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Innovative Approach (innovative + approach)
Selected AbstractsPlatinum Nanoelectrodes Embedded in an Insulating Alumina Matrix: An Innovative Approach,CHEMICAL VAPOR DEPOSITION, Issue 4 2005A. Battiston A novel strategy, based on MOCVD, has been employed for preparation of ensembles of platinum nanoelectrodes. Pt/Al2O3 films with different Pt loading were deposited in just one step on glass capillaries. Nanocomposite films with varying Pt/Al atomic ratios were investigated by both cyclic voltammetry and TEM. Ensembles of nanoelectrodes with either overlap or no overlap of the diffusion layers of each nanoelectrode are obtained, depending on the Pt loading. From TEM measurements average Pt particle size of 3 , 7 nm was determined (Figure). [source] An Innovative Approach to the Synthesis of Anellated [a]Diaza-anthracenones Through Tandem Cyclization.CHEMINFORM, Issue 44 2004Ashoke Sharon Abstract For Abstract see ChemInform Abstract in Full Text. [source] Innovative approach to health promotion for the over 45s: using a health check logINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF OLDER PEOPLE NURSING, Issue 4 2008BAppSc (AN), June N. Sheriff CM, MHPEd Objectives., To determine effectiveness of the health check log (HCL) in promoting health-related quality of life and health awareness, health monitoring skills and timely consultation with health professionals for a cohort of community-dwelling people over 45 years, compared with a similar cohort not recording the HCL. Design., An exploratory longitudinal study using a quasi-experimental methodology and data triangulation. Outcome measures included the SF-36 health survey; a semi-structured participant feedback survey and participant focus group discussions. Sample., A convenience sample (n = 309) of community dwellers over the age of 45 living in the South Eastern Sydney/Illawarra Area Health Service, Sydney, Australia. Results., The majority of participants recording the HCL reported health benefits. The SF-36 health survey found younger age is a predictor for positive change in ,social functioning' (, = ,0.14, t = 2.25, P < 0.05), while non-pension income was a predictor of positive ,physical functioning' (, = 0.12, t = 2.02, P < 0.05) and ,general health' (, = 0.13, t = 2.11, P < 0.05). Alternatively, full-time employment (, = ,0.12, t = 2.02, P < 0.05) and not living alone (, = 0.18, t = 3.09, P < 0.01) predicted negative change in ,role , physical'. Participant reactions to recording the HCL via feedback survey and focus group discussions were mostly positive. Conclusions., The majority who maintained the HCL benefited by achieving improved health and knowledge of health monitoring, which was, however, moderated by age, income source, employment status and living arrangements. [source] The Changing Emphasis of Disasters in Bangladesh NGOsDISASTERS, Issue 3 2001Nilufar Matin Bangladesh is one of the most disaster-prone countries in the world, affected by cyclones and floods, as well as chronic hazards such as arsenic poisoning. NGOs have played a major role in bringing concerns related to risk management on to the national agenda and promoting a shift of focus from mere relief response to disaster mitigation and preparedness. The government has, after earlier scepticism, now accepted NGOs as major partners in these tasks. Innovative approaches, such as the use of microfinance, have been applied; many of which are related to preserving the gains of development efforts as part of rehabilitation. NGOs have pressured for better co-ordination with government. Improved structures are now approved, but it is still too early to judge their impact. Despite progress, neither NGOs nor governmental agencies have clearly defined roles in the effort to link disaster management priorities. This will ensure that longer-term development efforts build on local capacities and reduce vulnerabilities. [source] Shared Services Transformation: Conceptualization and Valuation from the Perspective of Real OptionsDECISION SCIENCES, Issue 3 2009Ning Su ABSTRACT In today's volatile global economy, where many organizations face severe pressure to downsize, the "shared services" model, in which a firm merges common functions performed by multiple units into a single service delivery organization, provides an innovative approach to make business more efficient and effective. To successfully implement shared services, firms need to strategically decide whether and how to pursue various service transformation alternatives such as simplification, standardization, consolidation, insourcing, or outsourcing. In this study, we develop the notion of real options into a unique theoretical lens for conceptualizing service organizations and their transformation in an uncertain business environment. Specifically, we view service organization as a set of