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Methods Need (methods + need)
Selected AbstractsHealth Services Research in 2020: Data and Methods Needs for the FutureHEALTH SERVICES RESEARCH, Issue 5p2 2010Patricia Pittman First page of article [source] Investigating static and dynamic characteristics of electromechanical actuators (EMA) with MATLAB GUIsCOMPUTER APPLICATIONS IN ENGINEERING EDUCATION, Issue 2 2010Gursel Sefkat Abstract This paper deals with the design of an electromechanical device considering some prescribed performance requirements, and static and dynamic analysis of this device are carried out. In studying the transient response of such a system, as part of dynamic analysis, two methods mostly used finite element method (FEM) and finite differences method (FDM). However, these methods need much CPU time. In this work, a computer simulator program is developed for an EMA. This technique is implemented in the MATLAB-Simulink environment and tested for different design tasks such as electromagnetic valves or electromechanical brakes etc. Furthermore, by using GUIDE tools within MATLAB, a simple useful and user-friendly GUI structure is developed to provide a visual approach to design and analysis process. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Comput Appl Eng Educ 18: 383,396, 2010; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com); DOI 10.1002/cae.20279 [source] Dendritic cells: biology of the skinCONTACT DERMATITIS, Issue 1 2009Mascha J. Toebak Allergic contact dermatitis results from a T-cell-mediated, delayed-type hypersensitivity immune response induced by allergens. Skin dendritic cells (DCs) play a central role in the initiation of allergic skin responses. Following encounter with an allergen, DCs become activated and undergo maturation and differentiate into immunostimulatory DCs and are able to present antigens effectively to T cells. The frequency of allergic skin disorders has increased in the past decades. Therefore, the identification of potential sensitizing chemicals is important for skin safety. Traditionally, predictive testing for allergenicity has been conducted in animal models. For regulatory reasons, animal use for sensitization testing of compounds for cosmetic purposes is shortly to be prohibited in Europe. Therefore, new non-animal-based test methods need to be developed. Several DC-based assays have been described to discriminate allergens from irritants. Unfortunately, current in vitro methods are not sufficiently resilient to identify allergens and therefore need refinement. Here, we review the immunobiology of skin DCs (Langerhans' cells and dermal dendritic cells) and their role in allergic and irritant contact dermatitis and then explore the possible use of DC-based models for discriminating between allergens and irritants. [source] Sodium dodecyl sulfate versus acid-labile surfactant gel electrophoresis: Comparative proteomic studies on rat retina and mouse brainELECTROPHORESIS, Issue 4 2003Simone König Abstract A long-chain derivative of 1,3-dioxolane sodium propyloxy sulfate, with similar denaturing and electrophoretic properties as SDS, and facilitated protein identification following polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) for Coomassie-stained protein bands, has been tested. Comparative acid-labile surfactant/sodium dodecyl sulfate two-dimensional (ALS/SDS 2-D)-PAGE experiments of lower abundant proteins from the proteomes of regenerating rat retina and mouse brain show that peptide recovery for mass spectrometry (MS) mapping is significantly enhanced using ALS leading to more successful database searches. ALS may influence some procedures in proteomic analysis such as the determination of protein content and methods need to be adjusted to that effect. The promising results of the use of ALS in bioanalytics call for detailed physicochemical investigations of surfactant properties. [source] Teaching and assessment of Professional attitudes in UK dental schools , CommentaryEUROPEAN JOURNAL OF DENTAL EDUCATION, Issue 3 2010J. Field Abstract The General Dental Council expects professionalism to be embedded and assessed through-out the undergraduate dental programme. Curricula need therefore to accommodate these recommendations. A stroll poll of UK dental schools provided a basis for understanding the current methods of teaching and assessing professionalism. All respondent schools recognised the importance of professionalism and reported that this was taught and assessed within their curriculum. For most the methods involved were largely traditional, relying on lectures and seminars taught throughout the course. The most common form of assessment was by grading and providing formative feedback after a clinical encounter. Whilst clinical skills and knowledge can perhaps be readily taught and assessed using traditional methods, those involved in education are challenged to identify and implement effective methods of not only teaching, but also assessing professionalism. A variety of standalone methods need to be developed that assess professionalism and this will, in turn, allow the effectiveness of teaching methods to be assessed. [source] Molecular dynamics simulation of self-diffusion coefficient and its relation with temperature using simple Lennard-Jones potentialHEAT TRANSFER - ASIAN RESEARCH (FORMERLY HEAT TRANSFER-JAPANESE RESEARCH), Issue 2 2008Li Wei-Zhong Abstract The diffusion coefficient is indispensable to chemical engineering design and research. In practical engineering and research, there is still a great lack of available data. Therefore, methods need to be developed to solve this problem. In this paper, a molecular dynamics simulation method is used to predict the self-diffusion coefficient for a simple fluid by using the Green, Kubo relation (VACF) and the Einstein relation (MSD). The simulation results are in good agreement with experimental findings except for an error of about 10%. The algorithm average of the two methods (AV) reduces the error to 7%. The relationship of the diffusion coefficient with temperature has also been simulated. According to the simulation data, whose correlation is all above 0.99, the diffusion coefficient agrees well with temperature following the Arrenhius relationship. Activation energy for self-diffusion has been calculated and the result were 1258(VACF), 1272(MSD), and 1265(AV) J/mol separately. