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Reorientation
Selected AbstractsReorientation by geometric and landmark information in environments of different sizeDEVELOPMENTAL SCIENCE, Issue 5 2005Giorgio Vallortigara It has been found that disoriented children could use geometric information in combination with landmark information to reorient themselves in large but not in small experimental spaces. We tested domestic chicks in the same task and found that they were able to conjoin geometric and nongeometric (landmark) information to reorient themselves in both the large and the small space used. Moreover, chicks reoriented immediately when displaced from a large to a small experimental space and vice versa, suggesting that they used the relative metrics of the environment. However, when tested with a transformation (affine transformation) that alters the geometric relations between the target and the shape of the environment, chicks tended to make more errors based on geometric information when tested in the small than in the large space. These findings suggest that the reliance of the use of geometric information on the spatial scale of the environment is not restricted to the human species. [source] Enhanced Electro-Optic Behavior for Shaped Polymer Cholesteric Liquid-Crystal Flakes Made Using Soft Lithography,ADVANCED FUNCTIONAL MATERIALS, Issue 2 2005A. Trajkovska-Petkoska Abstract Polymer cholesteric liquid-crystal (PCLC) flakes were investigated for their electro-optical behavior under an applied alternating-current field. Shaped flakes, fabricated using soft lithography and suspended in dielectric-fluid-filled cells, reoriented more uniformly than randomly shaped flakes made by fracturing of PCLC films. Extensive characterization found shaped flakes to be smooth and uniform in size, shape, and thickness. Reorientation in applied fields as low as tens of mVrms,,m,1 was fastest for flakes with lateral aspect ratios greater than 1:1, confirming theoretical predictions based on Maxwell,Wagner polarization. Brilliant reflective colors and inherent polarization make shaped PCLC flakes of interest for particle displays. [source] Stereoblock Polypropylene as a Prototype Example of Elasticity via a Flip-Flop Reorientation of Crystals in a Compliant Matrix,ADVANCED MATERIALS, Issue 6 2007F. Auriemma Elastomeric polypropylene characterized by chains with an isotactic and atactic stereoblock structure shows elastic behavior in a large range of deformations notwithstanding the high degree of crystallinity, because of the occurrence of flip-flop reversible reorientation of crystals of the , form that occur during stretching and the successive release of tension, as shown schematically in the figure. [source] Parents' Experiences, Reactions and Needs Regarding a Nonviable Fetus Diagnosed at a Second Trimester Routine UltrasoundJOURNAL OF OBSTETRIC, GYNECOLOGIC & NEONATAL NURSING, Issue 4 2008Maria Ekelin ABSTRACT Objective: To conceptualize women's and their partners' experiences and ways of handling the situation before, during, and after second trimester ultrasound examination with the diagnosis of a nonviable fetus. Design: A grounded theory study. Setting: A Swedish regional hospital. Participants: Nine women and 6 men (n=15) were interviewed within a year of the event. Results: The core category was Unexpected change in life. Four categories that were encompassed by the core category emerged: (a) Deceived by a false sense of security; (b) Confronting reality; (c) Grieving; and (d) Reorientation. Conclusion: These parents were unprepared for the diagnosis of a nonviable fetus. In addition to the crisis reaction, they realized that the sense of security they had experienced was false. As different care givers were involved, the need for a care plan was evident. Support from care givers was a very important factor. [source] YSZ-Induced Crystallographic Reorientation of Ni Particles in Ni,YSZ CermetsJOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN CERAMIC SOCIETY, Issue 9 2007Miguel A. Laguna-Bercero Metal,ceramic interfaces in Ni,YSZ (YSZ, yttria-stabilized zirconia)-textured porous cermets prepared by reduction of NiO,YSZ directionally solidified eutectics have been studied by transmission electron microscopy and X-ray pole figure experiments. Before reduction of NiO, the interfacial plane isbut after reduction, the Ni phase does not maintain the same crystallographic orientation as the NiO parent phase. Ni undergoes an interface-induced crystallographic reorientation to form the lower energy (002)Ni,(002)YSZ interface. This process has been studied as a function of the reduction temperature, and it seems to be more effective at ,800°C. Metal,ceramic low-energy interfaces prevent Ni particle coarsening and impart long-term stability to the cermet. [source] NMR search for polymorphic phase transformations in chlorpropamide form-A at high pressuresJOURNAL OF PHARMACEUTICAL SCIENCES, Issue 4 