Tesis sobre el tema "December 1"

According to the Bible, on the second day God gathered the waters so that dry land would appear. Before that time all was surface water. Surface water was all. With the appearance of land, the earth's hydrology became complicated. Groundwater thus formed, and a quandary begotten that challenges hydrologists and lawmakers to this day.

Speculation abounded as to whether President Bush would sign the Omnibus Water Bill. He did so on October 30. Now Arizona and other western states are tallying their gains from this new piece of federal legislation.

This quantitative study documents, analyses and discusses the accident experience of Commonwealth employees in Western Australia from 1 July 1993 to 2 December 1995 as recorded on 1663 accident report forms. The research addresses the problem of lack of knowledge of accidents in the Commonwealth sector of the Western Australian work force. Its purpose is to identify possible areas of health and safety improvement and highlight where accident frequency may be reduced. Risk management is adopted as a conceptual framework to explore categories of accident related data, including month of year, time of day, day of the week of accidents, number of years of job experience, age and gender of the worker, accident frequency and severity. Where applicable accident related data was subjected to Chi-square statistical tests. Important findings, amongst others, include the identification of the month of August as having a higher frequency of accidents, inexperienced Commonwealth workers incurring 80.5% of accidents, and 64% of accidents involving men. Such findings are of importance to the Commonwealth so that prevention strategies targeted at these areas can be developed. Additional research utilising national data is recommended.

The Daily Dispatch, a newspaper based in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa, has a long history of political reporting. Arguably, it reached the zenith of its prominence during the era of political activism of the Black Consciousness Movement (BCM), under the leadership of Bantu Steve Biko, who was martyred by the apartheid government in 1977. Biko was at the time based in King William’s Town, in the Eastern Cape. The newspaper, at the time edited by Donald Woods, held the view that Biko was preaching a doctrine of hatred against White people, and Woods took it upon himself to challenge Biko. This saw Woods gaining a better understanding of the BCM and Biko, and hiring into the Daily Dispatch’s newsroom a number of pro-Black Consciousness journalists. The newspaper then proceeded to cover not only the BCM, but also other pro-democracy movements until the demise of apartheid and the emergence of the African National Congress-led government under the presidency of Nelson Mandela. With the emergence of the ANC-led government, there was an expectation that newspapers and journalists that had opposed apartheid and supported the liberation struggle would continue supporting the freedom fighters-turned-career-politicians. This was especially so because some pro-ANC politicians-turned-businessmen acquired a stake in media ownership. It is against this background that this study investigated the political coverage by the Daily Dispatch of the Eastern Cape Provincial Government during the period 1 January – 30 December 2013. Taking into cognisance the changing hands of the ownership of the Daily Dispatch, the Political Economy theory, which focuses on the link between ownership of the media and its role in society, was employed as a theoretical framework. The study utilised the qualitative research methodology, specifically interviews and content analysis, as research techniques (methods). The research found that despite the changes in the ownership of the Daily Dispatch, the newspaper provided independent political coverage of the ANC-led government in the Eastern Cape during the research period.

This study investigates the complex role editorials – a newspaper's institutional voice – play in highly-polarised political contexts. Employing Van Dijk's insight that editorials "are usually not only, and even not primarily, directed at the common reader: rather they tend to directly or indirectly address influential news actors" (1992: 244), the study focuses on how the editorials of two Zimbabwean daily newspapers – The Herald, a perceived pro-government newspaper, and NewsDay, a perceived pro-opposition newspaper – speak to those in power. The study looks at these two newspapers' editorials from 1 June to 31 December 2013, which covers the period prior to, during and after the 2013 national elections. The 31 July, 2013 elections took place after four years of an uneasy government of national unity (GNU), which comprised ZANU-PF and the two MDC formations (Raftopoulos, 2013:978). Given the polarisation that is pervasive in the Zimbabwean politics and media, the study draws on Hallin and Mancini (2004)'s "Polarised Pluralist Model". In this model the media are used as instruments of struggle in conflicts, sometimes by dictatorships and by movements struggling against them, but also by contending parties in periods of democratic politics (Hallin and Mancini, 2004:61). Further, the methodological approach that informs this study is primarily qualitative. A qualitative content analysis of 30 editorials seeks to identify themes covered in the editorials. The study also employs a rhetorical analysis of 12 editorials and in-depth interviews and these form the adopted three-stage research design. The findings of this research somewhat contradict the common view in Zimbabwe that the privately-owned media blindly support the opposition while the stateowned media do the same to ZANU-PF (Chari, 2009:10; Mabweazara, 2011:110). Although The Herald openly supported ZANU-PF prior to the election, it shifted after the election as it pushed the ruling party to fulfill pledges made on the campaign trail. Some ZANU-PF officials were also censured by The Herald, although this selective criticism can be linked to factionalism in the party. NewsDay editorials reminded the newly formed government to mend the economy and provide basic services. While, the daily constantly censured Mugabe and ZANU-PF prior to the election, it also occasionally berated the MDC, which can be attributed to its participation in the GNU as that took away the privilege it previously had of not being hold accountable by the press.

In the framework of the electromagnetic approaches based on learning-by-example (LBE) techniques, this thesis focuses on the development of a strategy for the solution of complex problems by means of support vector machine (SVM). The proposed instance-based classification method compared to more traditional optimization techniques solves the arising quadratic optimization problem with constraints in a simple and reliable way leveraging on the statistical learning theory which enables the design of optimal classifiers with a solid theoretical framework. A set of input/output relations representing the training dataset permits to avoid the a-priori knowledge about the system. By exploiting the generalization capabilities, the robustness against noise and the real-time performance, this technique has been proven to be suitable for more than one real-world application. The investigated problems are addressed by integrating the measured electromagnetic field with a suitably defined classifier that is aimed at defining a real-time reconstruction of the observed domain. For each application field a set of numerical results have been reported in order to assess the effectiveness and flexibility of the proposed approach. The real-time capabilities as well as the feasibility when dealing with real data have been also verified by means of an experimental setup for the passive tracking of non-cooperative targets moving throughout the investigated area.