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Heat Trans Asian Res, 37(2): 86,93, 2008; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/htj.20191 [source] Distributed control of event floods in a large telecom networkINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF NETWORK MANAGEMENT, Issue 2 2010Chundury Jagadish Events in a failing system can be generated so rapidly that they adversely impact the network as well as the network management system (NMS) manager. They may fail to get delivered and critical information may get lost. This problem becomes worse in a large and congested network. Today, in practice, a management station is often flooded with a huge number of redundant events, making it difficult for the operator to process them and take corrective actions. Methods are needed to limit the volume of event transmission and number of events presented to the operator, while ensuring delivery of important information to the NMS manager. These methods need to take care of the operators' changing needs in monitoring abstraction level, for various network elements (NE) based on time and NE severity state. In this paper we propose novel techniques for distributed control of events flood, by suppressing transient events at the source. These techniques do not add any delay in communicating a failure, while ensuring that only the important events are presented to the operator. Also, the correctness of event state at the NMS is not compromised. Moreover, these methods give flexibility to the operator to dynamically change the abstraction level needed from a network element, and limit the number of events presented to the operator. The implementation of these techniques is tested with real field event traces from various telecom networks. Results show that there is a substantial reduction in the event traffic in the network. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Mid-term report on St Luke's College of Nursing's 21st century Center of Excellence Program: Core elements and specific goals of people-centered careJAPAN JOURNAL OF NURSING SCIENCE, Issue 1 2006Hiroko KOMATSU Abstract Aim:, This paper, at the halfway point of the 5 year Center of Excellence (COE) Program, aims to extract common core elements of each COE project working on the development of people-centered care and to clarify future issues related to the COE Program through the evaluation of those elements. Methods:, All data obtained in such research activities, including records, interviews, meeting minutes, and results, are shared for each project in COE section meetings or general assemblies and the findings that are established there are accumulated. We also have set up a working group to develop the people-centered care concept by continuously reviewing the core elements of people-centered care based on the collected data. In order to track the projects in an orderly manner, we classified and organized the activities of the 11 COE projects based on the Process Evaluation Model and reviewed common important elements. Results:, The characteristic components, related to participation, relationships, capacity-building, empowerment, and product (specific achievements), were extracted as common core elements of each COE project. Conclusion:, In order to maintain the sustainability of people-centered care incorporated in communities, concrete strategies for improving economic efficiency, social significance and utility, and evaluation methods need to be developed. [source] Identification of Acipenseriformes species in tradeJOURNAL OF APPLIED ICHTHYOLOGY, Issue 2008A. Ludwig Summary Sturgeons and paddlefishes (Acipenseridae) are highly endangered freshwater fishes. Their eggs (sold as caviar) are one of the most valuable wildlife products in international trade. Concerns of overharvesting and the conservation status of many of the 27 extant species of Acipenseriformes led to all species being included on the CITES Appendices in 1998. Since then international trade in all products and parts from sturgeon and paddlefish has been regulated. However, despite the controls on trade, unsustainable harvesting continues to threaten many populations. Illegal fishing and trade continues to be a threat to the management of these fish. To enforce the regulation of legal trade and prevention of illegal trade, the development of a uniform identification system for parts and derivates of Acipenseriformes has been identified as an urgent requirement. Ideally this system should be suitable for (i) identification at the species-level of caviar and other products from Acipenseriformes; (ii) population identification; (iii) source identification (wild vs aquaculture); and (iv) determining the age of caviar because strict timeframes govern its international trade. This paper reviews the techniques currently available and their potential to be used in an identification system for Acipenseriformes species and their products in trade. A review of all available identification techniques has shown that there is not a single method that can meet all requirements (see i,iv), and it does not appear to be feasible to develop such a method in the near future therefore the most appropriate methods need to be developed for each. Considering the advantages and disadvantages of all techniques reviewed in this document, the following conclusions can be drawn: (i) for the identification of species, approaches are recommended that target mitochondrial cytochrome b sequences (RFLP, nested PCR or direct sequencing). However, they show limitations for the detection of hybrids (although natural hybrids are rare, the number of artificially produced hybrids in aquaculture is increasing) and for the differentiation of the following closely related species complexes: Acipenser gueldenstaedti,Acipenser baerii,Acipenser persicus,Acipenser