Mediterranean Sea. The factor loadings associated with the PCA also suggest a distinction between hot, cold and mild seasons. Finally, it is worth noting that monthly series are usually accompanied by white background noise and, in a few cases, signs of Markovian behaviour and some significant periodicities, which are generally of less than 10 months and which change from one cluster to another. Copyright © 2004 Royal Meteorological Society


Myasthenia gravis is a rather uncommon disease in infancy and childhood. The first report of its occurrence in a child was given by Remak 1 in 1892. The patient was a girl 12 years of age. In April 1941, Levethan, Fried and Madonick 2 were able to collect 34 cases from the literature in which the age of the patient was under 17 years. Only 8 patients were under 10 years of age. The youngest mentioned in the literature was an infant of 23 months, reported on by Booth 3 in 1908. Our patient being an infant of 21 months, the case seems worth reporting. REPORT OF A CASE T. K., a boy aged 21 months, born in Los Angeles of Oriental parentage, was first brought in for examination on Aug. 12, 1940. The chief complaint was drooping of the eyelids for one month. History of Present Complaint. —About July


Results of surgical treatment of 318 patients with an acute appendicitis, using principles of antibioticoprophylaxis and antibacterial therapy, new medicinal preparations, were analyzed.


The model of the influence of Y2O3, Nb2O5 and BaF2 content on resistivity of PTCR at room temperature is set up by response surface methodology and the fitted regression equation is obtained. Analysis of the contour plots confirms the law of donor-doping process. The composition of material, which can give the lowest resistivity at room temperature, is acquired.


Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to discuss databases with cited references.Design/methodology/approach – The paper considers the dimensions of cited reference enhanced database subsets.Findings – The typical database has the ski slope shape, as there is a fairly steady, gradual growth in the yearly number of records added. This is not true for the shape of the cited references subset, as in most databases cited references have been added to the records only for the past few years.Practical implications – There are many features which are specific to cited references, and thus the traditional bibliographic database design is just not sufficient.Originality/value – The paper examines the issues surrounding cited reference enhanced database subsets.


For more than a decade the misfolding avoidance hypothesis (MAH) and related theories have dominated evolutionary discussions aimed at explaining the variance of molecular clock across cellular proteins. In this study we use various experimental data to further investigate the consistency of the MAH predictions with empirical evidence. We also critically discuss experimental results that motivated the MAH development and that are often viewed as evidence of its major contribution to constraining protein evolution. We demonstrate, in Escherichia coli and Homo sapiens, the lack of a substantial negative correlation between protein evolutionary rates and Gibbs free energies of unfolding, a direct measure of protein stability. We then analyze multiple new genome-scale datasets describing protein aggregation and interaction propensities, which are likely optimized in evolution to alleviate deleterious effects associated with toxic protein misfolding and misinteractions. Our results demonstrate that the propensity of proteins to aggregate, the fraction of charged amino acids, and protein stickiness do correlate with protein abundances. Nevertheless, across multiple organisms and datasets we do not observe substantial correlations between proteins aggregation- and stability-related properties and evolutionary rates. Therefore, diverse empirical data support the conclusion that the MAH and similar hypotheses are unlikely to play a major role in mediating a strong negative correlation between protein expression and molecular clock, and thus in explaining the variability of evolutionary rates across cellular proteins. Significance statement Evolutionary rates vary substantially across cellular proteins. Understanding the nature of molecular clock and its variability across proteins is a foundational question in molecular evolution. The popular and currently dominant theory to explain the molecular clock variability is the misfolding avoidance hypothesis (MAH). The role of the MAH is currently under active debate. In the manuscript we discuss how to appropriately test the MAH based on available empirical data, and then rigorously test the hypothesis using more than a dozen of new genome-wide datasets of protein stability and aggregation propensities. Our results suggest that the MAH is unlikely to play a major role in explaining the variability of molecular clock across proteins.


