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Selected AbstractsPersistent, recurrent, and acquired infection of the root canal system post-treatmentENDODONTIC TOPICS, Issue 1 2003Markus Haapasalo Apical periodontitis is an inflammatory process in the periradicular tissues caused by microorganisms in the necrotic root canal. Accordingly, to achieve healing of apical periodontitis, the main goal of the treatment must be elimination of the infection and prevention of re-infection. As shown by recent epidemiological studies in several countries around the world, post-treatment endodontic disease is a far too common finding. To understand the reasons for survival of resistant bacteria in the filled root canal, it is important to know in detail the interaction between treatment procedures and the root canal flora in primary apical periodontitis. Therefore, in the first half of this review, the focus is placed on control of infection in primary apical periodontitis. This is followed by a detailed description of the resistant root canal microflora and a discussion about the present and future strategies to eliminate even the most resistant microbes in post-treatment disease. [source] Reliability modelling of uninterruptible power supply systems using fault tree analysis methodEUROPEAN TRANSACTIONS ON ELECTRICAL POWER, Issue 6 2009Mohd Khairil Rahmat Abstract The aim of this paper is to investigate the reliability parameters estimation method for the uninterruptible power supply (UPS) systems using the Fault Tree Analysis (FTA) technique. FTA is a top,down approach to identify all potential causes leading to system failure. The computation of the system's failure probability is the main goal of this analysis, as this value can be used to calculate other important system reliability parameters such as failure rates, mean time between failures and reliability. In this paper, the FTA method was applied to five different UPS topologies and the results obtained were compared and discussed in detail. By comparing the critical fault path of the system, it was found that the inverter failures contributed most significantly to the system failure. It was also found that the probability of failure of a UPS system can be reduced by the inclusion of bypass supply, given that the failure rate of the events that causing the failure of the bypass supply should be lower compared to the ones for the main utility supply. Finally, to validate the results obtained from this method, comparisons were made to the results from other methods such as the Reliability Block Diagram, Boolean Truth Table, Probability Tree, Monte-Carlo Simulation and Field Data reliability estimation methods. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] The Performance of State,Owned Enterprises RevisitedFINANCIAL ACCOUNTABILITY & MANAGEMENT, Issue 4 2002Richard Bozec Many theoretical and empirical studies look at the ownership,performance relationship. So far, the literature in finance and in accounting mainly refers to the property rights, agency and public choice theories. Despite the fact that the results of these studies are more or less conclusive, it is usually considered that the private enterprise performs better than the state,owned enterprise. In this article, we argue that these studies suffer from one major limitation. They do not recognize that the goals of the state,owned enterprise are different from the ones espoused by the private firm. Using a sample of state,owned entreprises and private firms for the period 1976,1996, we present empirical evidence that the state,owned enterprises, when their main goal is to maximize profit, perform as well as the privately owned enterprises. Therefore, the alleged under,performance of the state,owned enterprises may only be the result of pursuing other goals while the poor quality of public managers may be another urban myth. [source] Guidelines for the treatment of chronic hepatitis and cirrhosis due to hepatitis B virus infection for the fiscal year 2008 in JapanHEPATOLOGY RESEARCH, Issue 1 2010Hiromitsu Kumada In the 2008 guidelines for the treatment of patients with cirrhosis, who are infected with hepatitis B virus (HBV), the main goal is to normalize levels of alanine and aspartate aminotransferases by eliminating HBV or reducing viral loads. In patients with compensated cirrhosis, the clearance of HBV from serum is aimed for by entecavir, as the main resort, for histological improvement toward the prevention of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). In patients with decompensated cirrhosis, by contrast, meticulous therapeutic strategies are adopted for the reversal to compensation, toward the eventual goal of decreasing the risk of HCC. For maintaining liver function and preventing HCC, branched chain amino acids and nutrient supplements are applied, in addition to conventional liver supportive therapies. For patients with chronic hepatitis B, separate guidelines are applied to those younger than 35 years and those aged 35 years or older. Even for patients with chronic hepatitis who are negative for hepatitis e antigen (HBeAg), but who harbor HBV DNA in titers of 7 log copies/mL or more, a "drug-free state" is aimed for by sequential treatment with interferon (IFN) plus entecavir as the first line. For patients with chronic hepatitis B aged 35 years or older, who are HBeAg-negative and carry HBV DNA in titers of less than 7 log copies/mL, long-term IFN for 24,48 weeks is adopted anew. To HBeAg-negative patients who have either or both platelet counts of less than 150 × 103/mm3 and less than 7 log copies of HBV DNA, also, long-term IFN for 24,48 weeks is indicated. [source] MEMORY, MEMORIALS, AND COMMEMORATION,HISTORY AND THEORY, Issue 3 