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Third Stage (third + stage)
Selected AbstractsDevelopment and evaluation of a cd-rom to support student learning in dentist,patient communicationEUROPEAN JOURNAL OF DENTAL EDUCATION, Issue 2 2003J. T. Newton The interaction between dentist and patient is central to the provision of effective healthcare. A multidisciplinary team containing expertise in the social and behavioural sciences, medicine, dentistry, education and information technology was formed to design a CD-ROM to support more traditional teaching and learning in this area. The final version of the program consists of a ,virtual' patient from whom students are asked to take a medical history. The ,patient' interacts with the student and responds to the style of their questioning by changes in anxiety, or degree of annoyance. To date, the CD-ROM has been evaluated in two stages. The first stage was a predictive formative evaluation by the research/development team, and the second stage was a formative evaluation by 144 dental students of the first full prototype. A third stage, to be conducted next year, will involve measuring the longer term impact of the CD-ROM through the assessment of students' abilities to communicate with patients. The evaluation had two components: students made rates of how useful and easy to use they found the program, and students' attitudes towards interacting with patients were evaluated adopting constructs from the theory of Planned Behaviour. Students were positive about the use of the CD-ROM, though they requested some changes in the functionality of the program. Compared to a sample of students who had not used the CD-ROM, the students who used the CD-ROM felt more positive about communicating with their patients, at the end of the course, and expressed stronger intentions to communicate well with patients. We conclude that the CD-ROM we have developed in a useful adjunct to learning in dentist,patient communication. [source] Recolonisation of natural landslides in tropical mountain forests of Southern EcuadorFEDDES REPERTORIUM, Issue 3-4 2004(corresp. author) C. Ohl Dr. The regeneration of the vegetation of natural landslides was studied at Estación Científica San Francisco (ECSF) in a tropical mountain forest area of Southern Ecuador, north of Podocarpus National Park. The study focused on the process of regeneration on natural landslides and the vegetation change along an altitudinal gradient using space-for-time substitution. The most important plant families present on the landslides during the first stages of succession are Gleicheniaceae (Pteridophyta), Melastomataceae, Ericaceae and Orchidaceae. Species of the genus Sticherus (Gleicheniaceae) are dominant, and species composition varies with altitude and soil conditions. Colonisation of landslides is not homogeneous. Zones with bare ground, sparsely vegetated patches and densely covered areas may be present within the same slide. This small scale spatial heterogeneity is often created by local ongoing sliding processes and different distances towards undisturbed areas. Therefore, the duration of the successional process is highly variable. The initial stage of the succession is a community of non vascular plants interspersed with scattered individuals of vascular plants. By means of runner-shoots they form vegetation patches which start growing into each other. The second stage is dominated by Gleicheniaceae (species composition varying in altitude and soil chemistry). In the third stage, bushes and trees colonise, sheltered by the ferns, and a secondary forest develops with pioneer species that are not found in the primary forest vegetation. The common phenomenon of the natural landslides leads to an increase in structural and species diversity on a regional scale. (© 2004 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim) Rekolonisation auf natürlichen Hangrutschungen in tropischen Bergwäldern Südecuadors Im tropischen Bergwald Südecuadors (nördlich des Podocarpus Nationalparks im Gebiet der Estación Científica San Francisco, ECSF) wurden Artenzusammensetzung und Rekolonisationsprozesse früher Sukzessionsstadien entlang eines Höhengradienten auf natürlichen Hangrutschungen untersucht. Besonders Gleicheniaceae, Melastomataceae, Ericaceae und Orchidaceae sind von Bedeutung. Arten der Gattung Sticherus (Gleicheniaceae) sind sehr zahlreich vertreten. Die Artenzusammensetzung wechselt entlang des Höhengradienten und in Abhängigkeit von den Bodenbedingungen. Die mosaikartige Verteilung der Vegetation auf den Rutschungen (gänzlich unbedeckte bis stark überwucherte Zonen) ist auf häufige lokale Nachrutschungen sowie auf unterschiedliche Geschwindigkeiten der Wiederbesiedlung entsprechend der Distanz zu ungestörter Vegetation zurückzuführen. Die Dauer der Sukzession ist daher sehr variabel. Das Initialstadium wird von Moosen und Flechten gebildet. Im weiteren Verlauf führt die überwiegend vegetative Ausbreitung einzelner Gefäßpflanzen zum zweiten Sukzessionsstadium. Dieses ist durch die Dominanz von Gleicheniaceae