2009sicki Abstract The high-pressure effects on chlorpropamide (C10H13ClN2O3S) form-A have been studied by 1H NMR spectroscopy at high pressures up to 800 MPa in the temperature range 90,300 K. A study of the NMR second moment and spin-lattice relaxation time has been completed by a calculation of the steric hindrances for molecular reorientations and simulations of the second moment of the NMR line by the Monte,Carlo method, which enabled a precise description of molecular dynamics in the compound studied. Reorientations of the methyl group, oscillations and reorientations of the chlorophenyl ring and reorientations of the propyl group have been revealed and respective activation parameters extracted. No phase transformation of the compound form-A has been detected. © 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc. and the American Pharmacists Association J Pharm Sci 98:1426,1437, 2009 [source] Synthesis, characterization and impedance spectroscopy of the new material [(CH3) (C6H5) 3P] 2CoBr4: a member of the A2BX4 familyCRYSTAL RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGY, Issue 5 2008M. F. Mostafa Abstract The crystal structure of bis-(methyltriphenylphosphonium) tetrabromocobaltate (II), [(C19H18P)2 CoBr4] is determined: Mr = 933.203, monoclinic, P21, a = 9. 6977 (3) Å, b = 12.5547 (4)Å, c = 16.4503 (6)Å, , = 105.603 (2)°, V = 1929.04 (11)Å3, Z = 2, Dx = 1.607 Mg m -3, T = 298 K. Differential thermal analysis at high temperatures shows three endothermic peaks characterizing four phases, with onset temperatures at T1= 313±2 K, T2 = 320±4 K and T3= 360±1 K. The structural instability detected via the temperature dependence of permittivity at T1 is ascribed to order-disorder transition associated with cation dipole reorientation. Permittivity and ac conductivity studies as a function of temperature (295 K-375 K) and frequency (0.11 kHz < f <100 kHz) are presented. The results indicate the importance of the cation size and shape on the phase transitions in the system. Bulk conductivity behavior is thermally activated. The associated activation energies are in the range 2.9 to 1.0 eV depending on the temperature regime. Two contributions to the ac conductivity, one dominating at low temperatures and high frequencies which are characterized by superlinear frequency exponent and the second dominates at high temperatures characterized by a sublinear frequency exponent. The behavior is interpreted in terms of the jump relaxation model. (© 2008 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim) [source] GETTING BY THE OCCUPATION: How Violence Became Normal during the Second Palestinian IntifadaCULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY, Issue 3 2008LORI ALLEN ABSTRACT The second Palestinian intifada against Israeli occupation, which began in September 2000, saw Palestinian areas repeatedly invaded and shelled by Israeli forces. A long history of war and targeted cities is told along the thoroughfares of Palestinian towns; memories of past battles and defeats inscribed in street signs recall massacres in places like Tel Al-Za'atar and Deir Yasin. But recent events were more important than any official marker and formed the most relevant base by which Palestinians organized their lives. Commemorative cultural production and basic acts of physically getting around that became central to the spatial and social practices by which reorientation and adaptation to violence occurred in the occupied Palestinian territories. This article analyzes the spaciotemporal, embodied, and symbolic aspects of the experience of violence, and the political significance of cultural practices whereby violence is routinized. Such an approach provides a lens onto the power of violence in Israel's colonial project in the occupied territories that neither necessitates an assumption that violence is all determining of Palestinian experience, nor a championing of every act of Palestinian survival as heroic resistance. Memorialization that occurs in storytelling, in visual culture, in the naming of places and moving through spaces is one way in which this happens. The concept of "getting by" captures the many spatial and commemorative forms by which Palestinians manage everyday survival. The kind of agency that is entailed in practices whereby people manage, get by, adapt, and the social significance of getting used to it may be somewhat nebulous and unobtrusive as it develops in the shadow of spectacular battles and bloodshed. I demonstrate that this routinization of violence in and of itself, the fact of getting by, just existing in an everyday way, is socially and politically significant in Palestine. [source] Economy of Dreams: Hope in Global Capitalism and Its CritiquesCULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY, Issue 2 2006Hirokazu Miyazaki In this article, I respond to Vincent Crapanzano's recent call for attention to the category of hope as a term of social analysis by bringing it