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Significant Features (significant + feature)
Selected AbstractsA LiMn2O4 Based Electrochemical Scheme for Selective Measurement of DopamineELECTROANALYSIS, Issue 3 2006Hoang, Jyh Leu Abstract A new cathodic scheme was developed for the determination of dopamine by flow injection analysis (FIA). A mild oxidizing agent, lithium manganese (III, IV) oxide (LiMn2O4), as an upstream modifier can oxidize the dopamine to produce the dopaminequinone, and then the oxidized product is subsequently detected by the downstream detector at ,0.1,V (vs. Ag/AgCl). In this work, the significant feature of LiMn2O4 based sensing scheme possesses no interference from other tested biological amines including acetylcholine, epinephrine, glutamate, and histamine. Otherwise, there is no detectable interference from ascorbic acid, but 2% and 1% negligible interferences were found from uric acid and acetaminophen, respectively. [source] A fine-resolution Pliocene pollen and charcoal record from Yallalie, south-western AustraliaJOURNAL OF BIOGEOGRAPHY, Issue 2 2004Pia Atahan Abstract Aim, This paper aims to reconstruct a high-resolution fire and vegetation history from a period when humans were absent in Australia. This is then used to comment on the frequency of natural fire in high biodiversity heathland, and to compare this with historical fire regime in the same region. Methods, A section of varved sediment covering a period of c. 84 years was taken from Palaeolake Yallalie in south-western Australia. The sediments were separated into approximately single to small multiples of years and then analysed for charcoal, pollen and sediment analysis to reconstruct the environmental conditions at the time. Results, The charcoal record indicates fire recurrence to have been roughly between 5 and 13 years, a little longer than those of the historical period. The pollen record was dominated by Casuarinaceae, Myrtaceae and a large number of Proteaceae species; these are intermixed with Araucariaceae, Nothofagus and Podocarpus. This suggests there was a mix of sclerophyll woodland and a mosaic of rain forest elements, thus conditions must have been wetter, particularly in the summers, compared with today. Conclusions, We assume that fire was most likely confined to the sclerophyll vegetation, and that fire has been a significant feature of the environment long before humans entered Australia. The slightly longer fire recurrence times compared with the present result from the intermittent nature of lightning and wetter summers at the time. [source] Non-pustular palmoplantar psoriasis: is histologic differentiation from eczematous dermatitis possible?JOURNAL OF CUTANEOUS PATHOLOGY, Issue 2 2008Ovgu Aydin Both palmoplantar psoriasis and eczematous dermatitis of this skin area share similar histologic features. The punch biopsies from 17 patients with psoriasis and 25 with eczematous dermatitis were evaluated, blind to the clinical diagnosis. Vertically situated multiple foci of parakeratosis, alternating with orthokeratosis, were the only statistically significant feature in the differential diagnosis of palmoplantar psoriasis [76.5% (13/17), p = 0.005]. In contrast, multiple foci of parakeratosis [70.6% (12/17)], loss of granular layer at least in focal areas [41.2% (7/17)], presence of neutrophils at the summits of parakeratosis [4% (1/17)], presence of neutrophils and/or plasma in the parakeratotoic foci [94.1% (16/17) and 11.8% (2/17)], psoriasiform epidermal hyperplasia [88.2% (15/17)], spongiosis restricted to the lower parts of the epidermis [47.1% (8/17)], dyskeratotic cells [82.4% (14/17)], thinning of suprapapillary plate [58.8% (10/17)], edema of the papillary dermis [29.4% (5/17)], presence of tortous and dilated capillaries in the papillary dermis [52.9% (9/17) and 76.5% (13/17)] and extravasated erythrocytes [29.4% (5/17)] were found to be more common in palmoplantar psoriasis compared with eczematous dermatitis; but none of them was statistically significant. Interestingly, spongiotic vesicles were seen in most of the patients with psoriasis [76.5% (13/17)]. In conclusion, according to our findings, many features of palmoplantar psoriasis overlapped with those of eczematous dermatitis. However, detection of multiple parakeratotic foci, placed vertically, alternating with orthohyperkeratosis, could be considered in favor of palmoplantar psoriasis. [source] Moody and Sankey Down Under: A Case Study in "Trans-Atlantic" Revivalism in Nineteenth-Century New Zealand,JOURNAL OF RELIGIOUS HISTORY, Issue 2 2005GEOFFREY M. TROUGHTON This article examines the reception of revivalism inspired by the work of Dwight Moody and Ira Sankey in the Wanganui-Manawatu region of New Zealand in the 1870s and 1880s. The success of Moody and Sankey's 1873,75 British campaign inspired interest in revivalism, and led to rapid and widespread adoption of their distinctive methods. Though it aroused opposition