gekennzeichnet, während im dritten Stadium im Schutze der Farne erste Büsche und Bäume heranwachsen und den Pionierwald bilden. Da diese Arten nicht im Primärwald vertreten sind, kommt es regional zu einer beträchtlichen Erhöhung der Artenzahl und der strukturellen Diversität. [source] Landscape and Coast Development of A Lowland Fjord Margin Following Deglaciation, East GreenlandGEOGRAFISKA ANNALER SERIES A: PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY, Issue 3 2001Louise Hansen The landscapes of western Jameson Land bordering Hall Bredning fjord comprise upper river basins, glacial landscapes, lower river basins and a near-shore zone. The upper river basins are incised into bedrock and display no cover of young sediments whilst the glacial landscapes, located closer to the coast, are dominated by Pleistocene deposits and an irregular topography with hills and ridges. The lower river basins, dissecting the glacial landscapes, are connected to the upper river basins and contain well-defined Holocene delta terraces. The near-shore zone, which includes the present coast, displays a few raised shorelines. Geomorphological observations combined with stratigraphic work and 14C dates provide a chronological framework for the development of landscape and shoreline, as presented by a four-stage reconstruction. The first stage covers the deglaciation of western Jameson Land at the Weichselian-Holocene transition after a collapse of the main fjord glacier in Hall Bredning. The sea inundated the low-lying areas on Jameson Land forming small side-entry fjord basins that possibly follow the track of older valleys. This was followed by a second stage, the paraglacial period, when large meltwater production and sediment transport resulted in a fast infilling of the side-entry fjord basins by deltas. These are now exposed in terraces in the lower river basins at 70,80 m a.s.l. During a third stage, the relaxation period, fluvial activity decreased and the land surface was increasingly occupied by a cover of tundra vegetation. A glacio-isostatic rebound resulted in a relative sea level fall and fluvial incision. During stages two and three the coast was exposed to shallow marine processes that aided the alignment of the coast. Stages one to three presumably lasted for less than 2000 years. During stage four, the stable period, lasting for several thousand years till the present, there were minor adjustments of shoreline and landscape. The four-step reconstruction describes the sedimentary response of a lowland fjord margin to dramatic changes in climate and sea level. The distribution of erosion and sedimentation during this development was mainly controlled by topography. The reconstruction of the latest environmental development of Jameson Land puts new light on Jameson Land's long and complex Quaternary stratigraphic record. The reconstruction may also be used as a model for the interpretation of deposits in similar areas elsewhere. [source] EXPLICATION, EXPLANATION, AND HISTORYHISTORY AND THEORY, Issue 2 2008CARL HAMMER ABSTRACT To date, no satisfactory account of the connection between natural-scientific and historical explanation has been given, and philosophers seem to have largely given up on the problem. This paper is an attempt to resolve this old issue and to sort out and clarify some areas of historical explanation by developing and applying a method that will be called "pragmatic explication" involving the construction of definitions that are justified on pragmatic grounds. Explanations in general can be divided into "dynamic" and "static" explanations, which are those that essentially require relations across time and those that do not, respectively. The problem of assimilating historical explanations concerns dynamic explanation, so a general analysis of dynamic explanation that captures both the structure of natural-scientific and historical explanation is offered. This is done in three stages: In the first stage, pragmatic explication is introduced and compared to other philosophical methods of explication. In the second stage pragmatic explication is used to tie together a series of definitions that are introduced in order to establish an account of explanation. This involves an investigation of the conditions that play the role in historiography that laws and statistical regularities play in the natural sciences. The essay argues that in the natural sciences, as well as in history, the model of explanation presented represents the aims and overarching structure of actual causal explanations offered in those disciplines. In the third stage the system arrived at in the preceding stage is filled in with conditions available to and relevant for historical inquiry. Further, the nature and treatment of causes in history and everyday life are explored and related to the system being proposed. This in turn makes room for a view connecting aspects of historical explanation and what we generally take to be causal relations. [source] Transformations of runoff chemistry in the Arctic tundra, Northwest