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Distribution by Scientific Domains

Medical Sciences	26%
Humanities and Social Sciences	16%
Engineering	10%
Life Sciences	9%
Business, Economics, Finance and Accounting	8%
Chemistry	7%
Mathematics and Statistics	4%
Earth and Environmental Science	4%
Psychology	3%
Physics and Astronomy	2%
Law and Criminology	2%
3 Other Domains	9%

Kinds of Term

Terms modified by Term

term structure models

Selected Abstracts

TWO TAXATION AGENDAS: THE GALLOP GOVERNMENT'S FIRST TERM

ECONOMIC PAPERS: A JOURNAL OF APPLIED ECONOMICS AND POLICY, Issue 1 2005
Michael McLure
This essay reviews state taxation policy in Western Australia over the Gallop Government's first term of office. Two tax agendas emerged, one concerning reform of the State's tax system and the other concerning measures to increase the tax yield in response to mid-term fiscal stress from unanticipated growth in expenditure. It is suggested that the lack of integration of these two agendas represented a lost policy opportunity, as integration would have provided the potential to implement a much more ambitious tax reform program than that realised by the Government. The lack of integration is partly attributed to the unrealistically low forward estimates of public expenditure outlined in the Government's first budget, as this served to mask the need for additional taxation revenue (and the consequent desirability of an integrated whole-of-term taxation policy) at the very time that reform measures were being actively contemplated. As a consequence, the dominant feature of the Government's first-term tax policy was not reform, but the introduction of large mid-term revenue-raising measures, especially increases in the State's highly inefficient conveyance duty. [source]

CHRONIC KIDNEY DISEASE,MINERAL AND BONE DISORDER (CKD-MBD): A NEW TERM FOR A COMPLEX APPROACH

JOURNAL OF RENAL CARE, Issue 2009
Franti, vára MD
SUMMARY The global widespread of the chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a worldwide health problem. Its increasing incidence and prevalence and adverse outcomes (including decreased quality of life, increased morbidity and mortality) represents a huge challenge for all recent health are systems. Reflecting this situation, the new, global initiative (KDIGO) was established to enhance communication and clinical decision-making, promote the use of evidence based medicine and facilitate clinical research. The new definition, evaluation and classification of "renal osteodystrophy"; has been one of the first outcome of this initiative, suggesting the topic of chronic kidney disease,mineral and bone disorder (CKD-MBD) to be a hot problem of recent nephrology. The new terminology is consistent with a recent view on this topic and describes CKD-MBD as a complex syndrome, including abnormal mineral and PTH metabolism, altered bone structure as far as extra-skeletal calcifications. [source]

Energy scavenging for energy efficiency in networks and applications

BELL LABS TECHNICAL JOURNAL, Issue 2 2010
Kyoung Joon Kim
Telecommunication networks will play a huge part in enabling eco-sustainability of human activity; one of the first steps towards this is to dramatically increase network energy efficiency. In this paper we present two novel approaches for energy scavenging in networks. One involves thermal energy scavenging for improving wireless base station energy efficiency, and the other involves mechanical energy scavenging for powering sensors in sensor networks, for machine-to-machine (M2M) communications, and for smart grid applications. Power amplifier (PA) transistors in base stations waste 30 percent of the total energy used in a wireless access network (WAN) as heat to the environment. We propose a thermoelectric energy recovery module (TERM) to recover electricity from the waste heat of PA transistors. A fully coupled thermoelectric (TE) model, combining thermoelectricity and heat transfer physics, is developed to explore the power generation performance and efficiency as well as the thermal performance of the TERM. The TE model is comprehensively used to determine optimized pellet geometries for power generation and efficiency as a function of PA transistor heat dissipation, heat sink performance, and load resistance. Maximum power generation and efficiency for various parametric conditions are also explored. Untapped kinetic energy is almost everywhere in the form of vibrations. This energy can be converted into electrical energy by means of transducers to power wireless sensors and mobile electronics in the range of microwatts to a few milliwatts. However, many problems limit the efficiency of current harvesting generators: narrow bandwidth, low power density, micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) scaling, and inconsistency of vibrating sources. We explore energy scavenger designs based on multiple-mass systems to increase harvesting efficiency. A theoretical and experimental study of two degrees-of-freedom (2-DOF) vibration-powered generators is presented. Both electromagnetic and piezoelectric conversion methods are modeled by using a general approach. Experimental results for the multi-resonant system are in agreement with the analytical predictions and demonstrate significantly better performance in terms of maximum power density per total mass and a wider bandwidth compared to single DOF (1-DOF) generators. © 2010 Alcatel-Lucent. [source]