This article reports on a study of the environment in which learners develop literacy and a reading habit, and the ways in which these settings provide opportunities for learners to become involved in literacy activities and voluntary reading. The study was undertaken in response to the low literacy levels and the lack of a reading habit in South Africa. There is an alarming school drop-out rate, poor matriculation results and low scores in reading performance tests in South African schools. One of the factors contributing to low literacy levels may be the lack of a supportive literacy environment. The question investigated in this study was whether the literacy environment at home, in school and in the community supports the development of literacy skills and voluntary reading. The findings clearly indicated that the language of tuition and libraries play a major role in children developing their reading skills sufficiently to become voluntary readers.


Abstract : This research was performed for the dual purpose of defining effectiveness as it applies to the field of records management (RM) and studying the impact of Document Librarian (DL) on the productivity of Air Force records managers. The main thrust of the study was to define effectiveness for RM because no standard existed. The definition was generated through a Delphi process with a group of RM experts and took four rounds to achieve acceptable consensus. The Delphi process evaluated major areas which a RM system must perform. DL is a RM software package developed jointly by Air Force Material Command (AFMC) and Wang Laboratories. The impact of DL on the productivity of RM was tested through a customer satisfaction survey. Survey questions focus on reliability, job performance, ease of use, utility, and overall appraisal. The survey revealed that the software is average from a user satisfaction point of view. According to responses received, users had not significantly improved their RM productivity with DL capabilities. Also, DL was not significantly easier to use or learn or even more user-friendly than other software, leaving the product's testers unsure whether DL's usefulness warrants its purchase and wider distribution throughout the Air Force.


AbstractThis study proposes a novel technique for computing cloud feedbacks using histograms of cloud fraction as a joint function of cloud-top pressure (CTP) and optical depth (τ). These histograms were generated by the International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project (ISCCP) simulator that was incorporated into doubled-CO2 simulations from 11 global climate models in the Cloud Feedback Model Intercomparison Project. The authors use a radiative transfer model to compute top of atmosphere flux sensitivities to cloud fraction perturbations in each bin of the histogram for each month and latitude. Multiplying these cloud radiative kernels with histograms of modeled cloud fraction changes at each grid point per unit of global warming produces an estimate of cloud feedback. Spatial structures and globally integrated cloud feedbacks computed in this manner agree remarkably well with the adjusted change in cloud radiative forcing. The global and annual mean model-simulated cloud feedback is dominated by contri...


This study aims to analyze the effect of understanding accounting and gender on the level of financial literacy of postgraduate students in the economic education program at Surabaya State University. This research uses a quantitative approach. The study showed that the level of financial literacy of postgraduate students of economic education courses at UNESA was 19.7% at the high level, 32.4% at the moderate level, and 47.9% at the low level. The level of financial literacy shows an average of 60.49, and the meaning is moderate. Accounting understanding shows an average of 70.28, and it means that the level of accounting understanding is moderate. The participation rate was 43.7% male and 56.3% female. The level of financial literacy of students in the female gender group was higher than male, female by 62.00 (62.00> 60) which means moderate, and male by 58.55 (58.55 <60) which means low. Based on data analysis, it can be concluded that accounting understanding has a significant effect on the level of financial literacy of postgraduate students in economic education programs at UNESA. Meanwhile, gender has no significant effect.


Aiming at the problems of single monitoring and management mode, poor real-time performance, low transparency, and difficulty in operation and maintenance of the current data room, a digital twin machine room dynamic environment monitoring system based on the Drools inference engine was constructed. In the virtual scene, the Drools rule engine is used to build an expert system for fault analysis and prediction in the data room, which improves the interactivity of the dynamic loop system in the data room, greatly improves the accuracy and timeliness of fault diagnosis, and has great application value.