into view as a new terrain of commonality and difference across different forms of knowledge. I consider the efforts of participants active in the capitalist market to reorient their knowledge in response to neoliberal reforms side by side with the efforts of academic critics of capitalism to reorient their critique. These efforts to reorient knowledge as a shared method of hope bring to light contrasting views on where such a reorientation might lead. [source] Local Histories, Global Markets: Cocoa and Class in Upland SulawesiDEVELOPMENT AND CHANGE, Issue 3 2002Tania Murray Li Research and policy concerning the Southeast Asian uplands have generally focused on issues of cultural diversity, conservation and community resource management. This article argues for a reorientation of analysis to highlight the increasingly uneven access to land, labour and capital stemming from processes of agrarian differentiation in upland settings. It draws upon contrasting case studies from two areas of Central Sulawesi to explore the processes through which differentiation occurs, and the role of local histories of agriculture and settlement in shaping farmers' responses to new market opportunities. Smallholders have enthusiastically abandoned their diversified farming systems to invest their land and labour in a new global crop, cocoa, thereby stimulating a set of changes in resource access and social relations that they did not anticipate. The concept of agency drawn from a culturally oriented political economy guides the analysis of struggles over livelihoods, land entitlements, and the reconfiguration of community, as well as the grounds on which new collective visions emerge. [source] Mesenchymal cell remodeling during mouse secondary palate reorientationDEVELOPMENTAL DYNAMICS, Issue 7 2010Jiu-Zhen Jin Abstract The formation of mammalian secondary palate requires a series of developmental events such as growth, elevation, and fusion. Despite recent advances in the field of palate development, the process of palate elevation remains poorly understood. The current consensus on palate elevation is that the distal end of the vertical palatal shelf corresponds to the medial edge of the elevated horizontal palatal shelf. We provide evidence suggesting that the prospective medial edge of the vertical palate is located toward the interior side (the side adjacent to the tongue), instead of the distal end, of the vertical palatal shelf and that the horizontal palatal axis is generated through palatal outgrowth from the side of the vertical palatal shelf rather than rotating the pre-existing vertical axis orthogonally. Because palate elevation represents a classic example of embryonic tissue re-orientation, our findings here may also shed light on the process of tissue re-orientation in general. Developmental Dynamics 239:2110,2117, 2010. © 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Optical, Magnetic and Structural Properties of the Spin-Crossover Complex [Fe(btr)2(NCS)2]·H2O in the Light-Induced and Thermally Quenched Metastable StatesEUROPEAN JOURNAL OF INORGANIC CHEMISTRY, Issue 36 2007Vincent Legrand Abstract [Fe(btr)2(NCS)2]·H2O [btr = 4,4,-bis(1,2,4-triazole)] is thearchetype of highly cooperative and low-dimensional spin-crossover complexes, which exhibit low-spin (LS) to high-spin (HS) light-induced conversion at very low temperature. The structural reorganizations related to the light-induced and thermally induced LS,HS transitions were characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction below the relaxation temperature (T = 15 K < TLIESST) and at 130 K within the thermal hysteresis loop. We show that the LIESST and thermal spin transitions lead to the same structural variations, namely an elongation of the Fe,N bonds by 0.18 Å (Fe,NNCS) and 0.20 Å (Fe,Nbtr), on going from LS to HS, together with a reorientation of the NCS group by nearly 13°. The atomic displacement amplitudes, derived from the crystal structures, indicate lattice vibration modes of larger amplitudes and correlatively lower vibration frequencies in the HS state. The deformation of the crystal lattice as a function of temperature and laser excitation was quantitatively analyzed in terms of the HS and LS thermal-expansion (,HS and ,LS) and spin-transition spontaneous-strain (,) tensors. The eigendirections and eigenvalues of the , and , tensors correlate well with the weak and strong interactions in the solid and are responsible for the high cooperativity and low-dimensional behaviour. Magnetic and spectroscopic measurements were performed in all the different spin states and related to the structural findings. (© Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, 69451 Weinheim, Germany, 2007) [source] Developing new measures of welfare state change and reformEUROPEAN JOURNAL OF POLITICAL RESEARCH, Issue 5 2002Francis G. Castles Since the publication of Gøsta Esping,Andersen's The Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism (Esping,Andersen 1990), which built its typologies on a rich database of detailed programme characteristics, it has been generally accepted that measures of social expenditure are an inferior, and even a misleading, source of information concerning the character of welfare state development. The problem is, however, that the kinds of detailed programme data Esping,Andersen used are not routinely available, while the quality of social expenditure data has been improving rapidly, culminating in the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development's (OECD) now regularly updated and highly disaggregated Social Expenditure Database (SOCX). This article explores the possibility of using SOCX to devise measures of the extent, structure and trajectory of welfare state change and reform in 21 OECD countries over the period 1984 to 1997. On the basis of these measures, it suggests that there has been almost no sign of systematic welfare retrenchment in recent years and only limited evidence of major structural transformation or programmatic reorientation. [source] Germans as Venutians: The Culture of German Foreign Policy BehaviorFOREIGN POLICY ANALYSIS, Issue 1 2006AKAN MALICI The end of the Cold War eliminated many of the external constraints that had straitjacketed German policy during the Cold War era. At the same time, unification augmented Germany's already substantial power base. In light of these changed geopolitical circumstances, it was only logical for the dominant theory of security studies, namely realism, to expect a reorientation in German foreign policy behavior toward unilateralism and increased levels of power politics. Yet these expectations proved wrong. This article argues that German foreign policy behavior in the post-Cold War era can be ascribed to a foreign policy culture of reticence,a culture of restraint and accommodation that can be traced to well-defined sets of fundamental beliefs of the German decision-making elite. This article systematically examines these beliefs in the post-Cold War era, relates them to foreign policy choices, and concludes with a plea for increased attention to ideational variables. [source] On the structural age of the Rhoscolyn antiform, Anglesey, North WalesGEOLOGICAL JOURNAL, Issue 2 2004Hossein Hassani Abstract In the Rhoscolyn area of Anglesey, the late Precambrian interbedded psammites and pelites of the Monian Supergroup are folded into a kilometre-scale antiform, plunging about 25°NE and with an axial surface dipping about 40°NW. Numerous folds of up to a few tens of metres in wavelength are present on both limbs of this antiform. These smaller-scale folds also plunge about 25°NE but clearly belong to two separate episodes of folding, and it has become a matter of longstanding controversy as to whether the larger antiform belongs to the first or second of these episodes. Close examination of the cleavage/bedding asymmetries from all the lithologies, however, shows that the large antiform is a second-generation structure, and that on the gently dipping northwest limb, the sense of cleavage/bedding asymmetry of the earlier cleavage in the psammitic units has been almost uniformly and homogeneously reversed (so that it appears to be axial planar to the antiform), while in the pelitic units the sense of cleavage/bedding asymmetry of the earlier cleavage has been preserved. Many of the small-scale complexities of the observed cleavage/bedding relationships may be explained by appealing to differences in the timing of the formation of buckling instabilities relative to this reorientation of the early cleavage in the psammites during the second deformation. A first-order analysis of the finite strains from around the large-scale antiform shows that the orientation of the first cleavage prior to the second deformation was steeply dipping to the southeast. The second deformation correlates with the southeast-verging Caledonian deformation affecting the Monian and Ordovician units elsewhere in northwest Anglesey, while the northwest-verging first deformation event, which is not present in the Ordovician rocks, must have occurred before they were deposited. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Electrochromic Polymer-Dispersed Liquid-Crystal Film: A New Bifunctional Device,ADVANCED FUNCTIONAL MATERIALS, Issue 6 2005P. Nicoletta Abstract Polymer-dispersed liquid crystals (PDLCs) are liquid-crystal dispersions within a polymer matrix. These films can be changed from an opaque to a transparent state by applying a suitable alternating-current electric field. PDLCs have attracted the interest of researchers for their applications as light shutters, smart windows, and active displays. For such applications, electrochromic devices, which change color as a result of electrochemical reactions, have also become a recent focus of research. Herein, we report our preliminary results on bifunctional devices based on PDLCs that host electrochromic