In the framework of antenna array synthesis and control, this thesis focus on the development and analysis of techniques based on the Bayesian Compressive Sensing (BCS) for the design of sparse antenna arrays and for the estimation of the direction of arrival (DoA) of signals impinging on an antenna array. After formulating the sparse-array synthesis problem in a probabilistic fashion, the single-task BCS (ST-BCS) is applied to the synthesis of symmetrical antenna arrays with real weights. In order to deal with the synthesis of sparse arrays with complex weights, the multitask version of the BCS (MT-BCS) is employed to correlate the real and imaginary part of the resulting excitation distribution. Concerning the DoA estimation problem, starting from the observation that the signals impinging on the antenna array are sparse in the spatial domain, a single-snapshot ST-BCS -based technique is proposed. Moreover, the MT-BCS -based extension of this technique is introduced in order to enhance the quality of the estimations through the exploitation of the correlation among different snapshots. In the numerical validation, an exhaustive analysis has been performed to assess effectiveness, reliability, but also limitations of the proposed methodologies. Comparisons with state-of-the-art are reported and discussed, as well.

Financial constraints and limited access to markets are the most important obstacles for economic development in developing economies that are largely dependent on agriculture. Lack of access to credit and output markets, in particular, is frequently identified as a key barrier to transformation of subsistence agriculture. The fundamental problems are related to information asymmetry, lack of collateral and limited economies of scale. Innovative institutional mechanisms, in the form of microfinance and producer organizations, offer ways to address information asymmetry and increase scale economies. This dissertation examines the outreach, financial performance and impact of microfinance institutions as well as the key drivers of agricultural cooperatives and its impact on smallholder farmers efficiency in Ethiopia. To meet these objectives four data sets from Ethiopia, one institutional and three household survey data, are used. The analysis of microfinance generally focuses on examining the trade-offs between outreach to the poor and financial sustainability by ownership forms (shareholder owned vs. memberowned). The outreach-financial sustainability trade-offs analyzed first using the institutional survey data. The empirical results show that serving the poor and financial sustainability are challenging objectives to achieve together. There is also evidence that suggests the presence of mission drift. Second, the role of ownership form on outreach, financial performance and cost-efficiency is analyzed within the framework of efficient ownership assignment theories using regression and stochastic cost frontier approaches. This analysis aims at testing whether the commonly held proposition of greater efficiency of shareholder firms in microfinance by policy advocates is empirically supported. The results reject the superiority of shareholder-owned microfinance over financial cooperatives. In fact, the evidence here supports the advantages of member-owned microfinance on cost efficiency and balancing the double bottom-lines of microfinance. Third, the impact of access to microfinance credit on farmers investment on agricultural inputs is assessed using propensity score matching (PSM) and control-function-regression methods that address potential participation selection biases. Results from both approaches show that access to credit increased the use of productivity enhancing inputs among borrower farmers. Indeed, farmers that borrow from financial cooperatives tend to invest more on modern inputs. The analysis of agricultural cooperatives tested theoretical propositions from organizational and the new institutional economics theories on the drivers of agricultural cooperatives incidence and farmers membership and patronage decisions. Discrete choice models are employed for the empirical analysis. The results indicate that the incidence of agricultural cooperatives in Ethiopia is more related to the countervailing market power argument than to the transaction cost reduction hypothesis. Despite open membership polices, the analysis on farmers participation indicates that membership and patronage decisions are related and significantly influenced by location, asset and relational specificities. Finally, the impact analysis estimated technical efficiency gains of membership in agricultural cooperatives and employed matching and stochastic production frontier techniques. The evidence suggests that membership in agricultural cooperatives significantly enhances efficiency gains among smallholder farmers.

In this work a multidisciplinary study of the December 26th, 2004 Sumatra earthquake has been carried out. We have investigated both the effect of the earthquake on the Earth rotation and the stress field variations associated with the seismic event. In the first part of the work we have quantified the effects of a water mass redistribution associated with the propagation of a tsunami wave on the Earth’s pole path and on the length-of-day (LOD) and applied our modeling results to the tsunami following the 2004 giant Sumatra earthquake. We compared the result of our simulations on the instantaneous rotational axis variations with some preliminary instrumental evidences on the pole path perturbation (which has not been confirmed yet) registered just after the occurrence of the earthquake, which showed a step-like discontinuity that cannot be attributed to the effect of a seismic dislocation. Our results show that the perturbation induced by the tsunami on the instantaneous rotational pole is characterized by a step-like discontinuity, which is compatible with the observations but its magnitude turns out to be almost one hundred times smaller than the detected one. The LOD variation induced by the water mass redistribution turns out to be not significant because the total effect is smaller than current measurements uncertainties. In the second part of this work of thesis we modeled the coseismic and postseismic stress evolution following the Sumatra earthquake. By means of a semi-analytical, viscoelastic, spherical model of global postseismic deformation and a numerical finite-element approach, we performed an analysis of the stress diffusion following the earthquake in the near and far field of the mainshock source. We evaluated the stress changes due to the Sumatra earthquake by projecting the Coulomb stress over the sequence of aftershocks taken from various catalogues in a time window spanning about two years and finally analyzed the spatio-temporal pattern. The analysis performed with the semi-analytical and the finite-element modeling gives a complex picture of the stress diffusion, in the area under study, after the Sumatra earthquake. We believe that the results obtained with the analytical method suffer heavily for the restrictions imposed, on the hypocentral depths of the aftershocks, in order to obtain the convergence of the harmonic series of the stress components. On the contrary we imposed no constraints on the numerical method so we expect that the results obtained give a more realistic description of the stress variations pattern.