The Cooperative Study of Kuroshio and its marginal seas (CSK) is one of the international joint research project conducted in the Western Pacific region. Many Asian countries had been involved in this project from 1965 to1979. Data and information from the CSK are enormous and cover wide-ranging aspects of marine science from the Kuroshio and adjacent regions (e.g. physical aspects, biological aspects and biogeochemical aspects). Indonesia had committed to participate actively in several marine research programs in the area linked to the CSK program by conducting marine research in its internal waters. This essay explained the CSK from biological aspects and Indonesia perspective. During the CSK, biological aspects (e.g. primary productivity, zooplankton biomass, and fisheries) were studied intensively. Indonesia conducted research in internal waters (Natuna Sea and the Java Sea) for oceanography monitoring and fish stock assessment. Participation in the CSK program allowed Indonesia to pursue the establishment of the National Center for Ocean Research (NCOR), develop human capacity building, research properties and standardized all techniques and procedures related to oceanography aspects. After the CSK, Indonesia has continued to conduct marine research linked to the previous study. We learn a lot from the past CSK that a key to succeeding in running this program depending on co-operative spirit, enthusiastic in understanding marine science from the region and enhancing human capacity for doing better marine research.


Focused ultrasound surgery (FUS) is a clinical method for treating benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) in which tissue is noninvasively necrosed by elevating the temperature at the focal point above 60 °C using short sonications. With 1.75‐dimensional (1.75‐D) arrays, the power and phase to the individual elements can be controlled electronically for focusing and steering. This research describes the design, construction and evaluation of a 1.75‐D ultrasound phased array to be used in the treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia. The array was designed with a steering angle of ±13.5 deg in the transverse direction, and can move the focus in three parallel planes in the longitudinal direction with a relatively large focus size. A piezoelectric ceramic (PZT‐8) was used as the material of the transducer and two matching layers were built for maximum acoustic power transmission to tissue. To verify the capability of the transducer for focusing and steering, exposimetry was performed and the results correla...


Abstract We use a sequence of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images to map differences in the flood and ebb tidal currents in a cove along the coast of Nova Scotia, Canada. The asymmetry in the tidal flow determines the flushing rate of the cove which, in turn, has a significant effect on biological production within the cove and its potential for aquaculture. We find significant differences in the SAR images collected on flood and ebb tides. Specifically there are well-defined lines on the flood images and large whorls on the ebb. A three-dimensional hydrodynamic model of the tidal currents is used to interpret the SAR images. In particular we use the model flow fields to wind back the SAR images to an earlier stage of the tide in an attempt to determine the physical origin of the features in the images. We conclude that the most likely explanation for the ebb-tide whorls is the advection of surface slicks.


The impact of nutrition counselling was studied on random sample of 30 in the age group of 41-60 years. Pre-exposure knowledge level of respondents regarding disease, role of diet and lifestyle was assessed by pre-structured questionnaire. Nutrition counselling was given to the respondents with the help of flash cards. Impact of nutrition counselling was assessed after 30 days of nutrional counselling (post-exposure knowledge). Majority of subjects belonged to the age group of 41-50 (66.67%) followed by 51-60 years (33.33%). More than half of the subjects had studied up to primary school (56.67%) followed by illiterates (43.33%). The pre-test knowledge counselling showed that about 43.33 per cent of the subjects had low followed by medium and high knowledge scores. About three-fourth of the subjects (74.00%) had the knowledge score between 20-40 per cent. After the counselling majority of the subjects had knowledge score of 80-100 per cent (46.67%). Majority (73.33%) modified their dietary and lifestyle pattern after the diet counselling; majority restricted intake of whole milk and milk products, fried food, butter and ghee. They increased the intake of fruits, vegetables, cereals, pulses, millets, papaya, watermelon, pomegranate and pineapple. They also included flax and fenugreek seeds in their diet. Thus the respondents gained significant knowledge regarding the role of diet in cardiovascular disease after counselling.


In recent years, with the gradual deepening of teaching reform, the teaching model in class is changing. A serious of problems of simplification and modeling in teaching method become obvious. How to organically connect the teaching theory and the teaching practice together becomes a current developing direction. This paper makes a preliminary discussion on the application of means and methods of modern educational technology to construct the new teaching model.