guest molecules. Such devices allow both an independent and fast switching from a scattering opaque state to a transmissive transparent state owing to liquid-crystal reorientation and a color change from white (pale yellow) to dark blue, due to either oxidation or reduction of the electrochromic molecules. [source] Function of hippocampus in "insight" of problem solvingHIPPOCAMPUS, Issue 3 2003Jing Luo Abstract Since the work of Wolfgang Köhler, the process of "insight" in problem solving has been the subject of considerable investigation. Yet, the neural correlates of "insight" remain unknown. Theoretically, "insight" means the reorientation of one's thinking, including breaking of the unwarranted "fixation" and forming of novel, task-related associations among the old nodes of concepts or cognitive skills. Processes closely related to these aspects have been implicated in the hippocampus. In this research, the neural correlates of "insight" were investigated using Japanese riddles, by imaging the answer presentation and comprehension events, just after participants failed to resolve them. The results of event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) analysis demonstrated that the right hippocampus was critically highlighted and that a wide cerebral cortex was also involved in this "insight" event. To the best of our knowledge, this work is the first neuroimaging study to have investigated the neural correlates of "insight" in problem solving. Hippocampus 2003;13:316,323. © 2003 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Stereoblock Polypropylene as a Prototype Example of Elasticity via a Flip-Flop Reorientation of Crystals in a Compliant Matrix,ADVANCED MATERIALS, Issue 6 2007F. Auriemma Elastomeric polypropylene characterized by chains with an isotactic and atactic stereoblock structure shows elastic behavior in a large range of deformations notwithstanding the high degree of crystallinity, because of the occurrence of flip-flop reversible reorientation of crystals of the , form that occur during stretching and the successive release of tension, as shown schematically in the figure. [source] Barth's ,Other' Doctrine of Election in the Church DogmaticsINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY, Issue 2 2007SUZANNE McDONALD This article contends that more consideration needs to be given to the presence of this earlier understanding of election in CD I/1 and 2, both with regard to its influence on the presentation of key loci within these volumes and to the tensions created in the unfolding of major themes before and after his christological reorientation of the doctrine. [source] Behavior, metamorphosis, and muscular organization of the predatory rotifer Acyclus inquietus (Rotifera, Monogononta)INVERTEBRATE BIOLOGY, Issue 3 2010Rick Hochberg Abstract. The atrochid rotifer, Acyclus inquietus, is a sedentary predator that lives within the colonies of its prey, the rotifer Sinantherina socialis. After larvae infiltrate and become associated with the colony, they secrete a permanent gelatinous tube and undergo metamorphosis to the adult stage. We followed settlement and metamorphosis using bright-field microscopy to document specific larval behaviors after eclosion, and used epifluorescence and confocal microscopy of phalloidin-labeled specimens to visualize some of the morphological changes that occur during metamorphosis. Upon eclosion, larvae possess paired eyespots and a ciliated corona that functions strictly in locomotion. After leaving the parent's gelatinous tube, larvae eventually settle on unoccupied colonies of S. socialis or on other substrates if colonies are unavailable. Settlement involves a period of gliding among colony members before attachment with the foot and the secretion of a gelatinous tube. After settlement, there is a drastic reconfiguration of the corona that involves loss of the eyespots, loss of the coronal cilia, and the formation of the cup-shaped infundibulum, a deep depression in the anterior of the head that leads to the mouth. The development of the infundibulum involves the expansion of tissues around the mouth and is accompanied by a reorientation of the underlying musculature that supplies the infundibulum and allows its use in prey capture. The arrangement of the muscles in the trunk and foot regions, which contain outer circular (complete and incomplete) and inner longitudinal bands, remains unchanged between ontogenetic stages, and reflects the condition characteristic of other rotifers. [source] Epistemology of Transformative Material Activity: John Dewey's Pragmatism and Cultural-Historical Activity TheoryJOURNAL FOR THE THEORY OF SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR, Issue 4 2006REIJO MIETTINEN The paper compares John Dewey's pragmatism and cultural-historical activity theory as epistemologies and theories of transformative material activity. For both of the theories, the concept of activity, the prototype