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Evolving Patterns (evolving + pattern)
Selected AbstractsEvolving Patterns: Correlated Systems of InteractionARCHITECTURAL DESIGN, Issue 6 2009Theodore Spyropoulos Abstract Over the last four decades, the onset of computation has enabled architects and designers to employ generative patterns in their exploration of emergent social, material and spatial systems. Theodore Spyropoulos provides an overview of the field and discusses how it has been developed by the Design Research Lab (DRL) at the Architectural Association into an ,Adaptive Ecologies' agenda. In the context of parametric urbanism, the DRL has explored models of living through behavioural patterns found in nature, examining the role of the singular and the collective. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Evolving patterns of tobacco use in northern SwedenJOURNAL OF INTERNAL MEDICINE, Issue 6 2003B. Rodu Abstract., Rodu B, Stegmayr B, Nasic S, Cole P, Asplund K (University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA; Umeå Hospital, Umeå, Sweden). Evolving patterns of tobacco use in northern Sweden. J Intern Med 2003; 253: 660,665. Background and objectives., Cross-sectional data from northern Sweden suggest that the increased use of Swedish moist snuff (snus) may have contributed to a decline in the prevalence of smoking, especially amongst men. This study describes the evolving patterns of tobacco use in this population over the period 1986,1999. Design., This is a prospective follow-up study of 1651 men and 1756 women, aged 25,64 years, who were enrolled in the northern Sweden MONICA project (entry in 1986, 1990, 1994) and who were followed-up in 1999. Information on tobacco use at entry and at follow-up was used to describe the stability of tobacco use over a period of 5,13 years ending in 1999. Results., Snus was the most stable form of tobacco use amongst men (75%); only 2% of users switched to cigarettes and 20% quit tobacco altogether. Smoking was less stable (54%); 27% of smokers were tobacco-free and 12% used snus at follow-up. Combined use (smoking and snus) was the least stable (39%), as 43% switched to snus and 6% switched to cigarettes. Former users of both products were much less stable than former users of either cigarettes or snus. The stability of smoking amongst women was 69%, which was higher than that amongst men (P < 0.05). Conclusions., The use of snus played a major role in the decline of smoking rates amongst men in northern Sweden. The evolution from smoking to snus use occurred in the absence of a specific public health policy encouraging such a transition and probably resulted from historical and societal influences. [source] Toward a transnational history of the social sciencesJOURNAL OF THE HISTORY OF THE BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES, Issue 2 2008Johan Heilbron Historical accounts of the social sciences have too often accepted local or national institu-tions as a self-evident framework of analysis, instead of considering them as being embed-ded in transnational relations of various kinds. Evolving patterns of transnational mobility and exchange cut through the neat distinction between the local, the national, and the inter-national, and thus represent an essential component in the dynamics of the social sciences, as well as a fruitful perspective for rethinking their historical development. In this pro-grammatic outline, it is argued that a transnational history of the social sciences may be fruitfully understood on the basis of three general mechanisms, which have structured the transnational flows of people and ideas in decisive ways: (a) the functioning of international scholarly institutions, (b) the transnational mobility of scholars, and (c) the politics of trans-national exchange of nonacademic institutions. The article subsequently examines and illustrates each of these mechanisms. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source] Board diversity in the United Kingdom and Norway: an exploratory analysisBUSINESS ETHICS: A EUROPEAN REVIEW, Issue 4 2007Johanne Grosvold This paper examines the evolving pattern of gender diversity of the boards of directors of leading Norwegian and British companies on a longitudinal basis. The period covered by the study covers the run up to proposed affirmative action legislation in Norway and, as such, affords an insight into corporate actions in this emerging institutional context. The findings demonstrate that, while board diversity has grown substantially in both countries in recent years, it has done so considerably more rapidly in Norway than in the United Kingdom. The analysis highlights the sectoral variation between the countries in the pattern and growth of board diversity and suggests that the vast majority of the overall growth in board diversity is the result of changing firm behaviour rather than sectoral shift in the United Kingdom or Norwegian economies. It is also shown that as diversity has increased there has been no fall in how experienced female directors are; neither is there evidence of a rise in the number of boards that female directors sit on. This suggests that the rapid growth in board diversity has been achieved without any fall in the quality of female directors. [source] Evolving patterns of tobacco use in northern SwedenJOURNAL OF INTERNAL MEDICINE, Issue 6 2003B. Rodu Abstract., Rodu B, Stegmayr B, Nasic S, Cole P, Asplund K (University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA; Umeå Hospital, Umeå, Sweden). Evolving patterns of tobacco use in northern Sweden. J Intern Med 2003; 253: 660,665. Background and objectives., Cross-sectional data from northern Sweden suggest that the increased use of Swedish moist snuff (snus) may have contributed to a decline in the prevalence of smoking, especially amongst men. This study describes the evolving patterns of tobacco use in this population over the period 1986,1999. Design., This is a prospective follow-up study of 1651 men and 1756 women, aged 25,64 years, who were enrolled in the northern Sweden MONICA project (entry in 1986, 1990, 1994) and who were followed-up in 1999. Information on tobacco use at entry and at follow-up was used to describe the stability of tobacco use over a period of 5,13 years ending in 1999. Results., Snus was the most stable form of tobacco use amongst men (75%); only 2% of users switched to cigarettes and 20% quit tobacco altogether. Smoking was less stable (54%); 27% of smokers were tobacco-free and 12% used snus at follow-up. Combined use (smoking and snus) was the least stable (39%), as 43% switched to snus and 6% switched to cigarettes. Former users of both products were much less stable than former users of either cigarettes or snus. The stability of smoking amongst women was 69%, which was higher than that amongst men (P < 0.05). Conclusions., The use of snus played a major role in the decline of smoking rates amongst men in northern Sweden. The evolution from smoking to snus use occurred in the absence of a specific public health policy encouraging such a transition and probably resulted from historical and societal influences. [source] Evolution of methodological standards in surgical trialsANZ JOURNAL OF SURGERY, Issue 10 2005Carleen Ellis Background: The Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT) Statement outlines acceptable ways of performing and reporting clinical trials. The objective of the present study was to identify evolving patterns in the methodological standards of surgical trials. Methods: Compliance with 12 key standards from the CONSORT statement were evaluated in 490 trials published in either the ANZ Journal of Surgery or the British Journal of Surgery between January 1969 and December 2003. Results: There has been an irregular but progressive improvement in the methodological standards of published trials. The criteria with the greatest improvement related to estimation of sample size, randomization, concealment of the allocated intervention, baseline comparisons, and the method of expressing outcomes. Compliance rates were <50% for three criteria during the last decade of the review, that is, concealment of the allocated intervention, blindness of assessment, and the method of expressing outcomes. Conclusion: The results of surgical trials need to be interpreted with care. [source] | ||||||||||