in some quarters, Moody and Sankey style revivalism became established as a significant feature of New Zealand religiosity at that time. Some aspects continued to appeal well into the twentieth century. This article traces the rise and growth in influence of this form of revivalism, and considers reasons for its appeal in late nineteenth-century New Zealand. [source] Delineating Publicly Listed Family and Nonfamily Controlled Firms: An Approach for Capital Market Research in Australia,JOURNAL OF SMALL BUSINESS MANAGEMENT, Issue 3 2007Nicholas A. Mroczkowski Recent capital market research evidence suggests that a large proportion of public companies worldwide are characterized by controlling stockholders who are more often families, usually the founder(s) or their descendants. There has been considerable debate on whether "family" firms can indeed be accurately delineated from nonfamily firms given the diversity and abundance of family business definitions in the literature. This paper provides a robust definition of family business for the purposes of capital market research. Using an accounting-based definition of family business, the paper outlines a four-step procedure that provides validation for identifying family controlled companies listed on the Australian Stock Exchange. A significant feature of the research methodology was reliance on data collected from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission. Having access to the corporate regulator's restricted data enabled the researchers to establish important links between directors and their private related entities. [source] Comparison of full-text searching to metadata searching for genes in two biomedical literature cohortsJOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR INFORMATION SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, Issue 14 2007Bradley M. Hemminger Researchers have traditionally used bibliographic databases to search out information. Today, the full-text of resources is increasingly available for searching, and more researchers are performing full-text searches. This study compares differences in the number of articles discovered between metadata and full-text searches of the same literature cohort when searching for gene names in two biomedical literature domains. Three reviewers additionally ranked 100 articles in each domain. Significantly more articles were discovered via full-text searching; however, the precision of full-text searching also is significantly lower than that of metadata searching. Certain features of articles correlated with higher relevance ratings. A significant feature measured was the number of matches of the search term in the full-text of the article, with a larger number of matches having a statistically significant higher usefulness (i.e., relevance) rating. By using the number of hits of the search term in the full-text to rank the importance of the article, performance of full-text searching was improved so that both recall and precision were as good as or better than that for metadata searching. This suggests that full-text searching alone may be sufficient, and that metadata searching as a surrogate is not necessary. [source] Steroid-sensitive indices of airway inflammation in children with seasonal allergic rhinitisPEDIATRIC ALLERGY AND IMMUNOLOGY, Issue 1 2003Peter Meyer Previous studies involving adults have demonstrated that airway glucocorticosteroids inhibit plasma exudation and eosinophil activity in allergic rhinitis. This study explores the possibility that plasma exudation, exudative responsiveness, and the occurrence of eosinophil activity-related proteins are glucocorticosteroid-sensitive nasal mucosal indices in allergic children. Using a placebo-controlled, parallel-group design effects of nasal budesonide (64 µg per nasal cavity b.i.d) were determined in children with seasonal allergic rhinitis. Nasal lavage fluid levels of eotaxin, eosinophil cationic protein (ECP), and ,2 -macroglobulin, indicating plasma exudation, were determined, the latter with and without challenge with topical histamine. Nasal lavage fluid levels of ,2 -macroglobulin and ECP increased significantly during the pollen season, and the acute plasma exudation response to histamine was significantly greater during than outside the season. There was a trend towards a seasonal increase in nasal lavage fluid levels of eotaxin. Budesonide significantly inhibited the seasonal increase in ,2 -macroglobulin as well as the exudative hyperresponsiveness to histamine. Any tendency of increases in mucosal output of eotaxin and ECP was abolished by the glucocorticosteroid treatment. We conclude that mucosal exudation of plasma, as a global sign of active inflammatory processes, is a glucocorticosteroid-sensitive facet of allergic rhinitis in children. Exudative hyperresponsiveness, potentially caused by several weeks of mucosal inflammation, emerges as a significant feature of allergic rhinitis