bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Knowledge and Attitude towards HIV/AIDS amongst Nursing Students in Nepal
Authors: Adhikari K , Gupta N , Koshy A K , Jain V M , Ghimire A , Jnawali K , Paneru Damaru Prasad
Published: October 2016

Introduction: Effective nursing care by well-trained hands and affectionate heart constitute the backbone of medical intervention in HIV/AIDS. The apprehension often articulated by health professionals while dealing with people living with HIV/AIDS hampers in health care. The purpose of the present study was to assess the extent of knowledge and attitude towards HIV/AIDS amongst nursing students.Methodology: The present cross-sectional study was conducted among 113 selected proficiency certificate level nursing students of Parsa district of Nepal. Pre-tested anonymous questionnaire was administered to collect the responses necessary to infer the extent of knowledge on HIV/AIDS and nature of attitude towards PLWHA. The extent of knowledge was measured through an overall knowledge index constructed based on the responses to 10 objective questions. To ascertain the respondent’s overall attitude, responses to various opinions were scored and summed upto form an attitude index.Results: Almost half of the nursing students had good knowledge while almost a quintile numbers had incomplete knowledge about HIV/AIDS. Majority of them had negative attitude towards the care of PLWHA.Conclusions: In aggregate, nearly half of the respondents had good knowledge about the various aspects of HIV/AIDS; however, majority of them had negative attitude towards the care of PLWHA. The overall knowledge and attitude of senior class was better than their junior counterparts. The training programmes for nurses should aim at confidence and skill building to deal with HIV issues.SAARC J TUBER LUNG DIS HIV/AIDS, 2015; 12(1), Page: 8-13
A Gender Based Study of HIV/AIDS Related Knowledge and Sexual Attitudes in Students from Laddakh
Authors: Sood Sarita
Published: October 2016

Introduction: A review of studies conducted on sexuality in India has revealed that premarital sex in youth is prevalent in 0-10 percent of women and 15-30 percent men and it is on rise. The young people indulge in risky behavior pattern such as infrequent or irregular contraceptive use. Youth is facing a significant risk of sexual health and lack in making informed sexual choice. The objective of this study is to explore the HIV/AIDS related knowledge and sexual attitudes held by young students from LaddakhMethodology: Systematic sampling was used to collect data from 100 Laddakhi students living in Jammu in the age range 18-29 years. The mean age of the sample was 22.28. Sexual Attitude Scale and HIV Related Knowledge Questionnaire were applied in this study.Results: The results of test indicate significant gender differences in sexual attitudes. The male Laddakhi students held more favorable attitude towards pre marital sex, polygamy and pornography than their female counterparts. In comparison to male participants, the young female participants reflected favorable attitude towards establishing same sex relationships. The participants in the study also hold misconceptions about HIV/AIDS.Conclusions: In addition to low level of awareness on HIV/AIDS, holding favorable sexual attitudes might result in involvement in risky sexual behavior. Organizing awareness campaigns at school level to focus the youth might be useful in curbing the potential involvement of young students in risky sexual behavior.SAARC J TUBER LUNG DIS HIV/AIDS, 2015; 12(1), Page: 14-19
Using High-Resolution Bus GPS Data to Visualize and Identify Congestion Hot Spots in Urban Arterials
Authors: Stoll Nicholas B. , Glick Travis , Figliozzi Miguel A.
Published: October 2016

Congestion and travel delay on urban roadways can influence the roadways’ operating costs and service attractiveness. This research used high-resolution bus data to examine sources of delay on urban arterials. A set of tools was created to help visualize trends in bus behavior and movement; these tools allowed larger traffic trends to be visualized along urban corridors and streets. With buses as probes and examining aggregated bus behavior, contoured speed plots were used to understand the behavior of roadways outside the zone of influence of bus stops. Speed plots were used to discover trends and travel patterns with only a few days’ data. Congestion and speed variation were viewed by time of day, and plots helped to indicate delays caused by intersections, crosswalks, or bus stops. This type of information is important to transit authorities looking to improve bus running times and reliability. Congested areas were detected and ranked. Speed plots were used to reevaluate bus stop locations (e.g., near side versus far side) and to identify locations where improvement are needed (e.g., queue jump lanes). Transportation agencies can also benefit from this type of information because arterial performance measures are difficult to estimate.
Evaluation of GPS-Based Transit Signal Priority for Mixed-Traffic Bus Rapid Transit
Authors: Song Yu , Zlatkovic Milan , Porter Richard J.
Published: October 2016