strategic options that give the firm preferential access to future transformation opportunities. We create a taxonomy of these options, and introduce a decision methodology for valuing alternative shared services transformation approaches. We illustrate this methodology by applying it in a real business case to justify a global firm's decision regarding the transformation of its finance organization. [source] Portfolios: Possibilities for Addressing Emergency Medicine Resident CompetenciesACADEMIC EMERGENCY MEDICINE, Issue 11 2002Patricia O'Sullivan EdD Portfolios are an innovative approach to evaluate the competency of emergency medicine residents. Three key characteristics add to their attractiveness. First, portfolios draw from the resident's actual work. Second, they require self-reflection on the part of the resident. Third, they are inherently practice-based learning since residents must review and consider their practice in order to begin the portfolio. This paper illustrates five different applications of portfolios. First, portfolios are applied to evaluating specific competencies as part of the training of emergency physicians. While evaluating specific competencies, the portfolio captures aspects of the general competencies. Second, the article illustrates using portfolios as a way to address a specific residency review committee (RRC) requirement such as follow-ups. Third is a description of how portfolios can be used to evaluate resident conferences capturing the competency of practice-based learning and possibly other competencies such as medical knowledge and patient care. Fourth, the authors of the article designed a portfolio as a way to demonstrate clinical competence. Fifth, they elaborate as to how a continuous quality improvement project could be cast within the portfolio framework. They provide some guidance concerning issues to address when designing the portfolios. Portfolios are carefully structured and not haphazard collections of materials. Following criteria is important in maintaining the validity of the portfolio as well as contributing to reliability. The portfolios can enhance the relationship between faculty and residents since faculty will suggest cases, discuss anomalies, and interact with the residents around the portfolio. The authors believe that in general portfolios can cover many of the general competencies specified by the ACGME while still focusing on issues important to emergency medicine. The authors believe that portfolios provide an approach to evaluation commensurate with the self-evaluation skills they would like to develop in their residents. [source] Phase Reversion-Induced Nanograined/Ultrafine-Grained Structures in Austenitic Stainless Steel and their Significance in Modulating Cellular Response: Biochemical and Morphological Study with Fibroblasts,ADVANCED ENGINEERING MATERIALS, Issue 12 2009R. Devesh Kumar Misra Materials science, engineering, and biological sciences have been combined to improve the tissue compatibility of medical devices. In this regard, nano/ultrafine structuring of austenitic stainless steel obtained using an innovative approach of "phase-reversion" has been evaluated for modulation of cellular activity. The biochemical and morphology study with fibroblasts point toward the improvement of tissue compatibility on comparison with coarse-grained structures, strengthening the foundation of nanostructured materials for bio-medical applications. [source] Extracting new patterns for cardiovascular disease prognosisEXPERT SYSTEMS, Issue 5 2009Luis Mena Abstract: Cardiovascular diseases constitute one of the main causes of mortality in the world, and machine learning has become a powerful tool for analysing medical data in the last few years. In this paper we present an interdisciplinary work based on an ambulatory blood pressure study and the development of a new classification algorithm named REMED. We focused on the discovery of new patterns for abnormal blood pressure variability as a possible cardiovascular risk factor. We compared our results with other classification algorithms based on Bayesian methods, decision trees, and rule induction techniques. In the comparison, REMED showed similar accuracy to these algorithms but it has the advantage of being superior in its capacity to classify sick people correctly. Therefore, our method could represent an innovative approach that might be useful in medical decision support for cardiovascular disease prognosis. [source] An Interactive Reading Journal for All Levels of the Foreign Language CurriculumFOREIGN LANGUAGE ANNALS, Issue 4 2005Article first published online: 31 DEC 200, Jennifer Redmann Abstract: This article introduces an innovative approach to teaching texts at every level of the foreign language curriculum through the use of an interactive reading journal. The article describes how the journal can address