Media are tools or the physical things used by teachers to facilitate the instruction. To select the appropriate media, they should have a broad knowledge of the good characteristics of the media in order to show the teacher's professionalism in English teaching learning. Many problems have occurred toward the use of visual aids. Sometimes visual aids were too small or hard to see or they failed to serve the intended purpose. The problem is they were too complicated. Because if the teachers give out a handout that has complicated visual aid, the students will scrutinize the document and try to understand the visual aid rather than the material. Based on this phenomenon, the teacher ought to make effort to create visual aids as high quality as possible because they do not only used as teaching media to ease the students to understand the material, but also to avoid the problems in teaching. In this case, the researcher observes the classroom situation and condition to know the implementation of wallcharts as the visual aids in English teaching, the problems in the use of visual aids and also their solution about the problems in the use of visual aids in English teaching at SMPN 2 Buduran Sidoarjo. This study principally uses descriptive qualitative research. This study involves the researcher as the observer and the English teachers as the teacher. The instruments used in this study are observation, questionnaire, and interview. In this research, the writer used qualitative data from the observation and interview re.suit and also quantitative data from the questionnaire result. The data results are analyzed descriptively and the findings are described in descriptive way. Based on the analysis result finding by each instrument, the researcher found some points. She concluded that the use of visual aids are implemented well in English teaching based on the technique and materials even thought a few problems are still found. Next, the problems found are: the wall charts were too small and hard to see, the students were lack motivated to learn English and the wall charts were looked like an elementary school's media. From these problems, the teachers took many solutions. They made the wall charts bigger, simple, clear, not spending much time and much money. Besides, they made a classified wall charts, they created colorful and attractive one and they also prepared them before hang up. Furthermore, they tried to make a better, creative and appropriate wall charts to ease the students' understandings to deliver the given materials.


An extensive study of many potential are quenching materials was undertaken. The development program is described and the results obtained presented. The final design configuration was one of a systems study considering not only the arc quenching characteristics of the materials but also their physical and rheological characteristics. This process was carried out with deliberate care and is described herein.


Members of the Teachers and Education Support Staff Alliance (TESA) have been re-elected to the state-wide council of the Victorian branch of the Australian Education Union (AEU) in elections that took place in October.


The spatio-temporal organization of the neural activity that underlies perception of emotional valence was studied analyzing 33-channel event-related potential maps (ERP maps) from 21 normals while reading a sequence of emotional positive, negative and neutral words; subjects were asked to repeat the last word if a question mark followed; they were not informed that the study concerned emotions. Brain electric activity to emotional positive and negative words was compared. Microstate segmentation of the 113 ERP maps (corresponding to the 448 ms of word presentation) identified 14 microstates, i.e. putative steps of information processing. Three microstates, #4 (90-122 ms), #7 (178-202 ms) and #9 (242-274 ms) showed global map topography differences between emotional positive and negative words. During these three microstates, the involved brain areas were identified using Low Resolution Electromagnetic Tomography (LORETA). The results showed that the extraction of valence during the three emotion-sensitive microstates was incorporated in different brain areas: positive as well as negative emotional words caused predominant left-hemispheric activation in #4 and #9, but predominant right-hemispheric activation in #7. The striking communality across the three microstates however was that in each of them, positive words compared to negative words clearly evoked significantly more anterior brain activity.


The invention relates to multi-paths horizontal circulation drying device for plasterboards and a drying method thereof, and the drying device is formed by a roller conveyer with the closed inner portion provided with one layer, multi-layers in most cases, and an air circulating device, wherein the roller conveyer is disposed in a main passage, two sides of which are provided with auxiliary passages, the upper portion of the auxiliary passage on one side is provided with an overhead passage, and a circulating fan and a heating device are arranged inside the overhead passage. The drying device is divided into a plurality of areas in the direction of material delivery, each area can be divided into 2-4 segments, each segment is provided with a plurality of air supply blowing pipes, and the main passages of each segment are provide with air flow resistant separators. Hot air as drying medium flows reversely at the first and second segments or the third and the fourth segments via the air supply blowing pipes, and reciprocates and circulates within the plate drying area by horizontal double-paths or multi-paths, thereby forming the intrinsic inherent condition which guarantees moisture on the two sides of the dried plate to be uniformly evaporated, simultaneously the multi-paths horizontal circulation drying device has the advantages of flow resistance consumption reduction, exhaust temperature reduction, increasing energy efficiency and construction cost reduction.