GPS-based transit signal priority (TSP) is a new type of transit preferential tool being considered in many North American cities. With GPS detection and advanced communications, GPS-based TSP provides flexible and conditional signal priority to transit vehicles. This is a relatively new system with limited field implementations and evaluations. The research in this study used microscopic simulation, to create a set of TSP scenarios for a 3-mi bus corridor and evaluated the influences of GPS-based TSP on transit and traffic operations. The simulation network was the 3300 South corridor, including side streets, in Salt Lake County, Utah. A proposal was evaluated to upgrade the Utah Transit Authority Bus Route 33 operating along the corridor into a bus rapid transit (BRT) line running in mixed traffic. Eight simulation scenarios were created to cover ( a) current field conditions, ( b) regular bus with traditional TSP implementation, ( c) regular bus with GPS-based TSP, ( d) BRT implementation with no TSP, ( e) BRT with traditional TSP implementation, ( f) BRT with GPS-based TSP, ( g) BRT with conditional TSP, and ( h) BRT with multiconditional TSP implementation. The evaluation included transit and nontransit operations, and the impacts on side-street traffic. The results show that GPS-based TSP performed as effectively as did traditional TSP. Conditional and multi-conditional TSP strategies showed benefits in providing the transit system considerable delay reduction (13% and 3%, respectively) and travel time savings (7% and 3%, respectively) while having the smallest impacts on side-street traffic (3% and 1% increase in delay, respectively) compared with other TSP strategies.
Synchronization of Public Transport Timetabling with Multiple Vehicle Types
Authors: Liu Tao , Ceder Avishai (Avi)
Published: October 2016

Public transport (PT) timetables play an important role in creating a bridge between the PT agency, the community–municipality, or both and the passengers who seek a reliable, comfortable, and attractive PT service. Inadequate–inaccurate PT timetables not only confuse passengers but also reinforce the unfavorable image of PT service as a whole. Therefore, a prudent timetable strategy can improve these conditions economically and imagewise. This work addresses the problem of PT timetable synchronization while taking into consideration fluctuating passenger demand and multisize vehicle types for better matching of supply and demand. This problem was formulated as an integer programming, two-objective optimization problem. A decomposition method that integrated the route’s headway, vehicle trip offset time, and vehicle type selection and assignment was developed to synchronize timetables of PT routes. The goal was to develop a maximally synchronized timetable that used a mixed-size fleet for a given PT network. The two-objective function was to minimize both the expected total passenger waiting time and the observed passenger load discrepancy at a desired occupancy level on vehicles at the maximum load points. The elaborated methodology was applied to a numerical PT network example and to a real-life PT network in Auckland, New Zealand. The results show that, compared with those of the current timetables, the total passenger waiting time and vehicle load discrepancy can be reduced by 68% to 72% and by 59% to 65%, respectively, by adopting the new timetabling strategy that synchronizes multiple types of vehicles.
Modeling Fuel Consumption of Hybrid Electric Buses: Model Development and Comparison with Conventional Buses
Authors: Wang Jinghui , Rakha Hesham A.
Published: October 2016

Electric hybridization technologies appear to be one of the most promising approaches to improving the energy efficiency of buses; however, this improvement has not been systematically quantified. A fuel consumption model is essential for capturing fuel consumption behavior accurately and quantifying the fuel benefits of hybrid buses. Consequently, the objective of this study was to develop a fuel consumption model for hybrid buses on the basis of the framework of the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute’s comprehensive power-based fuel consumption model and then to quantify the benefits associated with hybridization technologies relative to conventional diesel bus operations. The model estimates were demonstrated to be consistent with in-field measurements, and the optimum fuel economy cruise speed was demonstrated to be approximately 50 km/h. The results demonstrate that hybrid buses consumed less fuel overall, while heavier buses and higher passenger loads may have reduced the fuel savings. The results also reveal that more fuel savings could be achieved for cruise and stop-and-go activity compared with idling behavior and that stop-and-go operation generated the highest level of fuel efficiency benefits. The conclusions of this paper can support bus planning applications to achieve fleet fuel savings.
Determining Optimal Strategies for Single-Line Bus Operation by Means of Smartphone Demand Data
Authors: Tang Chunyan , Ceder Avishai (Avi) , Zhao Shengchuan , Ge Ying-En
Published: October 2016

Passenger demand along an urban bidirectional bus line is usually neither uniform nor symmetric. In practice, buses are operated along such routes without efficient use of operational routing-related strategies. This work focused on the design of two routing-related strategies, given that fluctuating passenger demand could be estimated with the use of smartphones. In this way, a better match between supply and demand can be attained, and the operational cost involved can be reduced. Optimization formulation was used in this work for the design of routing changes through four possible strategies: full-route operation, short-turn, limited-stop, and a combination of the latter two strategies. The objective function was to minimize the fleet size required to handle the expected demand comfortably by using the onboard loading criterion. This is a practical objective, especially from the operator’s perspective. The expected origin–destination demand of a single bus line was constructed on the basis of the existing demand data and potential changes in demand, given service improvement in travel time, waiting time, and seat availability. The potential demand, whether overt or obscure, was assumed to be determinable with the use of smartphone apps, including online service information. A detailed example is used as an expository device for explaining the methodology developed, along with a case study from Dalian, China. The results of the case study show that, by applying the proposed methodology, the fleet size of the single-line bus operation can be reduced by four buses on the basis of the anticipated passenger demand.
Integrated Analysis System for Rural National Transit Database
Authors: Gan Albert , Liu Kaiyu , Alluri Priyanka
Published: October 2016