the interpretive communication standard at the secondary level, as well as the challenges of integrating lower-level "skills" courses with upper-level "content" courses at the post-secondary level. The journal format itself is discussed in detail, along with examples of how it can be implemented with specific texts at the intermediate and advanced levels. The conclusion offers student reactions and suggestions for putting the interactive reading journal into practice. [source] Early genomics of learning and memory: a reviewGENES, BRAIN AND BEHAVIOR, Issue 3 2006S. Paratore The characterization of the molecular mechanisms whereby our brain codes, stores and retrieves memories remains a fundamental puzzle in neuroscience. Despite the knowledge that memory storage involves gene induction, the identification and characterization of the effector genes has remained elusive. The completion of the Human Genome Project and a variety of new technologies are revolutionizing the way these mechanisms can be explored. This review will examine how a genomic approach can be used to dissect and analyze the complex dynamic interactions involved in gene regulation during learning and memory. This innovative approach is providing information on a new class of genes associated with learning and memory in health and disease and is elucidating new molecular targets and pathways whose pharmacological modulation may allow new therapeutic approaches for improving cognition. [source] Specific dynamic and noninvasive labeling of pancreatic , cells in reporter miceGENESIS: THE JOURNAL OF GENETICS AND DEVELOPMENT, Issue 4 2005Ahmi Ben-Yehudah Abstract Noninvasive detection of differentiated cells is increasingly demanded for accurate and reliable assessments of both in vitro and in vivo experimental systems. Here we present an efficient, innovative approach for imaging the , cells of the pancreatic islets of Langerhans. The main physiologic function of , cells is glucose-stimulated insulin secretion. This function is facilitated through the synthesis and storage of insulin in secretory vesicles of , cells, which then release their contents when , cells are exposed to hyperglycemic conditions. To visualize , cells in vivo in the mouse, we used targeted mutagenesis techniques to construct a modified insulin II (InsII) gene allele, InsIIEGFP, that expresses a proinsulin-EGFP (enhanced green fluorescent protein) fusion peptide. The EGFP portion of this fusion is entirely within the C-peptide portion of the proinsulin peptide. This fusion protein is processed in , cells to insulin and EGFP-tagged C peptide, which are stored together in cytoplasmic secretory vesicles. The large amount of vesicular EGFP-tagged C peptide is evident as a characteristic robust and specific fluorescence pattern in the , cells of InsIIEGFP mice. This innovative method of visualizing , cells will be a useful tool in the study of both , cell physiology and the development of the endocrine cells of the pancreas.genesis 43:166,174, 2005. © 2005 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Is management by objectives obsolete?GLOBAL BUSINESS AND ORGANIZATIONAL EXCELLENCE, Issue 4 2009William F. Roth Management by Objectives has been part of corporate dogma for many decades. But as its touted strengths rapidly become liabilities in the new global century, more empowering and flexible approaches sprout up as promising new models for performance management. The author examines the dampening effect Management by Objectives can have on creativity, teamwork, and the ability to respond to changes in the business. He also presents two cases of organizations that broke out of the mold: W.L. Gore and Associates' innovative approach to self-managing teams and Bridgeport Paper Company's even bolder experiment, in which employees developed and implemented a team-based organizational structure and team-directed processes for decision making, hiring and promotion, training, performance management (without MBO), rewards, and cross-team communication and integration. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source] Technology and the World the Slaves MadeHISTORY COMPASS (ELECTRONIC), Issue 2 2006Robert Gudmestad The study of American slavery is a crowded field and each year the historical profession witnesses the publication of several new books. Despite this steady onslaught of scholarship, significant gaps remain in our understanding of slavery and its influence on the South. One area that has lacked sustained attention is the nexus of slavery and technological development. Several new books demonstrate that changes in technology profoundly altered the lives and labor of slaves. Historians have approached the presence of technology in a slave society from several different traditions. Some scholars argued that plantation development and mechanical progress were difficult to wed together, while