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Sorts
Kinds of Sorts Selected AbstractsLead-Time Reduction Utilizing Lean Tools Applied to Healthcare: The Inpatient Pharmacy at a Local HospitalJOURNAL FOR HEALTHCARE QUALITY, Issue 1 2010Omar Al-Araidah Abstract: The healthcare arena, much like the manufacturing industry, benefits from many aspects of the Toyota lean principles. Lean thinking contributes to reducing or eliminating nonvalue-added time, money, and energy in healthcare. In this paper, we apply selected principles of lean management aiming at reducing the wasted time associated with drug dispensing at an inpatient pharmacy at a local hospital. Thorough investigation of the drug dispensing process revealed unnecessary complexities that contribute to delays in delivering medications to patients. We utilize DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control) and 5S (Sort, Set-in-order, Shine, Standardize, Sustain) principles to identify and reduce wastes that contribute to increasing the lead-time in healthcare operations at the pharmacy understudy. The results obtained from the study revealed potential savings of >45% in the drug dispensing cycle time. [source] Aligned, Ultralong Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes: From Synthesis, Sorting, to Electronic DevicesADVANCED MATERIALS, Issue 21 2010Zhongfan Liu Abstract Aligned, ultralong single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) represent attractive building blocks for nanoelectronics. The structural uniformity along their tube axis and well-ordered two-dimensional architectures on wafer surfaces may provide a straightforward platform for fabricating high-performance SWNT-based integrated circuits. On the way towards future nanoelectronic devices, many challenges for such a specific system also exist. This Review summarizes the recent advances in the synthesis, identification and sorting, transfer printing and manipulation, device fabrication and integration of aligned, ultralong SWNTs in detail together with discussion on their major challenges and opportunities for their practical application. [source] Three Sorts of NaturalismEUROPEAN JOURNAL OF PHILOSOPHY, Issue 2 2006Hans Fink First page of article [source] Input and SLA: Adults' Sensitivity to Different Sorts of Cues to French GenderLANGUAGE LEARNING, Issue S1 2005Susanne E. Carroll All second language (L2) learning theories presuppose that learners learn the target language from the speech signal (or written material, when learners are reading), so an understanding of learners' ability to detect and represent novel patterns in linguistic stimuli will constitute a major building block in an adequate theory of second language acquisition (SLA) input. Pattern detection, a mainstay of current connectionist modeling of language learning, presupposes a sensitivity to particular properties of the signal. Learning abstract grammatical knowledge from the signal presupposes, as well, the capacity to map phonetic properties of the signal onto properties of another type (segments and syllables, morpheme categories, and so on). Thus, even seemingly "simple" grammatical phenomena may embody complex structural knowledge and be instantiated by a plethora of diverse cues. Moreover, cues have no a priori status; a phenomenon of a given sort takes on a value as a cue when acquisition of the grammatical system reveals it to be useful. My study deals with initial sensitivity to cues to gender attribution in French. Andersen (1984) asked: "What's gender good for anyway?" One answer comes from a number of studies, done mostly in the last 20 years, of gender processing by both monolingual and bilingual speakers (among many others, Bates, Devescovi, Hernandez, & Pizzamiglio, 1996; Bates & Liu, 1997; Friederici & Jacobsen, 1990; Grosjean, Dommergues, Cornu, Guillemon, & Besson, 1994; Guillemon & Grosjean, 2001; Taft & Meunier, 1998). These studies provide evidence that in monolinguals and early (but not late) L2 learners, prenominal morphosyntactic exponents of gender prime noun activation and speed up noun recognition. Over the same period, a growing number of studies detailing the course of L2 gender acquisition for a variety of different target languages and learner types (e.g., Bartning, 2000; Chini, 1995; Dewaele & Véronique, 2000; Granfeldt, 2003; Hawkins & Franceschina, 2004) have provided support for the hypothesis that developmental paths differ for early and later learners of gender. Yet despite its obvious importance to SLA theorizing, few studies have dealt directly with adult learners' ability to detect and analyze potential cues to gender at the initial stage of exposure to the L2 (and this despite considerable discussion in recent years of the nature of the "initial state" of L2 learning). The study reported on in this article, which was actually conducted in the late 1980s, was an attempt to shed some light on what the beginning learner can do with the gender attribution problem. This study was, at that time, and is even now, an anomaly; most research dealing with "input" provided descriptions of what people say to learners, not what learners can perceive and represent. Indeed, most studies that shed light on the initial analytical capacities of absolute beginners were concerned with "perceptual" learning, that is, with the acquisition of phonetic or phonological distinctions (e.g., Broselow, Hurtig, & Ringen's [1987] study of tone learning or various studies on the perception of the /r/ vs. /l/ phonemes in American