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Principal Means (principal + mean)
Selected AbstractsProtocol for Optimal Detection and Exclusion of a Patent Foramen Ovale Using Transthoracic Echocardiography with Agitated Saline MicrobubblesECHOCARDIOGRAPHY, Issue 7 2006Robert R. Attaran M.B.Ch.B. Agitated saline bubble studies in conjunction with echocardiography, in particular transesophageal echocardiography, are currently the principal means in the diagnosis of patent foramen ovale (PFO). We describe techniques and guidelines for the detection and exclusion of a PFO. The potential for misinterpretation of these bubble studies exists and therefore, several false positive and false negative scenarios are illustrated and discussed. [source] The influence of arbuscular mycorrhizal colonization and environment on root development in soilEUROPEAN JOURNAL OF SOIL SCIENCE, Issue 4 2003D. Atkinson Summary The production of fine roots is one of the principal means by which carbon, fixed during photosynthesis, enters the soil, and quantifying the production for particular combinations of environmental and biotic factors is important for predicting the sequestration of carbon in the soils of grassland ecosystems. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) can have a major effect on the production of roots, and we studied how colonization by AMF affects the lifespan of roots. Twenty per cent of control roots of Trifolium repens survived for longer than 42 days whereas 37% survived that long in AMF-colonized plants. The overall survival of the roots of Lolium perenne was less than in T. repens: around 10% of roots survived beyond 42 days and this was not affected by AMF colonization. Previous studies have shown that lifespans of roots can be affected by temperature. We tested the hypothesis that these observations are linked to a change in the morphology of the root system caused by temperature and also by AMF. We found that inoculation with AMF in a microcosm study using Plantago lanceolata grown at various temperatures, with and without AMF, showed no clear effect of AMF on branching patterns. Temperature had a significant effect on total lengths, numbers and branching rates of some higher orders of roots. Total lengths of both secondary and tertiary roots grown at 27°C were about double those of plants grown at 15°C. Colonization by AMF tended to reduce this effect. Evidently the effect of colonization by AMF on root lifespan depends on the species. Increased branching, and thus a greater proportion of ephemeral roots, was responsible for shortening the lives of the roots at increased temperature, which suggests a strong link between lifespan and morphology. [source] Accuracy and definitive interpretation of preoperative technetium 99m sestamibi imaging based on the discipline of the reader,HEAD & NECK: JOURNAL FOR THE SCIENCES & SPECIALTIES OF THE HEAD AND NECK, Issue 5 2009Ayesha N. Khalid MD Abstract Background. Technetium 99m sestamibi scans have become a principal means of localizing parathyroid adenomas. Its accuracy and reliability has allowed for the proliferation of minimal access parathyroidectomy. Localizing interpretation of these scans often drives referral of hyperparathyroid patients for surgery. Interpretation of these scans may differ between nuclear medicine physicians and surgeons. Methods. We reviewed patients (N = 65) with digital images from an academic medical center with the diagnosis of primary hyperparathyroidism. We assessed the willingness to define an adenoma's location, the interrater reliability, and the accuracy of technetium (Tc-99m) sestamibi read by a surgeon and a nuclear medicine physician. Results. There was poor correlation between both readers for assessment of quality of images (k = 0.54, 0.07) but very good correlation for adenoma location (k = 0.81). Conclusion. Both readers had good accuracy in predicting the location of the parathyroid adenoma. The surgeon was more likely to call a scan positive. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Head Neck, 2009 [source] Catastrophic payments for health care in AsiaHEALTH ECONOMICS, Issue 11 2007Eddy van Doorslaer Abstract Out-of-pocket (OOP) payments are the principal means of financing health care throughout much of Asia. We estimate the magnitude and distribution of OOP payments for health care in fourteen countries and territories accounting for 81% of the Asian population. We focus on payments that are catastrophic, in the sense of severely disrupting household living standards, and approximate such payments by those absorbing a large fraction of household resources. Bangladesh, China, India, Nepal and Vietnam rely most heavily on OOP financing and have the highest incidence of catastrophic payments. Sri Lanka, Thailand and Malaysia stand out as low to middle income countries that have constrained both the OOP share of health financing and the catastrophic impact of direct payments. In most low/middle-income countries, the better-off are more likely to spend a large fraction of total household resources on health care. This may reflect the inability of the poorest of the poor to divert resources from other basic needs and possibly the protection of the poor from user charges offered in some countries. But in China, Kyrgyz and Vietnam, where there are no exemptions of the poor from charges, they are as, or even more, likely to incur catastrophic payments. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] RT08 Population PK and PK/PD investigations and Monte Carlo simulations for a rational dosage regimenJOURNAL OF VETERINARY PHARMACOLOGY & THERAPEUTICS, Issue 2006P. L. TOUTAIN Objective There are several means whereby dosage schedules for clinical use may be set, some more appropriate and scientific than others! The challenge of the 21st century must be for colleagues in the pharmaceutical industry, those serving registration bodies and academic colleagues to pool their expertise with the objective of designing dosage schedules for clinical use, which are based on the application of sound scientific principles appropriate for each drug class. In this Roundtable Session colleagues of international standing will review (a) pharmacological and other sources of variability in the responses to drugs; (b) the advantages and limitations of pre-clinical studies for dose selection; (c) the roles of population PK and population PK/PD together with Monte Carlo simulations in dosage regimen selection; (d) Bayesian approaches to dosage selection and (e) regulatory guidelines on the type and extent of studies required for selecting dosages. There is no unanimity amongst stakeholders on either the principles or the methods underlying dosage schedule design. Dose titration studies have long been the principal means of fixing doses but PK-PD and population PK-PD studies are now challenging more traditional approaches. The papers and discussion in this Roundtable Session will provide a critical basis for future advances in this crucial area of therapeutic drug usage. Getting the doses right means that the patient will receive maximum benefit, in terms of optimal efficacy with minimal toxicity, and hence correct dosing will contribute enormously to animal welfare. [source] RT09 Bayesian approaches in dosage selectionJOURNAL OF VETERINARY PHARMACOLOGY & THERAPEUTICS, Issue 2006D. CONCORDET Objective There are several means whereby dosage schedules for clinical use may be set, some more appropriate and scientific than others! The challenge of the 21st century must be for colleagues in the pharmaceutical industry, those serving registration bodies and academic colleagues to pool their expertise with the objective of designing dosage schedules for clinical use, which are based on the application of sound scientific principles appropriate for each drug class. In this Roundtable Session colleagues of international standing will review (a) pharmacological and other sources of variability in the responses to drugs; (b) the advantages and limitations of pre-clinical studies for dose selection; (c) the roles of population PK and population PK/PD together with Monte Carlo simulations in dosage regimen selection; (d) Bayesian approaches to dosage selection and (e) regulatory guidelines on the type and extent of studies required for selecting dosages. There is no unanimity amongst stakeholders on either the principles or the methods underlying dosage schedule design. Dose titration studies have long been the principal means of fixing doses but PK-PD and population PK-PD studies are now challenging more traditional approaches. The papers and discussion in this Roundtable Session will provide a critical basis for future advances in this crucial area of therapeutic drug usage. Getting the doses right means that the patient will receive maximum benefit, in terms of optimal efficacy with minimal toxicity, and hence correct dosing will contribute enormously to animal welfare. [source] Language in the Balance: Lexical Repetition as a Function of Topic, Cultural Background, and Writing DevelopmentLANGUAGE LEARNING, Issue 3 2001Dudley W. Reynolds Writers' use of lexical repetition changes in relation to writing topic, cultural background, and development of writing ability. As the principal means of explicitly marking cohesion in a text, lexical repetition offers insight into how texts are structured and the balance of old and new information. Nonnative writers (134) from four cultural backgrounds (Arab, Japanese, Korean, and Spanish) and NS high school students (57) wrote a timed assessment essay on either a descriptive or a persuasive topic. Multiple regression analysis indicates that writing ability measures are the most important variables for predicting changes in repetition usage, with less significant effects found for topic and cultural background. Discussion focuses on how characteristics of learner texts change in relation to different combinations of the independent variables. [source] Polymer Morphology: A Guide to Macromolecular Self-OrganizationMACROMOLECULAR SYMPOSIA, Issue 1 2004D.C. Bassett Abstract The study of polymer morphology continues to be the principal means of acquiring knowledge and understanding of macromolecular self-organization. Longstanding problems of the nature of melt-crystallized lamellae and spherulitic growth have been resolved, bringing understanding of how characteristic properties such as a broad melting range and spatially-varying mechanical response are inherent in spherulitic morphologies. This reflects the distinctive features of the crystallization of long molecules, i.e. that they impede each other and, for faster growth, form rough basal surfaces. Knowledge of morphology is an essential accompaniment to the informed development of advanced polymeric materials and a full understanding of their structure/property relations. [source] The Politics of Perception: Use and Abuse of Transparency International's Approach to Measuring CorruptionPOLITICAL STUDIES, Issue 4 2009Staffan Andersson The annual Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), published by Transparency International (TI), has had a pivotal role in focusing attention on corruption. Despite recent critiques of the CPI, it remains highly influential on research into the causes of corruption and is also extensively used to galvanise support for measures to fight corruption. In this article we explore the CPI in more depth in order to highlight how the index has been used for political ends which may not always turn out to be supportive of anti-corruption efforts. The argument is developed in four sections: in the first, we focus on Transparency International's definition of corruption, highlighting some conceptual difficulties with the approach adopted and its relationship to the promotion of ,good governance' as the principal