others noted the progressive nature of southern agricultural production, but discussions of white attitudes and behavior overshadowed the effects of machinery on the lives of slaves. An innovative approach has emphasized the employment of slaves in factories, but such works have done little to provide insight into how technological innovation influenced plantation slaves. Several new studies have reversed these trends and promise to lead us in important directions. Examinations of the cotton gin, steamboats, sugar plantations, and clocks have revealed that technology brought enormous change to the bulk of slaves, not just those living in urban areas or working in factories. Patterns and practices of work, opportunities for autonomy, and time away from the master's unstinting gaze, all changed because of mechanical innovation. Taken together, these new works also provide clues to the making and remaking of the southern economy and society. [source] New proteomic approaches for biomarker discovery in inflammatory bowel diseaseINFLAMMATORY BOWEL DISEASES, Issue 7 2010Giulia Roda MD Abstract There is an increasing interest in the discovery of new inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) biomarkers able to predict the future patterns of disease and to help in diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis. A biomarker is a substance that can be measured biologically and is associated with an increased risk of the disease. Biomarkers can be a genetic testing factor or proteins in biological samples such as serum, plasma, and cellular subpopulations. All of them should be studied to find out their utility in the management of IBD. Ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease are relapsing and remitting chronic IBDs characterized by a global immune defect. The gold standard of their diagnosis is histological evaluation performed during endoscopic procedures. Several studies have focused on the identification and combination of less invasive diagnostic serum biomarkers. Nowadays, diagnostic serum tests are not able either to determine whether and when the relapse will occur once the disease is in remission state or to select a patient phenotype more responsive to a specific therapy and more susceptible to different types of complication. In this review we analyze and report the current understanding in IBD biomarkers and discuss potential future biomarkers and new developments of proteomics, such as subproteomics, as an innovative approach for the classification of patients according to their pattern of protein expression. (Inflamm Bowel Dis 2010) [source] An innovative approach to the theory and practice of organizational analysis: my journey with Elliott JaquesINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF APPLIED PSYCHOANALYTIC STUDIES, Issue 4 2005Aldo Schlemenson Abstract This article highlights the author's experience working with Elliott Jaques and his theory for over 35 years in Argentina. It examines the development of Jaques' theoretical approach to organizational theory over two decades, transforming from a psychological to a social theoretical framework. Emphasis is put in the notions of the organizational structure, the hierarchical managerial system, stratification, and the managerial accountability in a manner that allows for a systematic analysis. The "time-span of discretion" instrument is the means for evaluating jobs and for having access to extant organization. This approach allows a process of change combining effectiveness with a humanistic democratization of the workplace and ethics. This article provides examples of projects implemented in the public administration area, verifying the consistency of the theory and its practical applications, in particular concerning individual capabilities, the talent pool, and their evaluation. It contains a Foreword by Dr Carlos Silvani, International Monetary Fund, Washington, D.C. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Integrative outpatient treatment for returning service membersJOURNAL OF CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 8 2008Sonja V. Batten Abstract Veterans returning from Operations Enduring and Iraqi Freedom (OEF/OIF) frequently present with multiple psychological and physical symptoms. The authors propose an innovative approach in which primary care providers, polytrauma specialists, vocational rehabilitation specialists, and mental health clinicians work together to provide care that is not simply concurrent, but truly integrated. All members of this interdisciplinary team must provide a consistent message that supports treatment engagement and progress. The authors illustrate this approach with a case report of a soldier deployed to both OEF and OIF, requiring subsequent treatment for joint pain, headaches, mild traumatic brain injury, posttraumatic stress disorder, depression, and substance abuse. Despite the emphasis on early intervention, treatment engagement and retention remain challenges in this population. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Clin Psychol: In Session 64:1,12;, 2008. [source] Adaptation provisioning with respect to learning styles in a Web-based educational system: an experimental studyJOURNAL OF COMPUTER ASSISTED LEARNING, Issue 4 2010E. Popescu Abstract Personalized instruction is seen as a desideratum of today's e-learning systems. The focus of this paper is on those platforms that use learning styles as personalization criterion called learning style-based adaptive educational systems. The paper presents an innovative approach based on an integrative set of learning preferences that alleviates some of the limitations of similar systems. The adaptive methods used as well as their implementation in a dedicated system (WELSA) are presented, together with a thorough evaluation of the approach. The results of the experimental study involving 64 undergraduate students show that accommodating learning styles in WELSA has a beneficial effect on the learning process. [source] Integrated Management of Physician-delivered Alcohol Care for Tuberculosis Patients: Design and ImplementationALCOHOLISM, Issue 2 2010Shelly F. Greenfield Background:, While the integration of alcohol screening, treatment, and referral in primary care and other medical settings in the U.S. and worldwide has been recognized as a key health care priority, it is not routinely done. In spite of the high co-occurrence and excess mortality associated with alcohol use disorders (AUDs) among individuals with tuberculosis (TB), there are no studies evaluating effectiveness of integrating alcohol care into routine treatment for this disorder. Methods:, We designed and implemented a randomized controlled trial (RCT) to determine the effectiveness of integrating pharmacotherapy and behavioral treatments for AUDs into routine medical care for TB in the Tomsk Oblast Tuberculosis Service (TOTBS) in Tomsk, Russia. Eligible patients are diagnosed with alcohol abuse or dependence, are newly diagnosed with TB, and initiating treatment in the TOTBS with Directly Observed Therapy-Short Course (DOTS) for TB. Utilizing a factorial design, the Integrated Management of Physician-delivered Alcohol Care for Tuberculosis Patients (IMPACT) study randomizes eligible patients who sign informed consent into 1 of 4 study arms: (1) Oral Naltrexone + Brief Behavioral Compliance Enhancement Therapy (BBCET) + treatment as usual (TAU), (2) Brief Counseling Intervention (BCI) + TAU, (3) Naltrexone + BBCET + BCI + TAU, or (4) TAU alone. Results:, Utilizing an iterative, collaborative approach, a multi-disciplinary U.S. and Russian team has implemented a model of alcohol management that is culturally appropriate to the patient and TB physician community in Russia. Implementation to date has achieved the integration of routine alcohol screening into TB care in Tomsk; an ethnographic assessment of knowledge, attitudes, and practices of AUD management among TB physicians in Tomsk; translation and cultural adaptation of the BCI to Russia and the TB setting; and training and certification of TB physicians to deliver oral naltrexone and brief counseling interventions for alcohol abuse and dependence as part of routine TB care. The study is successfully enrolling eligible subjects in the RCT to evaluate the relationship of integrating effective pharmacotherapy and brief behavioral intervention on TB and alcohol outcomes, as well as reduction in HIV risk behaviors. Conclusions:, The IMPACT study utilizes an innovative approach to adapt 2 effective therapies for treatment of alcohol use disorders to the TB clinical services setting in the Tomsk Oblast, Siberia, Russia, and to train TB physicians to deliver state of the art alcohol pharmacotherapy and behavioral treatments as an integrated part of routine TB care. The proposed treatment strategy could be applied elsewhere in Russia and in other settings where TB control is jeopardized by AUDs. If demonstrated to be effective, this model of integrating alcohol interventions into routine TB care has the potential for expanded applicability to other chronic co-occurring infectious and other medical conditions seen in medical care settings. [source] A concept-oriented belief revision approach to domain knowledge recovery from source codeJOURNAL OF SOFTWARE MAINTENANCE AND EVOLUTION: RESEARCH AND PRACTICE, Issue 1 2001Yang Li Abstract Domain knowledge is the soul of software systems. After decades of software development, domain knowledge has reached a certain degree of saturation. The recovery of domain knowledge from source code is beneficial to many software engineering activities, in particular, software evolution. In the real world, the ambiguous appearance of domain knowledge embedded in source code