English by Japanese speakers). In this update, it is therefore worth mentioning Rast's (2003) dissertation and Rast and Dommergues (2003), which is based on it, which examined the results of the first 8 hr of instructed learning of Polish by francophone adults. My study asked if anglophone adults, with little or no prior exposure to French, given auditory stimuli, were equally sensitive to phonological, morphosyntactic, or semantic cues to French gender classes. The issue of what learners can detect in the signal and encode is an empirical one. I presented 88 adult English speakers with highly patterned data in list form, namely, auditory sequences of [Det + N]French + translation equivalentEnglish forms. The patterns, all true generalizations, were drawn from linguistic descriptions of French. These cues are believed by grammarians of the language to be "psychologically real" to native speakers. I then measured in 3 different ways what my participants had acquired. Given the extreme limitations on the input (no visual supports to identify referents of names), the participants performed pretty well. Moreover, they proved to be highly sensitive to "natural" semantic and morphological patterns and could generalize accurately from learned instances to novel exemplars. These patterns, however, are not directly instantiated in the speech signal; they are abstractions imposed on the stimuli by human linguistic cognition. Moreover, although it would be inaccurate to describe the learning patterns as "transfer"(because English nouns have no gender feature), prior knowledge seemed to be implicated in the results. Above all, these Anglophones appear to perceive the gender learning problem as a semantic one and to make use of "top-down" information in solving it. It follows that the pattern detection that they can do when listening to speech is clearly biased by what they already know. These results, therefore, provide support for hypotheses that the initial state is to be defined in terms of the transfer of first language (L1) grammatical knowledge and/or the transfer of L1-based processing procedures. [source] Sortal Structures: Supporting Representational Flexibility for Building Domain ProcessesCOMPUTER-AIDED CIVIL AND INFRASTRUCTURE ENGINEERING, Issue 2 2007Rudi Stouffs The approach is constructive, based on a part relation on elements within a sort, which enables the recognition of emergent information. The use of data functions as a sort provides for the embedding of data queries within a representational structure. We discuss the application of sorts to supporting alternative data views, illustrating this through a case study in building construction. [source] On Explaining Knowledge of NecessityDIALECTICA, Issue 1 2004Joel Pust Moderate rationalists maintain that our rational intuitions provide us with prima facie justification for believing various necessary propositions. Such a claim is often criticized on the grounds that our having reliable rational intuitions about domains in which the truths are necessary is inexplicable in some epistemically objectionable sense. In this paper, I defend moderate rationalism against such criticism. I argue that if the reliability of our rational intuitions is taken to be contingent, then there is no reason to think that our reliability is inexplicable. I also suggest that our reliability is, in fact, necessary, and that such necessary reliability neither admits of, nor requires, any explanation of the envisaged sort. [source] Indoctrination, Moral Instruction, and Nonrational Beliefs: A Place for Autonomy?EDUCATIONAL THEORY, Issue 4 2005Michael S. Merry The manner in which individuals hold various nonevidentiary beliefs is critical to making any evaluative claim regarding an individual's autonomy. In this essay, I argue that one may be both justified in holding nonrational beliefs of a nonevidentiary sort while also being capable of leading an autonomous life. I defend the idea that moral instruction, including that which concerns explicitly religious content, may justifiably constitute a set of commitments upon which rationality and autonomy are dependent. I situate this discussion against the backdrop of a minimalist notion of autonomy. I then consider the case for nonrational beliefs, examining the difference between those whose content is objectionable on evidentiary grounds and those that are immune to verification. Next, I consider the indoctrination/moral instruction distinction through examining the various ways in which indoctrination is defined. I also consider the role that value coherence plays in shaping our identities, paying particular attention to fundamental commitments as defined by our respective families, cultures, and communities. Finally, I argue that individual psychology is central to our ability to assess the outcome of an upbringing purported to be indoctrinatory, and I emphasize the important role that experience and agency play in enabling us to evaluate our beliefs. [source] Amphibolite and blueschist,greenschist facies metamorphism, Blue Mountain inlier, eastern JamaicaGEOLOGICAL JOURNAL, Issue 5 2008Richard N. Abbott Jr Abstract Cretaceous (possibly older) metamorphic rock occurs mainly in the Blue Mountain inlier in eastern Jamaica. Fault-bounded blocks reveal two styles of metamorphism, Westphalia Schist (upper amphibolite facies) and Mt. Hibernia Schist (blueschist (BS),greenschist (GS) facies). Both Westphalia Schist and Mt. Hibernia Schist preserve detailed records of retrograde P,T paths. The paths are