of which is work, constitutes a basis for understanding the nature of knowledge and reality. This concept also implies for both theories a methodological approach of studying human behavior in which social experimentation and intervention play a central role. They also suggest that reflection and thought, mediated by language and semiotic artifacts, serve the reorientation of activity and is vital in the development of new, alternative ways of action. That is why Dewyan pragmatism and activity theory supply means of understanding organizational behavior and change in human activities better than the concepts of practice based on rule following, routines or embodied skills. [source] Patterning of the axial musculature in the developing chick embryo (Gallus)JOURNAL OF ANATOMY, Issue 5 2002P. J. Adds While the development and patterning events of the skeletal, myogenic and connective tissues of the developing limb buds of the chick have been relatively well studied, there is little known about the formation of the epaxial muscles and tendons. The epaxial muscles form the postvertebral muscle groups and develop from the myotome of the somite. The myotome develops from myogenic precursors migrating from the dorsomedial lip of the dermomyotome. These myogenic cells differentiate in a cranial to caudal sequence with the muscle fibres also orientated in a cranial to caudal direction. Here we use immunohistological staining both in whole mount and in transverse sections of chick embryos from various stages of development. Antibodies to the myosin heavy chain or tenascin were used to visualise the development of the epaxial muscles and tendons. The first myotomal muscle fibres are differentiated by Hamburger and Hamilton (H & H) stage 10 in the cranial somites, and differentiation proceeds caudally until at least H & H stage 22,23. Further development of the epaxial muscles does not take place until H & H stage 26,27 with the splitting of the myotome into the individual muscles. We demonstrate how the myotome splits into the individual muscles and how some muscle fibres become reorientated into a more oblique orientation. This delayed development and reorientation of muscle fibres is unique to the epaxial muscles. [source] New approach to twin interfaces of modulated martensiteJOURNAL OF APPLIED CRYSTALLOGRAPHY, Issue 3 2010Zongbin Li In Ni,Mn,Ga ferromagnetic shape memory alloys, the crystallographic nature of martensitic variant interfaces is one of the key factors governing the variant reorientation through field-induced interface motion and hence the shape memory performance. So far, the crystal structure studies of these materials , conducted by means of transmission electron microscopy , have suffered from uncertainties in determining the number of unit cells of modulated superstructure, and consequently improper interpretations of orientation correlations of martensitic variants. In this paper a new approach is presented for comprehensive analysis of crystallographic and morphological information of modulated martensite, using automated electron backscatter diffraction. As a first attempt, it has been applied for the unambiguous determination of the orientation relationships of adjacent martensitic variants and their twin interface characters in an incommensurate 7M modulated Ni,Mn,Ga alloy, from which a clear and full-featured image of the crystallographic nature of constituent twin interfaces is built up. Certainly, this new approach will make it feasible not only to generalize the statistical analysis of martensitic variant distributions for various materials with modulated superstructure, but also to give insight into the crystallographic characteristics of martensitic variant interfaces and the variant reorientation mechanism of new advanced materials for interface engineering. [source] Design Pedagogy Enters the Cold WarJOURNAL OF ARCHITECTURAL EDUCATION, Issue 4 2004The Reeducation of Eleven West German Architects During the Cold War, the United States and USSR used educational exchange programs as instruments of cultural diplomacy. In 1950, East German reconstruction policy was radically transformed through a well-documented Soviet-sponsored reorientation of architects and planners from East Berlin. This article chronicles a concurrent but little-known exchange, sponsored by the U.S. High Commissioner for Germany, which sent West German architects to America for professional retraining. Although the U.S. program fell far short of its intentions, it illuminates the nature of Cold War cultural strategies deploying urban planning pedagogy, which were meant to reproduce American values and systems of governance abroad. [source] The influence of thermal treatment on the mechanical characteristics of a PLLA coiled stentJOURNAL OF BIOMEDICAL MATERIALS RESEARCH, Issue 1 2009Tré R. Welch Abstract We studied the effects of thermal treatment on the expansive characteristics of a coil-within-coil Poly(L -lactic