constitutes the biggest barrier to recovering reliable domain knowledge. In this paper, we introduce an innovative approach to recovering domain knowledge with enhanced reliability from source code. In particular, we divide domain knowledge into interconnected knowledge slices and match these knowledge slices against the source code. Each knowledge slice has its own authenticity evaluation function which takes the belief of the evidence it needs as input and the authenticity of the knowledge slice as output. Moreover, the knowledge slices are arranged to exchange beliefs with each other through interconnections, i.e. concepts, so that a better evaluation of the authenticity of these knowledge slices can be obtained. The decision on acknowledging recovered knowledge slices can therefore be made more easily. Our approach, rooted as it is in cognitive science and social psychology, is also widely applicable to other knowledge recovery tasks. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Visit Coaching: Building on Family Strengths to Meet Children's NeedsJUVENILE AND FAMILY COURT JOURNAL, Issue 1 2008Marty Beyer ABSTRACT Visits between children in foster care and their families often do not build on family strengths or help them demonstrate they can meet their children's safety and developmental needs. Visits can alienate parents, children, and foster parents, and the parent's grief, anger, and preoccupation with complying with court-ordered treatment often obscure their children's needs. Visit coaching is an innovative approach that can replace parenting classes and office-based visits with hands-on guidance for families in meeting their children's needs. The visit coach, who may be their caseworker or a variety of other trained individuals, helps parents take charge of visits and demonstrate more responsiveness to each child. [source] The facilitating factors for organizational learning: bringing ideas from complex adaptive systemsKNOWLEDGE AND PROCESS MANAGEMENT: THE JOURNAL OF CORPORATE TRANSFORMATION, Issue 2 2003Ricardo Chiva-Gómez The importance of the factors that facilitate organizational learning have traditionally been outlined in the literature. However, there is no agreement about what the essential facilitating factors are, as each author emphasizes different features. Complexity science is increasingly being used by researchers and practitioners to improve their understanding of organizations. This exploratory study tries to determine the essential facilitating factors for organizational learning, and demonstrate the importance of the ideas from complex adaptive systems (CAS) to it. In order to do this, we put forward a comparative case study of four heterogeneous companies from the Spanish ceramic tile sector in which we analyzed the facilitating factors for organizational learning, by relating them with ideas from CAS. As a result, we determined that the five attributes suggested by CAS to facilitate organizational learning were present in the innovative companies, which had the most organizational learning facilitating factors, and three of them were only present in the company with the highest performance and the most innovative approach: individuals' relationship with the environment; cultural diversity; and state of equilibrium between formal and informal structures. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Extending Responsiveness to Intervention to Mathematics at First and Third GradesLEARNING DISABILITIES RESEARCH & PRACTICE, Issue 1 2007Lynn S. Fuchs Responsiveness to intervention (RTI) is an innovative approach to the identification of learning disabilities (LD). The central assumption is that RTI can differentiate between two explanations for low achievement: poor instruction versus disability. If the child responds poorly to validated instruction, then the assessment eliminates instructional quality as a viable explanation for poor academic growth and instead provides evidence of a disability. For children who do respond nicely, RTI serves a critical prevention function. Most of RTI research has been focused on early reading. In this article, we describe two ongoing programs of research on RTI in the area of mathematics: one on a comprehensive mathematics curriculum at first grade and the other focused on word problems at third grade. For each research program, we describe the sample, explain how students are identified as at risk for mathematics disability, provide an overview of the interventions to which responsiveness is gauged, and describe some results to date. [source] Buddhist nuns on the move: an innovative approach to improving breastfeeding practices in CambodiaMATERNAL & CHILD NUTRITION, Issue 1 2007Benjamin T. Crookston Abstract The benefits of initiating breastfeeding in the first hour of life and exclusively breastfeeding thereafter are well documented. However, little is