Rotary stepping device with memory metal actuator

A rotary stepping device includes a rotatable shaft which is driven by means of a coiled spring clutch which is alternately tightened to grip and rotate the shaft and released to return it to a resting position. An actuator formed of a memory metal is used to pull the spring clutch to tighten it and rotate the shaft. The actuator is activated by heating it above its critical temperature and is returned to an elongated configuration by means of the force of the spring cloth

Negative coupled inductors for polyphase choppers

A technique for negatively coupling the outputs of polyphase choppers is disclosed, wherein the output inductance of each phase is divided into two windings, and each winding is negatively coupled to a corresponding winding of a neighboring phase. In a preferred embodiment for a three-phase chopper circuit, the output inductance of phase A is divided into windings 100 and 102, the output inductance of phase B is divided into windings 110 and 112, and the output inductance of phase C is divided into windings 120 and 122. Pairs of windings 100 and 110, 112 and 120, and 102 and 122 are respectively disposed in transformers arranged for negatively coupling the windings of each pair

Potential markets for a satellite-based mobile communications system

The objective of the study was to define the market needs for improved land mobile communications systems. Within the context of this objective, the following goals were set: (1) characterize the present mobile communications industry; (2) determine the market for an improved system for mobile communications; and (3) define the system requirements as seen from the potential customer's viewpoint. The scope of the study was defined by the following parameters: (1) markets were confined to U.S. and Canada; (2) range of operation generally exceeded 20 miles, but this was not restrictive; (3) the classes of potential users considered included all private sector users, and non-military public sector users; (4) the time span examined was 1975 to 1985; and (5) highly localized users were generally excluded - e.g., taxicabs, and local paging

Alien Registration- Jamieson, Charles S. (Portland, Cumberland County)

https://digitalmaine.com/alien_docs/23263/thumbnail.jp

Development of a new scale to measure ambiguity tolerance in veterinary students

The ability to cope with ambiguity and feelings of uncertainty is an essential element of professional practice. Research with physicians has identified that intolerance of ambiguity or uncertainty is linked to stress and some authors have hypothesised that there could be an association between intolerance of ambiguity and burnout (e.g. Cooke et al 2013). We describe the adaptation of the TAMSAD (Tolerance of Ambiguity in Medical Students and Doctors) scale for use with veterinary students. Exploratory factor analysis supports a unidimensional structure for the Ambiguity tolerance construct. Although internal reliability of the 29 item TAMSAD scale is reasonable (α = 0.50), an alternative 27 item scale (drawn from the original 41 items used to develop TAMSAD) shows higher internal reliability for veterinary students (α = 0.67). We conclude that there is good evidence to support the validity of this latter TAVS (Tolerance of Ambiguity in Veterinary students) scale to study ambiguity tolerance in veterinary students

Notes on eclampsia

The following is a record of the cases of Eclampsia which I have attended over a period of twenty years, together with a suggestion as to the mode of origin of the disease, some observations on treatment,and a commentary on my analysis of 137 cases recently reported in New Zealand. The series of Eclampsias that occurs in a private practice not largely of an obstetrical character is naturally a small one; and it may reasonably be objected that no general conclusions should be made from such limited experience. Nevertheless, the actual experience of a small number is extraordinarily instructive, and suggestive information can be gained by careful study of the details of a few cases perhaps more easily than from large statistics in which detail is obscured by the mass of material, and personal contact is lacking. My personal experience covers 15 cases in which there has been a culmination of the disease in convulsions, and a number of cases of pre- eclamptic toxaemia of varying degrees of severity. I find I have preserved meagre notes of 22 such, but that is only a fraction of the number actually seen. Perfection of recording in general practice is too difficult an ideal to attain. It is opportune here to remark that a definition of Eclampsia is not really easy. It is too closely associated in our minds with fibs, and we regard fits as being a necessary feature. I am convinced that this is irrational and wrong. Convulsions are merely the terminal phase of a toxaemia occurring in pregnant women, which presents any other symptoms quite as essential and characteristic. It would, I think, be just as reasonable to regard coma as a disease entity, apart from the diabetes, or whatever else is the cause; or to think of septic peritonitis as a disease, apart from the perforation,or appendicitis producing it. Further, the syndrome of Eclampsia is very varied. Almost each individual common symptom of it may be absent in a given case. The common symptoms are albuminuria, oedema, headache, sensory disturbances, especially of sight, raised blood pressure, and fits, occurring in pregnancy. But on reference to my own cases, and to other recorded cases, I find Eclampsia without albuminuria, Eclampsia without oedema, Eclampsia without headache, Eclampsia without sensory disturbance, and even Eclampsia without fits. There remain only two constant features - pregnancy, and a blood pressure which seems to have been found invariably raised whenever it has been taken