Performance data are needed in transit performance analysis to help to identify and to prioritize problem areas for management actions. In the United States, the most comprehensive source of transit performance data has been the National Transit Database (NTD). First collected in 1978 for urban transit systems, the NTD has included data on transit organization characteristics, vehicle fleet characteristics, revenues and subsidies, operating and maintenance costs, vehicle fleet reliability and inventory, services consumed and supplied, and safety and security. In 2006, FTA expanded the NTD program to require reporting by rural transit agencies. The NTD data for rural systems for 2007 through 2013 have since been released. Because NTD data are collected and distributed annually, they are stored in separate files of varying formats, making them difficult to access for performance analysis, especially when multiple years of data are needed. This paper describes a web-based system designed to overcome this limitation. The system integrates the rural NTD data from 2007 to 2013 and provides user-friendly tools to facilitate data access and performance analysis.
Understanding and Estimating In-Service Axle Weights of Transit Buses
Authors: Rempel Garreth , George Tyler , Regehr Jonathan D. , Montufar Jeannette
Published: October 2016

Despite evidence that certain transit buses exceed axle weight limits (sometimes without any passengers on board) and mostly anecdotal indications of the concomitant pavement impacts, relatively little empirical evidence substantiates these impacts. The number of transit buses exceeding weight limits has been exacerbated by regulatory changes directed at improving emissions and accessibility. These changes have required manufacturers to include heavy auxiliary equipment, such as emissions reduction components and hydraulic systems, on transit buses and have been introduced without commensurate increases in the weight limits of transit buses. Public agencies have limited knowledge about transit bus weights and their pavement impacts. Further, estimating in-service weights of transit buses is difficult. To help improve knowledge about issues of transit bus weights, this paper describes the legal and regulatory factors surrounding transit bus weight, basic estimates of in-service bus weights, contributing factors to transit bus weights, challenges for reducing bus weights, pavement impacts of transit buses, and challenges for estimating in-service weights of transit buses. The paper also develops and applies a methodology for estimating in-service weights of transit buses by using Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, as a case study. Application of this methodology ( a) demonstrates the need for reliable local data when in-service weights of transit buses are estimated and ( b) empirically corroborates regulatory compliance and pavement-related concerns by using data collected from in-service transit buses.
Numerical Investigation of Effect of Parameters on Hovering Efficiency of an Annular Lift Fan Aircraft
Authors: Jiang Yun , Zhang Bo
Published: October 2016

The effects of various parameters on the hovering performance of an annular lift fan aircraft are investigated by using numerical scheme. The pitch angle, thickness, aspect ratio (chord length), number of blades, and radius of duct inlet lip are explored to optimize the figure of merit. The annular lift fan is also compared with a conventional circular lift fan of the same features with the same disc loading and similar geometry. The simulation results show that the pitch angle of 27°, the thickness of 4% chord length, the aspect ratio of 3.5~4.0, 32 blades, and the radius of inlet lip of 4.7% generate the maximum figure of merit of 0.733. The optimized configuration can be used for further studies of the annular lift fan aircraft.
Nonsense Suppression as an Approach to Treat Lysosomal Storage Diseases
Authors: Keeling Kim
Published: October 2016

In-frame premature termination codons (PTCs) (also referred to as nonsense mutations) comprise ~10% of all disease-associated gene lesions. PTCs reduce gene expression in two ways. First, PTCs prematurely terminate translation of an mRNA, leading to the production of a truncated polypeptide that often lacks normal function and/or is unstable. Second, PTCs trigger degradation of an mRNA by activating nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD), a cellular pathway that recognizes and degrades mRNAs containing a PTC. Thus, translation termination and NMD are putative therapeutic targets for the development of treatments for genetic diseases caused by PTCs. Over the past decade, significant progress has been made in the identification of compounds with the ability to suppress translation termination of PTCs (also referred to as readthrough). More recently, NMD inhibitors have also been explored as a way to enhance the efficiency of PTC suppression. Due to their relatively low threshold for correction, lysosomal storage diseases are a particularly relevant group of diseases to investigate the feasibility of nonsense suppression as a therapeutic approach. In this review, the current status of PTC suppression and NMD inhibition as potential treatments for lysosomal storage diseases will be discussed.
Optimal Site Selection of Tidal Power Plants Using a Novel Method: A Case in China
Authors: Wu Yunna , Xu Chuanbo , Xu Hu
Published: October 2016

The site selection plays an important role in the entire life cycle of a tidal power plant (TPP) project. However, some problems decrease the evaluation quality of TPP site selection: (a) suitable and effective methods are scarce since the TPP site selection involves multiple forms of data; (b) there is no comprehensive evaluation index system due to the unilateralism of existing criteria. In this paper, we firstly propose a novel method based on interval number with probability distribution weighted operation and stochastic dominance degree. It takes all stakeholders’ preferences into consideration and can simultaneously deal with different forms of data in the TPP site selection; then, a comprehensive evaluation index system for TPP site selection is constructed on the basis of academic literature, feasibility research reports and expert opinions in different fields. It takes the factors of construction conditions, existing policies, social impacts as well as ecological and environmental impacts which reflects the inherent characteristics of TPP site selection fully into account. Finally, a Chinese case study is given to illustrate the applicability and effectiveness of the proposed method.
Systematic Analysis of the 4-Coumarate:Coenzyme A Ligase (4CL) Related Genes and Expression Profiling during Fruit Development in the Chinese Pear
Authors: Cao Yunpeng , Han Yahui , Li Dahui , Lin Yi , Cai Yongping
Published: October 2016