GAUGING ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE UNDER CHANGING TERMS OF TRADE: REAL GROSS DOMESTIC INCOME OR REAL GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT?

ECONOMIC PAPERS: A JOURNAL OF APPLIED ECONOMICS AND POLICY, Issue 4 2008
Dr WILLIAM COLEMAN
The paper presents a simple theoretical case for the superiority of the notion of Real Gross Domestic Income to Gross Domestic Product. It is shown that, in a multi-period version of the familiar neoclassical model of a small, open economy, a temporary improvement in its terms of trade will increase welfare and RGDI, and produce a trade surplus in current prices; but will decrease real GDP, on account of it creating a trade deficit at constant prices. [source]

SENSITIVITY CONSIDERATIONS WHEN MODELING HYDROLOGIC PROCESSES WITH DIGITAL ELEVATION MODEL,

JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN WATER RESOURCES ASSOCIATION, Issue 4 2001
Sung-Mm Cho
ABSTRACT: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the sensitivity of a hydrologic models to the type of DEM used. This was done while modeling basin water quality with 1:24,000 and 1:250,000 U.S. Geological Survey DEMs as input to model hydrological processes. The manner in which the model results were sensitive to the choice of raster cell size (scale) is investigated in this study. The Broadhead watershed, located in New Jersey, USA, was chosen as a study area. Curve numbers were estimated by a trial and error to match simulated and observed total discharge. Monthly runoff for the watershed was used in the calibration process. Higher runoff volumes were simulated by the model when the 1:24,000 DEM were used as input data, probably due to the finer resolution which simulated increased average slope and hence higher estimated runoff from the watershed. As the simulated slope of the watershed is flatten with the 1:250,000 DEM, the response of stream flow was delayed and simulated less runoff volume. (KEY TERMS: DEM; curve number; sensitivity analysis; runoff volume; water quality; calibration.) [source]

UNIFIED SEMANTICS OF SINGULAR TERMS

THE PHILOSOPHICAL QUARTERLY, Issue 228 2007
John Justice
Singular-term semantics has been intractable. Frege took the referents of singular terms to be their semantic values. On his account, vacuous terms lacked values. Russell separated the semantics of definite descriptions from the semantics of proper names, which caused truth-values to be composed in two different ways and still left vacuous names without values. Montague gave all noun phrases sets of verb-phrase extensions for values, which created type mismatches when noun phrases were objects and still left vacuous names without values. There is a single type of value for all noun phrases that dissolves the difficulties which have beset singular-term semantics. [source]