Morale is the willingness and sincerity one has done his job well and achieve maximum performance, which stimulates a person to work and creativity in the work. This study aimed to determine the effect of financial compensation, communication and physical work environment on employee morale. This research was conducted at PT. Sang Tunas Sejahtera. The sample of this study all employees totaling 52 people, with the saturated sample method. Data collected through observation, interviews and questionnaires. The analysisitechnique usediis multipleilinear regression analysis. The results of the analysis found that financial compensation, communication and physical work environment affects simultaneously and partially on employee morale. The company should consider the suitability of incentives with the performance of employees, pay attention to communication and attention to the work environment of employees.


The title aqueous acrylate modified polyurethane dispersion has been prepared with acrylate and aqueous polyurethane prepolymer that is blocked with hydroxyethyl methacrylate.The influence of preparation technology on stability of dispersion and film performance is discussed.The film structure of the aqueous acrylate modified polyurethane is characterized by use of infrared spectrum and SEM;the thermal stability of the film is investigated by use of thermal analyzer.


Display the second screen in the outer region of the screen to change the screen display method in accordance with various embodiments of the present invention displays a change screen to the operation and work area display unit in response to the change display request to make a change display request, and an operation for may include. In addition, various embodiments may be derived based on the invention.


Problem statement: This study aims to explore mobile phone and Short Message Service (SMS) usage among urbanized Malaysian youth. Uses and Gratification theory was used to explore mobile phone purchasing factors, reasons to use mobile phone and SMS, usage pattern and behavioral issues related to mobile phone and SMS. Structured questionnaire surveys and 24 h diaries were distributed to 417 students. Results show respondents consider brand, trend and price to be the three most important purchasing factors while socializing and privacy are the two most important reasons to use mobile phones. SMS is mostly used to organize social appointments and to keep in touch with families and friends. Behavioral issues related to over-dependence and inappropriate use of mobile phones and SMS were also observed among the respondents. Conclusion/Recommendations: The findings of this study could be beneficial to those exploring mobile phone and SMS adoption and usage pattern in a developing country such as Malaysia.


The purpose of this paper is to examine reader and text variables related to conceptual change learning from science textbooks. I do this by reviewing a program of research I conducted over the last decade. This research, along with related studies conducted by others, showed that it is difficult to change readers prior knowledge from reading texts that are inconsistent with that knowledge. Students can be taught, however, to monitor changes in their thinking about scientific conceptions. Such a strategy appears to help students develop scientific conceptions. One particular kind of text variable also appears to be successful in changing students' prior knowledge. Refutation text, in which students' naive conceptions are directly stated and then refuted, was shown to impact students' prior knowledge when that knowledge contained naive scientific conceptions. The paper reports details of those studies and then discusses additional insights about the change process gleaned from the social psychological literature. Together, the cognitive and social psychology literature points to several useful educational implications for teachers who may need to teach for conceptual change.


The purpose of this study was to examine relationship dimensions of IT outsourcing strategic on dimension IT outsourcing success. Data used for this study collected from Chief Information Officer (CIO) or manager of IT that completed and returned questionnaires. Data was collected by mail survey. 330 questionnaires sent to CIO or manager of IT in companies as listing in Jakarta Stock Exchange 2005. Questionnaires used in this study were 43 (13,03%). Data analyzed by ANOVA in SPSS ver. 13 software. The result shows that dimension IT outsourcing significantly linked on IT outsourcing success that shown by supported result study IT outsourcing strategic, selective degree of integration will be more successful in achieving IT outsourcing strategic than minimal degree of integration or comprehensive. IT outsourcing strategic to contract allocation of control by fee service will more successful in achieving IT outsourcing strategic than IT outsourcing strategic buy or partnership, IT outsourcing strategic to short-term performance period will more successful in achieving IT outsourcing strategic than IT outsourcing strategic medium or long term.


XMM‐Newton and Chandra have greatly deepened our knowledge of stellar coronae giving access to a variety of new diagnostics such that nowadays a review of stellar X‐ray astronomy necessarily must focus on a few selected topics. Attempting to provide a limited but representative overview of recent discoveries I discuss three subjects: the solar‐stellar connection, the nature of coronae in limiting regimes of stellar dynamos, and "hot topics" on X‐ray emission from pre‐main sequence stars.