in children, and its development is prevented by local treatment with a glucocorticosteroid drug. The seasonal increase in ECP and the trend for an increase in eotaxin were absent in the glucocorticosteroid-treated subjects. [source] Petrochemistry of Volcanic Rocks in the Hishikari Mining Area of Southern Japan, with Implications for the Relative Contribution of Lower Crust and Mantle-derived BasaltRESOURCE GEOLOGY, Issue 4 2003Takahiro Hosono Abstract. This study presents the petrographical, mineralogical, and geochemical characteristics of Late Pliocene-Pleistocene volcanic rocks distributed in the Hishikari gold mining area of southern Kyushu, Japan, and discusses their origin and evolution. The Hishikari volcanic rocks (HVR), on the basis of age and chemical compositions, are divided into the Kurosonsan (2.4,1.0 Ma) and Shishimano (1.7,0.5 Ma) Groups, which occur in the northern and southern part of the area, respectively. Each group is composed of three andesites and one rhyodacite. HVR are characterized by high concentrations of incompatible elements compared with other volcanic rocks in southern Kyushu, and have low Sr/Nd and high Th/U, Th/Pb, and U/Pb ratios compared with typical subduction-related arc volcanic rocks. Modal and whole-rock compositions of the HVR change systematically with the age of the rocks. Mafic mineral and augite/hypersthene ratios of the andesites decrease with decreasing age in the Kurosonsan Group, whereas in the Shishimano Group, these ratios are higher in the youngest andesite. Similarly, major and trace element compositions of the younger andesites in the former group are enriched in felsic components, whereas in the latter group the youngest andesite is more mafic than older andesites. Moreover, the crystallization temperature of phenocryst minerals decreases with younger age in the former group, whereas the opposite trend is seen in the latter group. Another significant feature is that rhyodacite in the Shishimano Group is enriched in felsic minerals and incompatible elements, and exhibits higher crystallization temperatures of phenocryst minerals than the rhyodacite of the Kurosonsan Group. Geochemical attributes of the HVR and other volcanic rocks in southern Kyushu indicate that a lower subcontinental crust, characterized by so-called EMI-type Sr-Nd and DUPAL anomaly-like Pb isotopic compositions, is distributed beneath the upper to middle crust of the Shimanto Supergroup. The HVR would be more enriched in felsic materials derived from the lower crust by high-alumina basaltic magma from the mantle than volcanic rocks in other areas of southern Kyushu. The Kurosonsan Group advanced the degree of the lower crust contribution with decreasing age from 51 %, through 61 and 66 % to 77 %. In the Shishimano Group, the younger rhyodacite and andesite are derived from hotter magmas with smaller amounts of lower crust component (58 and 57 %) than the older two andesites (65 % and 68 %). We suggest that the Shishimano rhyodacite, which is considered to be responsible for gold mineralization, was formed by large degree of fractional crystallization of hot basaltic andesite magma with less lower crustal component. [source] An overview of the microphysical structure of cirrus clouds observed during EMERALD-1THE QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL METEOROLOGICAL SOCIETY, Issue 607 2005M. W. Gallagher Abstract High-resolution ice microphysical, turbulence, heat and water vapour flux data in cirrus clouds were collected by the Airborne Research Australia's (ARA) Egret Grob 520T research aircraft during the first Egret Microphysics with Extended Radiation and Lidar experiment (EMERALD-1). The in situ cirrus measurements were guided by simultaneous airborne lidar measurements collected by the ARA Super King Air research aircraft which flew below the cirrus and whose horizontal position was synchronized with the Egret. This allowed the microphysics and turbulence measurements to be interpreted and evaluated within the context of large-scale cirrus structure and its evolution. A significant feature of the clouds observed was the presence on occasion of active convective columns. Large variations in the cirrus dynamics were observed, with significant variations in the ice crystal habit from cloud top to cloud base and within the evaporating fall-streaks of precipitation. However, on average the picture presented is consistent with that shown by Heymsfield and Miloshevich, and by Kajikawa and Heymsfield, with the upper supersaturated region of the cloud acting as an active particle-generation zone where homogeneous nucleation proceeds apace; ice crystals there are initially dominated by small irregular or spheroidally shaped particles, some of which can be identified as proto or ,germ' rosettes. These are then observed to grow into more open bullet rosette and columnar types as they fall into the less supersaturated middle and lower layers of the cloud. The mean