Thesis (MMed)--Stellenbosch University, 2015.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Background: An increase in autopsied cases of community assault fatalities has been observed at the Tygerberg Forensic Pathology Services Facility. A paucity of information exists as to the incidence and prevalence of these cases in a South African context. Objectives: To determine the patterns and trends of injuries sustained in so-called community assault fatalities. Methods: A retrospective and descriptive study was conducted. Fatal community assault cases admitted to the Tygerberg Forensic Pathology Facility over a ten year period, from 1 January 2003 to 31 December 2012 were reviewed. Data was collected from autopsy/post mortem examination reports, contemporaneous notes, attached hospital records, SAPS- 180 form (completed by South African Police Services representative) and other Forensic Pathology Services (FPS) documentation. Results: A total of 424 cases of fatal community assault were admitted during the study period with an annual increase between 2004 and 2008 and a second peak from 2010 to 2012. The cause of death in majority of cases was due to multiple injuries (42%) with blunt force trauma forming the basis of most of the injuries sustained. The most prevalent areas where these assaults occurred was Khayelitsha (166 cases) and Harare (84 cases) - one of the sub-sections in Khayelitsha. Male subjects were predominantly assaulted with only one female fatality recorded. Conclusion: Adequate policing in prevalent areas is essential, to address the unnecessary loss of life and additional burden on the criminal justice system and health care services.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Agtergrond: „n Toename in die aantal sterftes na beweerde gemeenskapsaanranding is waargeneem by die Tygerberg Forensiese Patologie Dienste Fasiliteit. Min inligting in verband met die insidensie en prevalensie van sulke gevalle in „n Suid-Afrikaanse konteks is beskikbaar. Doelwit: Om die patrone en neigings van beserings geassosieer met beweerde gemeenskapsaanranding-sterftes te bepaal. Metodes: „n Retrospektiewe en beskrywende studie is uitgevoer. Gevalle van sterftes na beweerde gemeenskapsaanranding wat opgeneem is by die Tygerberg Forensiese Patologie Dienste Fasiliteit oor „n tien-jaar tydperk, vanaf 1 Januarie 2003 tot 31 Desember 2012, is hersien. Data is versamel van outopsie/post-mortem verslae, kontemporêre notas, aangehegde hospitaal-rekords, SAPD-180 vorm (wat deur „n verteenwoordiger van die Suid-Afrikaanse Polisiediens ingevul word) en ander Forensiese Patologie Dienste (FPS) dokumentasie. Bevindinge: Oor die tien-jaar studietydperk is 424 gevalle van sterftes na beweerde gemeenskapsaanranding gesien, met „n jaarlike toename in gevalle tussen 2004 en 2008 en ‟n tweede piek in die aantal gevalle gedurende 2010 en 2012. Die oorsaak van dood in die meerderheid gevalle was as gevolg van veelvuldige beserings, met stomp geweld, die mees algemene tipe oorsaak van beserings. Die areas waar hierdie tipe gevalle mees algemeen voorgekom het, was Khayelitsha (166 gevalle) en Harare (84 gevalle) – een van die sub-seksies in Khayelitsha. In die meerderheid van gevalle is mans aangerand, en slegs een vroulike sterfte-geval is gevind. Afleidings: Voldoende polisiëring is nodig in prevalente areas om die onnodige lewensverlies en die addisionele lading op die kriminele regsisteem en gesondheidsorgdienste aan te spreek.

Background: Venous thromboembolism is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality around the world. In addition to the immediate morbidity, there is significant implications on delivery plans, future options of contraception and thromboprophylaxis in subsequent pregnancies. At present, no pre-test probability assessments are being used to predict venous thromboembolism in pregnancy. This is the first study in South-Africa, addressing venous thromboembolism in the perinatal period which specifically examines the epidemiology and clinical presentation in pregnancy and the post-partum period. Objectives: To determine the incidence of venous thromboembolism in Groote Schuur Maternity Centre and to identify specific variables in the clinical presentation that had a predictive value of a thromboembolic event. Methods: A quantitative, retrospective study with a descriptive comparative research design, for a twelve-month period from January 2016 to December 2016. All pregnant and postpartum patients who were sent for a venous duplex ultrasound, ventilation perfusion study or computerized tomography pulmonary angiogram from the Groote Schuur Maternity center were included. A folder review was conducted and the diagnosis and clinical presentation of all the patients were documented and analyzed. Incidence of VTE were estimated as the number of events per 1,000 deliveries. The number of hospital deliveries in 2016 were used as the denominator for calculating this incidence. Results: A total of 41 (0.12%) patients had a venous thromboembolism. Six patients had a deep venous thrombosis (0.02%) and 37 had a pulmonary embolism (0.11%). Among the 186 retrieved medical records, 11 (28%) of the diagnosis occurred in the puerperal period and 28 (72%) during pregnancy. Among the 28 events during pregnancy, one (3%) was in the first trimester, nine (23%) in the second trimester and 18 (46%) in the third trimester. The majority of confirmed pulmonary emboli (72.22%) and deep venous thrombosis (66.67%) were diagnosed during the third trimester in pregnancy. Among individuals with deep venous thrombosis, the most frequently reported symptoms and signs were leg pain (66.7%), leg swelling (66.7%) and tachycardia (66.7%). Patients without deep venous thrombosis presented more with leg swelling (76.3%), red discolouration (10.5%) and cellulites (10.5%). The only presenting clinical features that were significantly different were haemoptysis (p=0.01) and coughing (p=0.03). Among those individuals without pulmonary embolus, tachycardia (77.3%) and dyspnoea (49.1%) were commonly reported. Among the patients with a PE, the most frequently reported symptoms were tachypnoea (78.4%), dyspnoea (64.9%), tachycardia (62.2%), chest pain (51.4%) and coughing (46%). Features in the clinical presentation that were statistically significant were chest pain (p=0.01), haemoptysis (p=0.07), tachypnoea (p=0.01) and tachycardia (p=0.03). The greatest statistically significant clinical feature was the symptom of coughing (p< 0.01). The stepwise logistic regression for the univariate analysis showed that coughing (OR=3.83; 95% CI: 1.71 to 8.58; P< 0.01), chest pain (OR=2.57; 95% CI: 1.2-5.53; P=0.02), tachycardia (OR=1.03; 95% CI: 1.0 to 1.06; P=0.03), tachypnoea (OR=1.06; 95% CI: 1.0 to 1.12; P=0.05) and a median symptom of 3.5 (1.58; 95% CI: 1.23 to 2.06; P< 0.01) were the best explanatory variables. The stepwise logistic regression for the multivariate analysis showed that both tachycardia (OR=1.03; 95% CI: 1.0 to 1.06; P=0.03) and coughing (OR=3.43; 95% CI: 0.88 to 11.30; P=0.05) predicted a positive pulmonary embolus. A logistic regression for tachycardia showed a 23% increase in pulmonary embolus for every increase of 5 beats per minute in the heart rate above 100Bpm. This association was statistically significant (OR=1.23; 95% CI:1.08 to 1.39; P=0.0004) A logistic regression analysis of the association between tachycardia, tachypnoea and chest pain and the risk of having a pulmonary embolus showed a 4% increase in the risk of pulmonary embolus for every single unit increase in heart rate. When controlling for tachycardia and tachypnoea, chest pain was also associated with a 3.8 times increase in the odds of having a pulmonary embolus. This association was statistically significant (p=0.0002) Conclusion: In this study, we found that the incidence of venous thromboembolism in the Groote Schuur Maternity Centre was the same as in other developed and developing countries around the world. The majority of confirmed venous thromboembolisms were diagnosed during the third trimester in pregnancy. This study found a lower incidence of deep venous thrombosis in comparison to other studies. The clinical features that had some predictive value for pulmonary embolism were chest pain, coughing, tachypnoea, tachycardia and more than three symptoms or signs. Tachycardia was significant in the univariate-, multivariate analysis and stepwise logistic regression. In addition, there was a statistically significant association between tachycardia, tachypnoea and chest pain and the risk of having a pulmonary embolus. This study has revealed the need to develop pre-assessment algorithms in pregnancy and postpartum patients to reduce maternal and fetal, morbidity and mortality. Until such algorithms are developed, clinicians should use their own clinical judgment and proceed to diagnostic imaging for suspected VTE, where indicated.

