‘Cooking lunch, that's Swiss': Constructing hybrid identities based on socio-cultural practices

This study looks at the discursive construction and negotiation of hybrid identities within binational couples. I analyze conversations produced by Anglophones married to German-speaking Swiss residing in central Switzerland. I employ Bucholtz & Hall's sociocultural linguistic model (2004, 2005, 2010), which views identity as emergent in social interaction and allows for the investigation of identity at various analytical levels. The analysis shows how individuals interactively position themselves as hybrid based on their co-construction of specific socio-cultural practices of everyday life that concern food (preparation, conservation, cooking). By doing so, individuals draw on various linguistic features, including prosodically marked utterances, pronominal use, and overt mentions of national labels, which index their cultural hybrid identities while at the same time exemplifying the performance of hybridit

Development of an optimal and fuzzy semi-active control system for vehicle suspension

This paper aims to evaluate the performance of a semi-active controlled suspension system using a magneto-rheological (MR) damper to provide better ride comfort and safety to vehicle passengers than an uncontrolled or passive suspension system. Passive systems represent a conventional solution for vibration control of suspension systems. Although this system is a proven, reliable and economic technology, their parameters cannot be modified according to the road conditions. On the other hand, active systems allow a continuous control of the suspension motion, but require a complex and energy demanding actuator. The proposed suspension system has the adaptability of active systems with lower energy consumption, which constitute an economic and efficient option for vibration control in vehicle suspensions. The analysis was carried out with a set of numerical simulations in Matlab/Simulink using a 1/4 vehicle suspension model with two degrees of freedom for a passive system and two semiactive control modes based on fuzzy and optimal controllers.info:eu-repo/semantics/submittedVersio

Discrepancies between the medical record and the reports of patients with acute coronary syndrome regarding important aspects of the medical history

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Many critical treatment decisions are based on the medical history of patients with an acute coronary syndrome (ACS). Discrepancies between the medical history documented by a health professional and the patient's own report may therefore have important health consequences.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Medical histories of 117 patients with an ACS were documented. A questionnaire assessing the patient's health history was then completed by 62 eligible patients. Information about 13 health conditions with relevance to ACS management was obtained from the questionnaire and the medical record. Concordance between these two sources and reasons for discordance were identified.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>There was significant variation in agreement, from very poor in angina (kappa < 0) to almost perfect in diabetes (kappa = 0.94). Agreement was substantial in cerebrovascular accident (kappa = 0.76) and hypertension (kappa = 0.73); moderate in cocaine use (kappa = 0.54), smoking (kappa = 0.46), kidney disease (kappa = 0.52) and congestive heart failure (kappa = 0.54); and fair in arrhythmia (kappa = 0.37), myocardial infarction (kappa = 0.31), other cardiovascular diseases (kappa = 0.37) and bronchitis/pneumonia (kappa = 0.31). The odds of agreement was 42% higher among individuals with at least some college education (OR = 1.42; 95% CI, 1.00 - 2.01, p = 0.053). Listing of a condition in medical record but not in the questionnaire was a common cause of discordance.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Discrepancies in aspects of the medical history may have important effects on the care of ACS patients. Future research focused on identifying the most effective and efficient means to obtain accurate health information may improve ACS patient care quality and safety.</p