recognisable ice particle size fell within a very narrow size band, 70,90 µm, but the actual size distribution is thought to increase in a continuous manner to smaller sizes. However, there are currently instrument limitations that make it difficult to confirm this unambiguously. Unlike most previous studies, however, the cirrus clouds observed here were mostly devoid of pristine plate-like crystals, as nucleation and growth within the planar growth regime was rarely encountered. During some cases bullet rosettes, once formed, did undergo transition to the plate growth regime with complex crystal shapes resulting. The mean size of pristine bullet rosettes was again confined to a relatively narrow range. The likely nucleation processes dominating in cirrus clouds are discussed in the light of the observations. Very high concentrations of small ice crystals were sometimes detected, concentrations reaching a maximum of 10 000 L,1. There is strong evidence supporting these high concentrations which are probably produced by the homogeneous freezing of aerosol. Copyright © 2005 Royal Meteorological Society [source] Research Note: Industry outsourcing and regional development in Northeast ThailandASIA PACIFIC VIEWPOINT, Issue 1 2010Thongphon Promsaka Na Sakolnakorn Abstract Industry outsourcing has become a significant feature of industrialisation in Southeast Asia. This study presents the findings of a study of smaller industrial enterprises in Northeast Thailand that outsource some of their operations to workers in rural villages. It was found that social relationships rather than formal contracts are critical in the management and spread of such outsourcing and that industries use outsourcing primarily as a flexible strategy to lower costs of production. [source] Responses of ant communities to experimental fire regimes on rangelands in the Victoria River District of the Northern TerritoryAUSTRAL ECOLOGY, Issue 2 2003BENJAMIN D. HOFFMANN Abstract Fire is a significant feature of Australia's savannas. Its use is being encouraged for cattle rangeland management, but there is little knowledge of the ecological effects of prescribed fire regimes on native biodiversity. The responses of ant communities to five experimental fire regimes over 2 years are reported from the Victoria River District in the semi-arid tropics of northern Australia. The experiment was stratified at two levels: soil type (red and black) and fire treatment (unburnt; burnt twice in successive years in early (May) or late (October) dry season and unburnt thereafter; and burnt twice, 3 years apart, in early or late dry season). Ants were sampled twice in April, corresponding with the end of the 1997 and 1998 wet seasons. Ant species richness was not responsive to fire treatment, but reduced with time since fire on black soil. Total ant abundance also reduced with time since fire on the black soil, with significant different abundances in burnt versus unburnt plots in the 1998 sample. Soil type and sampling time had the greatest influence on ant community composition in multivariate analysis than did fire regime, although there were moderate gradients of time since fire with the black soil plots. The abundance of 19 species were significantly different between fire regimes in ANOVA, 13 on red soil and six on black soil. The abundance of eight species (four each on red and black soil) changed significantly with time since fire, with seven promoted by burning. Ant functional group profiles changed little with fire. Total ant abundance and richness had significant relationships with key pasture species and vegetative variables. The responses of ants largely recapitulated those of plants, birds and reptiles on the same plots. It is envisaged that ants will have an important role to play in the sustainable management of Australia's rangelands aiding the off-reserve conservation of biodiversity. [source] Cell cycle-related variation in subcellular localization of eIF3e/INT6 in human fibroblastsCELL PROLIFERATION, Issue 2 2004S. J. Watkins In addition, the protein can interact with two other multi-subunit complexes: the COP9 signalosome (CSN) and the proteasome. The role of INT6 in tumourigenesis is nonetheless currently unclear. Here, using immunofluorescence microscopy, we show that eIF3e/INT6 is localized in part to the nucleus, while other eIF3 components are cytoplasmic. Primary human fibroblasts, but not their transformed counterparts, showed reduced nuclear INT6 staining in some cells, and this reduction was maximal in early S phase. This variation in eIF3e/INT6 may indicate regulated shuttling between cellular compartments and would be consistent with the presence of a nuclear export signal as well as a nuclear localization signal in the protein sequence. Loss of regulation of eIF3e/INT6 redistribution may therefore be a significant feature of malignancy in human cells. [source] Hierarchical Structure Recovery of Point-Sampled SurfacesCOMPUTER