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Qualitative Comparison (qualitative + comparison)
Selected AbstractsQualitative Comparison of the Cranio-Dental Osteology of the Extant Elephants, Elephas Maximus (Asian Elephant) and Loxodonta africana (African Elephant)THE ANATOMICAL RECORD : ADVANCES IN INTEGRATIVE ANATOMY AND EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY, Issue 1 2010Nancy E. Todd Abstract Few osteological descriptions of the extant elephants and no detailed morphological comparison of the two genera, Elephas and Loxodonta, have been done in recent years. In this study, 786 specimens of extant elephants (crania, mandibles, and molars) were examined for characters unique to each species. Differences between sexes in each species were described, as well as differences between subspecies of each species. Striking differences in morphology were noted between sexes of both elephants and between subspecies, which may complement current genetic studies, the focus of which is to determine division at the subspecies or species level, particularly differences between the savanna elephant (Loxodonta africana africana) and the forest elephant (Loxodonta africana cyclotis). In addition, examination of the two living elephants provides an excellent dataset for identifying phylogenetic characters for use in examining evolutionary relationships within and between fossil lineages of elephantids. Anat Rec, 2010. © 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Explaining enduring empowerment: a comparative study of collective action and psychological outcomesEUROPEAN JOURNAL OF SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 1 2005John Drury An ethnographic study of two crowd events was carried out in order to develop a hypothesis about the experience of empowerment in collective action. Qualitative comparison of an anti-roads occupation and a mass eviction suggests that empowerment as an outcome of collective action is a function of the extent to which one's own action is understood as expressing social identity, a process we term collective self-objectification. The comparison indicates that empowerment is not reducible to the experience of success. While both events came to be construed by participants as ,victories', their associated emotions (joy versus despair and anger) and rationales for future participation (confidence versus enhanced self-legitimacy) were different. The relation between collective self-objectification and self-efficacy is discussed. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Copper-Free Clickable CoatingsADVANCED FUNCTIONAL MATERIALS, Issue 21 2009Luiz A. Canalle Abstract The copper-catalyzed azide,alkyne 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition (CuAAC) is extensively used for the functionalization of well-defined polymeric materials. However, the necessity for copper, which is inherently toxic, limits the potential applications of these materials in the area of biology and biomedicine. Therefore, the first entirely copper-free procedure for the synthesis of clickable coatings for the immobilization of functional molecules is reported. In the first step, azide-functional coatings are prepared by thermal crosslinking of side-chain azide-functional polymers and dialkyne linkers. In a second step, three copper-free click reactions (i.e., the Staudinger ligation, the dibenzocyclooctyne-based strain-promoted azide,alkyne [3+2] cycloaddition, and the methyl-oxanorbornadiene-based tandem cycloaddition,retro-Diels,Alder (crDA) reaction) are used to functionalize the azide-containing surfaces with fluorescent probes, allowing qualitative comparison with the traditional CuAAC. [source] Depth imaging in anisotropic media by symmetric non-stationary phase shiftGEOPHYSICAL PROSPECTING, Issue 3 2002Robert J. Ferguson ABSTRACT We present a new depth-imaging method for seismic data in heterogeneous anisotropic media. This recursive explicit method uses a non-stationary extrapolation operator to allow lateral velocity variation, and it uses the relationship between phase angle and the spectral coordinates of seismic data to allow velocity variation with phase angle. A qualitative comparison of migration impulse responses suggests that, for an equivalent cost, the symmetric non-stationary phase-shift (SNPS) operator is superior to the phase-shift plus interpolation (PSPI) operator, for very large depth intervals. To demonstrate the potential of the new method, seismic data from a physical model acquired over a transversely isotropic medium are imaged using a shot-record migration based on the SNPS operator. [source] 2-D transmitral flows simulation by means of the immersed boundary method on unstructured gridsINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR NUMERICAL METHODS IN FLUIDS, Issue 12 2002F. M. Denaro Abstract Interaction between computational fluid dynamics and clinical researches recently allowed a deeper understanding of the physiology of complex phenomena involving cardio-vascular mechanisms. The aim of this paper is to develop a simplified numerical model based on the Immersed