In plants, 4-coumarate:coenzyme A ligases (4CLs), comprising some of the adenylate-forming enzymes, are key enzymes involved in regulating lignin metabolism and the biosynthesis of flavonoids and other secondary metabolites. Although several 4CL-related proteins were shown to play roles in secondary metabolism, no comprehensive study on 4CL-related genes in the pear and other Rosaceae species has been reported. In this study, we identified 4CL-related genes in the apple, peach, yangmei, and pear genomes using DNATOOLS software and inferred their evolutionary relationships using phylogenetic analysis, collinearity analysis, conserved motif analysis, and structure analysis. A total of 149 4CL-related genes in four Rosaceous species (pear, apple, peach, and yangmei) were identified, with 30 members in the pear. We explored the functions of several 4CL and acyl-coenzyme A synthetase (ACS) genes during the development of pear fruit by quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR). We found that duplication events had occurred in the 30 4CL-related genes in the pear. These duplicated 4CL-related genes are distributed unevenly across all pear chromosomes except chromosomes 4, 8, 11, and 12. The results of this study provide a basis for further investigation of both the functions and evolutionary history of 4CL-related genes.
A Normal and Standard Form Analysis of the JWKB Asymptotic Matching Rule via the First Order Bessel’s Equation
Authors: Deniz Coşkun
Published: October 2016

Traditional first order JWKB method ( = : ( J W K B ) 1 ) is a conventional semiclassical approximation method mainly used in quantum mechanical systems for accurate solutions. ( J W K B ) 1 general solution of the Time Independent Schrodinger’s Equation (TISE) involves application of the conventional asymptotic matching rules to give the accurate wavefunction in the Classically Inaccessible Region (CIR) of the related quantum mechanical system. In this work, Bessel Differential Equation of the first order ( = : ( B D E ) 1 ) is chosen as a mathematical model and its ( J W K B ) 1 solution is obtained by first transforming into the normal form via the change of independent variable. The ( J W K B ) 1 general solution for appropriately chosen initial values in both normal and standard form representations is analyzed via the generalized ( J W K B ) 1 asymptotic matching rules regarding the S ˜ i j matrix elements given in the literature. Instead of applying the common ( J W K B ) 1 asymptotic matching rules relying on the physical nature of the quantum mechanical system, i.e., a physically acceptable (normalizable) wavefunction, a pure semiclassical analysis is studied via the ( B D E ) 1 model mathematically. Finally, an application to a specific case of the exponential potential decorated quantum mechanical bound state problem is presented.
Flux and Passage Enhancement in Hemodialysis by Incorporating Compound Additive into PVDF Polymer Matrix
Authors: Zhang Qinglei , Lu Xiaolong , Zhang Qingzhao , Zhang Lei , Li Suoding , Liu Shaobin
Published: October 2016

In this study, Polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) hollow fiber hemodialysis membranes were prepared by non-solvent induced phase separation (NIPS) with compound addtive. The compound additive was made with polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) and Poly ethylene glycol (PEG). The results showed that the modified PVDF membrane had better separation performance than virgin PVDF membrane. The UF flux of modified PVDF membrane can reach 684 L·h−1·m−2 and lysozyme (LZM) passage is 72.6% while virgin PVDF membrane is 313 L·h−1·m−2 and 53.2%. At the same time, the biocompatibility of PVDF membranes was also improved. Compared with commercial polysulfone hemodialysis membrane (Fresenius F60S membrane), the modified PVDF membrane had better mechanical and separation performance. The stress and tensile elongation of modified PVDF membrane was 0.94 MPa and 352% while Fresenius F60S membrane was 0.79 MPa and 59%. The LZM passage reached 72.6% while Fresenius F60S membrane was 54.4%. It was proven that the modified PVDF membrane showed better hydrophilicity, antithrombogenicity, less BSA adsorption, and lower hemolytic ratio and adhesion of platelets. Water contact angle and BSA adsorption of the modified PVDF membrane are 38° and 45 mg/m2 while Fresenius F60S membrane are 64° and 235 mg/m2. Prothrombin time (PT) and activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT) of the modified PVDF membrane are 56.5 s and 25.8 s while Fresenius F60S membrane is 35.7 s and 16.6 s. However, further biocompatibility evaluation is needed to obtain a more comprehensive conclusion.
FoodPro: A Web-Based Tool for Evaluating Covariance and Correlation NMR Spectra Associated with Food Processes
Authors: Chikayama Eisuke , Yamashina Ryo , Komatsu Keiko , Tsuboi Yuuri , Sakata Kenji , Kikuchi Jun , Sekiyama Yasuyo
Published: October 2016