Objective To examine the expression of HGF/c-Met system in experimental hepatic fibrosis rats and investigate its effect and possible mechanism on anti-fibrosis. Methods 42 Wistar male rats of hepatic fibrosis were induced by TAA and divided into 7 groups randomly (n=6). The rats of 1 model group were sacrificed every 2 weeks. Hepatic function of and the content of hydroxyproline (Hyp) in liver tissue were detected. HE and sirius red were used to observe histological changes of liver tissue. RT-PCR was used to measure the expression of HGF/c-Met mRNA. 6 normal rats were selected as control group. Results Expression of HGF/c-Met mRNA in the model group was higher than that in control group significantly. With the cessation of TAA, hepatic function, histological change, Hyp and the expression of HGF/c-Met mRNA were approaching to those of control group, which had positive correlation with the time of TAA cessation. Conclusions After injury of liver, the increasing expression of HGF/c-Met system can contribute to promoting hepatocyte regeneration and reverse hepatic fibrosis.


The objective of this master thesis is to test and evaluate the PIE methodology outside the university environment in two aspects. One aspect is to test and evaluate a multimedia-based scenario with roleplaying, as a starting point for further learning activities, for participants in a corporate setting. The second aspect is to evaluate the development process that has taken place in collaboration with representatives from a corporation. The evaluation, of PIE as a starting point for further learning activities in a corporate setting, indicates a very positive reception from the participants. The reflections upon the developing process in collaboration with representatives from the organization in this study also indicate a very good result. The research contributes with guidelines for further development. Supervisor: Urban Nulden IA7400, Magisteruppsats, 20p, HT99


This article explains how the fields of cognitive psychology and cognitive education, and the experiences of many teachers, students, and family members have influenced the development of the CEA1approach for attending to hidden learning needs (formerly known as COGNET). An overview of the approach describes the cognitive education practices used by CEA teachers, families and others to attend to the hidden needs of learners. A discussion of Feuerstein's theory of mediated learning experience provides a framework for related ideas about the sociocultural process of learning and development that together have influenced CEA practices. A brief summary of cognitive psychology research findings includes a review of hidden needs identified through cognitive psychology research. The sometimes conflicting conclusions about application in the classroom and the role of the teacher in facilitating learning-to-learn help to explain the differences in CEA practices and those used in other cognitive education programmes and approaches. A summary of CEA research describes how this approach has improved student academic achievement through learning-to-learn partnerships that address hidden needs.


Amassing reliable and detailed data about intended users has become increasingly critical to design practitioners as consumer markets increasingly ask for the development of products and services that ensures personal fit, both physical and psychological (Kramer et al., 2000; Spinuzzi, 2005). One challenge is that many user research approaches tend to focus on identifying users' needs at hand while being limited in drawing a holistic picture of how their experiences in relation to the products are influenced by and associated with different user characteristics (e.g., prior knowledge, physical capability, and personal values). To overcome the challenge, recently the relationship between user experience and user characteristics has been explored in design research. For example, Kim and Christiaans (2012) and Kim (2014) developed an empirical framework through a cross-cultural study that explained the influence of user characteristics and product types on users' negative experiences. For instance, complaints related to tactual qualities (e.g., the roughness and friction of materials) are more evident for South Koreans than American and Dutch people when they use a simple product such as an alarm clock. These frameworks are of value in foreseeing and reducing unwanted negative experiences, as they provide a structured overview of when and how users with particular characteristics would be hindered. While useful in avoiding or mitigating negative experiences, in our view they would not be particularly helpful for designers in their endeavour to facilitate positive experiences; minimising negative experiences, that is, the absence of a problem or pain is not necessarily equal to addressing what makes the experience positive (Hassenzahl, 2010). Therefore, this paper aims to extend the current understanding of the influence of user characteristics on user experience by shedding light on people's positive experiences with products. In recent years, several initiatives to design for positive experiences have gained attention and momentum in design research and human-computer interaction (HCI). Examples of such initiatives are positive design (Desmet & Pohlmeyer, 2013), experience design (Hassenzahl, 2010), positive computing (Calvo & Peters, 2014) and positive technologies (Riva et al., 2012; for an overview of the initiatives, see Peters et al., 2018; Zeiner et al., 2018). The aforementioned initiatives support designers in being aware of the key factors that contribute to positive experiences (e.g., pleasure, virtue, personal significance, autonomy, competence and relatedness). ORIGINAL ARTICLE