Background : Cervical cancer is the second commonest gynaecological cancer amongst women worldwide and the leading cause of cancer deaths in developing countries – contributing 83% of new cases and 85% of all deaths annually to the burden of this disease. Information and awareness of this illness in the developing world is still inferior, and mortality is increasing. In the developing world, late presentation, advanced-stage disease and a poorly run screening programme (covering only 55% of the South African population) are all contributing factors to this statistic. Approximately 20% of all South African women in their reproductive age are also HIV positive. With the rising burden of cervical cancer and the emergence of HIV as an influencing comorbidity, South Africa adopted a national cervical screening programme, rolled out in 2000 as well as an HCT (HIV counselling and testing) programme formalised in 2011. With these initiatives now in place, this study examined trends and compared 5-year survival outcomes between two decades for cervical cancer among young women. Methods : The study undertook a retrospective audit of files and information on the pre-existing cervical cancer database, and appropriate data was extracted (HREC REF 344/2011). Survival and disease outcomes at five years, as well as time to recurrence, was assessed, together with other demographics of the study population. Patients included in the study were non-pregnant female patients, aged 40 years and younger at the time of registration with the Groote Schuur Hospital (GSH) Oncology Unit (LE 33). The diagnosis of cervical cancer had to have been confirmed histologically, as either squamous cell carcinoma or adenosquamous carcinoma or adenocarcinoma. Patients must have attended at the LE 33 unit on or from 1 January 1993 until and including 31 December 2012. The two decades were studied and 5-year outcomes from each decade were analysed and reviewed using Kaplan-Meier curves and univariate analyses. The study compared data using Log Rank tests and p-values. Findings : The two decade-groups under study showed no difference in trends of survival regarding age, treatment type and histology. Albeit small numbers, adenocarcinoma was the histology that had the best probability of survival during both decades. There were more patients with early-stage cancer (stage 1 and 2) diagnosed in decade B (2003 – 2012) than A (1993 – 2002). Within this early-stage cervical cancer cohort, there is a trend toward more locally-advanced (stage 2) cancer in the more recent decade. The proportion of patients presenting with stage 1a and 1b cancer with tumours 4 cm and less has halved from decade A to decade B. The proportion of stage 2 cancers presenting with tumours 2 – 4cm in size during decade B has risen almost 3-fold to that of decade A. This suggests a developing trend of presentation of more locally-advanced cancer. During both decades, stage 1 cervical cancers had the best probability of survival, with an improvement in mean survival from decade A (average of 44 months) to decade B (average of 58 months). The trend of stage 2 disease has deteriorated, with a decrease in mean survival (from 48 months in decade A to 21 months in decade B), an increase in cancer-related deaths and a shorter time to relapse. The number of patients presenting with late-stage disease (stages 3 and 4) has declined. HIV positive status played an influential role in tumour size on presentation and probability of 5-year disease-free survival. Young women who were HIV positive also fared less favourably when compared to NP (not positive) women in terms of mean survival. Due to the small sample size and that the majority of patients in decade A were untested, further HIV comparisons were not credible. Interpretation : The study suggests a moving trend towards young patients that are being diagnosed with the more locally-advanced early-stage disease in the more recent decade than ten years prior. HIV status seemingly played an influential comorbid role in patients diagnosed with cervical cancer. Patients with the locallyadvanced disease appear to have worse outcomes in the latter decade. In an attempt to curb this potentially curable disease in this subset of young women, a greater focus on earlier screening interventions, prompt diagnosis and appropriate and timeous treatment of cervical cancer, together with optimisation of comorbidities like HIV are needed.

Nous nous intéressons dans le cadre de ce travail au challenge consistant à intégrer des systèmes à criticité mixte sur des architectures NoC. Cette intégration exige l'assurance des contraintes temporelles pour les applications critiques tout en minimisant l'impact de partage de ressources sur les applications non critiques. Afin d'exécuter des systèmes à criticité mixte sur des architectures NoC, nous avons proposé plusieurs contributions sous la forme d'un routeur, de modèles de tâches et de communications pour les architectures NoC. Nous avons proposé DAS, un routeur NoC conçu pour exécuter des systèmes à criticité mixte sur des architectures NoC. Il assure les contraintes temporelles pour les communications critiques tout en limitant la réservation des ressources pour les communications non critiques. DAS implante deux modes de fonctionnement, deux niveaux de préemption, deux techniques de contrôle de flux et deux étages d'arbitrage. Nous avons implanté DAS dans un simulateur de NoC appelé SHoC. Ensuite, DAS a été evalué sur plusieurs niveaux d'abstraction et selon plusieurs critères. Nous avons ensuite proposé DTFM : un modèle de tâche et de flux pour les systèmes temps réel déployés sur un NoC. À partir du modèle de tâches, du modèle de NoC et du placement des tâches, DTFM calcule automatiquement le modèle de flux correspondant.Finalement, nous avons proposé ECTM : un modèle de communications pour les architectures NoC. ECTM conduit à une analyse d'ordonnancement efficace. Il modélise les communications sous la forme d'un graphe de tâches tout en tenant compte du modèle de NoC utilisé. Nous avons implanté ECTM et DTFM dans un simulateur d'ordonnancement appelé Cheddar
This thesis addresses existing challenges that are associated with the implementation of Mixed Criticality Systems over NoC architectures. In such system, we must ensure the timing constraints for critical applications while limiting the bandwidth reservation for them.In order to run Mixed Criticality systems on NoC architectures, we have proposed several contributions in the form of a NoC router, a task and flow model, and a communications model.First, we propose a NoC router called DAS (Double Arbiter and Switching), designed to efficiently run mixed criticality applications on Network On Chip. To enforce MCS requirements, DAS implements automatic mode changes, two levels of preemption, two flow control techniques and two stages of arbitration. We have implemented DAS in the cycle accurate SystemC-TLM simulator SHOC. Then, we have evaluated DAS with several abstraction-level methods. Second, we propose DTFM, a Dual Task and Flow Model in order to overcome the limitation of existent task and flow models. DTFM allows us, from the task model, the NoC model and the task mapping, to compute the corresponding flow model. Finally, we propose a new NoC communication model called Exact Communication Time Model (ECTM) in order to analyze the scheduling of periodic tasks exchanging messages over a NoC. We have implemented our approach in a real-time scheduling simulator called Cheddar