known about how best to promote these practices. In this study, we assess the impact of Buddhist nuns and wat (pagoda) grannies on optimal breastfeeding behaviours in rural Cambodia. We did so by interviewing randomly selected mothers of infants less than 6 months of age. A total of 440 mothers in programme and control communities completed the baseline survey (before programme start-up), and 467 mothers responded 1 year later. Mothers' exposure to breastfeeding promotion activities was high. At follow-up, 76% of mothers in programme communities indicated that nuns had advised them about breastfeeding, 73% received a home visit and 72% reported attending an educational session. At baseline, mothers in programme communities were 11% more likely (RR = 1.11, CI: 0.74,1.68) than mothers in control communities to initiate breastfeeding in the first hour of life. At follow-up, they were 62% more likely (RR = 1.62, CI: 1.30,2.01) to do so. Similarly, at baseline, mothers in programme communities were 54% more likely (RR = 1.54, CI: 1.21,1.96) than mothers in control communities to breastfeed exclusively in the previous 24 h. At follow-up, they were 81% more likely (RR = 1.81, CI: 1.49,2.21) to do so. Programme planners may consider using community-based volunteers as one strategy to improve breastfeeding practices and child survival. [source] Femtosecond electron diffraction: Direct probe of ultrafast structural dynamics in metal filmsMICROSCOPY RESEARCH AND TECHNIQUE, Issue 3 2009Shouhua Nie Abstract Femtosecond electron diffraction is a rapidly advancing technique that holds a great promise for studying ultrafast structural dynamics in phase transitions, chemical reactions, and function of biological molecules at the atomic time and length scales. In this paper, we summarize our development of a tabletop femtosecond electron diffractometer. Using a delicate instrument design and careful experimental configurations, we demonstrate the unprecedented capability of detecting submilli-ĺngström lattice spacing change on a subpicosecond timescale with this new technique. We have conducted an in-depth investigation of ultrafast coherent phonon dynamics induced by an impulsive optical excitation in thin-film metals. By probing both coherent acoustic and random thermal lattice motions simultaneously in real time, we have provided the first and unambiguous experimental evidence that the pressure of hot electrons contributes significantly to the generation of coherent acoustic phonons under nonequilibrium conditions when electrons and phonons are not thermalized. Based on these observations, we also propose an innovative approach to measure the electronic Grüneisen parameter in magnetic materials at and above room temperature, which provides a way to gain new insights into electronic thermal expansion in ferromagnetic transition metals. Microsc. Res. Tech. 2009. © 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Single-shot all-optical sampling oscilloscope using a polarization-maintaining resonator for pulse replicationMICROWAVE AND OPTICAL TECHNOLOGY LETTERS, Issue 11 2010j Komanec Abstract An all-optical single-shot sampling oscilloscope with a picosecond resolution is developed. An innovative approach for data pulse replication using a polarization-maintaining resonator is used. Pulses are sampled in a highly nonlinear fiber. Acquired data are used for pulse shape reconstruction. Proposed setup eliminates the need of a delay line. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 52:2452,2456, 2010; View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com. DOI 10.1002/mop.25509 [source] An overview of how sports, out-of-school time, and youth well-being can and do intersectNEW DIRECTIONS FOR YOUTH DEVELOPMENT, Issue 115 2007Suzanne Le Menestrel This article examines the benefits and disadvantages of participation in organized youth sports and describes a youth development approach to sports programming. The authors summarize what is known about the physical, socioemotional, and cognitive benefits of sports participation. These include health benefits (for example, a reduction in heart disease and diabetes) as well as socioemotional benefits, among them the coping skills of being able to bounce back from problems. The authors describe some of the disadvantages of participation as well. In particular, studies in this area have focused on health risk behaviors and engagement in problem behaviors. The authors present an innovative approach to youth sports and the advantages of implementing this approach using the emerging community youth development framework. Specific examples of youth sports programs are provided that use a positive youth development framework. [source] A Community Partnership to Prepare Nursing Students to Respond to Domestic ViolenceNURSING FORUM, Issue 3 2003Karen S. Hayward RN, SANE-A TOPIC Partnership building to