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Methods And Techniques (methods + and_techniques)
Selected AbstractsPeacemaking in International Conflict: Methods and TechniquesPEACE & CHANGE, Issue 3 2010Sam E. Baroni No abstract is available for this article. [source] Standardization of the Chinese Personality Assessment Inventory: The prototype standardization method and its rationaleASIAN JOURNAL OF SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 2 2000Yiu-Fai Yung Methods and techniques for the standardization of the Chinese Personality Assessment Inventory (CPAI) are reviewed and discussed. Based on the idea of the UT transformation (Tellegen & Ben-Porath, 1992), a general method called prototype standardization is applied to the clinical scales as well as the personality scales of the CPAI. The rationale of the prototype standardization method is explained. Some variations of the basic methodology are suggested and applied to the CPAI. It is demonstrated that the prototype standardization of the CPAI yields desirable psychometric properties such as percentile comparability across scales and preservation of the correlation structures of the scales, even for the personality scales of the CPAI that do not have a homogeneous distributional shape. We conclude that prototype standardization is a useful method for standardizing all kinds of personality inventories consisting of a large number of scales. [source] A brief study of applications of the generalized reciprocal method and of some limitations of the methodGEOPHYSICAL PROSPECTING, Issue 5 2000Bengt Sjögren An analysis of the generalized reciprocal method (GRM), developed by Palmer for the interpretation of seismic refraction investigations, has been carried out. The aim of the present study is to evaluate the usefulness of the method for geotechnical investigations in connection with engineering projects. Practical application of the GRM is the main object of this study rather than the theoretical/mathematical aspects of the method. The studies are partly based on the models and field examples presented by Palmer. For comparison, some other refraction interpretation methods and techniques have been employed, namely the ABC method, the ABEM correction method, the mean-minus-T method and Hales' method. The comparisons showed that the results, i.e. the depths and velocities determined by Palmer, are partly incorrect due to some errors and misinterpretations when analysing the data from field examples. Due to the limitations of the GRM, some of which are mentioned here, stated by Palmer in his various publications, and other shortcomings of the method (e.g. the erasing of valuable information), the GRM must be regarded as being of limited use for detailed and accurate interpretations of refraction seismics for engineering purposes. [source] Fractional integration in agricultural futures price volatilities revisitedAGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS, Issue 1 2009Peter S. Sephton Conditional volatility; Fractional integration; Long-memory Abstract Jin and Frechette (2004) examined the degree to which agricultural price volatilities exhibited evidence of fractional integration and concluded it was important to consider both long-run and short-run memory when modeling conditional variances. The purpose of this note is to revisit the issue using new methods and techniques which generally reaffirm the view that return volatilities are fractionally integrated and conditionally heteroskedastic, with many exhibiting significant leverage effects, a result not previously reported. [source] Characterisation of pressure-treated skimmed milk powder dispersions: application of NMR spectroscopyJOURNAL OF THE SCIENCE OF FOOD AND AGRICULTURE, Issue 10 2002Colin D Hubbard Abstract Skimmed milk powder (SMP) (bovine) and skimmed milk powder/sucrose dispersions before, during and after high-pressure treatment have been studied by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy (principally P-31). The P-31 spectra of samples at 293,K before and after pressure (400,600,MPa) treatment were not significantly different from one another, whether or not sucrose was present. This indicates that physicochemical changes relating to phosphorus-containing components occurring during a pressure cycle are either reversible or result in re-immobilisation, while protein components may be rearranged. The P-31 NMR spectra of these dispersions at 293,K under pressure (100,300,MPa) showed that pressure caused a considerable increase in the free inorganic phosphate concentration and that the increase was proportional to the magnitude of pressure. Decompression to ambient caused an exact reversal of this trend. These findings are discussed in terms of characterisation and properties of pressure-treated SMP dispersions by other methods and techniques. © 2002 Society of Chemical Industry [source] Method and instruments for modeling integrated knowledgeKNOWLEDGE AND PROCESS MANAGEMENT: THE JOURNAL OF CORPORATE TRANSFORMATION, Issue 4 2008*Article first published online: 19 NOV 200, Olivier Glassey MIMIK (Method and