The following is a collection of original poetry. The manuscript consists of an introduction explaining influences and style, and four chapters of poems categorized by subject matter: object/nature, writing/creativity, relationships, and family/figures. INDEX WORDS: Poetry, Poem

The distorted illusion that drinking alcohol in excess and/or using drugs is fun, sexy, and accepted as the ‘thing to do’ has unfortunately become mainstream. The health effects associated with substance use and abuse in Canada have direct implications on health service utilization, especially when emergent services are required. The prevalence of substance related ED visits in Winnipeg have never been reported, so it was not known if the prevalence of such presentations in Winnipeg were consistent with those rates in other developed nations. The overall aim of this study was to explore, using retrospective secondary analysis methodology and being guided by the Circle of Frequency, what the prevalence, patient profiles, and visit characteristics of substance-related ED presentations in Winnipeg from January 1, 2011-December 31, 2013. 14,255 substance-related ED visits were identified during this study time, accounting for 2.1% of the overall ED visits. Following frequency analysis, young-adult, unmarried men were identified as the ones most likely to arrive to the ED in Winnipeg with substance-related care needs arriving during inopportune times (on weekends and during the night when staffing levels and support are less), via ambulance, with acute CTAS scores secondary to substance misuse/intoxication, however not requiring admission. The significance of such presentations to the ED in Winnipeg has direct and indirect clinical implications which impacts clinical nursing practice, education, research, and patient care. Strategies to better identify and treat such care needs in the ED are evident and paramount to ensure best practice is provided, and optimal care is achieved.

Patients present daily to the emergency department of Ceza hospital, Kwazulu Natal for medical treatment. Some of these patients are self-referral or referred by other health care workers. Analysis of demography of patients presenting to the emergency department from 1st January to 31st December 2010 was conducted to provide a general overview and characteristics of the studied population. It was a retrospective, transverse and descriptive study that involved patients’ records reviewed from a hospital register. The results showed that the commonest primary diagnosis was assault with a patient population of 81 (16.9%) followed by gastroenteritis (12.3%) and soft tissue injuries (8.5%) respectively. Most patients were single (94.6%), black (100%) and mostly males (57.7%). The highest number of the patient population seen at the emergency department was in February (14.8%) and the patients seen were mostly in the age range of 21 to 30 years. Most cases that presented to the emergency department were non-emergencies that constituted 67.2% of the cases seen and the emergency cases were only 32.8%. The highest patient population at the emergency department of Ceza hospital was 34.83% in summer with presentation peaking from 8.00 am until 11.59 am. The highest proportion of patients’ presentation was found to be during the weekends.