Foods from agriculture and fishery products are processed using various technologies. Molecular mixture analysis during food processing has the potential to help us understand the molecular mechanisms involved, thus enabling better cooking of the analyzed foods. To date, there has been no web-based tool focusing on accumulating Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectra from various types of food processing. Therefore, we have developed a novel web-based tool, FoodPro, that includes a food NMR spectrum database and computes covariance and correlation spectra to tasting and hardness. As a result, FoodPro has accumulated 236 aqueous (extracted in D2O) and 131 hydrophobic (extracted in CDCl3) experimental bench-top 60-MHz NMR spectra, 1753 tastings scored by volunteers, and 139 hardness measurements recorded by a penetrometer, all placed into a core database. The database content was roughly classified into fish and vegetable groups from the viewpoint of different spectrum patterns. FoodPro can query a user food NMR spectrum, search similar NMR spectra with a specified similarity threshold, and then compute estimated tasting and hardness, covariance, and correlation spectra to tasting and hardness. Querying fish spectra exemplified specific covariance spectra to tasting and hardness, giving positive covariance for tasting at 1.31 ppm for lactate and 3.47 ppm for glucose and a positive covariance for hardness at 3.26 ppm for trimethylamine N-oxide.
Application of Super-Amphiphilic Silica-Nanogel Composites for Fast Removal of Water Pollutants
Authors: Atta Ayman , Al-Lohedan Hamad , Tawfik Ahmed , Ezzat Abdelrahman
Published: October 2016

This work first reports the preparation of super-amphiphilic silica-nanogel composites to reduce the contact angle of water to increase the diffusion of pollutant into adsorbents. In this respect, the silica nanoparticles were encapsulated into nanogels based on ionic and nonionic polyacrylamides by dispersion polymerization technique. The morphologies and the dispersion stability of nanogel composites were investigated to clarify the ability of silica-nanogel composites to adsorb at different interfaces. The feasibility of silica polyacrylamide nanogel composites to act as a high-performance adsorbent for removal of methylene blue (MB) dye and heavy metals (Co2+ and Ni2+) from aqueous solution was investigated. The surface tension, contact angle, average pore size, and zeta potential of the silica-nanogel composites have been evaluated. The MB dye and heavy metal adsorption capacity achieved Qmax = 438–387 mg/g which is considerably high. The adsorption capacity results are explained from the changes in the morphology of the silica surfaces as recorded from scanning electron microscopy (SEM).
Manifold Learning Co-Location Decision Tree for Remotely Sensed Imagery Classification
Authors: Zhou Guoqing , Zhang Rongting , Zhang Dianjun
Published: October 2016

Because traditional decision tree (DT) induction methods cannot efficiently take advantage of geospatial knowledge in the classification of remotely sensed imagery, several researchers have presented a co-location decision tree (CL-DT) method that combines the co-location technique with the traditional DT method. However, the CL-DT method only considers the Euclidean distance of neighborhood events, which cannot truly reflect the co-location relationship between instances for which there is a nonlinear distribution in a high-dimensional space. For this reason, this paper develops the theory and method for a maximum variance unfolding (MVU)-based CL-DT method (known as MVU-based CL-DT), which includes unfolding input data, unfolded distance calculations, MVU-based co-location rule generation, and MVU-based CL-DT generation. The proposed method has been validated by classifying remotely sensed imagery and is compared with four other types of methods, i.e., CL-DT, classification and regression tree (CART), random forests (RFs), and stacked auto-encoders (SAE), whose classification results are taken as “true values.” The experimental results demonstrate that: (1) the relative classification accuracies of the proposed method in three test areas are higher than CL-DT and CART, and are at the same level compared to RFs; and (2) the total number of nodes, the number of leaf nodes, and the number of levels are significantly decreased by the proposed method. The time taken for the data processing, decision tree generation, drawing of the tree, and generation of the rules are also shortened by the proposed method compared to CL-DT, CART, and RFs.
A Method for Exploring the Link between Urban Area Expansion over Time and the Opportunity for Crime in Saudi Arabia
Authors: Algahtany Mofza , Kumar Lalit
Published: October 2016

Urban area expansion is one of the most critical types of worldwide change, and most urban areas are experiencing increased growth in population and infrastructure development. Urban change leads to many changes in the daily activities of people living within an affected area. Many studies have suggested that urbanization and crime are related. However, they focused particularly on land uses, types of land use, and urban forms, such as the physical features of neighbourhoods, roads, shopping centres, and bus stations. Understanding the correlation between urban area expansion and crime is very important for criminologists and urban planning decision-makers. In this study, we have used satellite images to measure urban expansion over a 10-year period and tested the correlations between these expansions and the number of criminal activities within these specific areas. The results show that there is a measurable relationship between urban expansion and criminal activities. Our findings support the crime opportunity theory as one possibility, which suggests that population density and crime are conceptually related. We found the correlations are stronger where there has been greater urban growth. Many other factors that may affect crime rate are not included in this paper, such as information on the spatial details of the population, city planning, economic considerations, the distance from the city centre, neighbourhood quality, and police numbers. However, this study will be of particular interest to those who aim to use remote sensing to study patterns of crime.
Learning to Drive Safely: Reasonable Expectations and Future Directions for the Learner Period
Authors: Simons-Morton Bruce , Ehsani Johnathon
Published: October 2016