THE AGRICULTURAL TERMS OF TRADE IN BANGLADESH: AN ECONOMETRIC ANALYSIS OF TRENDS AND MOVEMENTS, 1952,2006

AUSTRALIAN ECONOMIC PAPERS, Issue 1 2008
AKHAND AKHTAR HOSSAINArticle first published online: 21 APR 200
This paper investigates the trends and movements of agricultural prices, industrial prices and the agricultural terms of trade in Bangladesh with annual data for the period 1952,2006. The ADF and KPSS tests results suggest that both agricultural and industrial prices have a unit root while the agricultural terms of trade is trend-stationary. These results remain unchanged if allowance is made in the unit root test for the possibility of a structural break during 1971,1975 (when Bangladesh gained independence from Pakistan and experienced economic shocks) by applying the two-step procedure of Perron (1989). A simple Nerlovian agricultural price determination model is specified within the framework of aggregate demand and aggregate supply. The Johansen cointegration test results for the periods 1953,2006 and 1973,2006 suggest that there exists a cointegral relationship between agricultural prices, industrial prices, per-capita real income and the real exchange rate between the Bangladeshi taka and the US dollar under the restriction that per-capita real income and the real exchange rate are ,long-run forcing variables' in the sense of Pesaran and Shin (1995), and Pesaran, Shin and Smith (1996). The paper estimates a four-variable vector error-correction (VEC) model and conducts an impulse response analysis for the post-independence period, 1973,2006. [source]

The Amiel-Tison neurological assessment at term: Conceptual and methodological continuity in the course of follow-up

DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES RESEARCH REVIEW, Issue 1 2005
Julie Gosselin
Abstract The Amiel-Tison Neurological Assessment at Term (ATNAT) is part of a set of three different instruments based on a neuro-maturative framework. By sharing a same methodology and a similar scoring system, the use of these three assessments prevents any rupture in the course of high risk children follow-up from 32 weeks post-conception to 6 years of age. The ATNAT which takes 5 minutes to administer may be used in clinical setting as well as in research. Clustering of severe to mild neuro-cranial signs in the neonatal period permits identification of children who could benefit from early intervention. © 2005 Wiley-Liss, Inc. MRDD Research Reviews 2005;11:34,51. [source]

Predicting Individual Differences in Recall by Infants Born Preterm and Full Term

INFANCY, Issue 1 2006
Carol L. Cheatham
A heterogeneous sample of infants with preterm histories and infants born full term participated in a study of declarative memory and rate of encoding, as measured in an imitation task and an examining task, respectively. Here we report the comparisons of the performances of infants born very preterm (27,34 weeks gestation) and moderately preterm (35,37 weeks gestation) to infants born full term (38,41 weeks gestation) and tested at 12 months corrected age (from due date). Lower levels of recall were seen among the infants born very preterm. Rate of encoding, weeks gestation, and score on the Mental Development Index (MDI) of the Bayley Scales of Infant Development were tested as possible sources of individual differences in recall. Rate of encoding and MDI predicted delayed ordered recall. Implications for early detection of cognitive difficulties in children with preterm histories are discussed. [source]

A Systems Approach for Neonatal Hyperbilirubinemia in Term and Near-Term Newborns

JOURNAL OF OBSTETRIC, GYNECOLOGIC & NEONATAL NURSING, Issue 4 2006
Vinod K. Bhutani
Objective:, To propose and implement a family-centered systems approach to manage newborn jaundice for safer outcomes. Design:, Observational study for known adverse outcomes. Setting:, Semiprivate urban birthing hospital. Patients/Participants:, 31,059 well babies discharged as healthy from a cohort of 41,961 live births (1990-2000). Interventions:, Incremental implementation of a systems approach that incorporated a hospital policy to (a) authorize nurses to obtain a bilirubin (total serum/transcutaneous) measurement for clinical jaundice, (b) universal predischarge total serum bilirubin (at routine metabolic screening), and (c) targeted follow-up, using the bilirubin nomogram (hour-specific, percentile-based total serum bilirubin/transcutaneous bilirubin). Main Outcome Measures:, Known adverse outcomes assessed for early- and late-onset severe hyperbilirubinemia before, during, and after systems approach implementation. Results:, Adverse outcomes decreased for well babies: exchange transfusion, intensive phototherapy, and readmission. During the study period, there were no "never events" (total serum bilirubin greater than or equal to 30 mg/dl), while "close calls" (total serum bilirubin greater than or equal to 25 mg/dl) were 1 in 15,000 as compared to a reported incidence of 1 in 625. Conclusions:, Reduced adverse events, significant reduction in close calls, and no never events met family expectations for safer experiences with this approach. JOGNN, 35, 444,455; 2006. DOI: 10.1111/J.1552-6909.2006.00044.x [source]