2008ANITA KASABOVA ABSTRACT According to a popular view, the past is present here and now. This is presentism combined with endurantism: the past continuously persists through time to the present. By contrast, I argue that memories, memorials, and histories are of entities discontinuous with present experiences, and that the continuity between past and present in them is a construct. Memories, memorials, and histories are semantic means for dealing with the past. My presupposition that past and present are different is supported by grammar: as verbal tenses show, the past is not present here and now, for otherwise it would not be past. A failure to note this difference is a lack of chronesthesia, a sense of time specific to human beings. I argue that presentism fails to account for the temporal structures of memory and the changes in perspective as we switch from the present to a past situation. My account is perdurantist in the sense that it allows for temporal parts of things such as memorials or tombstones, as well as events such as wars or commemorations. But my main goal is to outline a semantic approach to the past: the tie between past and present actions and events is the semantic ground,consequence relation: a past event is the antecedent grounding a present situation, explaining why it is the case. In addition, I show how we refer to the past by means of two rhetorical figures of speech: synecdoche, using the (emblematic-) part-whole relation for relating the past to the present by transposing its sense; and anaphor, which has a deictic function,it points back toward the past. In references to the past, the deictic field is a scene visualized by the speaker and addressees: the deictic field is transposed from a perceptual to an imaginary space. [source] Private speech: a study of language for thought in the collaborative interaction of language learnersINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF APPLIED LINGUISTICS, Issue 1 2004Frederick J. DiCamilla This article analyzes the speech of English-speaking college students of Spanish working in pairs to produce compositions in Spanish. Although there was considerable variability in the frequency of private speech from one dyad to another, the main goal of the study was to analyze those instances of private speech that could be clearly identified by both linguistic and paralinguistic evidence. Eight such excerpts are analyzed and discussed here. The analysis reveals that private speech of the participants facilitated two fundamental cognitive operations: focusing of attention and the creation of psychological distance. That is, private speech enabled the participants to concentrate on the task at crucial moments and to distance themselves from the problems they encountered, thereby achieving a perspective that in turn helped them to gain control in the performance of the task. It is argued that private speech that occurs in a social context can be identified and analyzed, and ultimately distinguished from social speech. [source] Robust tracking control for a class of MIMO nonlinear systems with measurable output feedbackINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ROBUST AND NONLINEAR CONTROL, Issue 1 2008Ya-Jun Pan Abstract This paper proposes a robust output feedback controller for a class of nonlinear systems to track a desired trajectory. Our main goal is to ensure the global input-to-state stability (ISS) property of the tracking error nonlinear dynamics with respect to the unknown structural system uncertainties and external disturbances. Our approach consists of constructing a nonlinear observer to reconstruct the unavailable states, and then designing a discontinuous controller using a back-stepping like design procedure to ensure the ISS property. The observer design is realized through state transformation and there is only one parameter to be determined. Through solving a Hamilton,Jacoby inequality, the nonlinear control law for the first subsystem specifies a nonlinear switching surface. By virtue of nonlinear control for the first subsystem, the resulting sliding manifold in the sliding phase possesses the desired ISS property and to certain extent the optimality. Associated with the new switching surface, the sliding mode control is applied to the second subsystem to accomplish the tracking task. As a result, the tracking error is bounded and the ISS property of the whole system can be ensured while the internal stability is also achieved. Finally, an example is presented to show the effectiveness of the proposed scheme. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Integration, Participation, Identity: Immigrant Associations in the Province of MilanINTERNATIONAL MIGRATION, Issue 2 2010Marco Caselli The paper presents some results from a multi-year research project on immigrant associations in the province of Milan, Italy. The analysis yields numerous issues for reflection and recurrent features of particular significance. The first is the fact that for all the associations surveyed, their main goal and the essential reason for their existence was the desire to integrate their community of membership into the host society. However, such integration did not consist in a desire to be assimilated into Italian society. Quite the opposite: the majority of the associations studied were wholly committed to maintaining -- and sometimes rediscovering -- the identity and culture of their reference community. The second main feature is that immigrant associations are crucial nodes in a dense network of relations involving numerous actors of very different kinds: the immigrants themselves, other immigrant associations, third-sector organizations, and the local authorities. The third and final