7,397 research outputs found

    E-business & Higher Education: an exercise in marketing or fulfilling academic need?

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    The body as image: image as body

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    Pain consultations are often contested spaces where patient and clinician compete for the roles of speaker. Often patients are searching for mechanical explanations and clinicians for psychological ones - creating an impasse and causing distress to both parties. Meanwhile, as technology advances and we have increasing means of seeing inside a person’s body we seem to have less and less ability to see inside another’s world – to understand what it means to live with pain, the significance of that pain for that individual in their social context. In this paper we explore the potential for images of pain, co-created with patients, to intervene in this unproductive patient dynamic and bring the full experience of pain - social, emotional, physical - into focus. Narrative analysis is used on a series of transcripts of pain consultations

    Operating manual for coaxial injection combustion model

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    An operating manual for the coaxial injection combustion model (CICM) is presented as the final report for an eleven month effort designed to provide improvement, to verify, and to document the comprehensive computer program for analyzing the performance of thrust chamber operation with gas/liquid coaxial jet injection. The effort culminated in delivery of an operation FORTRAN IV computer program and associated documentation pertaining to the combustion conditions in the space shuttle main engine. The computer program is structured for compatibility with the standardized Joint Army-Navy-NASA-Air Force (JANNAF) performance evaluation procedure. Use of the CICM in conjunction with the JANNAF procedure allows the analysis of engine systems using coaxial gas/liquid injection

    Sequence Instability in the Proviral Long Terminal Repeat and gag Regions from Peripheral Blood and Tissue-Derived Leukocytes of FIV-Infected Cats during the Late Asymptomatic Phase.

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    Feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) infection results in viral persistence, a prolonged asymptomatic phase, and progressive immunopathology. During the asymptomatic phase, a cohort of experimentally FIV-infected cats exhibits features of viral latency in blood suggestive of inactive viral replication. We sought to investigate viral replication activity and genomic stability of the FIV proviral long terminal repeat (LTR) and the 5' aspect of gag over time. FIV-infected cats during the asymptomatic phase demonstrated undetectable plasma FIV gag RNA transcripts and intermittent to undetectable blood-derived cell-associated FIV gag RNA. The LTR sequence demonstrated instability in blood-derived cells over time, in spite of low to undetectable viral replication. Sequence variation in the LTR was identified in CD4+ and CD21+ leukocytes from blood and surgically removed lymph nodes. Three single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the LTR were commonly identified. Promoter functionality of a common LTR SNP and rare U3 mutation were examined by reporter gene assays and demonstrated either no change or increased basal FIV promoter function, respectively. In conclusion, this cohort of asymptomatic FIV-infected cats demonstrated instability of the LTR and 5' gag sequences during the study period, in spite of undetectable plasma and rare to undetectable viral gag RNA, which suggests that blood may not accurately represent viral activity in asymptomatic FIV-infected cats

    Liquid rocket performance computer model with distributed energy release Interim final report, 15 Aug. 1969 - 15 Aug. 1970

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    Liquid propellant rocket engine performance computer program with distributed energy releas

    Real-time simulation of three-dimensional shoulder girdle and arm dynamics

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    Electrical stimulation is a promising technology for the restoration of arm function in paralyzed individuals. Control of the paralyzed arm under electrical stimulation, however, is a challenging problem that requires advanced controllers and command interfaces for the user. A real-time model describing the complex dynamics of the arm would allow user-in-the-loop type experiments where the command interface and controller could be assessed. Real-time models of the arm previously described have not included the ability to model the independently controlled scapula and clavicle, limiting their utility for clinical applications of this nature. The goal of this study therefore was to evaluate the performance and mechanical behavior of a real-time, dynamic model of the arm and shoulder girdle. The model comprises seven segments linked by eleven degrees of freedom and actuated by 138 muscle elements. Polynomials were generated to describe the muscle lines of action to reduce computation time, and an implicit, first-order Rosenbrock formulation of the equations of motion was used to increase simulation step-size. The model simulated flexion of the arm faster than real time, simulation time being 92% of actual movement time on standard desktop hardware. Modeled maximum isometric torque values agreed well with values from the literature, showing that the model simulates the moment-generating behavior of a real human arm. The speed of the model enables experiments where the user controls the virtual arm and receives visual feedback in real time. The ability to optimize potential solutions in simulation greatly reduces the burden on the user during development

