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Conventional Forms (conventional + form)
Selected AbstractsA Novel Process for the Manufacture of Auxetic Foams and for Their re-Conversion to Conventional Form,ADVANCED ENGINEERING MATERIALS, Issue 7 2009Joseph N. Grima Images showing the microstructure of conventional and auxetic foams produced through the traditional thermo,mechanical process and the novel chemo,mechanical process. Auxetic foams exhibit the unusual property of becoming fatter which when stretched a property which makes them superior to conventional foams in various applications ranging from smart tunable filters to vibration-proofing materials. [source] Computational Fluid Dynamics and Vascular AccessARTIFICIAL ORGANS, Issue 7 2002Ulf Krueger Abstract: Anastomotic intimal hyperplasia caused by unphysiological hemodynamics is generally accepted as a reason for dialysis access graft occlusion. Optimizing the venous anastomosis can improve the patency rate of arteriovenous grafts. The purpose of this study was to examine, evaluate, and characterize the local hemodynamics and, in particular, the wall shear stresses in conventional venous end-to-side anastomosis and in patch form anastomosis (Venaflo) by three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics (CFD). We investigated the conventional form of end-to-side anastomosis and a new patch form by numerical simulation of blood flow. The numerical simulation was done with a finite volume-based algorithm. The anastomotic forms were constructed with usual size and fixed walls. Subdividing the flow domain into multiple control volumes solved the fundamental equations. The boundary conditions were identical for both forms. The velocity profile of the patch form is better than that for the conventional form. The region of high static pressure caused by flow stagnation is reduced on the vein floor. The anastomotic wall shear stress is decreased. The results of this study strongly support patch form use to reduce the incidence of intimal hyperplasia and venous anastomotic stenoses. [source] Pharmacological and pharmacokinetic evaluation of celecoxib prodrugs in ratsBIOPHARMACEUTICS AND DRUG DISPOSITION, Issue 7 2002Rao N.V.S. Mamidi Abstract This study demonstrates the utility of an in vitro , in vivo correlative approach in the selection and optimization of a prodrug candidate of celecoxib (CBX), a COX2 inhibitor. As an initial screening step, a comparative single oral dose pharmacokinetic study was conducted in rats for CBX and its three aliphatic acyl water-soluble prodrugs viz., CBX-acetyl (CBX-AC), CBX-propionyl (CBX-PR) and CBX-butyryl (CBX-BU) at high equimolar dose, 100 mg/kg. Only CBX-BU and CBX-PR converted rapidly to CBX and yielded approximately five-fold greater systemic exposure of CBX than CBX alone or CBX-AC. Rank order of systemic exposure of prodrugs in its intact form was CBX-AC >CBX-PR >CBX-BU. Further in vitro hydrolysis studies of CBX prodrugs in intestinal mucosal suspensions and liver homogenates indicated that CBX-BU is rapidly and completely converted to CBX, whereas CBX-PR and CBX-AC require longer incubation period for complete conversion to CBX. There was a very good correlation of the in vitro and in vivo data supporting CBX-BU as the prodrug of choice. Further in vitro pharmacological studies showed that COX2 selective inhibition is improved for CBX-BU as compared to CBX-AC and CBX-PR. Dose proportionality in pharmacokinetic studies of CBX-BU and CBX at equimolar oral doses confirmed that relative oral bioavailability of CBX was improved following CBX-BU administration and there was linearity in pharmacokinetics of CBX over a wide dose range (10,100 mg/kg), whereas CBX in its conventional form showed poor bioavailability and lack of dose linearity in pharmacokinetics. The oral bioavailability of CBX from CBX-BU was dose independent and was in the range 78,96%. At a 50% reduced molar dose, CBX-BU showed an equivalent efficacy to that of CBX in the in vivo carrageenan model. Based on the study, water-soluble CBX-BU prodrug can be considered for clinical development in view of its potential advantages.Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Due Diligence and "Reasonable Man," OffshoreCULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY, Issue 4 2005Bill Maurer In the wake of an international crackdown against preferential tax regimes, Caribbean tax havens and other jurisdictions have adopted "due diligence" procedures to manage financial and reputational risk. Due diligence relies on qualitative forms of evaluation and defers grounded and definitive knowledge claims through continuous peer review. In doing so, it mirrors certain forms of ethnographic practice at a number of levels of scale. This article tracks the shifts in financial regulation from crime to harm and from certainty to scrutiny and reflects on their implications for ethnography,as a limited and open-ended process of evaluation warranted by qualitative forms of judgment. It seeks to complicate our picture of contemporary capitalisms by drawing attention to the nonquantifiable and the ethical that lie "inside" them. Where conventional forms of ethnographic critique might look to expose the political or economic interests behind actions, symbols, or social relationships, this article has a more modest goal: to try to understand the similarity of form between due diligence and anthropology. [source] Fourier Transformed Large Amplitude Square-Wave Voltammetry as an Alternative to Impedance Spectroscopy: Evaluation of Resistance, Capacitance and Electrode Kinetic Effects via an Heuristic ApproachELECTROANALYSIS, Issue 15-16 2005Abstract A detailed simulation of Fourier transformed large amplitude square-wave voltammetry is presented in the frequency domain for the process Red,Ox+e,. The simulation takes into account the influence of the electrode kinetics (Butler,Volmer model), uncompensated resistance (Ru) and double layer capacitance (Cdl). Of particular significance is the prediction that the even harmonic responses are only detected in the presence of quasi-reversibility or uncompensated resistance, and also are essentially devoid of charging current. In contrast, the DC and odd harmonic AC components exhibit much larger faradaic currents and also contain charging current. Conveniently, detailed analysis of the simulated DC and AC harmonic components reveals the presence of readily recognised patterns of behaviour with unique levels of sensitivity to electrode kinetics, Ru and Cdl, that facilitate quantitative analysis of these terms. These electrochemical parameters are generally calculated by small amplitude impedance spectroscopy and utilisation of linear analysis of equivalent circuits. Experimental studies on the one electron oxidation of ferrocene in dichloromethane (0.1,M Bu4NPF6) and the one electron reduction of [Fe(CN)6]3, in aqueous 0.5,M KCl electrolyte analysed via heuristic forms of data analysis based on recognition of patterns of behaviour, are presented as examples of a reversible process with significant uncompensated resistance and a quasi-reversible process with minimal ohmic drop, respectively. Results demonstrate the advantages of a more intuitively implemented form of data analysis than presently available with conventional forms of impedance spectroscopy. [source] Probiotics and inflammatory bowel disease: Is there a scientific rationale?INFLAMMATORY BOWEL DISEASES, Issue 2 2000Dr. Fergus Shanahan Abstract Most conventional forms of drug therapy suppress or modify the host immunoinflammatory response and neglect the other contributor to disease pathogenesis,the environmental microflora. Probiotics are live microbial food ingredients that alter the enteric microflora and have a beneficial effect on health. The rationale for using probiotics in IBD is mainly based on evidence from human studies and experimental animal models implicating intestinal bacteria in the pathogenesis of these disorders. The relationship between bacteria and intestinal inflammation is complex and does not appear to reflect a simple cause and effect. Similarly, the field of probiotics is complex and in need of rigorous research. Until the indigenous flora are better characterized and mechanisms of probiotic action defined, the promise of probiotics in IBD is unlikely to be fulfilled. Because of strain-specific variability and clinical and therapeutic heterogeneity within Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, it cannot be assumed that a given probiotic is equally suitable for all individuals. Although preliminary results of probiotic therapy in animal models and humans with ulcerative colitis and pouchitis have been encouraging, their efficacy in treatment or maintenance of remission of Crohn's disease remains to be clarified. However, the circumstantial evidence for some form of biotherapeutic modification of the enteric flora in Crohn's disease seems compelling. In the future, probiotics may offer a simple adjunct to conventional therapy with the emphasis on diet shifting from one of nutritional replenishment alone to a more functional role. [source] Maternal and paternal condition effects on offspring phenotype in Telostylinus angusticollis (Diptera: Neriidae)JOURNAL OF EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY, Issue 