important issue concerns the representativeness of immigrant associations: whether, that is, they can be considered the legitimate representatives of the community of membership. [source] Technical limits of comparison of step-sectioning,immunohistochemistry and RT-PCR on breast cancer sentinel nodes: a study on methacarn-fixed tissueJOURNAL OF CELLULAR AND MOLECULAR MEDICINE, Issue 9b 2009Lorenzo Daniele Abstract The optimal pathological assessment of sentinel nodes (SLNs) in breast cancer is a matter of debate. Currently, multilevel histological evaluation and immunohistochemistry (IHC) are recommended, but alternative RT-PCR procedures have been developed. To assess the reliability of these different procedures, we devised a step-sectioning protocol at 100 micron-intervals of 74 SLNs using methacarn fixation. mRNA was extracted from sections collected from levels 4 to 5. Mammaglobin, CEA and CK19 were used for RT-PCR. mRNA extraction was successful in 69 SLNs. Of these, 7 showed macrometastases (>2mm), 2 showed micrometastases (<2 mm) and 7 showed isolated tumour cells (ITC) by IHC. RT-PCR was positive for the three markers in 6 of 7 macrometastases and in 1 of 2 micrometastases. In the 2 RT-PCR negative cases, metastases were detected only on sections distant from those analysed by RT-PCR. CEA and/or CK19 were positive by RT-PCR in 3 of 7 ITC and in 23 morphologically negative SLNs. In conclusion, the main goal of our study was to show that the use of alternate sections of the same sample for different procedures is the key reason for the discrepancies between molecular and morphological analyses of SLN. We believe that only prospective studies with quantitative mRNA analysis of specific metastatic markers on the whole lymph node can elucidate the utility of molecular assessments of SLN. [source] Trichophyton Mentagrophytes Perforates Hair of Adult Corpses in the Gaseous Period,JOURNAL OF FORENSIC SCIENCES, Issue 5 2010Renato Evando M. Filho M.S Abstract:, Despite the substantial literature on mycology, there are still limited reports of the interaction between fungi and human hosts in the postmortem period. Thus, the main goal of this study was to investigate the in vitro perforation test using Trichophyton mentagrophytes on hair from adult corpses in the postmortem period (gaseous period). The protocol was carried out with positive (prepubescent children's hair) and negative controls (healthy adult hair) as well. One strain of Trichophyton rubrum was also used as a negative perforation control. Perforations were found in all the hair samples from corpses and prepubescent children after 12,14 days exposure to T. mentagrophytes and were absent in the hair samples of healthy adults. Furthermore, hair perforation was not observed with T. rubrum. Our preliminary findings suggest the use of T. mentagrophytes as a potential marker of the death interval in forensic science. [source] Dentition and tooth replacement pattern in Chalcides (Squamata; Scincidae)JOURNAL OF MORPHOLOGY, Issue 2 2003Sidney Delgado Abstract This study was undertaken as a prerequisite to investigations on tooth differentiation in a squamate, the Canarian scincid Chalcides. Our main goal was to determine whether the pattern of tooth replacement, known to be regular in lizards, could be helpful to predict accurately any stage of tooth development. A growth series of 20 laboratory-reared specimens, aged from 0.5 month after birth to about 6 years, was used. The dentition (functional and replacement teeth) was studied from radiographs of jaw quadrants. The number of tooth positions, the tooth number in relation to age and to seasons, and the size of the replacement teeth were recorded. In Chalcides, a single row of pleurodont functional teeth lies at the labial margin of the dentary, premaxillary, and maxillary. Whatever the age of the specimens, 16 tooth positions were recorded, on average, in each quadrant, suggesting that positions are maintained throughout life. Replacement teeth were numerous whatever the age and season, while the number of functional teeth was subject to variation. Symmetry of tooth development was evaluated by comparing teeth two by two from the opposite side in the four jaw quadrants of several specimens. Although the relative size of some replacement teeth fitted perfectly, the symmetry criterion was not reliable to predict the developmental stage of the opposite tooth, whether the pair of teeth compared was left,right or upper,lower. The best fit was found when comparing the size of successive replacement teeth from the front to the back of the jaw. Every replacement tooth that is 40,80% of its definitive size is followed, in the next position on the arcade, by a tooth that is, on average, 20% less developed. Considering teeth in alternate positions (even and odd series), each replacement tooth was a little more developed than the previous, more anterior, one (0.5,20% when the teeth are from 10,40% of their final size). The latter pattern showed that tooth replacement occurred in alternate positions from back to front, forming more or less regular rows (i.e., "Zahnreihen"). In Chalcides, the developmental stage of a replacement tooth in a position p can be accurately predicted provided the developmental stage of the replacement tooth in position p-1 or, to a lesser degree, in position p-2 is known. This finding will be particularly helpful when starting our structural and ultrastructural studies of tooth differentiation in this lizard. J. Morphol. 