Tribute to Justice Souter

JOURNAL OF SUPREME COURT HISTORY, Issue 1 2010
SANDRA DAY O'CONNOR
When the U.S. Supreme Court Justices took their seats at the beginning of the 2009 Term, the Bench looked different. Gone from the Bench, after nineteen years, was David H. Souter. He returned to his home in New Hampshire, a state he likes enormously. Justice Souter will be missed by his former colleagues and by advocates before the Court, by legal scholars nationwide and by all who follow the Court's work and activities. [source]

Even at Term, Timing Of Cesarean Is Linked To Adverse Outcomes

PERSPECTIVES ON SEXUAL AND REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH, Issue 2 2009
Article first published online: 3 JUN 200
No abstract is available for this article. [source]

Two factor XI mutations in a Chinese family with factor XI deficiency

AMERICAN JOURNAL OF HEMATOLOGY, Issue 2 2003
W.Y. Au
Abstract We describe a Chinese family with factor XI deficiency, the first reported to date. The proband had factor XI activity of 1% and was heterozygous for two nonsense mutations, an exon-8 C713,T mutation resulting in Gln263,Term, and an exon-10 C979,A mutation resulting in Tyr351,Term. Two daughters were heterozygous for the Gln263,Term mutation and two for the Try351,Term mutation. All showed a reduction of factor XI activity to about 50%. The Gln263,Term mutation has been described in two Japanese families, and it remains to be determined whether a common founder exists between the three kindreds. The Try351,Term mutation is novel. Am. J. Hematol. 74:136,138, 2003. © 2003 Wiley-Liss Inc. [source]

From-Long Term To Short-Term Contracting

PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION, Issue 1 2001
Jan-Erik Lane
One can look at the arrival of New Public Management and the extensive public sector reforms inspired by this theory from many angles. Here we examine the shift from long-term contracting, typical of bureaucracy and traditional enterprises, to short-term contracting, borrowed from private sector governance methods. Short-term contracting has three principal uses in the governance of the public sector: (a) contracting with service providers after a tendering/bidding process; (b) contracting with the CEOs of the incorporated public enterprises; and (c) contracting with executive agencies about what they should deliver. Theoretical analysis, supported by substantial empirical evidence, suggests that short-term contracting eliminates the extensive post-contractual opportunism connected with long-term contracting, but is vulnerable to precontractual opportunism. Short-term contracting is not just another public sector reform fad, but constitutes a new tool for government which increases efficiency when handled with prudence. [source]

ORIGINAL ARTICLE: Activation of the Alternative Pathway of Complement is a Feature of Pre-Term Parturition but not of Spontaneous Labor at Term