independent, but consistent with different parts of the type-Sanbagawa metamorphic facies series in Japan. For each path, phase relationships and estimated P,T conditions support a two-stage P,T history involving residence at depth, followed by rapid uplift and cooling. Conditions of residence vary depending on the level in a tectonic block. For the critical mineral reaction (isograd) in Westphalia Schist, conditions were P ,7.5,kbars, T ,600°C (upper amphibolite facies). Retrograde conditions in Hibernia Schist were P,=,2.6,3.0,kbars, T,=,219,237°C for a(H2O),=,0.8,1.0 (GS facies). Mt. Hibernia Schist may represent a volume of rock that was separated and uplifted at an early time from an otherwise protracted P,T path of the sort that produced the Westphalia Schist. Reset K,Ar ages for hornblende and biotite indicate only that retrograde metamorphism of Westphalia Schist took place prior to 76.5,Ma (pre-Campanian). Uplift may have commenced with an Albian,Aptian (,112,Ma) orogenic event. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Urban Form and Household Activity-Travel BehaviorGROWTH AND CHANGE, Issue 2 2006RON N. BULIUNG ABSTRACT Cities and metropolitan regions face several challenges including urban sprawl, auto dependence and congestion, and related environmental and human health effects. Examining the spatial characteristics of daily household activity-travel behavior holds important implications for understanding and addressing urban transportation issues. Research of this sort can inform development of urban land use policy that encourages the use of local opportunities, potentially leading to reduced motorized travel. This article examines the potential household activity-travel response to a planned metropolitan polycentric hierarchy of activity centers. Behavioral observations have been drawn from an activity-travel survey conducted in the Portland, Oregon, metropolitan area during the mid-1990s. Evidence presented from exploratory analysis indicates an urban/suburban differential, with less daily travel and smaller activity spaces for urban households. Investigation of the travel reduction potential of the proposed land-use strategy suggests that location effects could be offset by adjustments to household sociodemographic and mobility characteristics. [source] Cadherin-8 and N-cadherin differentially regulate pre- and postsynaptic development of the hippocampal mossy fiber pathwayHIPPOCAMPUS, Issue 4 2008Iddil H. Bekirov Abstract Cells sort into regions and groups in part by their selective surface expression of particular classic cadherins during development. In the nervous system, cadherin-based sorting can define axon tracts, restrict axonal and dendritic arbors to particular regions or layers, and may encode certain aspects of synapse specificity. The underlying model has been that afferents and their targets hold in common the expression of a particular cadherin, thereby providing a recognition code of homophilic cadherin binding. However, most neurons express multiple cadherins, and it is not clear whether multiple cadherins all act similarly in shaping neural circuitry. Here we asked how two such cadherins, cadherin-8 and N-cadherin, influence the guidance and differentiation of hippocampal mossy fibers. Using organotypic hippocampal cultures, we find that cadherin-8 regulates mossy fiber fasciculation and targeting, but has little effect on CA3 dendrites. In contrast, N-cadherin regulates mossy fiber fasciculation, but has little impact on axonal growth and targeting. However, N-cadherin is essential for CA3 dendrite arborization. Both cadherins are required for formation of proper numbers of presynaptic terminals. Mechanistically, such differential actions of these two cadherins could, in theory, reflect coupling to distinct intracellular binding partners. However, we find that both cadherins bind ,-catenin in dentate gyrus (DG). This suggests that cadherins may engage different intracellular signaling cascades downstream of ,-catenin, coopt different extracellular binding partners, or target distinct subcellular domains. Together our findings demonstrate that cadherin-8 and N-cadherin are critical for generating the mossy fiber pathway, but that each contributes differentially to afferent and target differentiation, thereby complementing one another in the assembly of a synaptic circuit. © 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] History and Story: Unconventional History in Michael Ondaatje's The English Patient and James A. Michener's Tales of the South PacificHISTORY AND THEORY, Issue 4 2002Madhumalati Adhikari "Literary history" is a cross between conventional (scientific) history and pure fiction. The resulting hybrid provides access to history that the more conventional sort does not (in particular, a sense of the experiences of the historical actors, and the human meaning of historical events). This claim is demonstrated by an analysis of two novels about World War II, The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje, and Tales of the South Pacific by James Michener. These two very different novels in English are by writers themselves very different from each other, writers from different times, different social and political backgrounds, and different points of view. Their novels examine the effects of the Second World War and the events of 1942 on the human psyche, and suggest how human beings have always searched for the silver lining despite the devastation and devaluation of values. Both novels resist any