prepare nursing students to respond to domestic violence through service learning. PURPOSE To describe an innovative approach to preparing nursing students to respond to domestic violence. SOURCES Clinical practice and experience, published literature, partner organizations. CONCLUSIONS This community partnership has prepared nursing students to respond effectively and with compassion to individuals and families experiencing violence. This approach can be replicated through a service learning model to support coordinated community response to domestic violence. [source] Individual differences in the drive to overeatNUTRITION BULLETIN, Issue 2007M. M. Hetherington Summary, Obesity is considered a public health crisis. In order to tackle this, an enhanced appreciation of what drives some consumers to overeat is required. It is clear that several features of the modern environment encourage over-consumption in many people, at least some of the time. However, there is variation in the extent to which this translates into weight gain. Understanding whether susceptibility is dispositional or learned will shape prevention and treatment programmes. This review identifies situational cues that promote overeating and dispositional traits, such as impulsivity and sensitivity to reward, which make some individuals specifically vulnerable to overeating. These traits are likely to contribute to the development of the obese state, but also present barriers to weight management. Personalised nutrition and behavioural strategies may provide a novel and innovative approach, as these take account of individual differences in vulnerability to overeating. [source] The use of intrinsic mode functions to characterize shock and vibration in the distribution environmentPACKAGING TECHNOLOGY AND SCIENCE, Issue 1 2005Vincent Rouillard Abstract This paper describes an innovative approach, based on the instrinsic mode functions (IMFs), to characterize the nature of mechanical vibration encountered in transport vehicles. The paper highlights the importance of understanding the nature of transport vibration and shows that their accurate characterization is essential for the optimization of protective packaging. Although there have been numerous studies aimed at characterizing random vibration during transport, the majority of those have been limited to applying relatively conventional signal analysis techniques, such as the average power spectral density (PSD). This paper investigates the benefits offered by the recently introduced Hilbert,Huang transform when characterizing non-stationary random vibration in comparison with more traditional Fourier analysis-based techniques. The paper describes the operation of the Hilbert,Huang transform, which was developed to assist in the analysis of non-Gaussian and non-stationary random data. The Hilbert,Huang transform is based on the empirical mode decomposition (EMD) technique used to produce a finite number of IMFs, which, as a set, provide a complete description of the process. It is shown how these IMFs are well suited to the application of the Hilbert,Huang transform to determine the magnitude and instantaneous frequency of each IMF. The technique is applied to various records of random vibration data collected from transport vehicles in order to illustrate the benefits of the method in characterizing the nature of non-stationarities present in transport vibration. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Net transition probabilities: an approach to subnational level projections of households and housing demand based on census dataPOPULATION, SPACE AND PLACE (PREVIOUSLY:-INT JOURNAL OF POPULATION GEOGRAPHY), Issue 6 2006Peter McDonald Abstract The authors set out to make medium-term projections of housing demand for subnational regions of Australia. Projections of the numbers of households by household type and age of a household reference person were required. The only possible source of input data at a subnational level was the quinquennial censuses. An innovative approach was developed specifically for the purpose of these projections. This involved the use of ,net transition probabilities' estimated from net changes in household classification types for individuals between censuses in the past, which are then projected into the future. The results of the projection for the period 1996,2001 were evaluated against 2001 Census results. Net transition probabilities were found to be robust, in that their age and sex specific profiles were very similar from one intercensal period to the next. The evaluation concluded that the model used is both practical and highly effective. Overall, the authors found that the projections have a high degree of reliability and produce very useful information concerning the future demand for housing at a regional level. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||