AMERICAN JOURNAL OF REPRODUCTIVE IMMUNOLOGY, Issue 4 2010
Edi Vaisbuch
Citation Vaisbuch E, Romero R, Erez O, Mazaki-Tovi S, Kusanovic JP, Soto E, Dong Z, Chaiworapongsa T, Kim SK, Ogge G, Pacora P, Yeo L, Hassan SS. Activation of the alternative pathway of complement is a feature of pre-term parturition but not of spontaneous labor at term. Am J Reprod Immunol 2010; 63: 318,330 Problem, Plasma concentrations of fragment Bb (FBb) are a marker for activation of the alternative pathway of the complement system. High concentrations of FBb in maternal blood, as early as the first trimester, are associated with subsequent spontaneous pre-term delivery <34 weeks of gestation. The aim of this study was to determine whether spontaneous pre-term labor (PTL) with intact membranes, intra-amniotic infection/inflammation (IAI) or labor at term are associated with alterations in circulating maternal FBb concentrations. Method of study, This cross-sectional study included women in the following groups: (i) non-pregnant (n = 40); (ii) normal pregnancy (gestational age range 20,36, 6/7 weeks, n = 63); (iii) women at term not in labor (n = 70); (iv) women at term in spontaneous labor (n = 59); (v) patients with an episode of PTL who delivered at term (n = 62); (vi) PTL without IAI who delivered pre-term (n = 30); and (vii) PTL with IAI who delivered pre-term (n = 67). Maternal plasma FBb concentrations were determined by ELISA. Results, (i) Among patients with PTL, those who had a pre-term delivery either with IAI (1.21 ,g/mL, IQR 0.77,2.16) or without IAI (1.13 ,g/mL, IQR 0.92,2.08) had a higher median maternal plasma FBb concentration than those who delivered at term (0.86 ,g/mL, IQR 0.64,1.57; P = 0.007 and P = 0.026, respectively); (ii) there was no difference in the median plasma FBb concentration between patients with and without IAI who delivered pre-term (P = 0.9); (iii) in contrast, spontaneous labor at term was not associated with a significant change in the maternal plasma FBb concentration (P = 0.8); (iv) maternal plasma concentration of FBb did not differ significantly between normal pregnant women and the non-pregnant controls (P = 0.8) and were not correlated with advancing gestational age (r = ,0.28, P = 0.8). Conclusion, (i) Pre-term parturition is associated with activation of the alternative complement pathway in maternal circulation; (ii) such activation is not detectable in spontaneous labor at term; (iii) IAI does not explain the activation of the alternative pathway of complement in PTL. Collectively, these observations suggest that pre-term and term labors have fundamental differences in the regulation of innate immunity. [source]

ORIGINAL ARTICLE: Changes in the Subpopulation of CD25+ CD4+ and FOXP3+ Regulatory T Cells in Decidua with Respect to the Progression of Labor at Term and the Lack of Analogical Changes in the Subpopulation of Suppressive B7-H4+ Macrophages , A Preliminary Report

AMERICAN JOURNAL OF REPRODUCTIVE IMMUNOLOGY, Issue 2 2009
Krystyna Galazka
Problem, The initiation of labor is accompanied by alterations in the level of maternal immune tolerance toward fetal antigens. It is a complex molecular response leading to a brief activation of the maternal immune system with an accompanying capacity to restrict this same activation. The aim of our study was to evaluate the subpopulation of regulatory T cells (Tregs) and B7-H4 macrophages in the decidua basalis during cesarean sections performed on patients in various stages of labor. Method of study, The decidual tissue samples evaluated in our study were obtained from 23 pregnant women who underwent cesarean sections at term. Moreover, the patients were divided into three subgroups according to the progression of labor at the time of the cesarean. The presence of Treg cells and B7-H4 positive macrophages were analysed by fluorescence-activated cell sorter. Results, The percentages of FOXP3+ cells in the subpopulation of CD25+ CD4+ T lymphocytes found in the deciduas of patients decreased with the successive stages of labor, while the percentages of B7-H4 positive cells in the macrophage subpopulation remained almost constant. Conclusion, These changes in the Treg cell subpopulation in the decidua would seem to be related to a brief activation of the maternal immune system as labor begins and lack of analogical changes in the subpopulation of decidual suppressive B7-H4+ macrophages that enable the restriction of this same activation as labor progresses. [source]

Surgical Correction of Peyronie's Disease via Tunica Albuginea Plication or Partial Plaque Excision with Pericardial Graft: Long Term Follow Up: Author Response

THE JOURNAL OF SEXUAL MEDICINE, Issue 9 2008
Frederick L. Taylor
[source]