Caring for continence in stroke care settings: a qualitative study of patients’ and staff perspectives on the implementation of a new continence care intervention

Objectives: Investigate the perspectives of patients and nursing staff on the implementation of an augmented continence care intervention after stroke. Design: Qualitative data were elicited during semi-structured interviews with patients (n = 15) and staff (14 nurses; nine nursing assistants) and analysed using thematic analysis. Setting: Mixed acute and rehabilitation stroke ward. Participants: Stroke patients and nursing staff that experienced an enhanced continence care intervention. Results: Four themes emerged from patients’ interviews describing: (a) challenges communicating about continence (initiating conversations and information exchange); (b) mixed perceptions of continence care; (c) ambiguity of focus between mobility and continence issues; and (d) inconsistent involvement in continence care decision making. Patients’ perceptions reflected the severity of their urinary incontinence. Staff described changes in: (i) knowledge as a consequence of specialist training; (ii) continence interventions (including the development of nurse-led initiatives to reduce the incidence of unnecessary catheterisation among patients admitted to their ward); (iii) changes in attitude towards continence from containment approaches to continence rehabilitation; and (iv) the challenges of providing continence care within a stroke care context including limitations in access to continence care equipment or products, and institutional attitudes towards continence. Conclusion: Patients (particularly those with severe urinary incontinence) described challenges communicating about and involvement in continence care decisions. In contrast, nurses described improved continence knowledge, attitudes and confidence alongside a shift from containment to rehabilitative approaches. Contextual components including care from point of hospital admission, equipment accessibility and interdisciplinary approaches were perceived as important factors to enhancing continence care

Dependencia de la densidad en los ánades norteamericanos

The existence or otherwise of density dependence within a population can have important implications for the management of that population. Here, we use estimates of abundance obtained from annual aerial counts on the major breeding grounds of a variety of North American duck species and use a state space model to separate the observation and ecological system processes. This state space approach allows us to impose a density dependence structure upon the true underlying population rather than on the estimates and we emonstrate the improved robustness of this procedure for detecting density dependence in the population. We adopt a Bayesian approach to model fitting, using Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) methods and use a reversible jump MCMC scheme to calculate posterior model probabilities which assign probabilities to the presence of density dependence within the population, for example. We show how these probabilities can be used either to discriminate between models or to provide model–averaged predictions which fully account for both parameter and model uncertainty.La existencia o ausencia de efectos dependientes de la densidad en una población puede acarrear importantes repercusiones para la gestión de la misma. En este artículo empleamos estimaciones de abundancia obtenidas a partir de recuentos aéreos anuales de las principales áreas de reproducción de diversas especies de ánades norteamericanos, utilizando un modelo de estados espaciales para separar los procesos de observación y los procesos del sistema ecológico. Este enfoque basado en estados espaciales nos permite imponer una estructura que depende de la densidad de la población subyacente real, más que de las estimaciones, además de demostrar la robustez mejorada de este procedimiento para detectar la dependencia de la densidad en la población. Para el ajuste de modelos adoptamos un planteamiento bayesiano, utilizando los métodos de Monte Carlo basados en cadenas de Markov (MCMC), así como un programa MCMC de salto reversible para calcular, por ejemplo, las probabilidades posteriores de los modelos que asignan probabilidades a la presencia de una dependencia de la densidad en la población. También demostramos cómo pueden emplearse estas probabilidades para discriminar entre modelos o para proporcionar predicciones promediadas entre modelos que tengan totalmente en cuenta tanto la incertidumbre referente a parámetros como a modelos