kind of preaching, and yet the search for peace, balance, and kindness is constantly highlighted. The facts of scientific history are woven into the loom of their unconventional histories. The sense of infirmity created by the formal barriers of traditional history is eased, and new possibilities for historical understanding are unveiled. [source] ALE meta-analysis: Controlling the false discovery rate and performing statistical contrastsHUMAN BRAIN MAPPING, Issue 1 2005Angela R. Laird Abstract Activation likelihood estimation (ALE) has greatly advanced voxel-based meta-analysis research in the field of functional neuroimaging. We present two improvements to the ALE method. First, we evaluate the feasibility of two techniques for correcting for multiple comparisons: the single threshold test and a procedure that controls the false discovery rate (FDR). To test these techniques, foci from four different topics within the literature were analyzed: overt speech in stuttering subjects, the color-word Stroop task, picture-naming tasks, and painful stimulation. In addition, the performance of each thresholding method was tested on randomly generated foci. We found that the FDR method more effectively controls the rate of false positives in meta-analyses of small or large numbers of foci. Second, we propose a technique for making statistical comparisons of ALE meta-analyses and investigate its efficacy on different groups of foci divided by task or response type and random groups of similarly obtained foci. We then give an example of how comparisons of this sort may lead to advanced designs in future meta-analytic research. Hum Brain Mapp 25:155,164, 2005. © 2005 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Eliciting information about organizational culture via ladderingINFORMATION SYSTEMS JOURNAL, Issue 3 2002Gordon Rugg Abstract. Eliciting information about organizational culture is an important part of system analysis and design. However, eliciting knowledge of this sort is difficult. Laddering is an established technique that is particularly suitable for eliciting information about goals and for eliciting explanations, which are important issues when investigating organizational culture. This paper describes the method, its strengths and limitations, its use in several case studies and its relation to other elicitation techniques. Recommendations for further work are given. [source] Three-dimensional finite element analysis of lined tunnelsINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR NUMERICAL AND ANALYTICAL METHODS IN GEOMECHANICS, Issue 3 2001C. E. Augarde Abstract This paper describes finite element procedures that have been developed to model the ground movements that occur when a shallow tunnel is installed in a clay soil. This study is part of a wider project concerned with the development of new methods to predict the likely extent of damage to surface structures caused by nearby shallow tunnelling. This particular paper, however, is concerned only with the numerical model of tunnel installation. The structural liner is an important component of this tunnel installation model; two different ways of modelling the liner (based on continuum elements and shell elements) are discussed in the paper. A test problem consisting of the installation of a lined tunnel in an elastic continuum is used to investigate the merits of these different approaches. When continuum elements are used to model the liner, the numerical results agree well with an analytical solution to the problem. When shell elements are used to model the liner, however, the results were found to be significantly influenced by the particular formulation adopted for the shell elements. Example analyses, involving incremental tunnel construction in a clay soil where the soil is modelled using a kinematic hardening plasticity model, are described. These analyses confirm that a thin layer of continuum elements may be used, satisfactorily, to model tunnel linings in a soil,structure interaction analysis of this sort. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] The complexity of individuationINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF APPLIED PSYCHOANALYTIC STUDIES, Issue 4 2004Inna Semetsky Honorary Research Associate Abstract This paper addresses the problematics of individuation in Deleuze and Guattari's philosophy. The concept of fold , the inside of the outside , is analyzed in terms of the relations between thought and unthought constituting the process of thinking in affects. It is suggested that thinking of this sort, called by Deleuze the supreme act of philosophy, may be considered tending towards Jungian and post-Jungian depth psychology. The unconscious of thought is described by the archetypal dynamics of forces acting in the space of the Outside, that this paper posits as the field of collective unconscious. Analogous to Deleuzian virtual tendencies, Jungian archetypes subsist in potentia only and, as a multiplicity of relations between forces, can be expressed through cartographic microanalysis. In accord with Deleuze's method of transcendental empiricism, the unconscious, immanent, microperceptions are reterritorialized by means of mapping the archetypal field. Copyright © 2004 Whurr Publishers Ltd. [source] Role of exposure with response prevention in cognitive,behavioral therapy for bulimia nervosa: Three-year follow-up resultsINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EATING DISORDERS, Issue 2 2003Frances A. Carter Abstract Background Previous