Territories, CanadaHYDROLOGICAL PROCESSES, Issue 14 2006W. L. Quinton Abstract The transformation of snowmelt water chemical composition during melt, elution and runoff in an Arctic tundra basin is investigated. The chemistry of the water flowing along pathways from the surface of melting snow to the 95·5 ha basin outlet is related to relevant hydrological processes. In so doing, this paper offers physically based explanations for the transformation of major ion concentrations and loads of runoff water associated with snowmelt and rainfall along hydrological pathways to the stream outlet. Late-lying snowdrifts were found to influence the ion chemistry in adjacent reaches of the stream channel greatly. As the initial pulse of ion-rich melt water drained from the snowdrift and was conveyed through hillslope flowpaths, the concentrations of most ions increased, and the duration of the peak ionic pulse lengthened. Over the first 3 m of overland flow, the concentrations of all ions except for NO increased by one to two orders of magnitude, with the largest increase for K+, Ca2+ and Mg2+. This was roughly equivalent to the concentration increase that resulted from percolation of relatively dilute water through 0·25 m of unsaturated soil. The Na+ and Cl, were the dominant ions in snowmelt water, whereas Ca2+ and Mg2+ dominated the hillslope runoff. On slopes below a large melting snowdrift, ion concentrations of melt water flowing in the saturated layer of the soil were very similar to the relatively dilute concentrations found in surface runoff. However, once the snowdrift ablated, ion concentrations of subsurface flow increased above parent melt-water concentrations. Three seasonally characteristic hydrochemical regimes were identified in a stream reach adjacent to late-lying snowdrifts. In the first two stages, the water chemistry in the stream channel strongly resembled the hillslope drainage water. In the third stage, in-stream geochemical processes, including the weathering/ion exchange of Ca2+ and Mg2+, were the main control of streamwater chemistry. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Immunohistochemical study of cytokeratin expression in nevus sebaceousINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF DERMATOLOGY, Issue 4 2010Ichiro Kurokawa MD Background, The histogenesis of nevus sebaceous (NS) is unclear. Methods, To elucidate the histogenesis of NS, cytokeratin (CK) profiles were examined immunohistochemically using 10 anti-keratin antibodies in the three stages of NS. Results, In the first stage, stratified differentiated keratins (CK1 and 10) were reduced, and basal keratin (CK14) was increased in the epidermis and primitive follicular structure (PFS). In the second stage, in addition to reduced CK1 and CK10 expressions and increased CK14 expression, CK17 expression was strongly expressed in the sebaceous ducts in proportion to the development of sebaceous gland. In the third stage, CK14, CK17 and CK19 were expressed in secondary tumors. CK16 was not detected throughout all stages of NS. Conclusion, These results suggest that NS is not hyperproliferative but involves hamartomatous differentiation with undifferentiated keratins. [source] The Increasing Political Power of Immigrants from the Former Soviet Union in Israel: From Passive Citizenship to Active CitizenshipINTERNATIONAL MIGRATION, Issue 1 2003Tamar Horowitz The immigrants in Israel from the Former Soviet Union (FSU) followed a different pattern of political growth than other immigrant groups. Their increased power began on the national level and moved down to the local level, rather than from the periphery toward the centre , the pattern followed by the Oriental Jewish immigrants. We can trace three stages in the development of their political power. The first stage was during the 1992 elections when the immigrants attempted to organize their own list. Though they failed, the results of the election strengthened them because they were given credit for the left's victory, giving them a sense of political effectiveness. The second stage came during the 1996 elections. It was a defining moment for the former Soviet immigrants' political power. In this stage external factors and internal factors reinforced each other. The change in the electoral system made it possible for the immigrants to vote for their community on the one hand and for a national figure on the other, thus resolving their identity dilemma. The local elections in 1998 marked the third stage in their political strength. They found the immigrant community better organized, with an improved understanding of its local interests, the capacity to put forward a strong local leadership, and a stronger link between the immigrant political centre and the local level. [source] Transmission of neozoic Anguillicoloides crassus and established Camallanus lacustris in ruffe Gymnocephalus cernuusJOURNAL OF FISH BIOLOGY, Issue 9 2008J. Unger In the present study, groups of ruffe Gymnocephalus cernuus, reared singly, were exposed to defined numbers of Anguillicoloides crassus or Camallanus lacustris