The young driver problem is typified by high crash rates early in licensure that decline with experience, but are higher initially and decline more slowly for the youngest novices. Despite considerable effort, only Graduated Driver Licensing System (GDLS) policies have been shown to improve novice young driver safety outcomes. Unfortunately, GDLS policies are mostly limited to countries with a relatively young licensure age. Meanwhile, it is not entirely clear how GDLS and other young driver transportation safety efforts, including driver training and testing, supervised practice and parental management of young drivers, can best be configured. Notably, professional training can foster improvements in vehicle management skills that are necessary, but do not assure safe driving behavior. Substantial recent research has focused on training methods to improve driving skills, but the safety benefits of driver training have not been established. While prolonged practice driving increases experience and provides supervisors with opportunities to prepare novices for independent driving, the transition to independent driving challenges novices to employ, on their own, poorly-mastered skills under unfamiliar and complex driving conditions. Licensing policies and parental management practices can limit the complexity of driving conditions while novices gain needed driving experience. Nevertheless, an emerging body of literature suggests that future advances in training and supervision of novice teenage drivers might best focus on the translation of learning to independent driving by fostering safe driving attitudes and norms, judgment, dedicated attention to driving tasks and self-control at the wheel.
Short-Term Success versus Long-Term Failure: A Simulation-Based Approach for Understanding the Potential of Zambia’s Fertilizer Subsidy Program in Enhancing Maize Availability
Authors: Gerber Andreas
Published: October 2016

In Sub-Saharan Africa, food-related policies such as fertilizer subsidy programs (FSPs) have undergone a revival and triggered a controversy about their impact. In this article I applied a simulation-based approach to examine the FSPs’ short- and long-term potential for increasing maize availability in Zambia. The study revealed that FSPs are an effective policy measure to enhance maize availability in the short-term. However, in the long-term, the food system becomes dependent on the government’s annual expenses. The dependency occurs because FSPs fail to build up adequate stock levels of soil organic matter (SOM), which is an important source of resilience and productivity, and thus represents a long-term leverage point in Zambia’s maize production system. For this reason, alternative policies that combine increasing productivity and building up SOM stock levels were analyzed. They were found to be a viable means for enhancing long-term maize availability. The study concludes that gradually reducing investments in FSPs while simultaneously promoting farming practices that build up SOM stock levels is a promising strategy to enhance maize availability sustainably.
Identité civique et réalités monétaires en Grèce ancienne
Authors: Grandjean Catherine
Published: October 2016

La recherche actuelle sur l’identité civique grecque ne prend guère en compte la monnaie, qui est pourtant un marqueur des identités collectives. Et quand elle le fait, c’est pour la considérer à partir des sources textuelles à la suite de M. I. Finley et pour y voir seulement un outil au service du politique. La question est bien moins simple dès lors que l’on examine les monnaies : si les cités ont souvent apporté grand soin au choix des types et des légendes de leurs émissions, elles ont frappé aussi des monnaies dont les types n’avaient guère de rapport avec leurs traditions locales ; en outre, des cités ont laissé circuler un grand nombre de monnaies étrangères sur leur territoire, y compris des monnaies de bronze dans le cas d’Argos, évoqué ci-dessous.
Classement stylistique et essai de périodisation des monnaies au loup d’Argos. II : Les émissions du Ve siècle
Authors: Flament Christophe
Published: October 2016

This article proposes a classification of the first Argive coins that complements a

previous study dedicated to the same topic published in RN. Two groups are established on a technical, stylistic and characteroscopic basis. The first includes the most ancient coins issued by the city – including the famous drachms – for which, unfortunately, no firm date can be proposed. The second, and far more important group, consists of coins issued during the second third of the vth century and which seem to have immediately preceded the issues with symbols and letters on the reverse. This new evidence somewhat modifies the chronology previously proposed

for the different phases of the Argive coinage.
Du plomb au pixel. Transcrire les légendes des monnaies du haut Moyen Âge
Authors: Trécourt-Codine Florence , Sarah Guillaume
Published: October 2016

Publishing numismatic research requires that coin inscriptions be transcribed, with more or less precision depending on the purpose of the study. 19th-century numismatists tackled the subject with some success and developed fonts which are now obsolete given the advances of typesetting. Interest in this field of research has only recently re-emerged, stimulated by the new possibilities offered by contemporary digital fonts ; this is particularly true for the early Middle Ages. Interpretation of the inscriptions, the identification of places and people, and even chronology could benefit from such fonts, so long as their creation rests on a detailed preliminary

epigraphic study.
Les monnaies béarnaises de Louis XIV (I)
Authors: Charlet Christian
Published: October 2016

More than a century after Blanchet and Schlumberger’s monograph on the coinage from Béarn and fifty years later after Françoise Dumas’s studies, this article attempts a new survey. No records or archives of the mints have been preserved, so it therefore relies on other archival documents, notably the decrees of the King’s Council, together with a corpus of coins that has been significantly enlarged since the previous studies. It is now possible to interpret and identify most of the marks on the coins and to outline the monetary production of Béarn and the marked peculiarity of the province.
Heavy money, weightier problems: the Justinianic reform of 538 and its economic consequences
Authors: Gândilă Andrei
Published: October 2016