studies have not reported the longer-term outcome of exposure-based treatments for bulimia nervosa. The current study evaluated the 3-year outcome of a randomized clinical trial that compared the additive efficacy of exposure-based versus nonexposure-based behavioral treatments (BT) with a core of cognitive,behavior therapy (CBT). Methods One hundred thirteen women participated in the original treatment trial and attended a 3-year follow-up assessment. Eating disorder diagnoses and primary, secondary, and tertiary outcome measures were assessed. The impact of treatment completion on symptomatology and the stability of treatment effects over time were evaluated. Results At the 3-year follow-up, 85% of the sample had no current diagnosis of bulimia nervosa and 69% had no current eating disorder diagnoses of any sort. Failure to complete CBT was associated with inferior outcome. No clear advantages were evident for participants who completed BT in addition to CBT. For subjects who did complete both CBT and BT, outcome was mostly stable from posttreatment to follow-up. No differential effects were found for exposure versus nonexposure-based treatments at 3-year follow-up. Discussion The results of the current study compare favorably with other treatment outcome studies for bulimia nervosa and suggest that treatment gains are maintained after 3 years. © 2003 by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Eat Disord 33: 127,135, 2003. [source] Sample and design considerations in post-disaster mental health needs assessment tracking surveysINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF METHODS IN PSYCHIATRIC RESEARCH, Issue S2 2008Ronald C. Kessler Abstract Although needs assessment surveys are carried out after many large natural and man-made disasters, synthesis of findings across these surveys and disaster situations about patterns and correlates of need is hampered by inconsistencies in study designs and measures. Recognizing this problem, the US Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) assembled a task force in 2004 to develop a model study design and interview schedule for use in post-disaster needs assessment surveys. The US National Institute of Mental Health subsequently approved a plan to establish a center to implement post-disaster mental health needs assessment surveys in the future using an integrated series of measures and designs of the sort proposed by the SAMHSA task force. A wide range of measurement, design, and analysis issues will arise in developing this center. Given that the least widely discussed of these issues concerns study design, the current report focuses on the most important sampling and design issues proposed for this center based on our experiences with the SAMHSA task force, subsequent Katrina surveys, and earlier work in other disaster situations. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Justification as Declaration and DeificationINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY, Issue 1 2002Bruce D. Marshall Theological accounts of the way God justifies sinners often struggle to combine forensic or declarative ideas about justification with transformationist ones. Luther seems to have especially steep problems here, not because he fails to think of justification as transformation , indeed deification , but because his forensic claims seem to take back what he says about transformation. Yet in the end Luther shows how forensic and transformationist ideas of even the boldest sort can cohere. At one level the concept of justifying faith as union with Christ extra nos combines the two, but their deeper unity is trinitarian: it lies in the Father's eternal verdict on the work of his incarnate Son, whose death and resurrection win for us the coming of the Spirit. [source] Visitors' and locals' experiences of Rotorua, New Zealand: an interpretative study using photographs of landscapes and Q methodINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF TOURISM RESEARCH, Issue 4 2002John R. Fairweather Abstract This paper reports on an interpretative study of locals' and visitors' experiences in Rotorua, New Zealand and shows how experiences vary among different groups. Photographs were Q sorted by a non-random sample of locals and both overseas and New Zealand visitors, and the data were factor analysed to identify four factors or types of experience. These include experiences of Sublime Nature, Iconic Tourism, New Zealand Family and the Picturesque Landscape. These findings show that Q sort with photographs is a useful research approach which advances our understanding of destination image and provides results that have implications for the contemporary theoretical debate on the nature of tourist experience in New Zealand. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] "Spontaneous" Interethnic Order: The Emergence of Collective, Path-Dependent CooperationINTERNATIONAL STUDIES QUARTERLY, Issue 4 2000Badredine Arfi Can "spontaneous," decentralized interethnic cooperation emerge among ethnic groups whose members heavily discount future interethnic relations and do not fear punishment for interethnic noncooperation? Why is it that once the interaction between two ethnic groups evolves along a certain (cooperative or conflictual) path it sometimes becomes harder for the interacting groups to reverse course and seek alternative paths? The answer to these two questions lies in the fact that individual members not only are always calculative and could hence act opportunistically, but also are interdependent and can learn from one another. Because the members of interacting groups operate interdependently they thereby create collective nonlinear path dependence. Using a social game (within evolutionary game theory) the article shows counterintuitively that the emergence of collective, nonlinear path dependence within and across ethnic groups whose members heavily discount the future and face no punishment for interethnic noncooperation makes "spontaneous" decentralized interethnic cooperation a long-run equilibrium. Collective cooperation can thus develop path-dependently among ethnic groups without a Damocles' sword of any sort hanging over their members' heads, even when most individuals are shortsighted and opportunistic. [source] The Study of Democratic Peace and Progress in International Relations,INTERNATIONAL STUDIES REVIEW, Issue 1 2004Fred Chernoff This essay argues that the field of international relations has exhibited "progress" of the sort found in the natural sciences. Several well-known accounts of "science" and "progress" are adumbrated; four offer positive accounts of progress (those of Peirce, Duhem, Popper, and Lakatos) and one evidences a negative assessment (Kuhn). Recent studies of the democratic peace,both supporting and opposing,are analyzed to show that they satisfy the terms of each of the definitions of scientific progress. [source] Assessing mothers' concerns in the postpartum period: methodological issuesJOURNAL OF ADVANCED NURSING, Issue 3 2004Helen I. Lugina MN PhD RN RM Aim., This paper reports a study evaluating the sensitivity of a semi-structured interview schedule and card sort methods in assessing postpartum concerns of women. Background., Several methods have been used to assess postpartum maternal concerns and the process of becoming a mother, but few studies have evaluated the methods with respect to their sensitivity for obtaining information. Method., A cohort of mothers was followed-up at one (n = 110) and 6 weeks (n = 83) after childbirth in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Women with a minimum of 7 years of primary education were interviewed and they also sorted cards. Those with less fewer than 7 years of primary education were interviewed only. The methods were used in alternate order to assess method interaction. Results., In the interviews at 1 week, mothers more often expressed worry and interest related to the baby or themselves when they had sorted cards first. The extent to which women expressed worry and interest about specific baby- and mother-related topics was generally higher for women who had sorted cards before the interview at both 1 and 6 weeks. Independent of whether they were interviewed only, interviewed after sorting cards or before, mothers more often expressed a higher degree of interest than of worry about the baby and self at both 1 and 6 weeks. The order of the data collection methods did not influence the way women sorted cards as being worries and interests. Conclusion., Compared to interview using a semi-structured interview schedule, our findings suggest that the card sort is more sensitive in obtaining information about women's concerns. Although the interview method has the advantage of reaching less educated people, the card sort is a technique that is associated with fewer barriers and is a more participatory method for those who can use it. [source] The lognormal distribution is not an appropriate null hypothesis for the species,abundance distributionJOURNAL OF ANIMAL ECOLOGY, Issue 3 2005MARK WILLIAMSON Summary 1Of the many models for species,abundance distributions (SADs), the lognormal has been the most popular and has been put forward as an appropriate null model for testing against theoretical SADs. In this paper we explore a number of reasons why the lognormal is not an appropriate null model, or indeed an appropriate model of any sort, for a SAD. 2We use three empirical examples, based on published data sets, to illustrate features of SADs in general and of the lognormal in particular: the abundance of British breeding birds, the number of trees > 1 cm diameter at breast height (d.b.h.) on a 50 ha Panamanian plot, and the abundance of certain butterflies trapped at Jatun Sacha, Ecuador. The first two are complete enumerations and show left skew under logarithmic transformation, the third is an incomplete enumeration and shows right skew. 3Fitting SADs by ,2 test is less efficient and less informative than fitting probability plots. The left skewness of complete enumerations seems to arise from a lack of extremely abundant species rather than from a surplus of rare ones. One consequence is that the logit-normal, which stretches the right-hand end of the distribution, consistently gives a slightly better fit. 4The central limit theorem predicts lognormality of abundances within species but not between them, and so is not a basis for the lognormal SAD. Niche breakage and population dynamical models can predict a lognormal SAD but equally can predict many other SADs. 5The lognormal sits uncomfortably between distributions with infinite variance and the log-binomial. The latter removes the absurdity of the invisible highly abundant half of the individuals abundance curve predicted by the lognormal SAD. The veil line is a misunderstanding of the sampling properties of the SAD and fitting the Poisson lognormal is not satisfactory. A satisfactory SAD should have a thinner right-hand tail than the lognormal, as is observed empirically. 