Essential Difference (essential + difference)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


Unfounded attribution of the "half-life" index-number of literature obsolescence to Burton and Kebler: A literature science study

JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR INFORMATION SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, Issue 13 2002
Endre Száva-Kováts
The term and notion of the "half-life" index-number of literature obsolescence, as well as their borrowing from nuclear physics and adaptation into the literature of literature obsolescence, have up to now been attributed to the librarian Burton and the physicist Kebler and to their famous 1960 journal article. In this article it is documented that (1) Burton and Kebler in their 1960 article were not the first to use the term literature "half-life"; (2) it was not Burton and Kebler who borrowed the conception of "half-life" from nuclear physics and not them who adapted it into the literature of literature obsolescence; (3) in their 1960 article Burton and Kebler first made critical and later ambiguous statements, and finally attributed only "some validity" to the idea of literature half-life; (4) Burton and Kebler stated and produced an argument to show that there is an essential difference between the nature of radioactive "half-life" and that of literature "half-life", and they therefore disapproved the use of the latter term; (5) in his next article published in 1961 and entirely left out of consideration, Burton proposed the term "median age" of statistical nature in place of the term literature "half-life". For all these reasons it is unfounded and erroneous to continue to attribute the term and conception of literature "half-life" to Burton and Kebler. [source]


Showing and telling: The Difference that makes a Difference

LITERACY, Issue 3 2001
David Lewis
In this article I attempt to clarify an essential difference between the ways in which pictures and words convey meaning. Despite the fact that the distinction between showing and telling is widely understood and clearly marked in ordinary language, it is often ignored when writers and researchers provide accounts of how children's picturebooks work. As a result, such accounts are often unrealistic, providing distorted images of picturebook text. I briefly examine one such attempt to differentiate and characterise various types of picturebook and then conclude by showing how Anthony Browne exploits the distinction between showing and telling to create the atmosphere of uncertainty and mystery in his classic book Gorilla. [source]


Potential fluctuations in disordered semiconductors measured by transport and optical methods

PHYSICA STATUS SOLIDI (C) - CURRENT TOPICS IN SOLID STATE PHYSICS, Issue 1 2004
P. Bozsoki
Abstract From the recent analysis of the potential fluctuations in disordered semiconductors on the basis of optical and transport measurements [1] it was concluded that these two different kinds of phenomena evidence extremely different energy scales of the random potential in the same sample. We resolve this puzzle using for the analysis of experimental data the well-known theories of transport and optical absorption in a disordered system with long-range potential fluctuations, caused by charged impurities [2, 3]. The key point in our consideration is the essential difference between the density of states caused by the long-range fluctuations and the shape of the absorption coefficient. The latter is known to depend essentially not only on the fluctuation probability but also on the tunnelling efficiency of the optically excited electrons in the potential relief provided by the fluctuations [2]. (© 2003 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim) [source]


Wy are the transition paths in China and Eastern Europe different?

THE ECONOMICS OF TRANSITION, Issue 1 2003
A political economy perspective
Abstract The purpose of this paper is to provide a framework linking communist regime collapse and privatizing economic reforms. The framework permits us to explain why certain communist regimes lost their monopoly of political power while others have not. We show that the essential difference between those communist regimes which survived economic reform and those which did not, lies in the nature of the privatization reform introduced by the communist leadership. The privatization that we call ,Market-Leninist', was implemented in China and Vietnam while the second type of privatization, termed ,Embezzlement for a rainy day' was the type of privatization implemented in Eastern Europe. We show, in the context of a game between rulers and the population, that the size of the repressive apparatus is the key element determining the type of privatization chosen by the rulers. JEL classification: P2, P3. [source]


Role of transverse bands in maintaining paranodal structure and axolemmal domain organization in myelinated nerve fibers: Effect on longevity in dysmyelinated mutant mice

THE JOURNAL OF COMPARATIVE NEUROLOGY, Issue 14 2010
Amanda J. Mierzwa
Abstract The consequences of dysmyelination are poorly understood and vary widely in severity. The shaking mouse, a quaking allele, is characterized by severe central nervous system (CNS) dysmyelination and demyelination, a conspicuous action tremor, and seizures in ,25% of animals, but with normal muscle strength and a normal lifespan. In this study we compare this mutant with other dysmyelinated mutants including the ceramide sulfotransferase deficient (CST,/,) mouse, which are more severely affected behaviorally, to determine what might underlie the differences between them with respect to behavior and longevity. Examination of the paranodal junctional region of CNS myelinated fibers shows that "transverse bands," a component of the junction, are present in nearly all shaking paranodes but in only a minority of CST,/, paranodes. The number of terminal loops that have transverse bands within a paranode and the number of transverse bands per unit length are only moderately reduced in the shaking mutant, compared with controls, but markedly reduced in CST,/, mice. Immunofluorescence studies also show that although the nodes of the shaking mutant are somewhat longer than normal, Na+ and K+ channels remain separated, distinguishing this mutant from CST,/, mice and others that lack transverse bands. We conclude that the essential difference between the shaking mutant and others more severely affected is the presence of transverse bands, which serve to stabilize paranodal structure over time as well as the organization of the axolemmal domains, and that differences in the prevalence of transverse bands underlie the marked differences in progressive neurological impairment and longevity among dysmyelinated mouse mutants. J. Comp. Neurol. 518:2841,2853, 2010. © 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]


