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An overview of the use of physically modified microfluidic channels towards cell research is presented. The physical modification can be realized either by combining embedded physical micro/nanostructures or a topographically patterned substrate at the micro- or nanoscale inside a channel. After a brief description of the background and the importance of the physically modified microfluidic system, various fabrication methods are described based on the materials and geometries of physical structures and channels. Of many operational principles for microfluidics (electrical, magnetic, optical, mechanical, and so on), this review primarily focuses on mechanical operation principles aided by structural modification of the channels. The mechanical forces are classified into (i) hydrodynamic, (ii) gravitational, (iii) capillary, (iv) wetting, and (v) adhesion forces. Throughout this review, we will specify examples where necessary and provide trends and future directions in the field. ; This work was financially supported by INHA UNIVERSITY Research Grant (INHA-36604) for Sun Min Kim. This work was also supported by the Korea Research Foundation Grant funded by theKorean Government (MOEHRD, BasicResearch Promotion Fund) (KRF-1006–003-D00040).

Background:Admissions lasting over six months (long-stay) occur frequently among patients with schizophrenia in South Korea.Aims:To identify some patient-level and institution-level factors associated with long-stay status of patients with schizophrenia.Methods:This is a retrospective cross-sectional study. We analysed a nationwide population-based reimbursement claims data set consisting of 496,338 claims for 58,287 patients with schizophrenia between 1 January 2005 and 30 June 2006. A two-level random effects logistic regression model was used to identify those factors.Results:Age (<20 years (ref), 60–69 (OR 2.000, 95% CI: 1.640–2.438), ≥ 70 (2.068, 1.682–2.543)), male gender (1.192, 1.144–1.242), type of national health insurance plan (national health insurance (ref), Medical Care Aid Type 1 (4.299, 4.024–4.593)), secondary diagnosis (none (ref), psychiatric diagnosis (0.719, 0.666–0.777), non-psychiatric diagnosis (0.918, 0.850–0.991)) and type of institution (clinic (ref), psychiatric hospital (2.769, 1.507–5.087)) were associated with likelihood of long-stay status. Institutional variable associated with long-stay status included a higher number of beds (1.073, 1.013–1.137). The number of professionals (0.752, 0.646–0.876) showed negative association with long-stay status.Conclusions:Researchers could improve their assessment of long-stay status of patients with schizophrenia by using a two-level analysis including patient-level and institution-level factors. This study suggests that mental health interventions to reduce the long stay of patients with schizophrenia focus on older male patients, those enrolled in a national medical care aid programme and those admitted to psychiatric hospitals.

Abstract
Many survey datasets have relatively high levels of error. The American Community Survey (ACS) data disseminated by the U.S. Census Bureau offer critical socio-demographic data of the U.S. and include a margin of error to indicate the reliability of an estimate for each census unit. Such feature-based reliability data should be incorporated when using ACS data in GIS such that users are informed of the data quality. This paper provides a brief review of the ACS data. Challenges to the use of ACS data quality information in GIS are discussed. The paper briefly reviews a set of mapping tools packaged as an ArcGIS extension to tackle some challenges in incorporating the data quality information in ACS data. These mapping functions can also be used to handle other survey spatial datasets with reliability information. The extension provides a foundation to build additional GIS tools to handle and analyze survey data.

Abstract
Many international organisations have recently acknowledged the significance of whistleblowing in preventing institutional corruption, particularly in the public sector. Likewise, many countries have enacted whistleblower protection laws, though a robust whistleblower protection system certainly requires much more than legislation. One challenge in developing effective protection systems is finding empirical evidence to evaluate existing systems. Can we measure the effectiveness of whistleblower protection systems accross different countries? What conditions do we need to make the whistleblower protection system work effectively in the public sector? This paper investigates two cases: South Korea and the Republic of Kosovo. South Korean data comes from the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission of South Korea, while its counterpart from Kosovo comes from a survey of 400 public officials about whistleblower protection. By analysing both datasets, this paper creates a new index that evaluates the effectiveness of whistleblower protection. Composed of quantitative and qualitative sub-indices, the index serves as a digital comparison tool for assessing whistleblower protection systems across different countries and at different times. In addition to enacting high-quality laws, this index identifies several additional measures that can strengthen whistleblower protection systems in the public sector.

In diesem Kapitel präsentieren die Autoren die Soziale Netzwerkanalyse im Kontext aktueller Bildungsreformen, die sich auf Instruktionspraktiken von Lehrpersonen beziehen. Lehrpersonen spielen für die Implementation von Bildungsformen eine zentrale Rolle. Soziale Netzwerke von Lehrpersonen sind insofern von hoher Bedeutung, als Lehrpersonen im Zuge der Implikation neuer Praktiken auf lokales Wissen und lokale Normen zurückgreifen. Die Autoren beschreiben drei netzwerkanalytische Ansätze: Erstens präsentieren sie Netzwerkdaten graphisch, um die Struktur des Netzwerkes zu charakterisieren, durch die Information und Wissen über die Reform verbreitet werden. Zweitens verwenden sie soziale Einflussmodelle, um darzustellen, wie Überzeugungen und Verhalten von Lehrpersonen von denjenigen Lehrpersonen beeinflusst werden, mit denen sie interagieren. Drittens verwenden die Autoren soziale Selektionsmodelle, um darzustellen, wie Lehrpersonen die Personen auswählen, mit denen sie die Reform betreffend interagieren. Sie diskutieren Implikationen für den wissenschaftlichen Dialog, die Bedeutung für bildungspolitische Studien sowie die praktische Bedeutung für bildungspolitische Akteure und Schulangestellte. (DIPF/Orig.).;;;In this chapter the authors present social network analysis in the context of recent educational reforms concerning teachers' instructional practices. Teachers are critical to the implementation of educational reforms, and teacher networks are important because teachers draw on local knowledge and conform to local norms as they implement new practices. The authors describe three social network approaches. First, they graphically represent network data to characterize the network structure through which information and knowledge about reforms might diffuse. Second, they use social influence models to express how teachers' beliefs or behaviors are affected by others with whom they interact. Third, the authors use social selection models to express how teachers might select with whom to engage in interactions about reforms. They discuss the implications for scientific dialogue, and for informing educational policy studies and the practice of educational policy makers and school administrators. (DIPF/Orig.).