Background. Chronic lung disease (CLD) remains a significant morbidity in preterm babies despite advances in neonatal care. The use of postnatal corticosteroids (PNCS) to treat CLD remains controversial. Objectives. To describe the clinical characteristics of babies with CLD at Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg academic hospital (CMJAH) and to explore the use of PNCS for the prevention and treatment of CLD. Methods. This was a 2-year retrospective review of neonates admitted to CMJAH. Neonates who were in hospital for ≥28 days were included. Comparisons were made between neonates with evolving CLD and those with no CLD. Results. A total of 485 neonates were analysed, 237 had evolving CLD and 245 did not have CLD. Overall incidence of evolving CLD was 5%. More neonates with CLD needed resuscitation at birth (48.5% v. 39.8%; p=0.02) and had low 5 minutes Apgar scores (17.2% v.10.6%; p=0.001). Neonates with CLD had increased prevalence of patent ductus arteriosus (30.4% v. 7.7%; p=0.001) and late onset sepsis (56.5% v. 23.6%; p=0.001). The mortality rate was also higher in CLD babies (10.2 v. 2.4%; p=0.001). Necrotising enterocolitis (NEC) (29.2% v.8%; p=0.005) and sepsis (83.3% v. 53.8%; p=0.008) were associated with increased mortality. The use of PNCS was associated with less NEC (3.5% v. 17.2%; p=0.001) and improved survival (95.6% v. 81.7%; p=0.001). Conclusions. CLD remains a common morbidity in neonates despite advances in neonatal care. The use of PNCS was shown to have short-term benefits. To get the most out of PNCS use for CLD, further studies need to be conducted to determine the safest type of steroid, the safe doses and the duration of treatment. S Afr J Child Health 2016;106(6):xx-xx. DOI:10.7196/SAJCH.2016v106i4.1060 Background The clinical definition of neonatal chronic lung disease (CLD) also known as bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) has evolved over time. It was first defined by Northway et al. in 1967 as persistent respiratory signs and symptoms along with the need for supplemental oxygen and an abnormal chest X-ray (CXR) at 28 days of age.[1] The definition of CLD was subsequently modified and defines BPD as oxygen dependence at 36 weeks post menstrual age (PMA) with or without the use of respiratory support and with or without the characteristic radiographic changes.[2] These definitions do not consider gestational age (GA) and do not indicate the level of oxygen dependence that can range from needing low-flow oxygen to being ventilator-dependent. To address this issue, the National Institute of Health has developed a consensus severity-based definition. This definition includes all babies born as needing more than 21% supplemental oxygen for at least 28 days. CLD is further classified into mild, moderate and severe, depending on the FiO2 needed and the duration of oxygen therapy for preterm babies.[3] Because of the complexity of the definition, some units just use the need for oxygen on day 28 of life and often refer to this as evolving CLD. The incidence of CLD as defined by the need for oxygen supplementation at 36 weeks PMA is ~30% of premature infants with birth weight (BW) <1 000 g and is uncommon in infants born at >30 weeks of gestation or weight of >1 250 g.[3] CLD has multifactorial aetiology and remains a major cause of morbidity in premature infants[1].Contributing factors include infection, exposure to high oxygen levels with the formation of toxic oxygen free radicals and ventilator-induced lung injury that results in arrested lung development and impaired lung function.[4] Several maternal risk factors including increasing age, hypertension, lack of antenatal steroid usage and chorioamnionitis have been associated with BPD.[4] Over the past few years, the pathophysiology and aetiology of BPD has changed. This pathophysiological and aetiological shift has been bought about by improved survival in extremely premature babies as a result of for instance, antenatal steroids and surfactant therapy. The classic BPD was characterized mainly by lung damage and fibrosis due to oxygen toxicity and mechanical ventilation. The new BPD is characterised by a disorder in lung development with fewer, larger and simplified alveoli. The management of CLD includes several preventive and therapeutic strategies that target several pathways and processes involved in pathogenesis of CLD. Some provide antioxidant protection; others minimise specific aspects of inflammation, reduce elastolytic and proteolytic injury or regulate growth. In addition, supportive pharmacological treatments that target the development of pulmonary oedema, bronchoconstriction and impaired gas exchange are used. The success of these interventions has been variable.[5] Postnatal corticosteroids (PNCS) have been extensively studied and have been found to be effective in weaning infants off mechanical ventilation.[6-8] This effect has been proven for dexamethasone, which is the most widely studied PNCS in randomized controlled trials (RCTs). Despite the short-term benefits, dexamethasone has not been shown to reduce the total days of hospitalisation, duration of supplemental oxygen therapy, or incidence of CLD.[6-8] In the era before PNCS treatment, the long-term neurodevelopmental outcome for survivors with CLD was worse than that in similar infants without CLD.[9] Adverse effects of PNCS that includes hyperglycaemia, gastrointestinal (GIT) perforation, hypertension, infection, steroid-induced cardiomyopathy, long-term neurodevelopmental effects and growth retardation complicate the use of PNCS. The most worrisome long term effect is increased risk for poor neurological outcome including cerebral palsy (CP). Corticosteroids can have direct toxic effects on the developing brain, including neuronal necrosis, interference with healing and inhibition of brain growth.[9,10] A systematic review showed a significantly higher rate of CP after corticosteroid treatment and a non-significant reduction in mortality.[11] A multicentre double blinded RCT testing early postnatal dexamethasone therapy for prevention of CLD had to be stopped before completion because of concern about serious side effects such as GIT perforation and periventricular leukomalacia (PVL).[12] The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) also recommended that alternative corticosteroids undergo studies and that all infants enrolled in RCTs for PNCS receive long-term neurodevelopmental follow up.[13] Due to concern about the safety of PNCS, in 2002 the AAP released a policy statement regarding the use of PNCS for prevention or treatment of CLD stating that the routine use of dexamethasone could not be recommended.[13] The AAP recommended that dexamethasone use be limited to RCTs with long-term follow up. Since the publication of the AAP statement, postnatal use of dexamethasone for CLD has reduced; however the incidence of CLD has not diminished. Some reports have suggested that the incidence and severity of CLD may have actually increased.[14] The data available for PNCS use in CLD are inconclusive and conflicting. As a result, clinicians are advised to use their own clinical judgment to balance potential adverse effects of CLD with the potential adverse effects of PNCS for each individual patient. The incidence of CLD in very low birth weight (VLBW) babies at Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg academic hospital (CMJAH) is lower than that reported in the Vermont Oxford network (VON).[15] At CMJAH, babies who are on supplemental O2 for >28 days are given oral prednisolone (OP) for prevention/treatment of CLD. Babies who remain ventilator dependent are given dexamethasone. Alternative PNCS include hydrocortisone, nebulised dexamethasone and oral prednisone.[5] One study looking at the effect of short course of oral prednisone (OP) in infants with O2 dependent BPD provided evidence that OP is effective in a select patients with BPD.[16] Characteristics of babies with CLD and the use of PNCS have not been reviewed at CMJAH. This study aims to describe babies with evolving CLD and to explore the use of PNCS for evolving CLD at CMJAH. Methods This study is an institution-based retrospective audit conducted in the neonatal unit at CMJAH in Parktown, Gauteng Province. The objectives were to determine the incidence of CLD at CMJAH, to describe clinical and demographic characteristics and survival to discharge in babies with CLD and to compare these to those of babies without CLD. Evolving CLD was defined as oxygen use at 28 days of life and the need for supplemental oxygen at 36 weeks PMA was considered as definite CLD (VLBW babies only). Following approval by the Committee for Research in Human Subjects at the University of the Witwatersrand (Medical), the CEO and the HOD of Paediatrics at CMJAH, a 2-year (1 January 2013 to 30 December 2014) retrospective review of neonatal medical records was performed. Data from the existing CMJAH neonatal database (Research Electronic Data Capture hosted by the University of the Witwatersrand) was used for analysis. [17] The data are collected prospectively on an ongoing basis for the purpose of clinical audit from clinician completed hospital records. All babies admitted to the CMJAH neonatal unit within 72 hours of life (inborn and outborn), with BWs of ≥500 g, who were in hospital for ≥28 days were included. Babies with irretrievable data were excluded from the study. The group was divided into babies with evolving CLD and those without. The neonatal unit at CMJAH has 84 beds, 35 of which are high-care, 14 in paediatric/neonatal intensive care unit, 20 low-care beds and 15 kangaroo mother care beds. Respiratory support includes early rescue surfactant (SVT), supplemental oxygen via low-flow nasal cannulae (NPO2), nasal continuous positive airway-pressure ventilation (NCPAP), intermittent positive-pressure ventilation (IPPV) and high frequency oscillatory ventilation. Due to limited resources ventilatory support in the form of NCPAP was only offered to babies with BW ≥750 g who showed signs of respiratory 10 failure. Babies with BW ≥900 g who showed signs of respiratory failure on NCPAP or became apnoeic were offered IPPV. Respiratory failure was defined as O2 saturation <88% on 60% supplemental O2, respiratory acidosis (pH <7.25 with PaCO2 >60 mmHg) or markedly increased work of breathing. Definitions Maternal hypertension included both chronic and pregnancy induced hypertension. Chorioamnionitis was defined as premature and/or prolonged rupture of membranes, fever and foul smelling liquor in mothers. Resuscitation at birth was defined as the need for bag mask ventilation, chest compressions, or intubation and ventilation. The Ballard score was used to estimate gestational age (GA). Fenton growth charts (2013) were used to assess weight for gestational age.[18] The whole group of neonates was described and then stratified by BW category namely: •! ≥500-999 g, extreme low birth weight (ELBW) •! ≥1000 to 1499 g, very low birth weight (VLBW) •! ≥1500 to 2499 g, low birth weight (LBW) •! ≥2500 g, normal birth weight (NBW). Babies were considered to be small for GA if the BW was <10th percentile.[18] The 5 minute Apgar scores were categorised into two groups, namely Apgar score ≤5 and Apgar score >5. Babies were divided according to GA into two groups, namely <32 weeks and ≥32 weeks. PNCS was defined as steroids given in an attempt to facilitate weaning of patients off prolonged ventilation or supplemental oxygen. Dexamethasone is given to patients failing to wean off mechanical ventilation. NEC was considered as modified Bell’s stage ≥2.[19] Sepsis was classified as culture-proven bacterial or fungal blood stream sepsis only. Statistical analysis The data was assessed for missing information and erroneous or suspicious entries. These entries were verified as far as possible with the original patient records. Information not available from the database was obtained from hospital files drawn from the hospital record archives. The database was then exported to IBM SPSS Statistics version 23.0 for analysis. Babies with evolving CLD: Babies in different weight categories were compared in terms of therapeutic intervention and outcome. Babies who received PNCS were compared to those who did not, and babies who survived to discharge were compared to those who died. Finally the CLD group was then compared to the no CLD group. The data were normally distributed, so continuous variables were described using means and standard deviations (SD) while frequencies (percentages) were reported for categorical variables. For comparison Chi-square tests were used for categorical variables and independent t-tests for continuous variables. All analyses considered a value of p<0.05 as significant. Results There were 485 babies hospitalised for more than 28 days; records were not retrievable for 3 patients. Therefore, 482 patients were included, 237 with evolving CLD and 245 without CLD. The overall incidence of evolving CLD was 237/4570 (5.1%). The incidence in the VLB)W babies was 206/1,302 (15.8%) and 31/3,268 (0.94%) in the >1 500 g babies (p<0.0001).The incidence of definite CLD was 98/1,302 (7.5%) in the VLBW babies. Demographic and birth characteristics are shown in Table 1. There was no difference in the birth weight between babies with and without CLD (1017 grams (SD 101) vs 1041 grams (SD 104) p = 0.57). Similarly gestational age was not different between the two groups (CLD 28.2 weeks (SD1.9) vs no CLD 28.3 weeks (SD 1.9) p = 0.9). There were, however, more babies who were SGA in the no CLD group than in those with CLD (26.5% vs 12.9% p=0.03). The percentage of males with CLD was greater (50.2) than in the no CLD group (40.8%). There was no significant difference in maternal obstetric and labour room characteristics between CLD and no CLD babies (Table 1). There were more babies who had 5 minute Apgar scores ≤5 and needed resuscitation at birth in the CLD group.
LG2018