GRAPHICS FORUM, Issue 6 2010Marco Attene I.3 COMPUTER GRAPHICS; I.3.5 Computational Geometry and Object Modeling,Object hierarchies Abstract We focus on the class of ,regular' models defined by Várady et al. for reverse engineering purposes. Given a 3D surface,,represented through a dense set of points, we present a novel algorithm that converts,,to a hierarchical representation,. In,, the surface is encoded through patches of various shape and size, which form a hierarchical atlas. If,,belongs to the class of regular models, then,,captures the most significant features of,,at all the levels of detail. In this case, we show that,,can be exploited to interactively select regions of interest on,,and intuitively re-design the model. Furthermore,,,intrinsically encodes a hierarchy of useful ,segmentations' of,. We present a simple though efficient approach to extract and optimize such segmentations, and we show how they can be used to approximate the input point sets through idealized manifold meshes. [source] A Screen Space Quality Method for Data AbstractionCOMPUTER GRAPHICS FORUM, Issue 3 2008J. Johansson Abstract The rendering of large data sets can result in cluttered displays and non-interactive update rates, leading to time consuming analyses. A straightforward solution is to reduce the number of items, thereby producing an abstraction of the data set. For the visual analysis to remain accurate, the graphical representation of the abstraction must preserve the significant features present in the original data. This paper presents a screen space quality method, based on distance transforms, that measures the visual quality of a data abstraction. This screen space measure is shown to better capture significant visual structures in data, compared with data space measures. The presented method is implemented on the GPU, allowing interactive creation of high quality graphical representations of multivariate data sets containing tens of thousands of items. [source] Characteristics and dynamics of multiple intertidal bars, north Lincolnshire, EnglandEARTH SURFACE PROCESSES AND LANDFORMS, Issue 4 2006Selma van Houwelingen Abstract Multiple intertidal bars and troughs, often referred to as ,ridges and runnels', are significant features on many macrotidal sandy beaches. Along the coastline of England and Wales, they are particularly prevalent in the vicinity of estuaries, where the nearshore gradient is gentle and a large surplus of sediment is generally present. This paper examines the dynamics of such bar systems along the north Lincolnshire coast. A digital elevation model of the intertidal morphology obtained using LIDAR demonstrates that three to five intertidal bars are consistently present with a spacing of approximately 100 m. The largest and most pronounced bars (height = 0·5,0·8 m) are found around mean sea level, whereas the least developed bars (height = 0·2,0·5 m) occur in the lower intertidal zone. Annual aerial photographs of the intertidal bar morphology were inspected to try to track individual bars from year to year to derive bar migration rates; however, there is little resemblance between concurrent photographs, and ,resetting' of the intertidal profile occurs on an annual basis. Three-dimensional beach surveys were conducted monthly at three locations along the north Lincolnshire coast over a one-year period. The intertidal bar morphology responds strongly to the seasonal variation in the forcing conditions, and bars are least numerous and flattest during the more energetic winter months. Morphological changes over the monthly time scale are strongly affected by longshore sediment transport processes and the intertidal bar morphology can migrate along the beach at rates of up to 30 m per month. The behaviour of intertidal bars is complex and varies over a range of spatial and temporal scales in response to a combination of forcing factors (e.g. incident wave energy, different types of wave processes, longshore and cross-shore sediment transport), relaxation time and morphodynamic feedback. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Tales Full of Sound and Fury: A Cultural Approach to Family Therapeutic Work and Research in Rural Scandinavia,FAMILY PROCESS, Issue 3 2000Michael R. Seltzer Ph.D. The concept of "culture" figured prominently in the development of family therapy. Recent conceptualizations, however, have tended to focus primarily on the ideational dimensions of culture. While not disputing that meanings and other ideas constitute significant features of group lifeways, this article proposes a return to earlier anthropological framings that incorporate material and ideational dimensions of cultures. To illustrate how his expanded concept may serve as a guide for therapeutic work, the article describes therapy with one family at a clinic in rural Scandinavia. We especially focus on the place of key symbols as historical links between the ideational and material dimensions