256:146,159, 2003. © 2003 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Effect of bead and illustrations models on high school students' achievement in molecular geneticsJOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN SCIENCE TEACHING, Issue 5 2006Yosi Rotbain Our main goal in this study was to explore whether the use of models in molecular genetics instruction in high school can contribute to students' understanding of concepts and processes in genetics. Three comparable groups of 11th and 12th graders participated: The control group (116 students) was taught in the traditional lecture format, while the others received instructions which integrated a bead model (71 students), or an illustration model (71 students). Similar instructions and the same guiding questions accompanied the two models. We used three instruments: a multiple-choice and an open-ended written questionnaire, as well as personal interviews. Five of the multiple-choice questions were also given to students before receiving their genetics instruction (pretest). We found that students who used one of the two types of models improved their knowledge in molecular genetics compared to the control group. However, the open-ended questions revealed that bead model activity was significantly more effective than illustration activity. On the basis of these findings we conclude that, though it is advisable to use a three-dimensional model, such as the bead model, engaging students in activities with illustrations can still improve their achievement in comparison to traditional instruction. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 43: 500,529, 2006 [source] On the Role of Iron and one of its Chelating Agents in the Production of Protoporphyrin IX Generated by 5-Aminolevulinic Acid and its Hexyl Ester Derivative Tested on an Epidermal Equivalent of Human SkinPHOTOCHEMISTRY & PHOTOBIOLOGY, Issue 4 2006Pascal Uehlinger ABSTRACT Photodynamic therapy (PDT) with 5-aminolevulinic acid (ALA) or its derivatives as precursors of protoporphyrin IX (PPIX) is routinely used in dermatology for the treatment of various pathologies. However, this methodology suffers to some extent from a limited efficacy. Therefore, the main goal of this study was to investigate the modulation and pharma-cokinetics of PPIX buildup after a 5 h incubation with ALA (1.5 mM) and one of its derivatives, the hexyl ester of ALA (h-ALA) (1.5 mM), on the human epidermal equivalent EpidexÔ. PPIX production was modulated with (L+) ascorbic acid iron (II) salt (LAI) or the iron (II)-specific chelating agent deferoxamine (DFO). PPIX fluorescence from the EpidexÔ layers was measured up to 150 h after the precursor administration using a microspectrofluorometer (,ex: 400 ± 20 nm; ,det: 635 nm). The maximum PPIX fluorescence intensity induced by h-ALA was about 1.7x larger than that induced by ALA. The addition of DFO resulted in a more than 50% increase in PPIX fluorescence for both precursors. The decay half life measured for PPIX fluorescence is 30 and 42.5 h, respectively, for ALA and h-ALA. These half lives are doubled when the samples contain DFO. In the samples with the highest fluorescence intensity, a modified fluorescence spectrum was observed after 10 h, with the emergence of a peak at 590 nm, which is attributed to zinc protoporphyrin IX (Zn PPIX). [source] Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design and Consumption Control in the United StatesTHE HOWARD JOURNAL OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE, Issue 3 2000Alejandro Del Carmen CPTED theory, research and practice are frequently held to be relatively recent developments in the field of American criminology, generated largely by the works of Oscar Newman (1972) and C. Ray Jeffery (1971). This view of CPTED and its development in the United States falls short of providing an adequate understanding of the vital part that it has played, and can play, in the advancement of crime prevention theory and public policy. CPTED is actually broader than as it is currently understood in the discipline of criminology. This is demonstrated through an examination of the ,era of consumption'' (that is, the time period roughly from the early 1800s to early 1900s where the disease later referred to as tuberculosis was widespread in the US); during this time period, efforts to control the spread of illness were achieved through CPTED strategies which preceded the academic writings of those considered to be the founders of CPTED. Our main goal is to increase the understanding of and appreciation for the vital role that CPTED has played in the history of crime prevention in the United States. Finally, implications are discussed for the prevention of tuberculosis today, as well as HIV infection and AIDS. [source] ,Senescence-associated vacuoles' are involved in the degradation of chloroplast proteins in tobacco leavesTHE PLANT JOURNAL, Issue 2 2008Dana E. Martínez Summary Massive degradation of photosynthetic proteins is the hallmark of leaf senescence; however the mechanism involved in chloroplast protein breakdown is not completely understood. As small ,senescence-associated vacuoles' (SAVs) with intense proteolytic activity accumulate in senescing leaves of soybean and Arabidopsis, the main goal of this work was to determine whether SAVs are involved in the degradation of chloroplastic components. SAVs with protease activity were readily detected through confocal microscopy of naturally senescing leaves of tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.). In detached leaves incubated in darkness, acceleration of the chloroplast degradation rate by ethylene treatment correlated with a twofold increase in the number of SAVs per cell, compared to untreated leaves. In a tobacco line expressing GFP targeted to plastids, GFP was re-located to SAVs in senescing leaves. SAVs were isolated by sucrose density gradient centrifugation. Isolated SAVs contained chloroplast-targeted GFP and the