The arguments of “Bam city” and “Bam and its Cultural Landscape” after the 2003 Bam earthquake have been the objects of debates in several studies and international conferences over the last two decades. As a brief explanation, the Citadel of Bam (Arg-e Bam) as an outstanding example of a fortified medieval town is located in the hot and dry weather condition on the southern edge of the Iranian high plateau. This ancient Iranian town is recognized as the largest extant adobe-mud brick complex in the world, which has kept its traditional architecture in desert environment not only up to the day they were severely damaged by the Dec 26, 2003 Bam earthquake, but even now. Since Ban region benefited from abundant underground water and since the Citadel of Bam has withstood intrusion during centuries for its strategic location in the Silk Road, the region of Bam can be considered as one of the first foci for the organization of a civilization which originated and expanded in a multicultural society involving the different religions such as Zoroastrian, Jewish, Islamic, Christian, etc. Based on the available evidences and ruins left in Bam Citadel, it can be perceived that the most of the symbolic features of the traditional buildings have been inspired by natural and cultural needs and the occupants’ requirements. According to UNESCO World Heritage Committee, the International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property and the International Council on Monuments, Iran is identified as the tenth country with the richest cultural and historical offerings to visitors. In spite of this global ranking, unfortunately, this country is located in the area where earthquakes are most frequent; several strong earthquakes during recent and historical times have had destroyed the different regions of the country, and the country will probably continue to be threatened with disastrous earthquakes in the near future. In this regard, the country’s cultural heritage properties are at risk of seismic destruction, and the loss of these outstanding properties would negatively affect their cultural importance as sources of information from the past and symbols of identity, as well as their socio-economic values at local, national, and international levels. In Iran, adobe architectural heritage is rich and complex. As a ubiquitous form of construction, adobe architecture appears in many constructions, from monuments to dwellings in historic fabric of cities. In this sense, from the ancient times, adobe materials have extensively been used for the construction of mansions, urban houses, citadels, fortifications, defensive walls, towers etc. They have also been widely used in religious buildings, like fire temples and mosques. However, several of these types of monuments are included in the UNESCO World Heritage list such as Tchogha Zanbil (1275-1240 BC), Takht-e Soleyman (3rd to 7th centuries), Shahr-i Sokhta (founded around 3200 BC) and Bam Citadel (6th to 4th centuries BC). In addition to those mentioned World Cultural Heritage, Iranian Cultural Heritage, Handicraft and Tourist Organization (ICHHTO) protects hundreds of adobe monuments throughout the country,especially in provinces located in the central Iranian high plateau, such as Kerman, Esfahan, Fars, Yazd, Semnan, etc. These cities are not only celebrated for their diversity of styles and influences, but also for the continuity of their traditions on new building practices. Every adobe monument in Iran is one of a steadily detracting number of country’s cultural heritage that is significantly vulnerable to urban development and natural hazards, these two main factors are cited as being responsible for the demolition of the remained historic adobe structures in the country. Therefore, the preservation of the country’s few remained historic adobe structures from the aforementioned causes of destruction is imperatively essential. As a worrisome situation, since Iran is an earthquake prone country in the world, these types of structures pertaining to their antiquity and vulnerability, commonly in earthquake are presenting asthenic behavior during moderate to strong ground motions. Therefore, this threatens their existence, as the Dec 26, 2003 Bam earthquake bears ample testimony to this fact. In this earthquake, “Bam Citadel” as the largest adobe complex in the world, listed by UNESCO as a part of the World Heritage Site of “Bam and its Cultural Landscape” was exposed to sever destruction. Nowadays the survival of the Iranian historic adobe structures are threatened by several external factors that can be related to human effects, biological effects, inherent effects and natural effects, each of which doubled with lack of an appropriate conservation policy can be destructive during an earthquake. In recent decades, similar events as that happened in the city of Bam have indicated that lack of adequate attention, unsuitable attitude and insufficient mobility both in policy and scientific and research activities will contributed to the continuation of such events. In the present research, the prevailing trend is to attempt to preserve, so far as possible, the Iranian adobe cultural heritage as they have undeniable social, cultural, historical, economical values. However, to achieve the above-mentioned objectives and to show the deficiencies and weakness of Iranian cultural heritage policy from different points of view, as a result, entails the necessity for conducting a study on one seismically endangered Iranian case. Therefore, in this thesis the ancient city of Bam “Bam Citadel” is recognized as a suitable case to make a conceive-known and close scrutiny about factors affecting on severity of seismic damages on adobe monuments of the Citadel of Bam. However, this thesis critically assesses the significance of failure, criteria, theories and strategies of conservation and restoration approaches in Iran. In addition, based on international charters, recommendations and the activities that have been performed in this arena, it shares some up-to-date technical solutions, suggestions and required remedies to unlock a new aperture for well-preservation of the country’s culturally or historically adobe architectural heritage from further deterioration, and especially against the next unpredictable earthquakes. Therefore, the thesis intends hopefully to provide a clear framework, concerning several methodologies to implement in order to safeguard the Iranian adobe monuments. Finally, since the Bam Citadel is a part of “Bam and its Cultural Landscape”, some recommendations are proposed for future development of Bam site.