Increased Apoptosis in Human Amnion is Associated with Labor at Term

AMERICAN JOURNAL OF REPRODUCTIVE IMMUNOLOGY, Issue 5 2000
CHAUR-DONG HSU
PROBLEM: To characterize whether increased apoptosis in human amnion was associated with labor at term. METHOD OF STUDY: Human amnion were obtained from term patients with vaginal delivery (n=5) or who underwent elective Cesarean section (C/S) without labor (n=5). Apoptosis was performed by the TUNEL (Terminal dUTP Nuclear End Labeling) assay. All nucleated cells stained with propidium iodide in the amnion epithelial cells were identified in red fluorescence. TUNEL positive apoptotic nuclei were identified in green fluorescence. Five random fields of each specimen were blindly counted by investigators. The percentage of apoptotic nuclei of total nuclei (apoptotic index) was calculated and compared between the two groups (25 microscopic fields for each group, respectively). RESULTS: Patients with term labor had a significantly higher mean apoptotic index in amnion epithelial cells than that with elective C/S without labor (27.3±4.1% versus 3.6±1.6%, P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Our data indicate that apoptosis in human amnion is significantly increased and associated with labor at term. [source]

I: the Meaning of the First Person Term , Maximilian de Gaynesford

THE PHILOSOPHICAL QUARTERLY, Issue 231 2008
Maria Alvarez
No abstract is available for this article. [source]

Transient Cardiac Ballooning Syndrome is Not a Novel Term and Is a Better Morphological Nomenclature Complementing Stress Cardiomyopathy as the Most Likely Pathophysiologic One

CLINICAL CARDIOLOGY, Issue 4 2010
Raghav Gupta MD
No abstract is available for this article. [source]

Knowledge and impressions regarding the concept of mutation among Japanese university students

CLINICAL GENETICS, Issue 1 2008
N Ando
Although the term mutation is frequently used in genetic counseling, it may carry negative connotations and create misunderstanding. Our objective was to investigate the relationship between the impressions regarding three Japanese terms mutation of gene, change of gene, and lesion of gene as well as to investigate the depth of understanding regarding mutation. A total of 175 university students and auditing students were included and responded to two questionnaires that were Impressions regarding the term in the semantic differential method and Knowledge about the concept of mutation. In factor analysis, three factors (Value, Change Rate, and Intention) were extracted. Participants were divided into three groups depending on their knowledge, and a two-way analysis of variance (Term × Knowledge Group) was conducted on the factor score for each. Results showed that the main effect of the ,Term' was significant for the Value Factor and that interaction was significant for the Change Rate Factor, and that the main effect of Knowledge Group was significant for the Intention Factor. The findings suggest that healthcare professionals should demonstrate an awareness of varying impressions of the different terms used to refer to the identical concepts of mutation. This is of particular importance when communicating with patients and their families. [source]

Orthodontic loading of titanium miniplates in dogs: microradiographic and histological evaluation

CLINICAL ORAL IMPLANTS RESEARCH, Issue 10 2008
M. A. Cornelis
Abstract Objectives: The objectives of this animal study were to evaluate if orthodontic loading has an impact on osseointegration of screws supporting miniplates, and to describe the histological components of the bone,screw interface. Materials and methods: Eighty orthodontic miniplates were placed in the jaws of 10 dogs. After 2 weeks, a 125 g force was applied between the miniplates of one upper quadrant of each dog and between those of the controlateral lower quadrant. The others, nonloaded miniplates, were considered as controls. Five dogs were sacrificed 7 weeks after implantation and the remaining five dogs after 29 weeks [Short Term (ST) and Long Term (LT) groups, respectively]. Fluorochromes were injected at implantation and at sacrifice. Jaw quadrants were dissected, embedded, cut into undecalcified transverse sections through the screws and finally submitted to microradiographic analysis to allow assessment of bone,implant contact (BIC) and bone volume/total volume (BV/TV). The sections were observed under UV light and stained in order to examine them under ordinary light. Results: Osseointegration occurred around 90/160 screws and consisted mainly in limited repair and remodelling processes of lamellar bone, without inflammation. Wide variations were observed in BIC and BV/TV, but without any significant difference, neither between the loaded and the nonloaded screws, nor according to the direction of load, whereas they were significantly higher in the LT than in the ST group. Nonosseointegrated screws were surrounded by fibrous tissue. Osteoblastic activity, when present in front of these screws, was not sufficient to achieve stability. Conclusions: Osseointegration underlying orthodontic anchorage was not affected by loading. BIC increased with time and varied according to implantation site. Particularly the tight-fitting screw insertion appeared crucial in determining the appropriate bone healing response. [source]

