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Selected AbstractsImplementing quality control on a random number stream to improve a stochastic weather generator,,HYDROLOGICAL PROCESSES, Issue 8 2008Charles R. Meyer Abstract For decades, stochastic modellers have used computerized random number generators to produce random numeric sequences fitting a specified statistical distribution. Unfortunately, none of the random number generators we tested satisfactorily produced the target distribution. The result is generated distributions whose mean even diverges from the mean used to generate them, regardless of the length of run. Non-uniform distributions from short sequences of random numbers are a major problem in stochastic climate generation, because truly uniform distributions are required to produce the intended climate parameter distributions. In order to ensure generation of a representative climate with the stochastic weather generator CLIGEN within a 30-year run, we tested the climate output resulting from various random number generators. The resulting distributions of climate parameters showed significant departures from the target distributions in all cases. We traced this failure back to the uniform random number generators themselves. This paper proposes a quality control approach to select only those numbers that conform to the expected distribution being retained for subsequent use. The approach is based on goodness-of-fit analysis applied to the random numbers generated. Normally distributed deviates are further tested with confidence interval tests on their means and standard deviations. The positive effect of the new approach on the climate characteristics generated and the subsequent deterministic process-based hydrology and soil erosion modelling are illustrated for four climatologically diverse sites. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Rim versus sagittal mandibulectomy for the treatment of squamous cell carcinoma: Two types of mandibular preservationHEAD & NECK: JOURNAL FOR THE SCIENCES & SPECIALTIES OF THE HEAD AND NECK, Issue 12 2003Mario Fernando Muñoz Guerra MD Abstract Background. The role of conservative mandibulectomy for patients with bone invasion from squamous cell carcinoma remains poorly defined. However, marginal mandibular resection is biomechanically secure in its design while maintaining the mandibular continuity. This procedure has proven to be a successful method of treating squamous cell carcinoma with limited mandibular involvement. Purpose. The purpose of this study was to analyze our results after the use of a marginal technique for the treatment of oral and oropharyngeal cancer and to compare two types of mandibular conservative procedures: rim resection versus sagittal inner mandibulectomy. Methods. A retrospective review of a cohort of 50 patients (global group) who underwent mandibular conservative resection for previously untreated squamous cell carcinoma was performed. Two subgroups were considered: rim group (n = 37) and sagittal group (n = 13). Clinical evaluation and preoperative radiologic studies were the means used to evaluate bony invasion and to decide on the extent of mandibulectomy. The treatment outcome after these two types of mandibular resection was calculated and compared using analysis by the Pearson ,2 test, logistic regression model for multivariate analysis, and the Kaplan-Meier method to determine survival. Results. In the sagittal group, specimens from 2 patients (11.7%) demonstrated tumor invasion on decalcified histologic examination, whereas the rim group showed 11 cases (29.7%) with bone invasion. Local recurrence was observed in the follow-up of 10 patients. No statistical relationship was found between the presence of histologic bone invasion and the risk of local recurrence. The size of bone resection >4 cm (p = .002) and tumor invasion of surgical margins (p = .039) were found to be associated with increased local recurrence rates. In multivariate analysis, lymph node affectation significantly correlated with histologic mandibular involvement (p = .02). In the global group, the 5-year observed survival rate was 56.97%. Overall survival and rate of recurrence were comparable in both groups. In the global group, tumor infiltration beyond the surgical margin was statistically related with poor survival (p = .01). Conclusions. Analysis of this series disclosed that marginal mandibulectomy is effective in the control of squamous cell carcinomas that are close to or involving the mandible. In carefully selected patients, sagittal bone resection seems to be as appropriate as rim resection in the local control of these tumors. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Head and Neck 25: 000,000, 2003 [source] Jus Post Bellum: Just War Theory and the Principles of Just PeaceINTERNATIONAL STUDIES PERSPECTIVES, Issue 4 2006ROBERT E. WILLIAMS JR. What happens following a war is important to the moral judgments we make concerning warfare, just as the intentions going in and the means used are. There has, however, been inadequate attention paid to considerations of jus post bellum in the just war tradition. This essay seeks to contribute to recent efforts to develop jus post bellum principles by first noting some of the ways that jus ad bellum and jus in bello considerations serve to constrain what can legitimately be done after war. We argue, however, that the constraints grounded in traditional just war theory do not offer sufficient guidance for judging postwar behavior and that principles grounded in the concept of human rights are needed to complete our understanding of what constitutes a just war. A just peace exists when the human rights of those involved in the war, on both sides, are more secure than they were before the war. [source] The Closing Frontier: Agrarian Change, Immigrants and the ,Squatter Menace' in Gokwe, 1980-1990sJOURNAL OF AGRARIAN CHANGE, Issue 4 2001Pius S. Nyambara ,Squatting' in