Instruments for Modeling Integrated Knowledge) is a set of tools used to formalize and represent knowledge within organizations. It furthermore supports knowledge creation and sharing within communities of interest or communities of practice. In this paper we show that MIMIK is based on a model theory approach and builds on other existing methods and techniques. We also explain how to use the method and its instruments in order to model strategic objectives, processes, knowledge, and roles found within an organization, as well as relations existing between these elements. Indeed MIMIK provides eight types of models in order to describe what is commonly called know-how, know-why and know-what; it uses matrices in order to formally and semantically link strategic objectives, knowledge and actors. We close this paper with a presentation of a prototype we built in order to demonstrate a technical architecture allowing for knowledge creation, formalization and sharing. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Melanocortin ligands: 30 years of structure,activity relationship (SAR) studiesMEDICINAL RESEARCH REVIEWS, Issue 3 2004Jerry Ryan Holder Abstract The challenge of peptide and peptidomimetic research is the development of methods and techniques to improve the biological properties of native peptides and to convert peptide ligands into non-peptide compounds. Improved biological properties of peptides includes enhancement of stability, potency, and receptor selectivity, for both in vivo and in vitro applications. The design of a ligand with specific activity and desired biological properties is a complex task, and, to accomplish this objective, knowledge about putative interactions between a ligand and the corresponding receptor will be valuable. This includes interactions for both the binding and signal transduction processes. Structure,activity relationship (SAR) studies involve systematic modification of a lead peptide and are designed to provide insight into potential interactions involved in the formation of the ligand,receptor complex. It is desirable to have knowledge about both favorable and unfavorable processes that may occur in putative ligand,receptor interactions that result in either receptor stimulation or inhibition. Herein, we discuss various SAR studies that have involved melanocortin peptides over three decades and the information these studies have provided to the melanocortin field. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Med Res Rev, 24, No. 3, 325,356, 2004 [source] Intravital intestinal videomicroscopy: Techniques and experiencesMICROSURGERY, Issue 4 2005Paul J. Matheson Ph.D. Intravital videomicroscopy (IVM) of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract is a sophisticated and powerful technique to directly observe the neurologically intact microvasculature of rats in naive and pathological conditions. We combine IVM with other techniques (i.e., vascular ring tension analysis and colorimetric microsphere determination of whole organ blood flow) to develop a strategy for the systematic analysis of the regulation of GI blood flow in healthy animals and in models of systemic sepsis and resuscitated hemorrhagic shock. We also study the molecular biology of the GI tract (enzyme- or radio-linked immunosorbent assays, fluorescent Greiss assay, and immunoblots) to correlate expression and levels of vascular mediators in tissue and arterial, venous, and portal blood with functional activity of the GI microvascular tree. When combined, these techniques develop a picture of gut pathophysiology at the level of the endothelium, vascular smooth muscle cells, and blood cells in the microcirculation. Our work led us to the general hypothesis that altered microcirculatory function in disease states lies primarily at the level of the interface between vascular and tissue physiology, i.e., the endothelial cell. This review focuses on methods and techniques for studying microvascular function, and concludes with focused reviews of pertinent findings. © 2005 Wiley-Liss, Inc. Microsurgery 25:247,257, 2005. [source] Analysis of industrial tasks as a tool for the inclusion of people with disabilities in the work marketOCCUPATIONAL THERAPY INTERNATIONAL, Issue 3 2008Angela Paula Simonelli Abstract This article describes the application of a model for analyzing industrial tasks that was developed to identify jobs that could potentially be filled by people with disabilities (DP) and to serve as a guideline for a company hiring policy. In Brazil, Law No. 8213/91 makes it obligatory to hire DP based on quotas that are established according to the number of employees in a public and private company. Using a set of methods and techniques based on ergonomic work analysis and on occupational therapy, we sought to build a model to indicate the skills required to perform industrial tasks. The model was applied at 19 workstations at a Brazilian aircraft manufacturer in 2002. The task supervisor and the operator performing the task were interviewed, the work activity was filmed, a kinesiological analysis was done, the task was observed and a checklist was applied to help recognize and systematize the skills involved in performing the job task. The last step consisted of correlating the skills required to perform the task to the potential skills of the various types of disability. It was found that 100% of the jobs could be filled by workers with low-level paraplegia, 89% by workers with general paraplegia, 0% with low-level tetraplegia, 47% with auditory impairment, 42% with hemiplegia, 68% with upper limb amputees wearing adequate prostheses, and 89% handicapped wheelchair users. The company hired 14 DP based on the results of this model. The model proved adequate for analyzing industrial tasks with a view to the inclusion of DP, and it can be applied to other sectors of industrial production. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Expertise Research Methodology: Identifying Differences and Factors Influencing High and Low PerformancePERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT QUARTERLY, Issue 4 2001Michael A. Horst ABSTRACT Expertise research methodologies have focused upon the identification of differences and factors influencing high and low performance at the individual, process, and organizational level. The goal of this review is to use the results to facilitate performance improvement through the investigation of high and low performing entities. Various approaches are reported in the literature to investigate expertise and quantify factors relating to development of this expertise at the individual, group, and organizational level. This review of research literature focuses upon studies utilizing expertise methodologies outside of the laboratory for identification of differences and factors influencing high and low performance. Studies cited emphasize performance at the individual, process, or organizational level. Statistical methods and techniques for identifying high and low performance are identified. Results have implications for use in performance improvement initiatives in assessing differences or factors influencing performance as well as identification of interventions and outcome measures. [source] PERSPECTIVE: Trends and Drivers of Success in NPD Practices: Results of the 2003 PDMA Best Practices Study,THE JOURNAL OF PRODUCT INNOVATION MANAGEMENT, Issue 1 2009Gloria Barczak Since 1990, the Product Development & Management Association (PDMA) has sponsored best practice research projects to identify trends in new product development (NPD) management practices and to discern which practices are associated with higher degrees of success. The objective of this ongoing research is to assist managers in determining how to improve their own product development methods and practices. This paper presents results, recommendations, and implications for NPD practice stemming from PDMA's third best practices study, which was conducted in 2003. In the eight years since the previous best practices study was conducted, firms have become slightly more conservative in the portfolio of projects, with lower percentages of the total number of projects in the new-to-the-world and new-to-the-firm categories. Although success rates and development efficiencies have remained stable, this more conservative approach to NPD seems to have negatively impacted the sales and profits impact of the new products that have been commercialized. As formal processes for NPD are now the norm, attention is moving to managing the multiple projects across the portfolio in a more orchestrated manner. Finally, firms are implementing a wide variety of software support tools for various aspects of NPD. NPD areas still seriously in need of improved management include idea management, project leadership and training, cross-functional training and team communication support, and innovation support and leadership by management. In terms of aspects of NPD management that differentiate the "best from the rest," the findings indicate that the best firms emphasize and integrate their innovation strategy across all the levels of the firm, better support their people and team communications, conduct extensive experimentation, and use numerous kinds of new methods and techniques to support NPD. All companies appear to continue to struggle with the recording of ideas and making them readily available to others in the organization, even the best. What remains unclear is whether there is a preferable approach for organizing the NPD endeavor, as no one organizational approach distinguished top NPD performers. [source] The Future of a Discipline: Considering the ontological/methodological future of the anthropology of consciousness, Part I,ANTHROPOLOGY OF CONSCIOUSNESS, Issue 1 2010Toward a New Kind of Science, its Methods of Inquiry ABSTRACT Calling for an expanded framework of EuroAmerican science's methodology whose perspective acknowledges both quantitative/etic and qualitative/emic orientations is the broad focus of this article. More specifically this article argues that our understanding of shamanic and/or other related states of consciousness has been greatly enhanced through ethnographic methods, yet in their present