    Finders Sleepers: Why Recent State Regulation of Financial Intermediaries Should Rouse the Federal Government from Its Slumber

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    This comment argues that the current treatment of financial intermediaries in the capital-raising process is unresponsive to the changing landscape of the small business community. Not only does the SEC inadequately define the permissible role of a finder, recent legislation in Texas and South Dakota foreshadows the ills of a dual regulatory society. Rather than waiting for states to address the finder\u27s dilemma on an ad hoc and inconsistent basis, the federal government should create an SEC-registered class of finders to facilitate capital formation and jumpstart a receding American economy. Part II examines the expanding role of financial intermediaries in small market financing and the SEC\u27s less than desirable definition of a finder exempt from federal registration. Part III explains how Michigan, Texas, and South Dakota have addressed the finder\u27s dilemma, and why their answers represent the problematic birth of a dual regulatory system. Part IV chronicles the thwarted development of past reform efforts and concludes by outlining the emerging consensus behind a federallyregistered class of finders

    Optimization of Growth Parameters for Algal Regrowth Potential Experiments

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    Water cost is one of the key deterrents in making algal biofuels a feasible alternative to traditional petroleum fuels. Research into recycling of algal media was conducted in a laboratory setting at the California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo. A growth assay was created to allow for algal cultures, specifically Ward’s Chlorella sp., to proliferate in sealed culture vessels. Bold’s Basal Medium (BBM) was selected as the media due to its extensive use with freshwater algal strains. However, this medium can limit algal growth through nutrient limitation and it became necessary to augment the original recipe. 50mM of sodium bicarbonate was added to the media in order to buffer the purging of 100% CO2 into the culture vessel. The resultant pH of the CO2 saturated media was 6.25. The elemental? composition of Chlorella vulgaris was compared with the nutrient content of BBM to estimate possible nutrient limitations which could occur throughout growth (Oh Hama, 1988). From this analysis, the nitrogen and phosphorus concentration in BBM was augmented by a factor of three (BBM3N3P). Further, vitamins, specifically cyanocobalamin, thiamine HCL, and biotin, were incorporated after conducting a comparison growth study with BBM 3N3P. The average maximum specific growth rates for the normal BBM and for the vitamin-enhanced BBM were 0.689 +/- 0.0818 and 0.887 +/- 0.1901 (mean +/- std. deviation) per day, respectively. This difference was proved significant by a t-test with a p-value equal to 0.041. A standardized methodology for conducting a regrowth potential experiment was outlined by the research. One phase of this methodology included reintroduction of nutrients consumed during the first round of growth. Prior to continuing with this methodology the effect of supplementing trace metals and micronutrients into the culture was investigated. At a p-value of 0.0956, there was no significant difference between BBM 3N3P + vitamins and the same media with eight times the trace metal and micronutrient concentration. This allowed for up to seven rounds of regrowth with no inhibition caused from the restoration of these nutrients. A final regrowth was conducted on BBM 3N3P + vitamins + 50 mM bicarbonate. A significant difference existed between both the Round 1 and Round 2 cultures, as well as between the Round 2 cultures and their respective controls. This signified the possible release of allelochemicals by the Chlorella sp.. A preliminary investigation into the possible use of anaerobic digester effluent as a primary source of nutrients for algal cultures was also conducted. The digestate (diluted 50% v/v with a saline make-up) grew significantly faster than the controls (p-value\u3c0.001). Further, after the introduction of trace metals and micronutrients the digestate columns outlived the control columns increasing the feasibility of using digestate to supplemental algal cultures
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