Boundary Method and to perform numerical simulations in order to study the cardiac diastolic phase during which the left ventricle is filled with blood flowing from the atrium throughout the mitral valve. As one of the diagnostic problems to be faced by clinicians is the lack of a univocal definition of the diastolic performance from the velocity measurements obtained by Eco,Doppler techniques, numerical simulations are supposed to provide an insight both into the physics of the diastole and into the interpretation of experimental data. An innovative application of the Immersed Boundary Method on unstructured grids is presented, fulfilling accuracy requirements related to the development of a thin boundary layer along the moving immersed boundary. It appears that this coupling between unstructured meshes and the Immersed Boundary Method is a promising technique when a wide range of spatial scales is involved together with a moving boundary. Numerical simulations are performed in a range of physiological parameters and a qualitative comparison with experimental data is presented, in order to demonstrate that, despite the simplified model, the main physiological characteristics of the diastole are well represented. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Scan registration for autonomous mining vehicles using 3D-NDTJOURNAL OF FIELD ROBOTICS (FORMERLY JOURNAL OF ROBOTIC SYSTEMS), Issue 10 2007Martin Magnusson Scan registration is an essential subtask when building maps based on range finder data from mobile robots. The problem is to deduce how the robot has moved between consecutive scans, based on the shape of overlapping portions of the scans. This paper presents a new algorithm for registration of 3D data. The algorithm is a generalization and improvement of the normal distributions transform (NDT) for 2D data developed by Biber and Strasser, which allows for accurate registration using a memory-efficient representation of the scan surface. A detailed quantitative and qualitative comparison of the new algorithm with the 3D version of the popular ICP (iterative closest point) algorithm is presented. Results with actual mine data, some of which were collected with a new prototype 3D laser scanner, show that the presented algorithm is faster and slightly more reliable than the standard ICP algorithm for 3D registration, while using a more memory-efficient scan surface representation. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source] The effect of laser profile, fluence, and spot size on sensitivity in orthogonal-injection matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometryRAPID COMMUNICATIONS IN MASS SPECTROMETRY, Issue 18 2008Hui Qiao The influence of incident laser parameters on sensitivity in matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) has been investigated using orthogonal-injection time-of-flight (TOF) instruments. A qualitative comparison was first made between the beam profiles obtained with a N2 laser and a Nd:YAG laser using 2-m long optical fibers. The N2 laser gives better sensitivity, consistent with a more uniform fluence distribution and therefore better coverage of the N2 laser profile. Most of the difference disappears when a 30-m long fiber is used or when the fibers are twisted during irradiation to smooth out the fluence distribution. In more systematic measurements, the total integrated ion yield from a single spot (a measure of sensitivity) was found to increase rapidly with fluence to a maximum, and then saturate or decrease slightly. Thus, the optimum sensitivity is achieved at high fluence. For a fluence near threshold, the integrated yield has a steep (cubic) dependence on the spot size, but the yield saturates at higher fluence for smaller spots. The area dependence is much weaker (close to linear) for fluence values above saturation, with the result that the highest integrated yields per unit area are obtained with the smallest spot sizes. The results have particular relevance for imaging MALDI, where sensitivity and spatial resolution are important figures of merit. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] A review of generalization methods used in empirical social work literatureINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SOCIAL WELFARE, Issue 4 2009Marina Lalayants This article reviews methods currently used for generalization of findings, based on a review of a representative sample of empirical research studies drawn from three major social work research journals: Social Work Research, Journal of Social Service Research, and Research on Social Work Practice, over a 10-year period (1996,2005). Findings revealed a greater discussion of generalizability limitations in comparison with the past, and other types of generalization methods such as conceptual generalizations and qualitative comparisons of study results with those of other studies. Relatively low usage of quantitative comparisons of sample to population and replication procedures was detected. Implications of these trends are discussed and approaches for improvements are explored. [source] | ||||||||||