,It Was Such a Handy Term': Management Fashions and Pragmatic Ambiguity*

JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES, Issue 6 2006
Hélène Giroux
abstract This article builds on constructs that authors have labelled strategic ambiguity, interpretative viability, umbrella constructs, and boundary objects, and suggests that these constructs all articulate a central concern for collective action and the role of ambiguity therein. It characterizes as pragmatic ambiguity the condition of admitting more than one course of action, and elucidates and operationalizes this new construct. Drawing on the sociology of translation (Callon, 1986; Latour, 1987),[1] it argues that pragmatic ambiguity is both the result and the resource of a collective process of intéressement occurring during the rise in popularity of a new management approach. Following Benders and van Veen (2001), the article posits that pragmatic ambiguity increases during the rise of a management fashion. It provides empirical evidence in support of this claim by means of a longitudinal analysis of quality management (QM) concepts as articulated by several authors both before and during the Quality Movement of the 1980s and 1990s. The analyses of QM texts show that concepts became vaguer, more ambiguous, and more general as the Quality Movement gained momentum, suggesting the presence of a positive feedback loop between pragmatic ambiguity and popularity. In addition, the data illustrate how pragmatic ambiguity was achieved and sustained textually, and how it was supported by a variety of social, linguistic and rhetorical factors. [source]

Knowledge and impressions regarding the concept of mutation among Japanese university students

Unified Medical Language System Coverage of Emergency-medicine Chief Complaints

ACADEMIC EMERGENCY MEDICINE, Issue 12 2006
Debbie A. Travers PhD
Abstract Background Emergency department (ED) chief-complaint (CC) data increasingly are important for clinical-care and secondary uses such as syndromic surveillance. There is no widely used ED CC vocabulary, but experts have suggested evaluation of existing health-care vocabularies for ED CC. Objectives To evaluate the ED CC coverage in existing biomedical vocabularies from the Unified Medical Language System (UMLS). Methods The study sample included all CC entries for all visits to three EDs over one year. The authors used a special-purpose text processor to clean CC entries, which then were mapped to UMLS concepts. The UMLS match rates then were calculated and analyzed for matching concepts and nonmatching entries. Results A total of 203,509 ED visits was included. After cleaning with the text processor, 82% of the CCs matched a UMLS concept. The authors identified 5,617 unique UMLS concepts in the ED CC data, but many were used for only one or two visits. One thousand one hundred thirty-six CC concepts were used more than ten times and covered 99% of all the ED visits. The largest biomedical vocabulary in the UMLS is the Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine Clinical Terms (SNOMED CT), which included concepts for 79% of all ED CC entries. However, some common CCs were not found in SNOMED CT. Conclusions The authors found that ED CC concepts are well covered by the UMLS and that the best source of vocabulary coverage is from SNOMED CT. There are some gaps in UMLS and SNOMED CT coverage of ED CCs. Future work on vocabulary control for ED CCs should build upon existing vocabularies. [source]

