NASA patent abstracts bibliography: A continuing bibliography. Section 1: Abstracts (supplement 11)

This continuing bibliography lists index for 3256 patents and patent applications introduced into the NASA scientific and technical informations system from January 1977 through June 1977. The index section contains fix indexes: subject, inventor, source, number, and accession number

Decision-making strategies in the general practice

With regard to the question what is to be tran$mitted in teaching two aspects have to be considered: a) the contents of the specialty; and b) the problem-solving methods with regard to the specialty. On the first aspect an overwhelming amoUnt of book$ and articles has bee~ written in medicine. The second 8Spect is usually only mentioned in passing. In my opinion, ~his subject has thusfar been greatly undervalued. When one is unable to trace the - problem-solving processes how can anyone determine the efficscy, the effectivity, and the efficiency of this process, or value~ the outcome. To state it in Magerien terms: "If you do not know where to g;o, you may very well end up somewhere else- and not even know it." How physicians solve clinical problems is the main object of this research. The investigator studied and modeled two of the eldest and famous ways of pJroblei!Jlrsolving: the deductive and the inductive strategy9 with the modern probability reasoning viewed as an extension of the latter strategy. All 68 physicians who participated in this investigation used the inductive strategy for the -usually four - presented patient-problems. Within the inductive strategy three variants could be distinguished. The consequences of this finding are far-reaching. As the inductive strategy does not include a logical hierarchy of argumentationsteps, retracing of the process is impossible. (This aspect is also relate~ to our opinions about experience-knowledge end teaching)A As the hypothesis generation is prior to the acquisition of infot~tion, this latter aspect can only be viewed in the light of the former~ and thus limited to a small number of domains. As the hypothesis generation is - partly - unrelated to the total available amount of information, the decision making (chopsing the ultimate diagnostic hypothesis) will usually follow implicit~ personal trends and standards, e.g. satisfying minimal eicpectations (Satisficing Theory, Simon} or risk-avoiding prospects (Prospect Theory, Kahnemann & Tversky). It suggests a highly personal character of diagnostics and/or the therapeutic management, which is contradictory to general accessibility of medical knowledge and medical teaching. This feature of personal concepts easily links up with Polanyi's theory of "PeJrsonal" or 91Tacit Knowledge" as contrasted to "Objective Knowledge" (Popper) 9 which has general accessibility and validity. During the investigation this as~oct came forth. The framework of the investigation (patient simulation) end the special definitions and coding of illness elements (symptoms, signs9 tests) all~wed for comparing similar conceptions (diagnoses, treatments) ~ong the participants. These comparisons confirm Polanyi's theory and the concepts of inductive reasoning. Mutual comparibility of diagnoses seems hardly possible when analysing these conceptions into their basic elements (symptoms etc.). This aspect touches upon one of the main cornerstones of clinical ~edicine. When the starting positions have not been unequivocally defined treatment, .,;ie-Jed as the intervention in the natural course of a disease, can only lead t4:!1 uncertain outcomes. The lack of · standardized :medical definitions and a tmiform, unambiguous taxonomy inhibits the application of a formalised, normative decision theorry for clinical medicine. Future planning aims at a reconsideration of medical terminology~ medical taxonomy and medical problem-solving methods by means of clustering the basic elements of clinical medicine

Design attributes of educational computer software for optimising girls' participation in educational game playing

Recent research on girls in science education in Australian primary schools indicates a participation rate lower than that of boys. This inequality could lead subsequently to reduced opportunities for girls entering the workforce in their adult years. Many studies have attempted to reveal why this situation has arisen and a variety of strategies for increasing girls' participation has been suggested. A relatively new strategy that does not appear frequently in the research literature is the use of educational computer game software. An important question arises: does the game software used in primary school science education reflect design attributes favoured by boys and, if so, do these attributes actively discourage girls' participation by making them feel uncomfortable or stressed? My case study was designed to identify design features of computer games that girls prefer so that these features can be included in educational computer game software designed for science education, as well as the other Key Learning Areas. Through interviews, surveys and observations my interpretive study obtained the opinions and views of over 200 children in two suburban Australian primary schools in which I work as a teacher-librarian. In this role I purchase educational computer games and organize special classes for students to play them. From my analysis of the data I make recommendations that reflect girls' preferred design attributes for educational computer games. I also generate a checklist of criteria from my interpretations that may result in the purchase of software that could not only enhance girls' participation and success in primary school science, the curriculum area of greatest personal interest to me, but also in other Key Learning Areas of primary education.

The Usefulness of Funds Flow Statements: An Empirical Study of Hong Kong Banks' Loan Officers' Use of Published Company Accounts