Thank you for reading negotiating caribbean freedom peasants and the state in development. Maybe you have knowledge that, people have look hundreds times for their chosen books like this negotiating caribbean freedom peasants and the state in development, but end up in harmful downloads. Rather than reading a good book with a cup of tea in the afternoon, instead they cope with some malicious virus inside their laptop.


Noncontact Mappin g of VT During Sinus Rhythm. Introduction: Regions of the diseased ventricle that activate abnormally during sinus rhythm (SR) may be the areas of slow and disorganized conduction that form the diastolic pathway through which reentry may occur during ventricular tachycardia (VT).


The utility model discloses an aluminum alloy wheel hub casting mould sectional type ejector pin, include: ejector rod base, its one end is provided with first connecting portion, is provided with external screw thread and its end on the surface of first connecting portion and is provided with first connection terminal surface, ejector pin, its one end are provided with the second connecting portion, and the end of ejector pin is provided with the second and connects the terminal surface, and first connection terminal surface matees with second link facial features, the connecting piece, be provided with on the internal surface of connecting piece with external screw thread assorted internal thread, the junction of ejector rod base, ejector pin is located to the connecting piece cover. The utility model discloses being connected through the connecting piece between well ejector pin and the ejector rod base, comparing in prior art, the validity of mould action is ensured to the ejector pin that only needs to be changed, greatly reduced the cost.


This paper reports the findings of a study of existing office buildings in Dhaka City aimed at an understanding of their luminous environments. It was found that artificial light is the main contributor to the visual environment, even though there is an abundance of daylight during office working hours. Daylight should be encouraged in office spaces because, not only would it save on lighting energy, but it would also carry immense physiological and psychological benefits. This paper highlights the findings of the study and compares them with internationally accepted lighting standards for office activities. Measurements of illumination levels were taken in the surveyed offices and found to be much lower than international standards. Space usage by users seemed to indicate their unawareness of light issues. Design strategies to improve the luminous environment under daylight, artificial lighting and supplementary lighting have been discussed explaining design strategies to achieve standards, followed by a discussion of the extent these practices are followed in the surveyed offices of Dhaka.


List of plates Preface Acknowledgements Part 1 - The climate system and its study 1. Introduction 2. Climate data and their analysis Part 2 - Dynamic climatology 3. Global climate and the general circulation 4. Large-scale circulation and climatic characteristics 5. Global teleconnections Part 3 - Synoptic climatology 6. Synoptic systems 7. Synoptic climatology and its applications 8. Retrospect and prospect Further reading Index


Edelfosine (ET-18-OCH3), a synthetic antitumor ether lipid, is taken up by malignant but not by normal cells, triggering apoptosis in a large variety of human tumor cells. The synthesis of the first fluorescent edelfosine analogue (6), with apoptotic activity comparable to that of the parent drug, is described. Fluorescence microscopy experiments show that 6 selectively labels human cancer cells, accumulating into specific domains of the plasma membrane.


CHRISTY, VAN A. Evaluation of Choral Music: Methods of Appraising the Practical Value of Choral Compositions with Reference to Music Generally Available in the United States. Teachers College Contributions to Education, No. 885. New York 27: Bureau of Publications, Teachers College, Columbia University, 1948. Pp. x+Io8. $2.15. DAWSON, MILDRED A. Language for Daily Use: Language Teaching in Grades One and Two. Yonkers-on-Hudson 5, New York: World Book Co., 1949. Pp. x+i oo. $1.56. DRAWING DIVISION OF THE AMERICAN SO-