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Very Significant Differences (very + significant_difference)
Selected AbstractsThrombocytopenia: An important indicator for the application of partial exchange transfusion in polycythemic newborn infants?PEDIATRICS INTERNATIONAL, Issue 4 2000Betül Acunas Abstract Background: The conventional therapeutic approach in polycythemic newborn infants is to apply partial exchange transfusion (PET) when hematocrit value exceeds 70% or when the infant develops symptoms with the exception of plethora. Methods: In order to investigate the possibility of using platelet count as a simple criterion implying the PET requirement, we retrospectively reviewed polycythemic newborn infants with respect to the relationship between thrombocytopenia and severity of symptoms, and the association of platelet count and the PET performance. Thrombocytopenia has been defined as a platelet count <150 000/,L. Results: We studied 18 polycythemic infants with thrombocytopenia (group 1, 35%) and 34 without it (group 2, 65%). Perinatal asphyxia, gestational toxemia and intrauterine growth retardation, which are the three common causative factors leading to polycythemia, were not significantly different in the two groups. No correlation existed between platelet counts and hematocrit values within each group, but there was a very significant difference between the two groups in terms of severity of clinical findings (P<0001); no difference in terms of moderate findings and moderately significant difference with respect to mild symptoms and asymptomatic situation (P<0.05). Partial exchange transfusion was performed in all patients in group 1, while only 12 infants in group 2 (32%) received transfusion and the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05). A significant rise in platelet counts has been achieved only in group 1, while hematocrit values decreased significantly in both groups following PET. Conclusions: This study emphasizes the relationship between thrombocytopenia and the severity of clinical findings and PET performance rate in polycythaemic newborn infants, implying that thrombocytopenia is a possible marker of hyperviscosity, the results of which warrant further investigation. [source] Corporate social reporting for different audiences: the case of multinational corporations in SpainCORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY AND ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT, Issue 5 2010Ladislao Luna Sotorrío Abstract The objective of this research is twofold: first, to analyze descriptively the type of social information disclosed and the degree to which multinational corporations (MNCs) disclose it, and second, to empirically test whether there are differences in the reporting policy of this type of company according to the audience (global or local), and to discover the factors that explain these differences. A sample of 26 non-Spanish MNCs operating in Spain was selected from the Spanish Merco reputation index in the period 2004,2007. The results show that there are very significant differences in the degree of disclosure and the type of social information reported by MNCs for each audience, and that a company's visibility and resources, in this order, are relevant factors in explaining these differences. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment. [source] Educating doctors in France and Canada: are the differences based on evidence or history?MEDICAL EDUCATION, Issue 12 2005Christophe Segouin Background, Despite many economic and political similarities between France and Canada, particularly in their health care systems, there are very significant differences in their systems of medical education. Aim, This work aims to highlight the sociohistorical values of each country that explain these differences by comparing the medical education systems of the 2 countries, including medical schools (teachers, funding), key processes (curriculum, student selection) and quality assurance methods. Discussion, In France, means and processes are standardised and defined at a national level. France has almost no national system of assessment of medical schools nor of students. By contrast, Canada leaves medical schools free to design their medical curricula, select students and appoint teachers using their own criteria. In order to guarantee the homogeneity and quality of graduates, the medical profession in Canada has created independent national organisations that are responsible for accreditation and certification processes. Each country has a set of founding values that partly explain the choices that have been made. In France these include equality and the right to receive free education. In Canada, these include equity, affirmative action and market-driven tuition. Conclusion, Many of the differences are more easily explained by history and national values than by a robust base of evidence. There is a constant tension between a vision of education promoted by medical educators, based on contextually non-specific ideas such as those found in the medical education literature, and the sociopolitical foundations and forces that are unique to each country. If we fail to consider such variables, we are likely to encounter significant resistance when implementing reforms. [source] Destabilisation of homogeneous bubbly flow in an annular gap bubble columnTHE CANADIAN JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING, Issue 4 2010Fahd M. Al-Oufi Abstract