the communal areas of Zimbabwe has been largely ignored in the literature because it is assumed that it does not exist in a ,communal' land tenure system. This article argues that ,squatting' in Gokwe villages has become a common strategy by landless immigrants to access land. Gokwe has been a frontier region for many immigrants in search of land since the 1950s with intense pressure on land by the 1990s. As the frontier closed, the question of citizenship in Gokwe villages became more signi?cant than ever before. Those who are not formally registered as residents are de?ned by local government authorities and established villagers as ,squatters' who should be evicted. The article traces how local authorities and established villagers have responded to what they perceive as the ,squatter menace'. It further examines the means used by ,squatters' to lay claims to land and to defend those claims in Gokwe villages. [source] Incidence, types and characteristics of aggressive behaviour in treatment facilities for adults with mild intellectual disability and severe challenging behaviourJOURNAL OF INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY RESEARCH, Issue 2 2008N. H. Tenneij Abstract Background Inpatient aggression in treatment facilities for persons with intellectual disability (ID) can have aversive consequences, for co-clients and staff, but also for the aggressors themselves. To manage and eventually prevent inpatient aggressive incidents, more knowledge about their types and characteristics is necessary. Method In four facilities, totalling 150 beds, specialized in the treatment of adults with mild ID or severe challenging behaviour, aggressive incidents were registered during 20 weeks using the Staff Observation Aggression Scale-Revised. Characteristics of auto-aggressive and outwardly directed incidents and differences in their incidence in male and female clients in these facilities were compared. Results During the observation period of 20 weeks, 639 aggressive incidents were documented. Most of these (71%) were outwardly directed, predominantly towards staff, while most of the remaining incidents were of an auto-aggressive nature. Of the 185 clients present during the observation period, 44% were involved in outwardly directed incidents (range per client 1,34), and 12% in auto-aggressive incidents (range per client 1,92). Auto-aggressive and outwardly directed incidents differed regarding source of provocation, means used during the incident, consequences of the incident and measures taken to stop the incident. The proportion of men and women involved in each type of incident was comparable, as well as the majority of the characteristics of outwardly directed incidents caused by men and women. Conclusions Although approximately half of all clients were involved in aggressive incidents, a small minority of clients were responsible for the majority of incidents. Therefore, better management and prevention of aggressive incidents for only a small group of clients could result in a considerable overall reduction of aggressive incidents in treatment facilities. Comparability of aggressive behaviour in these facilities shown by men and women and differences in characteristics of auto-aggressive and outwardly directed incidents are discussed. [source] Railtrack is Dead , Long Live Network Rail?JOURNAL OF LAW AND SOCIETY, Issue 2 2003Nationalization Under the Third Way This essay offers, by way of an examination of the proposals to reform the railway industry, a case study of the government's attempt to operationalize the third way. That these proposals are consistent with the third way is identified within this essay and yet they would appear to give rise to the de facto renationalization of the railway infrastructure. In accounting for this apparent contradiction in the (third way) means used and the (old-style democracy) ends achieved, it will be argued that this new form of nationalization is consistent with the third way rather than any socialist understanding of the term. To this extent, therefore, New Labour have attempted to reconceptualize the process of nationalization in pursuit of the ,new mixed economy'. [source] Coronary arteries in fetal life: physiology, malformations and the "heart-sparing effect"ACTA PAEDIATRICA, Issue 2004R ChaouiArticle first published online: 2 JAN 200 The present knowledge of coronary arteries in prenatal diagnosis is reviewed with a focus on three aspects: the physiology and visualization of coronary flow, malformations involving the coronary arteries, and the "heart-sparing effect". Visualization of coronary arteries in a healthy human fetus is possible in real-time and colour Doppler during the last 10wk of gestation when ultrasound conditions are excellent. Visualization at an earlier gestational age (up to 13 wk) is feasible mainly in association with malformations and impending hypoxia. The main coronary malformations that can be visualized in utero are the ventriculo-coronary communications in fetuses with pulmonary atresia. In the last few years, interest has been focused on the "heart-sparing effect", defined as the increased perfusion of the coronary arteries in fetuses with severe growth restriction and abnormal Doppler velocimetry in the peripheral vessels. Increased perfusion detectable with colour and pulsed Doppler is a late sign of fetal compromise in hypoxaemia. It confirms animal experiments that have demonstrated dilatory reserves of the fetal coronary arteries under chronic hypoxaemia. The outcome of 21 fetuses showing the "heart-sparing effect" before 32 wk gestation was poor: nine fetuses died in utero and two after birth, the median weight at birth was 630 g. In summary, our knowledge of the coronary arteries in the fetus is based on the diagnostic means used in prenatal diagnosis. New information in this field may also contribute to a better understanding of coronary heart disease later in life. [source] | |||||||||||||