under controlled laboratory conditions. Infection took place orally through feeding G. cernuus with axenically cultured and laboratory infected copepods, in which the parasites had developed to the infective third stage (L3). Mean prevalence (94·3%) and infection probability (38·5%) for the established C. lacustris were significantly higher than for the neozoic A. crassus (14·3 and 1·0%, respectively). Peripheral blood leukocytes were significantly increased in infected fish, apparently independent of exposure level, parasite species or intensity of infection compared to the controls. In infected fish, the gonado-somatic index (IG) was significantly reduced by c. 50%, and the spleen-somatic index (IS) was significantly increased compared to controls. Both parasites raised similar physiological and immunological responses in G. cernuus, which was able to effectively reject the neozoic A. crassus. [source] Oral misoprostol for the prevention of primary post-partum hemorrhage during third stage of laborJOURNAL OF OBSTETRICS AND GYNAECOLOGY RESEARCH (ELECTRONIC), Issue 6 2007Christopher A. Enakpene Abstract Aim:, To assess the effectiveness of oral misoprostol compared with methylergometrine in the prevention of primary post-partum hemorrhage during the third stage of labor. Methods:, This was a randomized controlled trial of 864 singleton low-risk pregnant women. The outcomes were total blood loss, duration of the third stage of labor and peripartal change in hematocrit. Comparisons were by the ,2 -test and Student t -test. Relative risks were calculated for side-effects profile. A P -value of less than 0.05 was statistically significant. Results:, The biodata of all the participants were similar. The mean blood loss for the misoprostol and methylergometrine groups was 191.6 ± 134.5 mL and 246.0 ± 175.5 mL, respectively (95% CI: ,79.3 to ,39.5 mL). The mean duration of the third stage of labor was 19.6 ± 2.4 min and 9.4 ± 3.3 min in the misoprostol and methylergometrine groups, respectively (95% CI: 9.82,10.58 min). More subjects had blood loss >500 mL, 42 (9.7%) versus 6 (1.4%), and peripartal hematocrit change greater than 10%, 38 (8.8%) versus 5 (1.2%), in the methylergometrine group than in the misoprostol group, respectively. Also, more subjects received additional oxytocic in the methylergometrine group, compared to the misoprostol group (80 [18.5%] versus 33 [7.6%] patients, respectively). Conclusions:, Orally administered misoprostol was more effective in reducing blood loss during the third stage of labor than intramuscular methylergometrine. However, there were more subjects in the misoprostol group in whom duration of the third stage of labor was greater than 15 min and who also had manual placental removal than in the methylergometrine group. [source] Mullitization from a Multicomponent Oxide System in the Temperature Range 1200°,1500°CJOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN CERAMIC SOCIETY, Issue 5 2000Hyunho Shin Mullitization from a multicomponent oxide system (alumina,kaolin,quartz,feldspar,talc) was analyzed as a function of firing temperature from 1200° to 1500°C based on quantitative XRD and SEM. In the present study, whisker forms of mullite grew in three characteristic stages. In the first stage (1255°,1295°C), mullitization (nucleation) took place from glass via alumina dissolution into glass under the condition of no apparent change in glass content. The reaction in this stage was rate-limited by alumina dissolution into glass. Extensive mullitization occurred in the 1295°,1335°C range (second stage) directly from glass. Unlike in the sol,gel-based binary system, alumina dissolution into glass was not shown to be the rate-controlling mechanism during this extensive mullitization stage. Finally (>1335°C, third stage), the reaction was saturated, accompanied by an apparent decrease in glass consumption rate. The impingement of mullite whiskers by other whiskers and crystals was speculated to cause mullite to grow in the transverse direction, yielding a diminished reaction rate in the final stage. Mullitization stages in this work were compared with those of the alumina,silica binary system shown in the literature. [source] A 60-GHz low-noise amplifier for 60-GHz dual-conversion receiverMICROWAVE AND OPTICAL TECHNOLOGY LETTERS, Issue 4 2009Yo-Sheng Lin Abstract A 60-GHz-band low-noise amplifier (LNA) using bulk 65-nm CMOS technology is reported. To achieve sufficient gain, this LNA is composed of three cascade common-source stages followed by a cascode output stage. Current-sharing technique is adopted in the second and third stage to reduce power dissipation. The output of each stage is loaded with an LC parallel resonance circuit to maximize the gain over the 57,64-GHz-band of interest. This LNA achieved input return loss (S11) of ,10.6 to ,37.4 dB, voltage gain (AV) of 10.7,18.8 dB, reverse isolation (S12) of ,43.5 to ,48.1 dB, input referred 1-dB compression point (P1dB-in) of ,16.2 to ,20.8 dBm, and input third-order intermodulation point (IIP3) of ,4 to ,7.5 dBm over the 57,64-GHz-band of interest. It consumed only a small DC power of 21.4 mW. In addition, the chip area was only 0.849 × 0.56 mm2, including all the test pads and bypass capacitors. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 51: 885,891, 2009; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/mop.24200 [source] A 5.79-dB NF, 30-GHz-band monolithic LNA with 10 mW power consumption in standard 0.18-,m CMOS technologyMICROWAVE AND OPTICAL TECHNOLOGY LETTERS, Issue 4 2009Chi-Chen Chen Abstract A 30-GHz (Ka-band) low-noise amplifier (LNA) with 10 mW power consumption (PDC) using standard 0.18-,m CMOS technology was designed and implemented. To achieve sufficient gain, this LNA was composed of three cascade common-source stages, and a series peaking inductor (Lg3) was added to the input terminal of the third stage to boost the peak gain (S21-max) from 11.7 (at 28.8 GHz) to 14.5 (at 28 GHz), i.e., 23.9% (simulation). Shunt RC feedback was adopted in the third stage for achieving good output impedance matching. At 30 GHz, this LNA achieved excellent input return loss (S11) of ,19.5 dB, output return loss (S22) of ,23.8 dB, forward gain (S21) of 11.1 dB, reverse isolation (S12) of ,49.2 dB, and noise figure of 5.79 dB. The corresponding gain/PDC was 1.11, which is better than those of the CMOS LNAs around 30 GHz reported in the literature. The measured input-referred 1-dB compression point (P1dB-in) and input third-order intermodulation point (IIP3) were ,10.9 and ,2 dBm, respectively. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 51: 933,937, 2009; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/mop.24250 [source] Cytokine responses in immunized and non-immunized calves after Ostertagia ostertagi infectionPARASITE IMMUNOLOGY, Issue 9 2005E. CLAEREBOUT SUMMARY The objective of this study was to evaluate abomasal cytokine responses in helminth-naive calves and calves vaccinated with protective antigen fractions from Ostertagia ostertagi after an experimental challenge infection with infective third stage (L3) larvae. Abomasal lymph nodes and/or abomasal mucosa were collected and messenger RNA for the Th1 cytokines (IFN-,, IL-2, IL-12 p40 subunit), the Th2 cytokines (IL-4, IL-5, IL-6, IL-10, IL-13, IL-15) and the Th3/Tr cytokine TGF-, was quantified by real-time RT-PCR. Vaccination had no effect on cytokine profiles in either the abomasal lymph nodes or the abomasal mucosa. However, following infection all calves showed a significant decrease in the Th1 cytokines, IFN-, and IL-12 p40, and a significant increase in the Th2 cytokines, IL-4, IL-5, IL-10 and IL-13 in the lymph nodes, compared to non-infected calves. No correlation between the Th2 response and protection induced by vaccination could be demonstrated. In contrast, a Th2 pattern was not observed in the mucosa of the infected calves, which exhibited an increase in IFN-, as well as in the Th2 cytokines IL-4, IL-5 and IL-10 mRNA. No significant association was observed in the abomasal mucosa between any examined cytokine mRNA level and immune effector responses such as parasite-specific antibodies or the number of mucosal mast cells or eosinophils. [source] ,Insistence on recovery' as a positive prognostic factor in Japanese stroke patientsPSYCHIATRY AND CLINICAL NEUROSCIENCES, Issue 4 2008Seiji Hama Aim:, The present study used two-step analyses to examine the effect of acceptance of disability or ,insistence on recovery' in Japanese stroke patients: first on their functional improvement and second, on their psychological symptoms. Methods:, Disability was assessed using functional independence measurements (FIM), examining the stage of acceptance of disability by observation using Fink's theory (from shock to defensive retreat, acknowledgement, and acceptance/change stage), and estimation of insistence on recovery (on a scale of 1,4) by observation. The differences over time and the effects on the improvement in their FIM were then assessed. Depression was measured using the Zung Self-rating Depression Scale (SDS); apathy was measured using the Apathy Scale (AS), and the correlation with the acceptance stage or insistence on recovery was analyzed. Results:, The acceptance stage and functional improvement progressed significantly, but insistence on recovery did not change significantly during hospitalization. Multiple regression indicated that the insistence on recovery score (but not the acceptance stage) was a good predictor of the degree of improvement in FIM (FIM gain per week) in the elderly group. Post-hoc testing showed that the SDS or AS score decreased from the first stage to the fourth stage (but increased at the third stage) of acceptance; whereas for insistence on recovery score, the SDS and AS scores decreased as insistence on recovery score changed from 1 to 3, and then increased as insistence on recovery score changed from 3 to 4. Conclusions:, The appropriate level of insistence on recovery reduced depression and apathy, resulting in enhanced improvement of disability after a stroke in elderly stroke patients. [source] ASSESSING THE