Raman Spectroscopy of Ferroelectric Thin Films and Superlattices

JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN CERAMIC SOCIETY, Issue 6 2008
Dmitri A. Tenne
Recent results of Raman spectroscopy studies of lattice dynamics and phase transitions in ferroelectric thin films and superlattices are reviewed. Raman studies of SrTiO3, BaTiO3, and BaxSr1,xTiO3 thin films in comparison with corresponding single crystals are presented; essential differences in the lattice dynamics behavior of thin films and single crystals are discussed. Application of ultraviolet Raman spectroscopy for studies of nanoscale ferroelectric heterostructures, such as BaTiO3/SrTiO3 superlattices, is demonstrated. [source]


If you play well they will come,and vice versa: bidirectional causality in major-league baseball

MANAGERIAL AND DECISION ECONOMICS, Issue 2 2007
Ira Horowitz
The Granger-causality test is applied to the annual attendance and win-percentage data for 29 major-league teams. It is shown that bidirectional causality exists for these teams and that there are some essential differences between the original 10 of 16 franchises that comprised the majors in 1903 and the six that relocated between 1953 and 1961. Some differences and some similarities are also seen in the parameter estimates for both blocs of teams, the relocated teams, and seven long-lived expansion franchises. Finally, the parameter estimates are manipulated to yield noise-free equilibrium estimates for both attendance and performance. In tandem, these two sets of estimates provide fodder for speculation as to the futures of each of the extant 23 franchises considered here. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


La Tecnología y Las Monjitas:

MEDICAL ANTHROPOLOGY QUARTERLY, Issue 3 2009
Constellations of Authoritative Knowledge at a Religious Birthing Center in South Texas
In this article, I contrast conceptualizations of authoritative knowledge in pregnancy and birth between U.S. midwives and their Mexican immigrant clients at a religious birthing center in south Texas. Although the two groups share certain orientations to pregnancy management, essential differences in prenatal care and birth epistemologies underscore distinct social and economic positions. I use narrative data to document and explain these differences, which throw into relief the hierarchies of identity and need that structure immigrant women's reproductive experiences. Unveiling the different epistemologies can also help to explain sometimes radically divergent ideas that have impacted the very survivability of the birthing center. By focusing on Mexican immigrant women's reproductive decision making in an alternative birthing center, this analysis responds to feminists' call to look to the margins to understand the diversity of women's responses to what Rapp and Ginsburg have called "stratified reproduction." [source]


Unfavorable lipid profiles in mild obesity with excess body fat percentage

PEDIATRICS INTERNATIONAL, Issue 1 2000
Akiho Tamura
Abstract Background: The aim of the present study was to investigate the usefulness of subclassifications of overweight children using the body fat percentage (Fat%) to predict the serum lipid profile. Methods: School children (431, 236 boys and 195 girls) aged 9,12 years were divided into three obesity groups (non-, mild and advanced obesity) and were further divided into two subgroups according to the Fat% measured by bioelectrical impedance analysis. The mean fasting serum lipid levels were also evaluated. Results: In the non-obesity and the advanced obesity groups, the Fat%-based subclassification demonstrated no essential differences in lipid profiles or in the prevalence of hyperlipidemia between the two subgroups. However, in the mild obesity group, the levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and triglyceride and the atherogenic index were significantly higher and the high-density lipoprotein cholesterol level was significantly lower in the adipositic subgroup (Fat%, age/sex-specific cut-off value) than in the non-adipositic subgroup. Multiple comparison of lipid levels among all six categories of children indicated that the adipositic subgroup of mild obesity had no advantage over the advanced obesity group with respect to the atherogenic potential and that the non-adipositic subgroup of mild obesity showed no additional risks compared to the non-obesity group. Moreover, the prevalence of hyperlipidemia in the adipositic subgroup of mild obesity (50.0%) was significantly different from that in its non-adipositic counterpart (13.3%) and was equivalent to that in the advanced obesity group. Conclusions: These results suggest that Fat% evaluation is useful to divide mildly obese children into two distinct subtypes based on serum lipid profiles and that the excess Fat% in mildly obese school children is a predictor of atherogenesis. [source]


Antigenic as Well as Nonantigenic Stimuli Induce Similar Middle Ear Responses in the Rat,

THE LARYNGOSCOPE, Issue 2 2003
Edith L. G. M. Tonnaer MSc
Abstract Objectives/Hypothesis The observation that during otitis media many different types of micro-organisms have been cultured from effusions indicate that, once present in the middle ear cavity, most types of micro-organisms are able to trigger an inflammatory reaction leading to otitis media. The present study was designed to determine the middle ear response after injection of different substances into the middle ear cavity. Study Design To determine whether and to what extent an inflammatory response of the middle ear depends on the entering agent, the response in the tympanic cavity was studied by otomicroscopy and histological examination after inoculation of various substances. Methods Lewis rats were inoculated in transtympanic fashion either with live or heat-killed bacteria (pathogenic and nonpathogenic), Keyhole limpet hemocyanin, active charcoal, or saline. The mucosal response of the challenged middle ears was studied histologically. Results Irrespective of the inoculated substance, no essential differences in the mucosal response were found. The intensity of the inflammatory response was greater when live bacteria were inoculated. Conclusions The present study demonstrates that any substance reaching the middle ear cavity is likely to induce otitis media. These observations emphasize the role of the eustachian tube as "porte d'entrée" in the pathogenesis of this disorder. Determination of specific aspects of the eustachian tube involved in protection or in facilitating bacterial translocation will be important for the understanding of the pathogenesis of otitis media and the subsequent development of new therapeutic strategies. In addition, elucidation of bacterial factors involved in the process of colonization and translocation will be of equal importance. [source]