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Medicine in the branch of Paediatrics Johannesburg, 2014.
Background: To describe the relative frequency and distribution of neonatal tumours; to determine the age at presentation to the oncology unit and to determine the extent of the delay in referral. To describe any associated syndromes in individual malignancies. Material and methods: A retrospective case series was performed covering 24 years. Demographics, means of diagnosis, treatment and outcome details were reviewed. Results: There were a total of 2626 patients that presented to the oncology department with suspected malignancies. Out of that, 2308 patients were diagnosed with a malignancy and 318 patients had benign tumours. Over the 24 year period 117 tumours were diagnosed in neonates (4,4%). Due to incomplete data 29 patients were excluded. Of the remaining patients, 61 were diagnosed with benign tumours and 27 with malignant tumours. The male to female ratio was 1: 1,5. The mean age at presentation was 16 days. The mean age at diagnosis was 36 days. Histology and radiology were diagnostic in 40,9% and 19,3% respectively. A combination of histology and radiology was used to make a diagnosis in 21,6% of patients, 11,4% of diagnoses were based on clinical examination and 6,8% on biochemistry and haematology. Malignant soft tissue tumours were the most common malignancy (25,9%) followed by renal tumours (18,5%), leukaemia (14,8%), neuroblastomas (11,1%) and retinoblastomas (11,1%). Teratomas (45,9%) and benign vascular tumours (44,3%) were the most common benign tumours. Chemotherapy was used to treat 22 neonates, while 50 underwent surgical removal of the tumour. Half (51,9%) of the patients diagnosed with a malignant tumour died, while 11,1% of patients were iv lost to follow up. Just under 10% (8,2%) of the patients diagnosed with a benign tumour died, while 44,3% of patients were lost to follow up. The overall mortality amongst patients diagnosed with benign or malignant tumours was 21,6%. Conclusion: There is a much higher incidence of benign tumours diagnosed in neonates (69,3%) compared to older children (12,1%). Only 1,2% of all childhood malignancies in our unit occurred in the neonatal period, which is slightly lower than the reported 2%. Two of the major issues that need to be addressed in the future management of neonatal tumours are prompt referral for prompt diagnoses and better follow up.

Milk is provided to new borns as their first food source and it contains essential nutrients, vitamins and other beneficial components, such as enzymes and antibodies that are required for rapid growth and development of the new born and for sustained growth over time. Milk contains two main types of proteins; casein proteins and whey proteins. Although casein proteins account for up to 80% of the proteins found in bovine milk, it is the whey protein that has become of high interest because of its bioactive content. Whey, a very watery mixture of lactose, proteins, minerals and trace amounts of fat, is formed from milk when the milk is coagulated and/or the casein proteins are removed from the milk. Bovine whey protein, including both the acidic and basic fractions (low and high isoelectric point, respectively), has previously been studied in vitro (cell based) and in vivo (using rats) for its impact on bone to determine if it can help improve bone mineral density and help reduce the risk of developing bone diseases, such as osteoporosis. Bone is constantly undergoing a remodelling process of being dissolved and reformed and the two main cell types responsible for this bone remodelling process are mature osteoclasts, which dissolve (resorb) bone, and osteoblasts, which reform the bone. Prior work has shown that acidic protein fractions derived from different sources of whey protein concentrate (WPC) have both in vivo and in vitro activity on bone, particularly anti-resorptive properties. However, the component(s) which confer activity have not yet been identified. In this thesis, work was undertaken to better understand the analytical composition of three types of WPC (cheese, mineral acid and lactic acid) and their associated acidic protein fractions and relate this to bone activity in the hope of identifying where the activity lies. Bone activity was assessed using in vitro screening with osteoblast cells (MC3T3-E1) and osteoclast cells (RAW 264.7). Comparison of the cell-based bone activity of the parent WPCs and corresponding acidic fractions indicated that the acidic fractions derived from both mineral acid and lactic WPC were superior in their ability to inhibit osteoclast development. Although compositional data was complex and definitive correlations with both bone bioactivities could not be made, it appeared that elements common to both the acidic fractions were a higher proportion of GLYCAM-1 and bone sialoprotein-1 (osteopontin). Further studies to more closely investigate the bone bioactivity of the acidic fractions are warranted.