naccarii; Acipenser medirostris,Acipenser mikadoi; and Scaphirhynchus albus,Scaphirhynchus plathorhynchus,Scaphirhynchus suttkusi; (ii) the identification of different populations of the same species is currently not feasible because genetic data are incomplete for most populations, and stocking and release programmes, which have become more and more common, often result in a mixture of phenotypes and genotypes, thereby impeding the creation and application of such a population identification system; (iii) source identification based on genetic approaches can be excluded at present because there are no genetic differences between wild and hatchery-raised fish. This is the result of the continuing restocking of natural populations with captive fish and vice versa. However, because rearing (i.e. environmental) conditions are different, methods focusing on differences in water quality or food seem to be more appropriate (for example differences in fatty acid composition). So far, very few studies have been conducted and therefore, source identification methods merit further exploration; and (iv) the age of a product in trade cannot be detected by DNA-based methods and protein profiling is undoubtedly impractical due to hard-to-perform, labour-and cost-intensive methods, which are highly susceptible to protein degradation. Arising from the limits discussed above, the next steps in the development of a uniform sturgeon identification system are proposed to be the following: (i) designation of qualified reference laboratories at national levels in (re-) exporting and importing countries. These should be approved through a standardized testing procedure, for instance a ring test on blind samples. Registered laboratories should be published and disseminated and their accreditations should be subject to certain guarantees regarding quality, economic independence and scientific rigour. Operational procedures have to be determined and standardized among reference laboratories; (ii) establishment of reference collections that are accessible to the reference laboratories containing DNA analyses results and information on the location and availability of tissue samples. This is highly recommended as an important step towards a population identification system and indispensable for a general species identification system; (iii) creation of a website access to the reference collections containing the reference database information about genetic samples, comparable to NCBI, which provides background data: sample location; population information; citation; available genetic data; location of archival storage; currently treated and distributed caviar and status of analysis. This website should also be a forum for the exchange of knowledge on and experiences with identification systems, species and population status information, relevant scientific research, etc.; and (iv) the outcome of the trade identification tests should be made available to the reference laboratories for future reference. The universal caviar labelling system could incorporate an indication of the verification of the consignment. In view of the lack of knowledge and the great need to develop a uniform identification system for Acipenseriformes with regard to the importance of the international caviar trade, further scientific guidance and appropriate research is strongly recommended. Progress should be assessed and exchanged on a regular basis. [source] Disease interaction between farmed and wild fish populationsJOURNAL OF FISH BIOLOGY, Issue 2004E. J. Peeler This paper reviews the literature on disease interaction between wild and farmed fish and recommends strategies to reduce the disease risks to both populations. Most, if not all, diseases of farmed fish originate in wild populations. The close contact between farmed and wild fish readily leads to pathogens exchange. Aquaculture creates conditions (e.g. high stocking levels) conducive to pathogen transmission and disease; hence pathogens can overspill back, resulting in high levels of challenge to wild populations. This is exemplified by sea lice infections in farmed Atlantic salmon. Stocking with hatchery reared fish or aquaculture escapees can affect disease dynamics in wild populations. Whirling disease has been spread to many wild rainbow trout populations in the US with the release of hatchery reared stock. The greatest impact of aquaculture on disease in wild populations has resulted from the movement of fish for cultivation. Examples of exotic disease introduction following movement of live fish for aquaculture with serious consequences for wild populations are reviewed. The salmon parasite, Gyrodactylus salaris, has destroyed wild salmon populations in 44 Norwegian rivers. Crayfish plague has wiped out European crayfish over much of Europe. Eels numbers have declined in Europe and infection with the swimbladder nematode Anguillicola crassus has in part been blamed. The impact of disease in farmed fish on wild populations can mitigated. Risk analysis methods need to be refined and applied to live fish movement and new aquacultural developments. Appropriate biosecurity strategies, based on risk assessments, should be developed to reduce pathogen exchange and mitigate the consequences. [source] The Relationship Between Learning Styles and Visualization Skills Among Interior Design StudentsJOURNAL OF INTERIOR DESIGN, Issue 2 2000Linda L. Nussbaumer OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to determine if learning styles were an influencing factor on visualization skills among interior design students. RESEARCH DESIGN: A sample of 578 interior design students from thirteen universities who were enrolled in interior design courses between fall of 1997 and spring of 1999 completed a biographical data sheet, Kolb's Learning Style Inventory, and Isham's visualization skills test. ANALYSIS: Frequencies, means, and percentages were used to analyze the data. A two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to test these hypotheses: (a) there is a relationship between students' learning styles and visualization skills, and (b) factors that influence students' visualization skills are their year in current major, preprofessional experience, and cultural background. KEY FINDINGS: Results of this study revealed that there is a relationship between learning styles and visualization skills. Converger and Assimilator learning styles scored the highest on visualization tests. Year in major and cultural background were significant factors influencing skills. As students progress through their courses, visualization skills significantly improve, and the greatest improvement occurs between the second and fourth years. Asian/Asian American students scored highest on the visualization test. CONCLUSIONS: Teaching methods need to be developed to enhance visualization skills for all learning styles for interior design students. [source] The benefits of skimming in data fusionPROCEEDINGS OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR INFORMATION SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY (ELECTRONIC), Issue 1 2007Anselm Spoerri Data fusion methods commonly use and compare all the documents returned by multiple retrieval systems to create a new result list. On the one hand, as documents further down in the result lists are considered, a document's probability of being relevant decreases significantly. On the other hand, retrieval systems tend to find similar relevant documents when searching the same database, but they do not find them in the same rank positions. Thus, data fusion methods need to consider all of the documents returned by the retrieval systems. Using TREC 3, 6, 7, 8, 12 and 13 data, this paper examines how "skimming", where the number of documents examined in the result lists is gradually increased, can help to identify relevant documents. It is shown that "gradual skimming" and what can be learned as the list depth is increased can help to improve the retrieval effectiveness of data fusion methods. [source] Physical maturation, life-history classes and age estimates of free-ranging western gorillas,insights from Mbeli Bai, Republic of CongoAMERICAN JOURNAL OF PRIMATOLOGY, Issue 2 2009Thomas Breuer Abstract Physical maturation and life-history parameters are seen as evolutionary adaptations to different ecological and social conditions. Comparison of life-history patterns of closely related species living in diverse environments helps to evaluate the validity of these assumptions but empirical data are lacking. The two gorilla species exhibit substantial differences in their environment, which allows investigation into the role of increased frugivory in shaping western gorilla life histories. We present behavioral and morphological data on western gorilla physical maturation and life-history parameters from a 12.5-year study at Mbeli Bai, a forest clearing in the Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park in northern Congo. We assign photographs of known individuals to different life-history classes and propose new age boundaries for life-history classes in western gorillas, which can be used and tested at other western gorilla research sites. Our results show that western gorillas are weaned at a later age compared with mountain gorillas and indicate slower physical maturation of immatures. These findings support the risk-aversion hypothesis for more frugivorous species. However, our methods need to be applied and tested with other gorilla populations. The slow life histories of western gorillas could have major consequences for social structure, mortality patterns and population growth rates that will affect recovery from population crashes of this critically endangered species. We emphasize that long-term studies can provide crucial demographic and life-history data that improve our understanding of life-history evolution and adaptation and help to refine conservation strategies. Am. J. Primatol. 71:106,119, 2009. © 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Linking ecological and hydromorphological data: approaches, challenges and future prospects for riverine scienceAQUATIC CONSERVATION: MARINE AND FRESHWATER ECOSYSTEMS, Issue S1 2010I. P. Vaughan Abstract 1.Research linking river ecology and hydromorphology is driven by concerns about hydromorphological pressures (e.g. abstraction, land-use change) and legislative (e.g. EU Water Framework Directive) or management needs (e.g. climate-change adaptation). Unfortunately, much of the science is still weak or qualitative (cf. links between ecology and water quality). 2.Rapid progress is required, but financial resources are limited. In response, research opportunities using existing ecological and hydromorphological data and survey methods need to be explored further. 3.There are challenges inherent in using existing data, which are often collected for different purposes, and this paper highlights aspects of spatial scale, temporal coverage, sampling biases, data quality and mining, and the problems faced when using pre-defined sets of variables. 4.While the prospects for exploiting existing data are mixed, distinct strengths arise from extensive geographic coverage, the ability to improve the evidence base rapidly and at low cost, and the generation of testable hypotheses. 5.Current survey methods usually record biological or hydromorphic patterns, or inventories of features (cf. physical processes, or ecosystem functions or services). Their greatest use is likely to be in extending current spatially extensive biological or water chemistry monitoring to more integrated ,eco-hydromorphic' monitoring. 6.With further methodological development, there is real scope for illuminating several aspects of riverine ecology, including the direct ecological and physical consequences of modifying river systems; revealing indirect sensitivity to other pressures, such as climate change; offering a more holistic picture of the distribution of pressures on river ecosystems; and developing hydromorphology as a unifying theme in river studies. However, such developments require funding commitments from research sponsors. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] | |||||||||||||||||||