6 2007R. BONDURIANSKY Abstract It is widely recognized that maternal phenotype can have important effects on offspring, but paternal phenotype is generally assumed to have no influence in animals lacking paternal care. Nonetheless, selection may favour the transfer of environmentally acquired condition to offspring from both parents. Using a split-brood, cross-generational laboratory design, we manipulated a key environmental determinant of condition , larval diet quality , of parents and their offspring in the fly Telostylinus angusticollis, in which there is no evidence of paternal provisioning. Parental diet did not affect offspring survival, but high-condition mothers produced larger eggs, and their offspring developed more rapidly when on a poor larval diet. Maternal condition had no effect on adult body size of offspring. By contrast, large, high-condition fathers produced larger offspring, and follow-up assays showed that this paternal effect can be sufficient to increase mating success of male offspring and fecundity of female offspring. Our findings suggest that both mothers and fathers transfer their condition to offspring, but with effects on different offspring traits. Moreover, our results suggest that paternal effects can be important even in species lacking conventional forms of paternal care. In such species, the transfer of paternal condition to offspring could contribute to indirect selection on female mate preferences. [source] Media, Language Policy and Cultural Change in Tatarstan: Historic vs.NATIONS AND NATIONALISM, Issue 2 2000Pragmatic Claims to Nationhood The politics of national identity in the Republic of Tatarstan are complex and often contradictory. Although sometimes posed in terms of an historical legacy, claims to nationhood are also strongly shaped by more pragmatic contemporary concerns. In addition to more conventional forms of political mobilisation, national identity is also contested in cultural arenas. Examining policies on language reform and media development, for example, sheds light on the processes through which a sense of national identity is currently being renegotiated in Tatarstan. The Republic's official multicultural policy is situated in the context of a range of distinct conceptions of Tatarstan's identity, from radical Islamic nationalism to a view of the republic as a Russian province. [source] The Logic of Transnational Action: The Good Corporation and the Global CompactPOLITICAL STUDIES, Issue 4 2007Lynn Bennie This article examines corporate participation in the UN Global Compact programme. Using data on the world's 2,000 largest companies, we address the question of why companies voluntarily assume the programme's responsibilities and promote the rights of ,global citizenship'. Our analytic approach is to view transnational corporate political behaviour as a result of firm-level decisions shaped by country-level variation in political audience effects. Drawing on earlier research on more conventional forms of corporate political activity, we expect factors influential in the standard model of firm political activity to determine participation in the Global Compact. In addition, we argue that this highly visible, less instrumental dimension of a firm's political behaviour is driven by efforts to build a good environmental and human rights reputation with its audience of external actors. The importance of environmental and human rights concerns depends on the substance of the firm's business activities, the availability of investment and ,exit' options, and the home audience's bias towards the UN and human and environmental rights. We find support for political factors as well as firm and industry-level characteristics influencing the decision to participate in the Global Compact. [source] Surviving History: a Situationist archiveART HISTORY, Issue 1 2003Frances Stracey It is the contention of this article that the Situationists were keenly aware that conventional forms of historical memorialization risked participating in the reification of everyday life, which they diagnosed as characteristic of a ,society of the spectacle' that reduces social relations to their petrified image. Focusing on a particular Situationist book called Mémoires, this article attempts to reconstruct the Situationists' strategies of self,archiving, through which they tried to counter a spectacular monumentalization of their own history. In the process I attempt to elaborate the alternative model of an archive indicated in Mémoires, what I term an ,involuntary archive', and the implications this has for writing a history of the Situationists. [source] | |||||||||||||