means of combating corruption. In the second section, we outline some methodological difficulties in the design of the Corruption Perceptions Index. Although the CPI has been much criticised, we demonstrate in the third section that the index continues to exercise great influence both in academic research and in the politics of anti-corruption efforts, particularly as exercised by Transparency International itself. In the final section we argue that the CPI contributes to the risk of creating a ,corruption trap' in countries where corruption is deeply embedded, as development aid is increasingly made conditional on the implementation of reforms which are impossible to achieve without that aid. [source] New Directions for Health Insurance Design: Implications for Public Health Policy and PracticeTHE JOURNAL OF LAW, MEDICINE & ETHICS, Issue 2003Sara Rosenbaum ABSTRACT National attention on issues of public health preparedness necessarily brings into sharp focus the question of how to assure adequate, community-wide health care financing for preventive, acute care, and long-term medical care responses to public health threats. In the U.S., public and private health insurance represents the principal means by which medical care is financed. Beyond the threshold challenge of the many persons without any, or a stable form of, coverage lie challenges related to the structure and characteristics of health insurance itself, particularly the commercial industry and its newly emerging market of consumer-driven health plans. States vary significantly in how they approach the regulation of insurance and in their willingness to support various types of insurance markets. This variation is attributable to the size and robustness of the insurance market, the political environment, and regulatory tradition and custom. Reconciling health insurance markets with public health-related health care financing needs arising from public health threats should be viewed as a major dimension of national health reform. [source] Front and Back Covers, Volume 22, Number 5.ANTHROPOLOGY TODAY, Issue 5 2006October 200 Front and back cover caption, volume 22 issue 5 Front cover Kayapo men of Brazilian Amazonia dance at a meeting of all Kayapo villages held in March 2006 with the aim of forging a united movement against the encroachment of agribusiness and large-scale development projects into the Xingú river valley. Up to the time of this meeting the widely dispersed Kayapo communities had never joined together as a single political organization under a common leadership. That they were able to do so at this meeting owed much to their ability to draw upon their shared tradition of collective ritual dance performances, which serve as the principal means of reproducing the social and political structures of their separate villages. At the meeting, held at the Kayapo village of Piaraçu on the Xingú, members of rival communities with mutually suspicious leaders joined in dances such as this one, drawn from the ritual for war, that expressed their solidarity in opposition to the common external threat. For the general audience, periodic interludes of dancing also provided a dramatic way of showing solidarity with one another and jointly expressing support for the orators, who were mostly leaders of the different communities. The meeting closed with a new ritual created for the occasion that began with a collective dance and culminated in a rite symbolizing the new level of common chiefly authority and leadership, encompassing Kayapo society as a whole, that had been created at the meeting. Back cover COMPETITIVE HUMANITARIANISM The back cover of this issue shows a detail from a map of ,Humanitarian actors involved in tsunami-related activities in Sri Lanka'. This excerpt lists but a few dozen of the many hundreds of agencies competing to provide relief in the wake of the tsunami that hit Sri Lanka in December 2004. In most disasters, a major problem facing relief agencies is a lack of resources. In the case of the 2004 tsunami, however, agencies were forced into competition with each other for effective distribution of an embarrassment of riches. Yet this distribution had to be in line with international standards, and needed to meet the requirements of those who had donated to the various appeals in other parts of the world and had specific ideas of what constituted relief. The result was an over-concentration on the visible and the photogenic rather than the arguably more important work of rebuilding institutions and social networks. As well as needing to meet international standards, relief agencies were subject to the bureaucratic requirements that they should expend their resources in an accountable fashion. Their slow reaction opened the way for a plethora of small and inexperienced organizations (and individuals) to enter the relief business. The aid they dispensed was often poorly directed and technically inferior, but the visibility of their operations prompted an easy criticism of the more ponderous activities of the larger relief organisations. While ready availability of resources marked out the tsunami relief effort from most other disasters, what seems to characterize aid operations in the wake of such disasters is a high degree of competition between relief agencies, and a continual call for a greater degree of co-ordination between relief organizations. Yet competitive pressures mean that co-ordination is unlikely to be attainable over more than the short term. From an anthropological point of view the following paradox is worthy of study: while philanthropy can be seen as the antithesis of self-interest, philanthropic organisations are inherently part of a self-interested, market-orientated social order. What starts out as a ,free gift' from the public of Europe, Asia or elsewhere ends up as a commodity in the marketplace of competitive humanitarianism. [source] | |||||||||||||