En 538, à l’apogée de son règne, Justinien introduit une monnaie d’une taille vraiment impressionnante. Les implications économiques de l’émission lourde de Justinien (538-542) apparaissent dans une lumière nouvelle selon le réexamen du témoignage des trésors et de trouvailles isolées des Balkans, d’Asie Mineure et d’Orient. La circulation prolongée de monnaies lourdes de Justinien et surtout leur pourcentage important dans les trouvailles des Balkans, nous permettent une nouvelle approche du rôle joué par cette monnaie au cours du vie siècle et ajoutent de nouvelles dimensions à la nature fiduciaire de la monnaie byzantine en bronze.
Pour une étude méthodique des pendentifs monétaires : le cas des sépultures de Birka (Suède)
Authors: Audy Florent
Published: October 2016

Rares sont les études sur les pendentifs monétaires qui prennent à la fois en considération les dimensions numismatique, technique et archéologique. C’est pourtant une démarche nécessaire pour réussir à comprendre la fonction de cet objet singulier en l’absence de sources écrites. L’analyse des exemplaires mis au jour dans les sépultures de Birka l’illustre parfaitement. Il est en effet possible, grâce à un examen méthodique des monnaies, des suspensions et des contextes de découverte, de préciser les raisons qui ont poussé les Vikings à suspendre des médailles à leur cou ou sur leur poitrine.
Determination of the absolute stereostructure of a cyclic azobenzene from the crystal structure of the precursor containing a heavy element
Authors: Thomas Reji , Tamaoki Nobuyuki
Published: October 2016

Single crystal X-ray diffraction has been used as one of the common methods for the unambiguous determination of the absolute stereostructure of chiral molecules. However, this method is limited to molecules containing heavy atoms or to molecules with the possibility of functionalization with heavy elements or chiral internal references. Herein, we report the determination of the absolute stereostructure of the enantiomers of molecule (E)-2, which lacks the possibility of functionalization, using a reverse method, i.e., defunctionalization of its precursor of known stereostructure with bromine substitution (S-(−)-(E)-1). A reductive debromination of S-(−)-(E)-1 results in formation of one of the enantiomers of (E)-2. Using a combination of HPLC and CD spectroscopy we could safely assign the stereostructure of one of the enantiomers of (E)-2, the reduced product R-(−)-(E)-1.
Émergence de nouveaux groupes contestataires urbains et dynamiques de la semi-clandestinité au Soudan
Authors: Deshayes Clément
Published: October 2016

Au tournant des années 2010, le Soudan a vu l’émergence de nouveaux mouvements de contestation en rupture avec des partis politiques perçus par une part importante de la jeunesse urbaine comme inefficients et obsolètes. Ces mouvements vont progressivement se structurer et mettre en place un répertoire d’actions innovant, notamment par la réappropriation d’un espace urbain largement dépolitisé. Subissant une forte répression du pouvoir, ces groupes vont développer des savoir-faire et des pratiques de semi-clandestinité pour continuer de contester l’ordre établi. L’émergence de ces mouvements provoque des perturbations dans l’espace politique et pousse ces nouvelles organisations protestataires, les partis ainsi que les organes de coercition à s’adapter.
De Jérusalem à Damas : les imaginaires nationalistes de la gauche jordanienne
Authors: Dot-Pouillard Nicolas
Published: October 2016

L’histoire de la gauche jordanienne est indissociable de celle de la gauche palestinienne. Depuis le début des années 1990, elle s’est pourtant nationalisée. Active dans les mouvements sociaux et syndicaux, membre de l’opposition démocratique, elle a participé en 2011 aux mouvements de contestation de la monarchie hachémite. Certaines de ses composantes se sont rapprochées du gouvernement, tandis que d’autres adoptent une rhétorique de plus en plus nationaliste, s’appuyant sur les tribus de l’est du pays. Un calendrier proprement jordanien s’est imposé. Pourtant, la gauche a encore des agendas transnationaux. Elle reste tournée vers Jérusalem et regarde de plus en plus vers Damas. Les spectres nationalistes arabes (ou machrékiens) la taraudent. Entre utopies transnationales et acceptation de l’État-nation, la gauche jordanienne a ses horizons d’attente conflictuels.
En Arabie Saoudite, une révolution de palais synonyme de remise en cause du modèle agricole ?
Authors: Brun Matthieu , Calvary Romain
Published: October 2016

Dans les années 1970, l’Arabie Saoudite a décidé de verdir son désert. Mais cette politique a un prix. Or depuis deux décennies, avec l’épuisement des ressources hydriques et surtout avec les difficultés économiques induites par la baisse des cours du pétrole et la croissance démographique, le modèle agricole saoudien est à bout de souffle. La révolution de palais qui a suivi l’arrivée au pouvoir du Roi Salman a donné à l’exécutif la possibilité de prendre à bras le corps ce problème. La politique qui sera définie sera-t-elle synonyme d’une nouvelle révolution agricole ?
First Travel-Associated Congenital Zika Syndrome in the US: Ocular and Neurological Findings in the Absence of Microcephaly
Authors: Ventura Camila V. , Fernandez Maria Paula , Gonzalez Ivan A. , Rivera-Hernandez Delia M. , Lopez-Alberola Roberto , Peinado Maria , Floren Angelica A. , Rodriguez Patricia A. , Williams Basil K. , de la Vega Muns Gabriela , Rodriguez Ana J. , Negron Catherin , Fallas Brenda , Berrocal Audina M.
Published: October 2016