6The SAD for logarithmic abundance cannot be Gaussian. [source] More powerful panel data unit root tests with an application to mean reversion in real exchange ratesJOURNAL OF APPLIED ECONOMETRICS, Issue 2 2004L. Vanessa Smith Unit root tests, seeking mean or trend reversion, are frequently applied to panel data. We show that more powerful variants of commonly applied tests are readily available. Moreover, power gains persist when the modifications are applied to bootstrap procedures that may be employed when cross-correlation of a rather general sort among individual panel members is suspected. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Measurement Bias in the HICP: What do we know and What do we need to know?JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC SURVEYS, Issue 1 2004Mark A. Wynne Abstract. The Harmonized Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) is the primary measure of inflation in the euro area, and plays a central role in the policy deliberations of the European Central Bank (ECB). The ECB defines its Treaty mandate of price stability as ,, a year-on-year increase in the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) for the euro area of below 2%[,] to be maintained over the medium term.' Among the rationales given for defining price stability as prevailing at some positive measured inflation rate is the possibility that the HICP as published incorporates measurement errors of one sort or another that may cause it to systematically overstate the true rate of inflation in the euro area. This paper reviews what currently is known about the scope of measurement error in the HICP. We conclude that given the vague conceptual framework of the HICP, the scant research on price measurement issues in the EU and the ongoing improvements in the HICP, there is very little scientific basis at this time for a point (or even an interval) estimate of a positive bias in the HICP. [source] Using photographs and narratives to contextualise and map the experience of caring for a person with dementiaJOURNAL OF NURSING AND HEALTHCARE OF CHRONIC ILLNE SS: AN INTERNATIONAL INTERDISCIPLINARY JOURNAL, Issue 3 2009PGCLT (HE), Penny Hibberd RGN Aim., To capture the meaning and context of how carers adapt and develop their relationships throughout their caring role. Background., Family carers play a pivotal role in supporting and caring for a person living with dementia at home. To date, the majority of social research on carers has focussed upon the stress and burden that such demands evoke, and limited attention has been paid to locating the carer's own construction of their role with a relationship-centred approach. This paper attempts to build on this emerging understanding. Design., A participative, qualitative study using photographs and supportive narratives to contextualise and map carer's experiences of caring for a person with dementia. The study was conducted in one area of South East England, UK with all necessary ethical permission to conduct the study obtained prior to data collection. Method., Data was obtained between May,June 2008 with nine carers recruited from a not for profit organisation based in the UK. Photographs were taken by participants using a 27-print disposable camera with supporting written narratives provided on six photographs that participants selected to best represent their caring role and relationship. These photographs and supporting text were then shared with other participants in a focus group. Through this process, participants were helped to sort and group the data into narrative themes. Results., From this collaborative process, the group identified four types of caring relationships, these were: recognising (1); transforming (2); stabilising (3); and ,moving on' (4). Photographs and the supporting narratives were used to illustrate each type of relationship that helped to give meaning and shape to everyday life. Conclusion., The four types of caring relationships help nurses and other service providers to understand how carers of people with dementia construct and manage their day-to-day life. Recognition of a carer's personhood needs to be acknowledged in order to promote and support their role throughout the caring trajectory. Relevance to clinical practice., Recognition of the knowledge and skills held by carers of people with dementia can help inform professional decision-making and provide a platform for practice intervention. [source] Usage and status of cobalt,chromium removable partial dentures 5,6 years after placementJOURNAL OF ORAL REHABILITATION, Issue 2 2002A. L. P. Yeung The aim of this study was to describe the usage of cobalt,chromium (Co,Cr) removable partial dentures (RPDs) by patients 5,6 years after denture insertion and to find out the factors that affected their denture usage. A random sample of patients provided with Co,Cr RPDs from a dental teaching hospital in Hong Kong was selected. Patients were interviewed using a structured questionnaire concerning their assessment and use of the dentures. Those who had been constantly wearing their original RPDs were examined by one calibrated examiner under optimal clinical conditions. The response rate of the patients who could be contacted was 98%. The results from 189 patient interviews showed that usage of the RPDs declined with time and that half of the dentures had been discarded or replaced 5,6 years after insertion. These discarded RPDs had been in use for an average of 19·5 months. The main reason given by the patients for not using the RPDs was general dissatisfaction with