PERFORMANCE OF THE PUBLIC SECTORANNALS OF PUBLIC AND COOPERATIVE ECONOMICS, Issue 1 2009Pierre Pestieau ABSTRACT,:,One is used to hearing harsh statements about inefficient public services. It is not surprising to see public sector performance questioned. What is surprising is that what is meant by performance, and how it is measured, does not seem to matter much to either the critics or the advocates of the public sector. The purpose of this paper is to suggest a definition, and a way to measure the performance of the public sector or rather of its main components. Our approach is explicitly rooted in the principles of welfare and production economics. We will proceed in four stages. First of all we present what we call the ,performance approach' to the public sector. This concept rests on the principal-agent relation that links a principal, i.e., the State, and an agent, i.e., the person in charge of the public sector unit, and on the definition of performance as the extent to which the agent fulfils the objectives assigned by the principal. The performance is then measured by using the notion of productive efficiency and the ,best practice' frontier technique. In the second stage we move to the issue of measuring the performance of some canonical components of the public sector (education, health care and railways transport), assuming that there is no constraint as to data availability. The idea is to disentangle the usual confusion between conceptual and data problems. In the third stage, we move to real world data problems. The question is then given the available data, whether it makes sense to assess and measure the performance of such public sector activities. The final stage is devoted to explaining performance or rather lack thereof. This exercise has clear implications for public policy. Finally we argue that when the scope is not components but the entirety of the public sector, one should restrict the performance analysis to outcomes and not relate them to inputs. [source] The evolving management of the third stage of labourBJOG : AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF OBSTETRICS & GYNAECOLOGY, Issue 2009AM Gülmezoglu The immediate postpartum period is a risky period because life-threatening events can occur unexpectedly, and lead to death if they are not managed promptly. Appropriate management of the third stage of labour can reduce severe postpartum haemorrhage and death. This commentary summarizes how various management techniques of third stage of labour evolved to date and the evidence base for current international recommendations. [source] Policies for manual removal of placenta at vaginal delivery: variations in timing within EuropeBJOG : AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF OBSTETRICS & GYNAECOLOGY, Issue 1 2009C Deneux-Tharaux The length of the third stage of labour is a potential modifiable risk factor for postpartum haemorrhage at vaginal delivery, but there is no definitive evidence that early intervention to remove the placenta manually will prevent postpartum haemorrhage. We report a wide variation between countries in Europe in policies about the timing of manual removal of placenta. Two groups of countries with clearly divergent policies were identified. A randomised controlled trial is needed to provide definitive evidence on the risks and benefits of manual removal of placenta at different timings after vaginal delivery. [source] The Civil Society,State Relationship in Contemporary Discourse: A Complementary Account from Giddens' Perspective1BRITISH JOURNAL OF POLITICS & INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS, Issue 2 2006Karel B. Müller The article attempts to offer a framework for understanding the interdependence between modern civil society and the democratic state in its complexity. The author seeks inspiration mainly from two very significant sources,in Toqueville's social theory and in Giddens' theory of reflexive modernity. In the first stage the author summarises basic arguments in empirical discussions on the civil society concept. In the second stage he offers the overview of a robust normative perspective of the concept and, in the third stage, he tries to outline the complex interpretative framework for an empirical analysis of state,civil society relations. The author follows the ambition of overcoming to a certain extent the crucial sociological paradox between the macro- and micro- sociological approaches and considering both the functional-structural perspective and the empirical point of view of the civil society concept. [source] Tibial Bone KPro technique and long term resultsACTA OPHTHALMOLOGICA, Issue 2009J TEMPRANO The operation is performed in three stages. The first stage consists in preparing the eye to receive and maintain the keratoprosthesis. For this purpose the anterior surface of the eye is cleaned and regularized, eliminating fibrous tissue and the entire epithelium. Subsequently we obtain a 2 x 3 cm graft of buccal mucosa from the inferior lip comprising the entire mucosal and submucosal thickness. The