form these methods fail to provide the means to fully comprehend these states. They fail, or are limited, because this approach is only a "cognitive interpretation" or "metanarrative" of the actual experience and not the experience itself. Consequently this perspective is also limited because the researcher continues to assess his or her data through the lens of their symbolic constructs, thereby preventing them from truly experiencing shamanic and psi/spirit approaches to knowing since the data collection process does not "in and of itself" affect the observer. We, therefore, need expanded ethnographic methods that include within their approaches an understanding of methods and techniques to experientially encounter these states of consciousness,and become transformed by them. Our becoming transformed and then recollecting our ethnoautobiographical experiences is the means toward a new kind of science and its methods of inquiry that this article seeks to encourage. [source] The dilemma of conducting research back in your own country as a returning student , reflections of research fieldwork in ZimbabweAREA, Issue 1 2009David Mandiyanike The research process is more like finding one's way through a complex maze. ,Home is where the heart is', but foreign students face a number of problems upon their return home to do research. This paper chronicles the dilemma of a Zimbabwean student conducting fieldwork for his UK-based doctoral studies in his own country. The dilemmas were critical in that the fieldwork was undertaken during the ,Zimbabwe crisis' and the inherent problems of researching government-related organisations. This has a bearing on any research process and invokes use of the etic/emic dilemma. This paper contributes to the gaps and growing literature on methods and techniques for conducting qualitative research in human geography. [source] Participation in research programBIOCHEMISTRY AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY EDUCATION, Issue 5 2007A Novel Course in Undergraduate Education of Life Science Abstract A novel course, "Participation in Research Program (PRP)" in life sciences is open for 1st to 3rd year undergraduates. PRP introduces the principles of a variety of biological methods and techniques and also offers an opportunity to explore some specific knowledge in more detail prior to thesis research. In addition, the PRP introduces some methodologies that have been proven to be successful at each institution to participants. Through disciplines crossing, students were trained theoretically and practically about modern techniques, facilitating the efficient commutation of general laboratory skills and modern laboratory skills, and the possession of higher research ability. Therefore, during some basic training (e.g., usage and maintenance of equipments, designing and completing experiments, analyzing data and reporting results, etc.), a series of capabilities are strengthened, such as basic experimental skills, searching appropriate methods, explaining unknown biological phenomena, and the capacity of solving problems. To determine the efficiency of these strategies, we carefully examined students' performance and demonstrated the progress in students' basic abilities of scientific research in their training. [source] Differential Equation Modeling of HIV Viral Fitness Experiments: Model Identification, Model Selection, and Multimodel InferenceBIOMETRICS, Issue 1 2009Hongyu Miao Summary Many biological processes and systems can be described by a set of differential equation (DE) models. However, literature in statistical inference for DE models is very sparse. We propose statistical estimation, model selection, and multimodel averaging methods for HIV viral fitness experiments in vitro that can be described by a set of nonlinear ordinary differential equations (ODE). The parameter identifiability of the ODE models is also addressed. We apply the proposed methods and techniques to experimental data of viral fitness for HIV-1 mutant 103N. We expect that the proposed modeling and inference approaches for the DE models can be widely used for a variety of biomedical studies. [source] Determination of absolute configuration,An overview related to this Special IssueCHIRALITY, Issue 5 2008Stig Allenmark Abstract Rapid progress in asymmetric synthesis stimulated a further development of methods and techniques for the determination of absolute configuration of chiral molecules. In recent years the direct methods, i.e. X-ray diffraction analysis, circular dichroism (vibrational and electronic), Raman optical activity, optical rotation measurements, as well as indirect methods for relative configuration assignment with the use of NMR spectroscopy or enzymatic transformations, are receiving increasing attention not only by specialists in the field but also by synthetic and structural chemists alike. This paper provides a short overview of the methods currently used, as well as references to contributions collected in this Thematic Issue of Chirality. Chirality, 2008. © 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] | |||||||||||||||||||