Naturalization and invasion of alien plants: concepts and definitions

DIVERSITY AND DISTRIBUTIONS, Issue 2 2000
David M. Richardson
Abstract., Much confusion exists in the English-language literature on plant invasions concerning the terms ,naturalized' and ,invasive' and their associated concepts. Several authors have used these terms in proposing schemes for conceptualizing the sequence of events from introduction to invasion, but often imprecisely, erroneously or in contradictory ways. This greatly complicates the formulation of robust generalizations in invasion ecology. Based on an extensive and critical survey of the literature we defined a minimum set of key terms related to a graphic scheme which conceptualizes the naturalization/invasion process. Introduction means that the plant (or its propagule) has been transported by humans across a major geographical barrier. Naturalization starts when abiotic and biotic barriers to survival are surmounted and when various barriers to regular reproduction are overcome. Invasion further requires that introduced plants produce reproductive offspring in areas distant from sites of introduction (approximate scales: > 100 m over < 50 years for taxa spreading by seeds and other propagules; > 6 m/3 years for taxa spreading by roots, rhizomes, stolons or creeping stems). Taxa that can cope with the abiotic environment and biota in the general area may invade disturbed, seminatural communities. Invasion of successionally mature, undisturbed communities usually requires that the alien taxon overcomes a different category of barriers. We propose that the term ,invasive' should be used without any inference to environmental or economic impact. Terms like ,pests' and ,weeds' are suitable labels for the 50,80% of invaders that have harmful effects. About 10% of invasive plants that change the character, condition, form, or nature of ecosystems over substantial areas may be termed ,transformers'. [source]

Natural Kind Terms: A Neo-Lockean Theory

EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF PHILOSOPHY, Issue 1 2005
A. D. Smith
First page of article [source]

Contemporary Models of Youth Development and Problem Prevention: Toward an Integration of Terms, Concepts, and Models

FAMILY RELATIONS, Issue 1 2004
Stephen Small
Over the past several years, increased interest in preventing youth problems and promoting healthy youth development has led youth and family practitioners, policy makers, and researchers to develop a wide range of approaches based on various theoretical frameworks. Although the growth in guiding frameworks has led to more complex models and a greater diversity in the options available to scholars and practitioners, the lack of an integrative conceptual scheme and consistent terminology has led to some confusion in the field. Here, we provide an overview of three approaches to youth development and problem prevention, critically examine their strengths and weaknesses, and offer some elaborations to help clarify, extend, and integrate the models. We conclude by discussing some general implications for researchers, practitioners, and policy makers. [source]

Discourses of Work,Life Balance: Negotiating ,Genderblind' Terms in Organizations

GENDER, WORK & ORGANISATION, Issue 2 2005
Janet Smithson
This article examines current debates about gender equality, work-life balance and flexible working. We contrast policymakers' and organizational discourses of flexible working and work,life balance with managers' and employees' talk about these issues within their organizations. We show how, despite the increasingly gender-neutral language of the official discourses, in the data studied participants consistently reformulate the debates around gendered explanations and assumptions. For example, a ,generic female parent' is constructed in relation to work,life balance and flexible working yet participants routinely maintain that gender makes no difference within their organization. We consider the effects of these accounts; specifically the effect on those who take up flexible working, and the perceived backlash against policies viewed as favouring women or parents. We argue that the location of work,life balance and flexibility debates within a gender-neutral context can in practice result in maintaining or encouraging gendered practices within organizations. Implications of this for organizations, for policymakers and for feminist researchers are discussed. [source]

Impact of Biomass-Decay Terms on the Simulation of Pulsed Bioremediation

GROUND WATER, Issue 2 2000
Olaf A. Cirpka
A numerical model is used for simulating the stimulation of biomass growth by injection of alternating pulses of a primary substrate and oxygen. We consider that the substrate sorbs, whereas oxygen does not undergo mass transfer, and mixing of the reacting compounds is dominated by the chromatographic effect. Different mathematical formulations for biomass growth and decay are compared. In models considering biomass decay, a minimal time of joint exposure to both reactants can be determined. This leads to a multimodal distribution of the biomass after multiple injection cycles. In multidimensional heterogeneous domains, the location of the biomass peaks is determined by the advective arrival time. The biomass is much more homogeneously distributed when biomass decay is neglected, because under this condition there is no constraint by a minimal joint exposure time. For the case of oxygen-dependent biomass decay, an injection scheme using shorter pulses of higher oxygen concentrations is shown to be superior to a scheme with equally long pulses of oxygen and the substrate. [source]