acid) (PLLA) fiber stent developed at our institution to improve its mechanical performance and reproducibility. Following fabrication, furled stents were thermally treated at 62°C for 25 min. The mechanical characteristics were measured compared with those of untreated stents when both were expanded via sequential balloon catheter pressure loading up to 12 atm. Treated stents reached full diameter at 3 atm and maintained that diameter despite further pressure increases. Using measurements of pressure, diameter, and axial length, we calculated the sequential mechanical work required to unfurl the stent. The mechanical work for complete unfurling of treated stents was significantly less than that required for untreated controls. Little axial dimensional change was observed for treated stents. Treated stents exhibited higher stiffness than controls at all pressure levels and also demonstrated higher resistance to external pressure-induced collapse, as measured in a special apparatus developed in our laboratory. Differential scanning calorimetry measurements indicated higher crystallinity values for fibers used in treated stents compared with controls. SEM examination of striations revealed that treated stents underwent less twist than controls following balloon-induced unfurling. The results indicate that, thermal treatment improves the reorientation and realignment of fiber crystalline structure, and favorably influences on the fiber stress-strain behavior and the expansive mechanical characteristics of the PLLA fiber stents. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part B: Appl Biomater, 2009 [source] In search of finance excellenceJOURNAL OF CORPORATE ACCOUNTING & FINANCE, Issue 3 2008Thomas Wunder In recent years, CFOs have been asked to improve efficiency and competitive cost structures within the Finance department, while simultaneously meeting the growing demands of the company's operations. This occurs, of course, while CFOs have also had to face additional external scrutiny and compliance requirements. Together, these developments place themes like "finance excellence" or "finance transformation" at the top of the CFO's agenda. In many cases, the result is a comprehensive reorientation of the entire Finance organization with significant performance improvements in both Finance and the entire company. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source] Gender equity and globalization: macroeconomic policy for developing countriesJOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT, Issue 8 2006Stephanie Seguino Abstract This paper reviews the evidence of gender effects of globalization in developing economies. It then outlines a set of macroeconomic and trade policies to promote gender equity in the distribution of resources. The evidence suggests that while liberalization has expanded women's access to employment, the long-term goal of transforming gender inequalities remains unmet and appears unattainable without regulation of capital, and a reorientation and expansion of the state's role in funding public goods and providing a social safety net. This paper sets forth some general principles that can produce greater gender equality, premised on shifting economies from profit-led, export-oriented to wage-led, full-employment economies. The framework is Kaleckian in its focus on the relationship between the gender distribution of income and macroeconomic outcomes. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Morphology of the mammalian vestibulo-ocular reflex: The spatial arrangement of the human fetal semicircular canals and extraocular musclesJOURNAL OF MORPHOLOGY, Issue 10 2007Philip G. Cox Abstract The vestibulo-ocular reflex is the system of compensatory ocular movements in response to stimulation of the kinetic labyrinth seen in all vertebrates. It allows maintenance of a stable gaze even when the head is moving. Perhaps the simplest influence on the VOR is the spatial orientation of the planes of the semicircular canals relative to the extraocular muscles. It is hypothesized that the extraocular muscles are in parallel alignment with their corresponding semicircular canals in order to reduce the amount of neural processing needed and hence keep reflex times to a minimum. However, despite its obvious importance, little is known of this spatial arrangement. Moreover, nothing is known about any ontogenetic changes in the relative orientations of the extraocular muscles and semicircular canals. The morphologies of fetal and adult specimens of Homo sapiens were examined using magnetic resonance (MR) images. Three-dimensional co-ordinate data were taken from the images and used to calculate vector equations of the extraocular muscles and planes of best fit for the semicircular canals. The relative orientations of the muscles and canals were then calculated from the vectors and planes. It was shown that there are significant correlations between both the anterior and lateral