the dentures in various combinations of comfort, fit and chewing ability and, less importantly, with food trapping and appearance. No statistically significant association between denture usage and their respective Kennedy classification was found. The status of the Co,Cr RPDs that had been constantly used for 5,6 years was generally good. The majority of these RPDs demonstrated fair to good cleanliness, stability and retention and had no defect of any sort. [source] Does choice lead to racially distinctive schools?JOURNAL OF POLICY ANALYSIS AND MANAGEMENT, Issue 1 2002Charter schools, household preferences A persistent fear regarding school choice is that it will lead to more racially distinctive schools. A growing number of studies compares choosing households to non-choosing households, but few have examined the possibility that choosers sort themselves out based upon school preferences that are correlated with race and ethnicity. This report addresses this issue by analyzing the responses of 1,006 charter school households in Texas. It first examines the expressed preferences of choosing households, then compares expressed preferences with behavior. A comparison of the characteristics of the traditional public schools that choosers leave with the characteristics of the charter schools they choose indicates that race is a good predictor of the choices that choosing households make. Whites, African Americans, and Latinos transfer into charter schools where their groups comprise between 11 and 14 percentage points more of the student body than the traditional public schools they are leaving. © 2002 by the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management. [source] Availability and Characteristics of Nonbeverage Alcohols Sold in 17 Russian Cities in 2007ALCOHOLISM, Issue 1 2009Artyom Gil Background:, It is known that a range of nonbeverage alcohols including eau-de-colognes and medicinal tinctures are consumed by sections of the Russian population. Research conducted in a city in the Urals (2003 to 2005) showed that consumption of such products is associated with very high mortality from a wide range of causes. However, there have been no systematic attempts to investigate the extent to which such products are available in other cities of the Russian Federation. There is particular interest in establishing this following the introduction of new federal regulations in January 2006 aimed at restricting the availability of these products. Methods:, In the first half of 2007, we conducted a survey in 17 cities that spanned the full range of city types in the Russian Federation excluding those in the Far East. In each city, fieldworkers visited pharmacies and other types of retail outlets and purchased samples of nonbeverage alcohols. These were defined as being typically 10 to 15 roubles per bottle, with an ethanol concentration of at least 60% by volume. Results:, We were able to purchase samples of nonbeverage alcohols in each of the 17 cities we investigated. The majority of the 271 products included were a cheaper and more affordable source of ethanol than standard Russian vodka. Medicinal tinctures, sold almost exclusively in pharmacies, were particularly common with an average concentration of 78% ethanol by volume. Most importantly, the majority of the products were of a sort that our previous research in 2004 to 2005 had established were drunk by working-age men. Conclusions:, While the 2006 federal regulations introduced in part to reduce the availability and consumption of nonbeverage alcohols may have had some effect on certain classes of nonmedicinal products, up until June 2007 at least, medicinal tinctures as well as some other nonbeverage alcohols that are consumed appear to have been readily available. [source] Reasonably Traditional: Self,Contradiction and Self,Reference in Alasdair MacIntyre's Account of Tradition,Based RationalityJOURNAL OF RELIGIOUS ETHICS, Issue 3 2002Micah Lott Alasdair MacIntyre's account of tradition,based rationality has been the subject of much discussion, as well as the object of some recent charges of inconsistency. The author considers arguments by Jennifer Herdt, Peter Mehl, and John Haldane which attempt to show that MacIntyre's account of rationality is, in some way, inconsistent. It is argued that the various charges of inconsistency brought against MacIntyre by these critics can be understood as variations on two general types of criticism: (1) that MacIntyre's account of tradition,based rationality presents a picture of rationality with inconsistent internal elements, and (2) that MacIntyre, in the act of presenting his picture of rationality, makes the sort of claims to which his own account of rationality denies legitimacy, and thus MacIntyre's account is self,referentially incoherent. In response to criticisms of the first sort, it is argued that MacIntyre can further clarify or develop his position to take the current criticisms into account without altering the fundamental aspects of his picture of rationality. In response to the charge of self,referential incoherence, it is argued that the charge rests on a mistaken understanding of MacIntyre's position and of the nature of justification. In dealing with these arguments, the author hopes to not only vindicate MacIntyre's account of rationality against the charges of some of its recent critics, but also to shed some light on the nature of arguments both for and against relativism and historicism. [source] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||