graft is sutured to cover the anterior pole of the eye to promote revitalization. The second stage consists in preparing the keratoprosthesis. A 10 mm disk of tibial bone from the superior part of the medial face of the tibia is obtained using a crown drill. The posterior part of the piece of bone obtained is then cut with a chisel to obtain a thickness of 3 mm. Subsequently the obtained disk of bone is cleaned and a central opening of 3.5 mm is performed to introduce in this opening a PMMA optic cylinder, 9 mm in length, 3.5 mm in diameter in its narrow portion, 4 mm in the wider portion. Fixation is achieved with cyanoacrylate. This is left to dry and then it is introduced into a palpebral pocket of the inferior lid of the patient. The pocket is closed with sutures and the piece is left in place for three months. For the third stage we remove the keratoprosthesis device from the palpebral pocket and if it is found to be in perfect conditions we dissect the buccal mucous membrane which is covering the cornea and perform a central window with a 4.5 mm trephine to remove the transparent or cataractous lens and perform a total iridectomy. The posterior portion of the optic cylinder is introduced into the anterior chamber. The prosthesis is sutured to the anterior pole of the eye with non-absorbible sutures. Finally the buccal mucosa is replaced, covering the entire area. One point of blepharorraphy is applied. Long term results. We started to use this technique in 1988 and after 21 years of experience we have 80% of anatomically perfect results. In 20 % of the cases the prosthesis extruded due to total or partial resorption of the bone. It has to be emphasized that these were cases without any other possibility of treatment. We did 143 cases during these years. The longest follow-up of a prosthesis "in situ" is 19 years. The earliest extrusion was after one year. The complications are the same as for OOKP (glaucoma, retinal detachment, vitritis, extrusion) The functional results depend on the conditions of the retina and the optic nerve. There were many cases with 20/20 vision. The mean value of retention of the prosthesis is 15 years. [source] Thermal Behavior and Non-isothermal Decomposition Reaction Kinetics of NEPE Propellant with Ammonium DinitramideCHINESE JOURNAL OF CHEMISTRY, Issue 5 2010Weiqiang Pang Abstract Thermal decomposition behavior and non-isothermal decomposition reaction kinetics of nitrate ester plasticized polyether NEPE propellant containing ammonium dinitramide (ADN), which is one of the most important high energetic materials, were investigated by DSC, TG and DTG at 0.1 MPa. The results show that there are four exothermic peaks on DTG curves and four mass loss stages on TG curves at a heating rate of 2.5 K·min,1 under 0.1 MPa, and nitric ester evaporates and decomposes in the first stage, ADN decomposes in the second stage, nitrocellulose and cyclotrimethylenetrinitramine (RDX) decompose in the third stage, and ammonium perchlorate decomposes in the fourth stage. It was also found that the thermal decomposition processes of the NEPE propellant with ADN mainly have two mass loss stages with an increase in the heating rate, that is the result of the decomposition heats of the first two processes overlap each other and the mass content of ammonium perchlorate is very little which is not displayed in the fourth stage at the heating rate of 5, 10, and 20 K·min,1 probably. It was to be found that the exothermal peak temperatures increased with an increase in the heating rate. The reaction mechanism was random nucleation and then growth, and the process can be classified as chemical reaction. The kinetic equations of the main exothermal decomposition reaction can be expressed as: d,/dt=1012.77(3/2)(1,,)[,ln(1,,)]1/3 e,1.723×104/T. The critical temperatures of the thermal explosion (Tbe and Tbp) obtained from the onset temperature (Te) and the peak temperature (Tp) on the condition of ,,0 are 461.41 and 458.02 K, respectively. Activation entropy (,S,), activation enthalpy (,H,), and Gibbs free energy (,G,) of the decomposition reaction are ,7.02 J·mol,1·K,1, 126.19 kJ·mol,1, and 129.31 kJ·mol,1, respectively. [source] Fault tolerance in Clos,Knockout multicast ATM switchINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS, Issue 9 2002K. S. Chan Abstract In this paper, we propose a new architecture for multicast ATM switches with fault tolerant capability based on the Clos,Knockout switch. In the new architecture, each stage has one more redundant switch module. If one switch module is faulty, the redundant module would replace the faulty one. On the other hand, under the fault-free condition, the redundant modules in the second and third stages will provide additional alternative internal paths, and hence improve the performance. The performance analysis shows that the cell loss probability is lower than the original architecture when all modules are fault free, and the reliability of the original architecture is improved. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] | |||||||||||||||||||