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Compared to class relations, gender relations in high sex ratio contexts are understudied. Drawing on data from a survey conducted in rural southern Shaanxi, China, in 2014–2015, this article aims to assess if the section of the never-married male population who wishes to marry but face difficulties in achieving this goal is more or less gender equal in their attitudes than married men and, if so,

Is there an easy way to analyze interviews, observations and documents? The answer is no. Analytical work is notoriously multilayered and there is undoubtedly more than one approach. But this book shows how it can go more smoothly. The authors maintain that all analysis involves three activities: sorting, reducing and arguing. If the researcher or student can sort and organize the material, cut ou

The spatial patterns of precipitation regarding physiography and atmospheric circulations in the Lake Urmia Basin have been investigated. Daily rainfall time series for the 50 most reliable precipitation stations for the period 1980-2010 were analyzed to detect the regional precipitation pattern. To identify rainfall homogeneous regions, principal component analysis was applied to the precipitatio

The high variability in the hydrological regime of the Eastern Hydrological Region (EHR) of Northeast Brazil often results in floods and droughts, leading to serious socio-economic issues. Therefore, this work aimed to investigate connections between spatiotemporal hydrological variability of the EHR and large-scale climate phenomena. Multivariate statistical techniques were applied to relate clim

High-elevation hydropower units in California might be sensitive to climate warming since they have been designed to take advantage of snowmelt and have low built-in storage capacities. Snowmelt is expected to shift to earlier in the year and the system might not be able to store sufficient water for release in high-electricity-demanding periods. Previous studies have tried to explore the climate

Inherited genetic susceptibility to multiple myeloma has been investigated in a number of studies. Although 23 individual risk loci have been identified, much of the genetic heritability remains unknown. Here we carried out genome-wide interaction analyses on two European cohorts accounting for 3,999 cases and 7,266 controls and characterized genetic susceptibility to multiple myeloma with subsequ

Whole blood is rich in information about the physical state of an individual and is routinely used in a variety of clinical and research applications. In this thesis, the use of a microfluidic technique called acoustophoresis for separation of different blood components is explored. Acoustophoresis uses an ultrasonic standing wave field to manipulate cells in a microfluidic device. Cells within th

Background: Feedback postural control depends upon information from somatosensation, vision, and the vestibular system that are weighted depending on their relative importance within the central nervous system. Following loss of any sensory component, the weighting changes, e.g., when suffering a vestibular loss, the most common notion is that patients become more dependent on visual cues for main

Understanding the human dimension is critical for effective conservation management of species involved in human-carnivore conflict. There is also a need to recognize who among the local human population is supportive of wildlife conservation. We investigated how local people's attitudes and knowledge of the leopard cat Prionailurus bengalensis are influenced by socio-demographic variables, encoun

A c. 1450 Ma, east-west-oriented suite of Proterozoic mafic intrusions in eastern Canada, located between Labrador City and coastal Labrador near Rigolet, has been divided into two groups: the Shabogamo Gabbro, which is exposed west of Churchill Falls, and the Michael Gabbro, which crops out east of Churchill Falls. Both suites of gabbro are within-plate tholeiites that range from sub-alkaline bas

This paper aims to investigate the scientific productivity of China's science system. This paper employs the Malmquist productivity index (MPI) based on Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). The results reveal that the overall efficiency of Chinese universities increased significantly from 2009 to 2016, which is mainly driven by technological progress. From the perspective of the functions of higher ed

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to assess complications and mortality and its predictors, with continuous-flow left ventricular assist devices (CF-LVADs) in the Nordic Countries. Design: This was a retrospective, international, multicenter cohort study. Results: Between 1993 and 2013, 442 surgically implanted long-term mechanical assist devices were used among 8 centers in the Nordic cou

The Mesoproterozoic Era (1,600–1,000 million years ago, Ma) geochemical record is sparse, but, nevertheless, critical in untangling relationships between the evolution of eukaryotic ecosystems and the evolution of Earth-surface chemistry. The ca. 1,400 Ma Xiamaling Formation has experienced only very low-grade thermal maturity and has emerged as a promising geochemical archive informing on the in

Low-dimensional narrow-band-gap III-V semiconductors are key building blocks for the next generation of high-performance nanoelectronics, nanophotonics, and quantum devices. Realizing these various applications requires an efficient methodology that enables the material dimensional control during the synthesis process and the mass production of these materials with perfect crystallinity, reproduci

Migratory animals are affected by various factors during their journeys, and the study of animal movement by radars has been instrumental in revealing key influences of the environment on flying migrants. Radars enable the simultaneous tracking of many individuals of almost all sizes within the radar range during day and night, and under low visibility conditions. We review how atmospheric conditi

Fundamental and enduring changes brought about by recurrent economic and financial crises, the digital revolution and ongoing globalisation processes of production and innovation activities are posing major challenges for regional and national economies to renew their industrial structures and develop innovations that break existing development trajectories. This calls for new innovation policy ap

Since the popular uprising and subsequent war in Syria in 2011, more than a quarter of its population have fled – mainly to Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Egypt – and another 25% have been internally displaced. The end of 2017 saw 12.6 million Syrians forcibly displaced – 6.3 million refugees, 6.2 million internally displaced (IDPs) and 146,700 asylum-seekers. In the words of the United Nations

What does dignity mean to Syrian refugees and practitioners? And what can humanitarian organisations do – or abstain from doing – to help Syrians preserve and protect their dignity?