chloroplast stromal proteins Rubisco (ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase) and glutamine synthetase, but lacked the thylakoid proteins D1 and light-harvesting complex II of the photosystem II reaction center and photosystem II antenna, respectively. In SAVs incubated at 30°C, there was a steady decrease in Rubisco levels, which was completely abolished by addition of protease inhibitors. These results indicate that SAVs are involved in degradation of the soluble photosynthetic proteins of the chloroplast stroma during senescence of leaves. [source] Has Time Come for New Goals in Human Islet Transplantation?AMERICAN JOURNAL OF TRANSPLANTATION, Issue 6 2008R. Lehmann The enthusiasm regarding clinical islet transplantation has been dampened by the long-term results. Concerns about the associated risks of life-long immunosuppression and the striking imbalance between potential recipients and available donor pancreata warrant changes in some of the current goals. Islet transplantation will never be a cure of type 1 diabetes in the majority of patients with no secondary complications, but is a valid option for a limited number of patients with brittle diabetes waiting for an organ or after organ transplantation. Furthermore, insulin independence should not be the main goal of islet transplantation, but avoidance of severe hypoglycemia and good glycemic control, which can be achieved with a relatively small functional beta-cell mass. Therefore, initially one islet infusion is sufficient. Retransplantation at a later time point remains an option, if glucose control deteriorates. Efforts to improve islet transplantation should no longer focus on islet isolation and immunosuppression, but rather on the low posttransplant survival rate of islets caused by activation of the coagulation pathway and the limited oxygen delivery to the islets. Transplantation of smaller islets be it naturally small or size tailored reaggregated islets has the potential to facilitate these processes. [source] Osteological Development of the Garfish (Belone belone) LarvaeANATOMIA, HISTOLOGIA, EMBRYOLOGIA, Issue 5 2009S. Ku Summary Garfish, Belone belone (Linnaeus, 1761) is an elongate, slander fish inhabiting the Eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean Sea. These fish from the Belonidae (Actinopterygii) family have important commercial value for Croatian fisheries. Samples for research were collected from experimental hatching in the Novigrad Sea. Preparation techniques included fixation in buffered formalin, trypsin clearing and staining with alcian blue and alizarin red. As little is known of garfish osteology and bone morphology, the main goal of this study was to describe ossification process in garfish fry. At hatching, no skeletal structure is present. Newly-hatched larvae also had no osteological elements. Ossification started at 7 day post-hatching (DPH) [total length (TL) 18 mm] with head bones and vertebral neural arch. Head skeleton continued to develop mostly over the period from 7 to 10 DPH. At 21 DPH (TL 49 mm), ossification process seemed to be finished, but it was not possible to distinguish borders of all bones. The primary interest of our research was to understand the growth dynamics as well as transformation of supporting body elements from cartilage to bone. At the end, developmental characteristics and functional aspects of this formation in different fish species are discussed. [source] Nutritive value of partially dehulled and extruded sunflower meal for post-smolt Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) in sea waterAQUACULTURE RESEARCH, Issue 13 2006Navneet Gill Abstract This study determined the digestibility of protein in partially dehulled sunflower meal (SFM) and then, as the main goal, the nutritive value of high-temperature extruded (,149°C) partially dehulled SFM (SFMEX) for post-smolt Atlantic salmon Salmo salar in sea water. The digestibility study was conducted using the settling column approach (,Guelph system') for faeces collection as described by Hajen, Higgs, Beames and Dosanjh. In the nutritive value study, triplicate groups of 50 salmon (mean weight ,116 g) in 4000-L outdoor fibreglass tanks supplied with 25,40 L min,1, filtered, oxygenated (dissolved oxygen, 7.0,8.5 mg L,1), 11,12°C sea water (salinity, 29,31 g L,1), were fed twice daily to satiation one of five steam-pelleted dry diets that contained 422 g of digestible protein (DP) kg,1 and ,16.4 MJ of digestible energy (DE) kg,1 on a dry weight basis for 84 days. Low-temperature-dried anchovy meal (LT-AM) comprised 68.2% of the basal diet protein whereas in four test diets, SFMEX progressively replaced up to 33.0% of the DP provided by LT-AM in the basal diet (SFMEX,271 g kg,1 of dry matter). Sunflower meal had 87.9% DP. Diet treatment did not significantly affect specific growth rate (1.39,1.45% day,1), feed efficiency (1.19,1.26), percentage of dietary protein retained (45.8,47.5), gross energy utilization (46.5,49.4%), per cent survival (96.0,99.3) or terminal whole body and muscle proximate compositions. We conclude that SFMEX can comprise ,271 g kg,1 of the dry diet or ,22.7% of the digestible dietary protein of post-smolt Atlantic salmon in seawater without any adverse effects on their performance. [source] Analysing the factors influencing clean technology adoption: a study of the Spanish pulp and paper industryBUSINESS STRATEGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT, Issue 1 2005Pablo del Río González Technological change has a relevant role to play in the transition towards a sustainable industry. However, slow diffusion of clean technologies can be observed in OECD countries. The analysis of the determinants and barriers to clean technology adoption should be a main goal of economists and social scientists. This paper shows that three sets of interrelated factors prevent but also stimulate the widespread adoption and diffusion of clean technology: these are factors external and internal to the firm, conditions of the potential adopters and characteristics of the environmental technology. These factors are included in the so-called ,triangular model', which is further applied to the analysis of clean technology adoption in the pulp and paper industry in Spain. The empirical study shows that clean technology adoption decisions are the result of an interaction between these factors, often involving contradictory signals for the potential adopter. The paper closes with some public policy recommendations for the effective and efficient promotion of clean technology diffusion. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment. [source] Process Optimization of Filling Up CrystallizationCHEMICAL ENGINEERING & TECHNOLOGY (CET), Issue 5 2010I. Markovits Abstract The optimization of filling up crystallization of a specific active pharmaceutical ingredient (APIe) is presented and discussed. Filling up crystallization is a special cooling crystallization method the main goal of which is to narrow the crystal size distribution (CSD) of the product. Fast cooling of the solution is achieved in the first section of the cooling profile as the hot solution of the API for crystallization is fed into the crystallizer, where a constant but significantly lower temperature is maintained by choosing a suitable addition rate of the hot solution and utilizing the cooling efficiency of the crystallizer. The process of determination for formulation of the crystals occurs during the filling up period of the crystallization. As a result of optimization, a parameter range is specified from which the process parameters can be chosen ensuring that the product specifications comply with the limitations. [source] Local existence for the free boundary problem for nonrelativistic and Relativistic compressible Euler equations with a vacuum boundary conditionCOMMUNICATIONS ON PURE & APPLIED MATHEMATICS, Issue 11 2009Yuri Trakhinin We study the free boundary problem for the equations of compressible Euler equations with a vacuum boundary condition. Our main goal is to recover in Eulerian coordinates the earlier well-posedness result obtained by Lindblad [11] for the isentropic Euler equations and extend it to the case of full gas dynamics. For technical simplicity we consider the case of an unbounded domain whose boundary has the form of a graph and make short comments about the case of a bounded domain. We prove the local-in-time existence in Sobolev spaces by the technique applied earlier to weakly stable shock waves and characteristic discontinuities [5, 12]. It contains, in particular, the reduction to a fixed domain, using the "good unknown" of Alinhac [1], and a suitable Nash-Moser-type iteration scheme. A certain modification of such an approach is caused by the fact that the symbol associated to the free surface is not elliptic. This approach is still directly applicable to the relativistic version of our problem in the setting of special relativity, and we briefly discuss its extension to general relativity. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source] Reconstructing head models from photographs for individualized 3D-audio processingCOMPUTER GRAPHICS FORUM, Issue 7 2008M. Dellepiane Abstract Visual fidelity and interactivity are the main goals in Computer Graphics research, but recently also audio is assuming an important role. Binaural rendering can provide extremely pleasing and realistic three-dimensional sound, but to achieve best results it's necessary either to measure or to estimate individual Head Related Transfer Function (HRTF). This function is strictly related to the peculiar features of ears and face of the listener. Recent sound scattering simulation techniques can calculate HRTF starting from an accurate 3D model of a human head. Hence, the use of binaural rendering on large scale (i.e. video games, entertainment) could depend on the possibility to produce a sufficiently accurate 3D model of a human head, starting from the smallest possible input. In this paper we present a completely automatic system, which produces a 3D model of a head starting from simple input data (five photos and some key-points indicated by user). The geometry is generated by extracting information from images and accordingly deforming a 3D dummy to reproduce user head features. The system proves to be fast, automatic, robust and reliable: geometric validation and preliminary assessments show that it can be accurate enough for HRTF calculation. [source] Towards a framework and a benchmark for testing tools for multi-threaded programsCONCURRENCY AND COMPUTATION: PRACTICE & EXPERIENCE, Issue 3 2007Yaniv Eytani Abstract Multi-threaded code is becoming very common, both on the server side, and very recently for personal computers as well. Consequently, looking for intermittent bugs is a problem that is receiving more and more attention. As there is no silver bullet, research focuses on a variety of partial solutions. We outline a road map for combining the research within the different disciplines of testing multi-threaded programs and for evaluating the quality of this research. We have three main goals. First, to create a benchmark that can be used to evaluate different solutions. Second, to create a framework with open application programming interfaces that enables the combination of techniques in the multi-threading domain. Third, to create a focus for the research in this area around which a community of people who try to solve similar problems with different techniques can congregate. We have started creating such a benchmark and describe the lessons learned in the process. The framework will enable technology developers, for example, developers of race detection algorithms, to concentrate on their components and use other ready made components (e.g. an instrumentor) to create a testing solution. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Business students' perception of corporate social responsibility: the United States, China, and IndiaCORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY AND ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT, Issue 5 2010Alan Wong Abstract This study used a questionnaire to assess perceptive differences in corporate social responsibility among business students in the United States, China, and India. The study finds that American and Indian respondents attached more importance to the noneconomic aspects of social responsibility than Chinese respondents. Chinese students were more accepting of making facilitating payments to get things moving. Indian respondents placed more emphasis on philanthropy while the US group emphasized legal obligations. In the choice of business goals, there is generally little difference between the three nationality groups. The two main goals selected are taking care of owners' interests and consumers' needs. The study's findings have implications for business school curriculum, public policy, and multinational corporations. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment. [source] Wire Scalpel for Surgical Correction of Soft Tissue Contour Defects by Subcutaneous DissectionDERMATOLOGIC SURGERY, Issue 2 2000Marlen A. Sulamanidze MD Background. Increasing demand exists for cosmetic correction of soft tissue contour defects. Treatments include simple tissue augmentation techniques or more complex surgeries with consequent relevant recuperation time for the patient. The search for new simple techniques to correct scars and age-related wrinkles and folds is therefore one of the main goals of cosmetic dermatologic surgery. Objective. To improve the cosmetic outcome of patients suffering from soft tissue contour defects by the use of a novel surgical instrument and technique, subcutaneous dissection by wire scalpel. Methods. Fifty-four patients were treated with the wire scalpel technique with no skin incisions to correct a total of 132 depressed cosmetic defects of the face. Forehead lines, glabellar, nasolabial and oral commissure folds, upper lip wrinkles, and acne scars were treated. A 2-month to 4-year follow-up allowed subjective and photographic evaluation of results. Results. Good or satisfactory results were obtained in 79.7% and 16.6% of the cases, respectively. Minor complications did not change the overall positive outcome of the surgery. Conclusion. Subcutaneous dissection by wire scalpel is a simple, safe, and effective method to improve the contour appearance of patients affected with scars or age-related contour defects. [source] Multichannel surface electromyography in ergonomics: Potentialities and limitsHUMAN FACTORS AND ERGONOMICS IN MANUFACTURING & SERVICE INDUSTRIES, Issue 4 2010Marco Gazzoni Abstract The prevention of work-related musculoskeletal disorders is one of the main goals in ergonomics. Among others, surface electromyography (sEMG) is an important tool for the evaluation of risks related to work activity. Three main issues have been approached in ergonomics via sEMG: 1) the analysis of muscle activation, 2) the analysis of exerted forces and torques, and 3) the analysis of muscle fatigue. Many studies have been carried out in static conditions. In ergonomics, however, it is more relevant to study muscle activity and fatigue during real tasks that are, in general, dynamic. From isometric to dynamic contractions, the complexity of the interpretation of sEMG signals increases considerably. Changes in sEMG signals are related to the continuous modifications in force output, muscle fiber length, and relative position of surface electrodes and sources. To increase the reliability of the information extracted from sEMG, multichannel detection systems have been applied, showing the possibility of overcoming some limits of the standard technique. Some illustrative laboratory and field studies are reported in this work to illustrate the potentialities and the open problems in the use of multichannel sEMG in ergonomics. Case 1 is a laboratory study investigating the myoelectric manifestations of fatigue in the biceps brachii (BB) during dynamic elbow flexion/extension. Case 2 is a laboratory study investigating the myoelectric manifestations of fatigue during a repetitive lifting task. Case 3 is a field study, carried out in an automotive plant, investigating muscle activation during the welding of a car door. Many factors play a leading role in the correct interpretation of information provided by sEMG. Even though multichannel sEMG provides information able to improve the estimation of force and/or fatigue during working tasks, many problems related to the signal acquisition and interpretation are still open. Further improvements are necessary to develop multichannel sEMG into an effective tool supporting other methodologies for the evaluation of work-related risks. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source] Symptomatic treatment of osteoarthritis: paracetamol or NSAIDs?INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CLINICAL PRACTICE, Issue 2004Karel PAVELKA MD SUMMARY The clinical management of osteoarthritis (OA) is today symptomatic, its main goals being relief of pain and improvement of function. Therapy should be multimodal and composed of non-pharmacological, pharmacological and, if necessary, surgical procedures. Paracetamol and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are evidence-based drugs for the symptomatic relief of OA. Newly published comparative studies have shown that NSAIDs are more effective than paracetamol , in contrast to studies from the early 1990s. Some studies have documented that more severe pain and the presence of inflammation can predict better response from NSAIDs than from paracetamol; on the other hand other studies have not confirmed this. Patient preference studies have shown that patients favour NSAIDs, but up to 40% consider paracetamol at least as effective as NSAIDs. With regard to efficacy, safety and cost, the majority of new guidelines recommend paracetamol as a first-choice analgesic for patients with OA of the knee or hip, and the use of NSAIDs only in cases of inadequate effect of paracetamol and especially in the presence of inflammation. There is much evidence that OA is a phasic disease and it may be that NSAIDs are useful during identifiable periods of inflammatory activity and can be avoided at other times. The concept of the short-term use of NSAIDs during flares and the use of a simple analgesic in the long term seems to be the best variant for the majority of patients with optimal benefit/risk and cost-effectiveness. [source] Enhancing the application of experiential marketing in the artsINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF NONPROFIT & VOLUNTARY SECTOR MARKETING, Issue 1 2004Ed Petkus Jr Associate Professor of Marketing Studies While experiential marketing has become a cornerstone of recent advances in retailing, branding and events marketing, there is potential for its application in arts marketing to be extended and improved. The two main goals of this paper are to introduce and explain the Pine and Gilmore experiential marketing framework[Pine, II, B. J. and Gilmore, J. H. (1999) ,The Experience Economy', Harvard Business School Press, Boston.] and its relevance to arts marketing; and to discuss the implications of Pine and Gilmore's work for two specific areas of arts marketing: the unique dimensions of the arts experience, and the strategic and tactical steps involved in staging an experience. Copyright © 2004 Henry Stewart Publications [source] The Financial Crisis: Causes and Lessons,JOURNAL OF APPLIED CORPORATE FINANCE, Issue 3 2010Kenneth E. Scott The author argues that the root cause of the recent crisis was a housing bubble whose origins can be traced to loose monetary policy and a government housing policy that continually pushed for lower lending standards to increase home ownership. The negative consequences of such policies were amplified when transmitted throughout the financial system by financial institutions through the process of securitization. In attempting to assess culpability for the crisis and identify possible reforms, the author focuses on three categories: 1Defects in Financial Products: Without criticizing derivatives and the process of securitization, the author identifies the sheer complexity of the securities as a major source of the problem,for which the solution is a simpler security design combined with greater disclosure about the underlying assets being securitized. 2Defects in Risk Management: Thanks in large part to agency and other incentive problems, there was universal underestimation of risks by mortgage originators and financial institutions throughout the securitization chain. Changing incentive pay structures is part of the solution, and so are better accounting rules for SPEs. But more effective regulatory oversight and ending "too big to fail" may well be the only way to curb excessive private risk-taking. 3Defects in Government Policy and Regulation: While acknowledging the need for more effective oversight, the author argues that there was ample existing authority for U.S. regulators to have addressed these issues. Lack of power and authority to regulate was not at the heart of the problem,the real problem was lack of foresight and judgment about the unexpected. After expressing doubt that regulators can prevent major financial failures, the author recommends greater attention to devising better methods of resolving such failures when they occur. One of the main goals is to ensure that losses are borne not by taxpayers but by private investors in a way that maintains incentives for market discipline while limiting spillover costs to the entire system. [source] The influence of environmental factors, the pollen : ovule ratio and seed bank persistence on molecular evolutionary rates in plantsJOURNAL OF EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY, Issue 1 2006C.-A. WHITTLE Abstract One of the main goals of molecular evolutionary biology is to determine the factors that influence the evolutionary rate of selectively neutral DNA, but much remains unknown, especially for plants. Key factors that could alter the mutation rate include environmental tolerances (because they reflect a plants vulnerability to changes in habitat), the pollen : ovule ratio (as it is associated with the number of mitotic divisions) and seed longevity (because this influences the number of generations per unit time in plants). This is the first study to demonstrate that seed bank persistence and drought tolerance are positively associated with molecular evolutionary rates in plants and that pollen : ovule ratio, shade tolerance and salinity tolerance have no detectable relationship. The implications of the findings to our understanding of the impact of environmental agents, the number of cell divisions and cell aging on neutral DNA sequence evolution are discussed. [source] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||