Experimental results are presented to show that there are very significant differences in the mean gas void fractions measured in an open tube and a annular gap bubble column, when operated at the same gas superficial velocity, using a porous sparger. Measurements were carried out in a vertical 0.102,m internal diameter column, with a range of concentric inner tubes to form an annular gap, giving diameter ratios from 0.25 to 0.69; gas superficial velocities in the range 0.014,0.200,m/s were investigated. The mean gas void fraction decreases with increasing ratio of the inner to outer diameter of the annular gap column and the transition to heterogeneous flow occurs at lower gas superficial velocities and lower void fractions. Two reasons are proposed and validated by experimental investigations: (1) the presence of the inner tube causes large bubbles to form near the sparger, which destabilise the homogeneous bubbly flow and reduce the mean void fraction; this was confirmed by deliberately injecting large bubbles into a homogeneous dispersion of smaller bubbles, and (2) the shape of the void fraction profiles changes with gap geometry and this affects the distribution parameter in the drift-flux model. Both of these effects serve to reduce the mean gas void fraction in an annular gap bubble column compared to an open tube at the same gas superficial velocity. Des résultats expérimentaux sont présentés pour montrer qu'il existe de très grandes différences dans les fractions de vide gazeux moyennes mesurées dans un tube ouvert et une colonne à bulles à espace annulaire, lorsqu'ils sont utilisés à la même vitesse superficielle de gaz, au moyen d'un aérateur poreux. On a effectué des mesures dans une colonne verticale avec un diamètre interne de 0.102,m, avec une portée de tubes internes concentriques pour former un espace annulaire, procurant des rapports de diamètre de 0.25 à 0.69; des vitesses superficielles de gaz de 0.014 à 0.200,m/s ont été étudiées. La fraction de vide gazeux moyenne diminue avec le rapport croissant du diamètre interne à externe de la colonne à espace annulaire et la transition à la circulation hétérogène se produit à des vitesses superficielles de gaz et fractions de vide plus basses. Deux raisons sont proposées et validés par les vérifications expérimentales: (1) la présence du tube interne provoque la formation de grandes bulles près de l'aérateur, ce qui déstabilize l'écoulement à bulles homogène et réduit la fraction de vide moyenne; cet état a été confirmé en injectant délibérément de grandes bulles dans une dispersion homogène de plus petites bulles et, (2) la forme des profils de fraction de vide change avec la géométrie de l'espace qui les sépare, ce qui a des conséquences sur le paramètre de distribution du modèle à flux de dérive. Ces deux effets servent à réduire la fraction de vide gazeux moyenne dans une colonne à bulles à espace annulaire, en comparaison avec un tube ouvert à la même vitesse superficielle de gaz. [source] Habitat complexity modulates phenotype expression through developmental plasticity in the threespine sticklebackBIOLOGICAL JOURNAL OF THE LINNEAN SOCIETY, Issue 2 2010MÓNICA V. GARDUÑO-PAZ The expression of alternative phenotypes within a single species is often considered to be the result of ontogenetic processes and specifically phenotypic plasticity responses to exposure to different environmental conditions. In fish, which have been widely used to test such questions, exposure to different diets is the most frequently described initiator of plastic responses. The effect of physical characteristics of the habitat on fish morphology has not been fully explored. In the present study, a clear effect of habitat complexity on fish shape was found. Threespine sticklebacks were exposed to two different habitat treatments, simple and complex, over a 17-week period. The exposure to the habitats resulted in the expression of very significant differences in body and head morphologies and spine position, showing that the physical environment can modulate the expression of traits through phenotypic plasticity during ontogeny. © 2010 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2010, 100, 407,413. [source] Potent Opioid Peptide Agonists Containing 4,-[N -((4,-phenyl)-phenethyl)carboxamido]phenylalanine (Bcp) in Place of TyrCHEMICAL BIOLOGY & DRUG DESIGN, Issue 5 2008Grazyna Weltrowska Analogues of the opioid peptides H-Tyr-c[d -Cys-Gly-Phe(pNO2)- d -Cys]NH2 (non-selective), H-Tyr- d -Arg-Phe-Lys-NH2 (,-selective) and dynorphin A(1-11)-NH2 (,-selective) containing 4,-[N -((4,-phenyl)-phenethyl)carboxamido]phenylanine (Bcp) in place of Tyr1 were synthesized. All three Bcp1 -opioid peptides retained high , opioid receptor binding affinity, but showed very significant differences in the opioid receptor selectivity profiles as compared with the corresponding Tyr1 -containing parent peptides. The cyclic peptide H-Bcp-c[d -Cys-Gly-Phe(pNO2)- d -Cys]NH2 turned out to be an extraordinarily potent, ,-selective opioid agonist, whereas the Bcp1 -analogue of dynorphin A(1-11)-NH2 displayed partial agonism at the , receptor. The obtained results suggest that the large biphenylethyl substituent contained in these compounds may engage in a hydrophobic interaction with a receptor subsite and thereby may play a role in the ligand's ability to induce a specific receptor conformation or to bind to a distinct receptor conformation in a situation of conformational receptor heterogeneity. [source] | |||||||||||||