of cultures. The perspective developed here is one of seeing cultures as sets of interpenetrating actions and ideas shaped by as well as shaping their practitioners. [source] Light-Induced Bipolar-Resistance Effect Based on Metal,Oxide,Semiconductor Structures of Ti/SiO2/SiADVANCED MATERIALS, Issue 9 2010Chongqi Yu A novel approach to the control of resistance in a Ti/SiO2/Si structure is demonstrated by use of a laser via a phenomenon referred to as the bipolar-resistance effect (BRE). The most significant features of this BRE are an excellent spatial sensitivity and a large change ratio in resistance as the laser moves along the surface of the structure. [source] Ex vivo expanded cord blood CD4 T lymphocytes exhibit a distinct expression profile of cytokine-related genes from those of peripheral blood originIMMUNOLOGY, Issue 3 2009Yoshitaka Miyagawa Summary With an increase in the importance of umbilical cord blood (CB) as an alternative source of haematopoietic progenitors for allogenic transplantation, donor lymphocyte infusion (DLI) with donor CB-derived activated CD4+ T cells in the unrelated CB transplantation setting is expected to be of increased usefulness as a direct approach for improving post-transplant immune function. To clarify the characteristics of activated CD4+ T cells derived from CB, we investigated their mRNA expression profiles and compared them with those of peripheral blood (PB)-derived activated CD4+ T cells. Based on the results of a DNA microarray analysis and quantitative real-time reverse transcriptase,polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), a relatively high level of forkhead box protein 3 (Foxp3) gene expression and a relatively low level of interleukin (IL)-17 gene expression were revealed to be significant features of the gene expression profile of CB-derived activated CD4+ T cells. Flow cytometric analysis further revealed protein expression of Foxp3 in a portion of CB-derived activated CD4+ T cells. The low level of retinoic acid receptor-related orphan receptor , isoform t (ROR,t) gene expression in CB-derived activated CD4+ T cells was speculated to be responsible for the low level of IL-17 gene expression. Our data indicate a difference in gene expression between CD4+ T cells from CB and those from PB. The findings of Foxp3 expression, a characteristic of regulatory T cells, and a low level of IL-17 gene expression suggest that CB-derived CD4+ T cells may be a more appropriate source for DLI. [source] The Australian corporate rescue regime: bold experiment or sensible policy?INTERNATIONAL INSOLVENCY REVIEW, Issue 2 2001Colin Anderson This paper takes its title from a paper given by the Honourable Justice Robert Austin, of the Supreme Court of New South Wales, to a conference on Key developments in Corporate Law and Equity in March 2001. In that speech he described Australia's corporate rescue regime as a "bold experiment". This paper suggests that this is not a justified description and further that it is unlikely to end in the foreseeable future. The paper consists of a broad outline of how the system operates in Australia. It provides some commentary on the more significant features of the operation of Part 5.3A of the Corporations Law and considers suggestions that have been made in respect of reform of the legislation. The paper goes on to consider how the regime has been used since its introduction showing it is now the most widely used form of insolvency administration. The paper then examines briefly some of the attempts at evaluation of the regime. It concludes by suggesting that at this stage there is inadequate information to be conclusive as to the procedure's success or otherwise in fulfilling its aims of providing better returns to creditors. It is argued first, that the wide use of the procedure suggests that it is unlikely to be fundamentally altered in the near future. A further conclusion is that there is some soundness in the approach that the legislation takes in having less court control and a greater role played by the insolvency practitioner. [source] A hybridizable discontinuous Galerkin method for linear elasticityINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR NUMERICAL METHODS IN ENGINEERING, Issue 8 2009S.-C. Soon Abstract This paper describes the application of the so-called hybridizable discontinuous Galerkin (HDG) method to linear elasticity problems. The method has three significant features. The first is that the only globally coupled degrees of freedom are those of an approximation of the displacement defined solely on the faces of the elements. The corresponding stiffness matrix is symmetric, positive definite, and possesses a block-wise sparse structure that allows for a very efficient implementation of the method. The second feature is that, when polynomials of degree k are used to approximate the displacement and the stress, both variables converge with the optimal order of k+1 for any k,0. The third feature is that, by using an element-by-element post-processing, a new approximate displacement can be obtained that converges at the order of k+2, whenever k,2. Numerical experiments are provided to compare the performance of the HDG method with that of the continuous Galerkin (CG) method for problems with smooth solutions, and to assess its performance in situations where the CG method is not adequate, that is, when the material is nearly incompressible and when there is a crack. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Testing via news videos: an exploratory studyINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF APPLIED LINGUISTICS, Issue 2 2010Zhang Jing This case study investigated five test-takers' use of news videos in a listening-to-summarize task, and the extent to which the different strategies they employed in processing the visual and the audio elements of the videos affected their performance. It reports the significant features of the visual and audio elements that the test-takers made use of, and the interaction between these elements and test-takers' personal characteristics and summarization performance. Data was collected via verbal reports and follow-up interviews. A discussion of the findings follows in connection with the use of videos in testing and teaching listening comprehension skills, and suggestions for future research are made. [source] The School Leadership Initiative: An Ethically Flawed Project?JOURNAL OF PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION, Issue 1 2002Michael Smith This paper considers the conception of leadership and management found in the UK government's school leadership initiative. It contrasts earlier ,scientific' theory with the more recent ,humanistic' theory on which the initiative appears to be based, and finds that they share significant features and flaws. Moreover, despite the moral tone of the new initiative, it finds on examination that it is based on an emotivist theory of ethics that in practice may require the headteacher to be manipulative in her leadership and management of the school. Finally, it outlines an alternative conception of leadership. [source] A clinical teaching guide for psychiatric mental health nursing: a qualitative outcome analysis projectJOURNAL OF PSYCHIATRIC & MENTAL HEALTH NURSING, Issue 4 2002S. Melrose phdrn Limited curriculum enhancement resources are available to psychiatric nurse educators. This article provides a clinical teaching guide for novice instructors teaching an introductory psychiatric nursing course. The investigation is grounded in a constructivist theoretical framework and extends a previous case study project that explored how students learn during a mental health practicum (Melrose 1998, Melrose & Shapiro 1999). The guide was tested and modified by applying a qualitative outcome analysis methodology. Insight into interpreting student behaviour and providing appropriate and stage-specific teaching tools is revealed. Theoretical components, assessment questions for teachers, student behavioural signs and teaching strategies are identified and discussed to describe significant features in creating personally meaningful learning experiences. [source] Dynamic Properties of Income Support Receipt in AustraliaTHE AUSTRALIAN ECONOMIC REVIEW, Issue 1 2008Yi-Ping Tseng Using administrative records on Australian income support (welfare) recipients over the period July 1995 to June 2002, we examine dynamic properties of income support receipt and the personal characteristics associated with alternative patterns of receipt. We draw on three concepts: churning,the process of ending a spell on income support and subsequently commencing a new spell; transferring,moving from one payment type to another within a spell on income support; and Total Time On payments (TTO),the proportion of time on income support in a given period. We find that churning and transferring are significant features of income support receipt in Australia. For example, over half of recipients churn within five years of commencing an income support spell, and one-fifth make a payment transfer within the same time frame. Examination of the characteristics associated with each of five distinct patterns of receipt reveals substantial differences in patterns by age, family composition, unemployment status, health status, and recent history of income support receipt. [source] Women and Community Punishment: The Probation Hostel as a Semi-Penal Institution for Female OffendersTHE HOWARD JOURNAL OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE, Issue 2 2004Alana Barton This article will argue that many of the significant features of the early semi-penal institutions can be found in contemporary institutions for women, specifically probation hostels. This article will identify three defining characteristics of the original semi-penal institutions and, by drawing on original empirical research conducted in the early 