Modes of wording direct into indirect speech in intercultural communication

This paper aims to determine the modes of wording indirec

Neonatal umbilical cord blood cardiac troponin as reflecting fetal growth, age and well being

Objectives: It has been proposed that an elevated concentration of cardiac troponin in umbilical cord blood may function as a surrogate marker of ischemic damage sustained in utero and/or during labour and delivery. The objective of this study is to document the umbilical cord blood concentrations of troponins I (cTnI) and T (cTnT) using high sensitivity assays and correlate these with maternal and fetal clinical history.Methods: Umbilical cord blood was collected immediately following delivery from 416 babies, including 12 sets of twins. Clinical history was obtained from clinical notes. Ethics permission was obtained from ACT Health Human Research and Ethics Committee for the study and consent was obtained from mothers for their participation. Cardiac troponins were assayed using hs- cTnI on Abbott Architect (LoD 1.0 ng/L) and hs-cTnT on Roche E4111 (LoD 5.0 ng/L). Data are expressed as median and 25th and 75th percentiles.Results: Umbilical cord blood consistently has higher median values of cTnT than cTnI such that the median ratios are 6.8 and 5.4 at <32 week gestation and 41 week babies respectively compared with T:I of 0.8 in adults. Babies of early gestation have higher concentrations of cTnT and cTnI as do babies with APGAR scores ≤4 at 1 min. Median cTn concentrations show a 50% decrease between babies born< 32 weeks and those at full term.Relationship of birth weight and umbilical cord cardiac troponin concentrations. Low Birth Weight babies have~50% higher cTn concentrationsConclusions: These findings are consistent with a differential expression of cTnT and cTnI in utero with potential contributions from growth and re-modelling of the heart in addition to “ectopic” production in less differentiated non-cardiac muscle. The effect of intermittent ischemia which occurs as part of normal labour and delivery may superimpose on this increments

Statutory Interpretation as Argumentation

This chapter proposes a dialectical approach to legal interpretation, consisting of three dimensions: a formalization of the canons of interpretation in terms of argumentation schemes; a dialectical classification of interpretive schemes; and a logical and computational model for comparing the arguments pro and contra an interpretation. The traditional interpretive maxims or canons used in both common and civil law are translated into defeasible patterns of arguments, which can be evaluated through sets of corresponding critical questions. These interpretive argumentation schemes are classified in general categories and a distinction is drawn between schemes supporting and rebutting an interpretation. This framework allows conceiving statutory interpretation as a dialectical procedure consisting in weighing arguments pro and contra an interpretation. This procedure is formalized and represented computationally through tools from formal argumentation systems

Second Order Perturbations in the Randall-Sundrum Infinite Brane-World Model

We discuss the non-linear gravitational interactions in the Randall-Sundrum single brane model. If we naively write down the 4-dimensional effective action integrating over the fifth dimension with the aid of the decomposition with respect to eigen modes of 4-dimensional d'Alembertian, the Kaluza-Klein mode coupling seems to be ill-defined. We carefully analyze second order perturbations of the gravitational field induced on the 3-brane under the assumption of the static and axial-symmetric 5-dimensional metric. It is shown that there remains no pathological feature in the Kaluza-Klein mode coupling after the summation over all different mass modes. Furthermore, the leading Kaluza-Klein corrections are shown to be sufficiently suppressed in comparison with the leading order term which is obtained by the zero mode truncation. We confirm that the 4-dimensional Einstein gravity is approximately recovered on the 3-brane up to second order perturbations.Comment: 15 pages, 2 figures, comment and reference added, typos correcte

Structural and mechanical properties of TiB 2 and TiC prepared by self-propagating high-temperature synthesis/dynamic compaction

Titanium-diboride and titanium-carbide compacts with diameters of 100 mm and thicknesses of 25 mm were fabricated by self-propagating high-temperature synthesis/dynamic compaction (SHS/DC) of the elemental powders. Under the best conditions, the densities were greater than 99% and 96.8% of the theoretical densities for TiB 2 and TiC, respectively. The microhardness, compressive strength, and elastic modulus of the TiB 2 prepared by the SHS/DC method were comparable to reported values for hot-pressed TiB 2 . While the microhardness and elastic modulus of the TiC compacts were comparable to those for hotpressed TiC, the compressive strength was lower due to extensive cracks in the compacts. The TiB 2 prepared using a low-purity boron powder (1–5% carbon impurity) compacted to higher densities and had less cracking than that prepared using a high-purity boron powder (0.2% carbon). This result could have an impact on the cost of producing TiB 2 /TiC structural components by the SHS/DC process.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/44732/1/10853_2005_Article_BF01162518.pd

Comparing very low birth weight versus very low gestation cohort methods for outcome analysis of high risk preterm infants

© 2017 The Author(s). Background: Compared to very low gestational age (<32 weeks, VLGA) cohorts, very low birth weight (<1500 g; VLBW) cohorts are more prone to selection bias toward small-for-gestational age (SGA) infants, which may impact upon the validity of data for benchmarking purposes. Method: Data from all VLGA or VLBW infants admitted in the 3 Networks between 2008 and 2011 were used. Two-thirds of each network cohort was randomly selected to develop prediction models for mortality and composite adverse outcome (CAO: mortality or cerebral injuries, chronic lung disease, severe retinopathy or necrotizing enterocolitis) and the remaining for internal validation. Areas under the ROC curves (AUC) of the models were compared. Results: VLBW cohort (24,335 infants) had twice more SGA infants (20.4% vs. 9.3%) than the VLGA cohort (29,180 infants) and had a higher rate of CAO (36.5% vs. 32.6%). The two models had equal prediction power for mortality and CAO (AUC 0.83), and similarly for all other cross-cohort validations (AUC 0.81-0.85). Neither model performed well for the extremes of birth weight for gestation (<1500 g and ≥32 weeks, AUC 0.50-0.65; ≥1500 g and <32 weeks, AUC 0.60-0.62). Conclusion: There was no difference in prediction power for adverse outcome between cohorting VLGA or VLBW despite substantial bias in SGA population. Either cohorting practises are suitable for international benchmarking

Outcomes of Two Trials of Oxygen-Saturation Targets in Preterm Infants

BACKGROUN

Center for Academic Excellence: Annual Report 2009-2010

Admittedly, a certain amount of tedium is involved in assembling an annual report. Retrieving, verifying, and summarizing all the data generated from CAE’s programs and services during the year feels a lot like double-checking references in a manuscript before sending it off for review. It’s a necessary part of the larger project; sometimes we are surprised. Somewhere in the midst of the process, we may suddenly see a project from an entirely diff erent perspective, identify a theme that ties together threads or themes we hadn’t realized previously were connected, or more clearly see why faculty members may (or may not) use a particular CAE program. These meta-level reflections keep the CAE faculty and staff more aware of and responsive to current trends and the particular needs and interests of the PSU and metropolitan communities, while also enhancing our general understanding of faculty development. And so, we are pleased to off er the 2009-2010 summary of work completed within CAE. We hope you will take the opportunity to review our work and we welcome your feedback