semicircular canals and their corresponding extraocular muscles during ontogeny. In the case of the lateral canal with the medial rectus, the lateral canal with the lateral rectus, and the anterior canal with the inferior oblique, the trend is towards, though never reaching, alignment, whereas the anterior canal and the superior rectus muscle move out of alignment as age increases. Furthermore, it was noted that none of the six muscle-canal pairs is in perfect alignment, either during ontogeny or in adulthood. It was also shown that the three semicircular canals are not precisely orthogonal, but that the anterior and posterior canals form an angle of about 85°, while the anterior and lateral canals diverge by ,100°. Overall, it was shown that there is significant reorientation of the extraocular muscles and semicircular canals during ontogeny, but that, in most cases, there is little realignment beyond the fetal period. J. Morphol., 2007. © 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Glial Limitans Elasticity Subjacent to the Supraoptic NucleusJOURNAL OF NEUROENDOCRINOLOGY, Issue 8 2004A. K. Salm Abstract Two previous studies from our laboratory have indicated that the ventral glial limitans subjacent to the hypothalamic supraoptic nucleus (SON-VGL) undergoes a reversible thinning upon chronic activation of the magnocellular neuroendocrine cells (MNCs) of the supraoptic nucleus (SON). Numerous other studies have shown that MNC somata hypertrophy with activation. One aim of the current study was to understand better how SON-VGL thinning occurs. A second aim was to quantify overall changes of the MNC somata region due to cellular hypertrophy to compare relative changes in dimensions. Here, we undertook a light microscopic stereological investigation of the SON and the subjacent SON-VGL of Nissl stained material under basal and activated conditions. Astrocyte numbers in the underlying SON-VGL remained stable across hydration state as did the overall volume of the SON-VGL and dendritic zone reference area. How these data are consistent with our earlier observations of SON-VGL thinning was resolved by the finding of a highly significant, 30% increase in the mediolateral dimension of the SON-VGL in dehydrated rats. These observations fit well with previous work from our laboratory that demonstrates a reorientation of SON-VGL astrocytes, from vertical to horizontal, which occurs in the activated SON-VGL. We found a significant, approximately 54%, increase in the overall volume of the MNC region of the SON. No significant rostrocaudal lengthening of the SON was detected, although a trend was evident. All the observed changes reversed with rehydration. These data indicate that elasticity of the SON-VGL acts to accommodate the volume expansion of the MNCs and enables the SON-VGL to continue as an interface between the underlying cerebrospinal fluid in the subarachnoid space and the expanded SON above. [source] A solid-state NMR study of phase structure, molecular interactions, and mobility in blends of citric acid and paracetamolJOURNAL OF PHARMACEUTICAL SCIENCES, Issue 5 2009S. Schantz Abstract Citric acid anhydrate (CAA) and paracetamol (PARA), prepared as crystalline physical mixtures and as amorphous blends, were studied using 13C solid-state cross polarization magic angle spinning (CPMAS) NMR. Amorphous blends showed significant line broadening from the conformational distribution as compared to the crystalline samples. Also, chemical shift variations were observed between crystalline and amorphous blends, which were attributed to differences in intermolecular interactions. Averaging of proton rotating-frame spin-lattice relaxation times (T1,) probed via different 13C sites in the amorphous blends confirmed molecular level mixing. For some, initially amorphous, sample compositions the onset of crystallization was evident directly from spectra and from the significantly longer T1, relaxations. Thus, crystallization caused phase separation with properties of the two phases resembling those of pure CAA and PARA, respectively. 13C spectra of amorphous 50/50 (w/w, %) CAA/PARA recorded from above the glass transition temperature broadened as the temperature increased to a maximum at T,,,Tg,+,33 K. This was the result of a dynamic interference between the line narrowing techniques being applied and the time scale of molecular reorientation in the miscible melt. The derived average correlation time was found to correspond well with previous results from melt rheology. We conclude that the underlying reasons for physical instability (i.e., crystallization from the miscible melt, including molecular interactions and dynamics) of this class of amorphous binary mixtures can be effectively evaluated using NMR spectroscopy. © 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc. and the American Pharmacists Association J Pharm Sci 98:1862,1870, 2009 [source] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||