Funds flow statements were part of the published accounts of most companies in most jurisdictions in the last two decades. In the USA and a few other countries, they have been replaced by cash flow statements. Before other countries, including the UK, follow the US lead, it is important to gather and assess evidence on the usefulness of the funds statement to see if the arguments for its replacement by the cash flow statement are well founded. In essence, the usefulness of the funds flow statement is a matter of its ability to enable its readers to make better, or possibly faster, judgments about a firm's changes in financial position than they would make in the absence of that statement. The research reported in this thesis addresses the usefulness of the funds statement to a group of users especially concerned with changes in the financial position of companies with whom members of the group do business. Banks employ loan officers and credit analysts to vet applications for new loans, and this group of people is therefore likely to appreciate information useful to them in assessing the ability of applicants to meet their actual and prospective financial obligations. Such a group based in Hong Kong would be exposed to accounts prepared under all kinds of different national formats and should not be unduly fixated on the format of any one nation. Such assumptions were the basis of the research. A factorial ANOVA research design was used with 116 Hong Kong bank loan officers in 15 sets to see if the provision of funds flow statements and cash flow statements in a variety of formats improved their speed or accuracy in answering simple calculation-based or judgment-based questions concerning the accounts. Order effects were controlled by shuffling question order. Accounts difficulty effects were controlled by providing the accounts in two matched sets of equivalent processing difficulty. Subject selection effects were controlled through random assignments of subjects to accounts sets. It was found that funds statements marginally improved accuracy but greatly increased processing time. Cash flow statements performed no better than funds flow statements in either respect. An information load explanation is discussed for these results

Good Research Practice in Non-Clinical Pharmacology and Biomedicine

This open access book, published under a CC BY 4.0 license in the Pubmed indexed book series Handbook of Experimental Pharmacology, provides up-to-date information on best practice to improve experimental design and quality of research in non-clinical pharmacology and biomedicine

Multivariate Money: A statistical analysis of Roman Republican coin hoards with special reference to material from Romania

The aim of this thesis is assess the usefulness of the statistical analysis of coin hoards for the examination of aspects of ancient societies including coin use and exchange. Special attention was paid to various aspects of ‘formation processes.’ The thesis was divided into three parts. Part I — Background. This Part initially reviews the history of the project and then goes on to examine the concept of money in the light of anthropological and economic work. A brief discussion of types of exchange (gift, barter, commodity exchange) in societies is offered. The Part is concluded with a review of previous statistical analyses of coin assemblages. Part II—Analysing Hoards A large database of Roman Republican coin hoards was collected for this project. The problems with this type of data, its storage and retrieval are discussed. The database is then analysed in great detail in order to answer a series of numismatic, archaeological and statistical questions. Correspondence analysis was used on twenty-two subsets of the data to reveal patterning in the data-set which is discussed. A new variant of cluster analysis was developed to subdivide the data set whilst minimising the time series element. The results are compared to principal coordinates and detrended correspondence analyses. The analyses reveal aspects of the use and supply of Roman coinage over Europe and show clearly the unique nature of the Romanian data. An attempt is made to estimate the speed of circulation of coin in Italy. It is shown that the nature of coin supply leads to variation between periods which is the result of simple probability and sampling theory, not changes in the speed of circulation of coin as has been suggested by other authors. Simulation studies are used to examine the validity of estimates of coin production and annual coin loss. The results are summarised. The usefulness of the techniques used is discussed. In the light of the formation processes examined, the patterns in coin hoard data are tentatively interpreted. Part III — Romania. It is argued that to attempt a detailed interpretation of the patterns revealed above the material must be seen in its archaeological context. This case study is offered as one such attempt. Romania was chosen for two reasons: 1) the exceptional quantity of hoards found in an area outside Roman control; 2) the unique evidence for the copying of coins. After reviewing various aspects of Romanian archaeology, a detailed analysis of the problem of copies is offered including the results of a large scale archaeometallurgical study conducted under the direction of the author. Estimates of the quantities of coins copied are given. A brief review of the settlement evidence in the counties of Sibiu, Alba and Hunedoara, of special settlement and structure types, and of hoards of silverware is presented. The thesis concludes by discussing the nature of Dacian society and its use of coin in the light of the theoretical discussions in Part I, the evidence for coin supply discussed in Part II and the results of the analyses in Part III in the context of the wider archaeological evidence

Policy-making in information technology: a decisional analysis of the Alvey Programme

In June 1988 the five-year, £350 million Alvey programme for advanced information technology is scheduled to terminate. This study is a critical appraisal of the decision-making associated with all aspects of the formulation, approval, implementation and operation of the Alvey policy programme. The study analyses why a government that preaches public sector disengagement from the market has channelled funds into one of the fastest growing sectors of British industry, why a government committed to competition endorsed a programme based on collaboration between firms, and why a government opposed to picking 'winners' implemented a programme aimed at a few selected technologies. It describes the intricate advisory mechanisms which support decision-making by powerful but technologically ill-informed government departments and the British core executive. The study questions the wisdom of the government insisting that industry should frame industry policy - for when a sector dominated by defence contractors did so, the result was an increased dependence on government. When the government engaged in a meso-corporatist policy-making arrangement with Industry, it did so from a position of weakness. Industry had the technical expertise, operational control of major projects, and a dominant role within the Alvey directorate. The result was a pattern of self-interested and short-sighted policy-making biased towards the interests of large firms In the defence and telecommunications fields. By divorcing itself from the mainstream of information technology developments and concentrating on selected narrow niches, the British information technology industry has set itself a difficult task for survival in the years ahead

Bibliography of Lewis Research Center technical publications announced in 1977

This compilation of abstracts describes and indexes over 780 technical reports resulting from the scientific and engineering work performed and managed by the Lewis Research Center in 1977. All the publications were announced in the 1977 issues of STAR (Scientific and Technical Aerospace Reports) and/or IAA (International Aerospace Abstracts). Documents cited include research reports, journal articles, conference presentations, patents and patent applications, and theses