1990s, apply them to a women's probation hostel. Through this analysis the article will highlight some themes of continuity in the history of ,community' punishment for women. [source] Loss of Nkx3.1 expression in the transgenic adenocarcinoma of mouse prostate modelTHE PROSTATE, Issue 16 2007Carlise R. Bethel Abstract BACKGROUND The transgenic adenocarcinoma of mouse prostate (TRAMP) model has been extensively characterized at the histological and molecular levels, and has been shown to mimic significant features of human prostate cancer. However, the status of Nkx3.1 expression in the TRAMP model has not been elucidated. METHODS Immunohistochemical analyses were performed using dorsal, lateral, and ventral prostate (VP) lobes from ages 6 to 30 weeks. Quantitative RT-PCR analyses were performed to determine relative mRNA expression. RESULTS Heterogeneous loss of Nkx3.1 was observed in hyperplastic lesions of the ventral, dorsal, and lateral lobes. At 6 weeks of age, the ventral lobe displayed profound loss of Nkx3.1. Diminished Nkx3.1 protein was observed in well- to moderately-differentiated cancer lesions of all lobes. Poorly differentiated (PD) tumors stained negatively for Nkx3.1. Quantitative RT-PCR analyses revealed the presence of Nkx3.1 mRNA in each lobe at all ages, albeit reduced to variable levels. CONCLUSIONS These data suggest that disease progression in the TRAMP model may be driven by loss of function of Nkx3.1, in addition to p53 and Rb. Lobe-specific disease progression in the TRAMP model correlates with the reduction of Nkx3.1 protein. Regulation of Nkx3.1 expression during tumorigenesis appears to occur by post-transcriptional and post-translational mechanisms. Prostate 67: 1740,1750, 2007. © 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Analysis of call centre arrival data using singular value decompositionAPPLIED STOCHASTIC MODELS IN BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY, Issue 3 2005Haipeng Shen Abstract We consider the general problem of analysing and modelling call centre arrival data. A method is described for analysing such data using singular value decomposition (SVD). We illustrate that the outcome from the SVD can be used for data visualization, detection of anomalies (outliers), and extraction of significant features from noisy data. The SVD can also be employed as a data reduction tool. Its application usually results in a parsimonious representation of the original data without losing much information. We describe how one can use the reduced data for some further, more formal statistical analysis. For example, a short-term forecasting model for call volumes is developed, which is multiplicative with a time series component that depends on day of the week. We report empirical results from applying the proposed method to some real data collected at a call centre of a large-scale U.S. financial organization. Some issues about forecasting call volumes are also discussed. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Interleukin-18-deficient mice exhibit diminished chronic inflammation and airway remodelling in ovalbumin-induced asthma modelCLINICAL & EXPERIMENTAL IMMUNOLOGY, Issue 3 2008S. Yamagata Summary Interleukin (IL)-18, which is produced by activated monocytes/macrophages and airway epithelial cells, is suggested to contribute to the pathophysiology of asthma by modulating airway inflammation. However, the involvement of IL-18 on modulating chronic airway inflammation and airway remodelling, which are characterized in a refractory asthma model exposed to long-term antigen, has not been investigated sufficiently. We examined the role of IL-18 in chronic airway inflammation and airway remodelling by long-term antigen exposure. IL-18-deficient and C57BL/6-wild-type mice were sensitized by ovalbumin (OVA) and were then exposed to aerosolized OVA twice a week for 12 weeks. We assessed airway inflammation by assessing the infiltration of cells into the airspace and lung tissues, and airway remodelling by airway mucus expression, peribronchial fibrosis and smooth muscle thickness. In IL-18-deficient mice, when exposed to OVA, the total cells and neutrophils of the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) were diminished, as were the number of infiltrated cells in the lung tissues. IL-18-deficient mice exposed to OVA after 12 weeks showed significantly decreased levels of interferon (IFN)-,, IL-13 and transforming growth factor (TGF)-,1 in the BALF. The airway hyperresponsiveness to acetyl-,-methacholine chloride was inhibited in IL-18-deficient mice in comparison with wild-type mice. In addition, IL-18-deficient mice exposed to OVA had fewer significant features of airway remodelling. These findings suggest that IL-18 may enhance chronic airway inflammation and airway remodelling through the production of IFN-,, IL-13 and TGF-,1 in the OVA-induced asthma mouse model. [source] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||