A 6-day-old female baby with known diagnosis of congenital Zika infection was referred for ophthalmologic examination. The mother (37 years old) was referred for a pruritic rash, conjunctival hyperemia, and malaise at 12 weeks of gestation while still living in Venezuela. Upon arrival to Miami, Zika virus (ZIKV) exposure was confirmed during prenatal screening. At birth, due to the known exposure, a complete congenital ZIKV workup was performed, including brain ultrasound and MRI, which disclosed calcifications in the frontal lobe. Fundus examination revealed a hypopigmented retinal lesion in the left eye that was documented with retinal imaging.

[
Ophthalmic Surg Lasers Imaging Retina
. 2016;47:952–955.]
Raison pratique et normativité chez Kant
Authors: Guibet Lafaye Caroline
Published: October 2016

Comment et pourquoi la philosophie juridique et politique contemporaine est-elle revenue à Kant ? Il faut, pour le comprendre, s’intéresser d’abord à l’ancrage de la pensée du droit dans la théorie kantienne de la raison pratique et aux problèmes que pose le statut kantien d’une raison normative oeuvrant dans les deux champs coordonnés de l’éthique et du droit. L’articulation entre droit privé et droit public, entre droit et politique dans la Métaphysique des moeurs doit être considérée en relation avec l’exigence d’une fondation unitaire du système des normes pratiques. La philosophie politique de Kant peut dès lors être envisagée dans le prolongement que lui offre sa théorie du droit international, avec l’ouverture d’une perspective cosmopolitique qu’il importe de définir avec précision.

Cet ouvrage, qui réunit des auteurs comptant parmi les spécialistes de Kant les plus reconnus, propose une enquête systématique sur la philosophie kantienne du droit. À l’aide d’analyses très précises des écrits kantiens, les différentes contributions offrent une vue d’ensemble des directions actuelles de la recherche. Elles montrent leur pertinence philosophique dans un contexte profondément différent de celui dans lequel Kant a élaboré cette philosophie, celui de la Révolution française, mais qui la rend d’une certaine façon plus actuelle qu’en son temps.
Comunidades negras en el Pacífico colombiano
Authors: Hoffmann Odile
Published: October 2016

En 1991 Colombia se dotó de una constitución que reconoce la naturaleza multicultural y pluriétnica de la Nación. En los años siguientes, en medio de una gran movilización política e intelectual, varias leyes reglamentaciones proceden al reconocimiento de derechos a poblaciones llamadas minoritarias, notablemente a las poblaciones afrocolombianas ahora reconocidas como "comunidades negras".La región sur del Pacífico colombiano, poblada desde hace varios siglos por poblaciones negras, se caracteriza por una organización social y política original. La dotación de "territorios colectivos de comunidades negras" lleva a una recomposición profunda de las prácticas y de las representaciones del espacio y de las sociedades, tanto de sí mismas como de las otras. Lejos de reducirse al perímetro de un mundo rural "tradicional", la reorganización afecta el conjunto de las relaciones sociales, en la ciudad y en el campo, en las veredas como en la metrópolis. Los campesinos participan en estos procesos, así como militantes étnicos, funcionarios y representantes de intereses económicos (plantaciones agroindustriales de palma), en un contexto en donde los grupos armados siguen atentos a las transformaciones que afectan "sus" territorios.Entre geografía y antropología política, articulando una etnografía localizada y un acercamiento regional y nacional de "la cuestión negra" en Colombia, la obra busca desmontar los mecanismos de la construcción identitaria e identificar sus impactos tanto en las representaciones colectivas como en las relaciones de poder que se redefinen en esta ocasión.
Strategic Approaches to Food Security in Developing Countries
Authors: Ramdwar Marcus N.A. , Siew Narendra
Published: October 2016

As the world's population increases, the issue of food security presents a serious challenge. Currently, food security is reliant on a very narrow range of cultivated plant species and is also limited to traditional animal husbandry practices. The use of edible wild plants can be considered to support food security efforts. Such plants have shown to be more resilient compared to traditionally cultivated crops and also have superior nutritional attributes. The issue of protein food security can be addressed through production improvements for local or indigenous chickens, livestock production systems and wildlife to some extent. Food security in developing countries would increasingly become more dependent on widening the biodiversity from which food is selected and utilized and insects, like wild plants, provide another such opportunity. Contemporary reproductive technologies such as lactation induction, embryo transfer and artificial insemination among others can bolster food security efforts in developing countries. Improvements in forage species as well as processing technologies to improve nutritional value of low quality forages can improve overall animal nutrition. Irrespective of the concerns related to genetically modified organisms (GMOs), these sources of food could be beneficial globally. The formation of farmers' groups can be a strategic approach to food security in resource poor developing countries for the purposes of collective action and resource sharing. Sustainable food security requires the integration of several multi-dimensional approaches into a holistic management model to achieve the food security objectives in many developing nations.