The Problems of the Leased Line

The part played by the leased line in railroad reorganizations prior to those of the present day seems to have be rather inconspicuous. In those earlier reorganizations, railroads, on the whole, were still in an era of expansion. While serious lease problems occasionally arose, they were generally capable of being solved without too much difficulty and without undue hardship to cither lessor or lessee. Today, however, the picture has been altered. Changes in transportation which have affected all railroads adversely have accentuated leased line problems. There are more problems than formerly and, in addition, they seem to be more serious. At the same time care must be taken not to overemphasize the difficulties, of leased lines. A majority of those whose lessees are undergoing reorganization have given rise to but few issues. Some, however, because of unusual circumstances in their particular instances, involve perplexing problems. It is this somewhat pathological type of case with which we are principally concerned in this brief survey of leased line problems

Shopbots, Powershopping, Powersales: New Forms of Intermediation in E-Commerce - An Overview -

With the advent and proliferation of the Internet many aspects of business and market activities are changing. New forms of intermediation also called cybermediaries are becoming increasingly important as a coordinator of interaction between buyers and sellers in the electronic market environment. Especially the overwhelming abundance of information offered by the Internet promotes the development of new intermediarie like malls, shopbots, virtual resellers etc. This paper provides a detailed overview of different new forms of cybermediation and illustrates their influence on consumer choice, firm pricing and product differentiation strategies.comparison shopping, cybermediaries, e-commerce, shopbots

Sharing Traditional and Contemporary Literature with Deaf Children

published or submitted for publicatio

Shopbots, powershopping, powersales: New forms of intermediation in E-Commerce : an overview

With the advent and proliferation of the Internet many aspects of business and market activities are changing. New forms of intermediation also called cybermediaries are becoming increasingly important as a coordinator of interaction between buyers and sellers in the electronic market environment. Especially the overwhelming abundance of information offered by the Internet promotes the development of new intermediarie like malls, shopbots, virtual resellers etc. This paper provides a detailed overview of different new forms of cybermediation and illustrates their influence on consumer choice, firm pricing and product differentiation strategies

MF2402

Susan Boger & Mary L. Meck Higgins, Age-related macular degeneration (AMD), Kansas State University, August 1999

MF2686

The information in this fact sheet is for educational purposes only and is not intended as a substitute for advice from your health care provider.Mary L. Meck Higgins, Steps to a healthier you: a summary of the 2005 dietary guidelines for americans and the food guide/MyPyramid, Kansas State Univeristy, August 2005

Presyncopal/Non-Presyncopal Outcomes of Post Spaceflight Stand Tests are Consistent from Flight to Flight

The overall prevalence of orthostatic hypotension after short duration (6-18 d) spaceflight is 20% with existing countermeasures. However, it is not known if the outcomes of stand tests for orthostatic tolerance are consistent within individuals on subsequent flights, or if first time fliers are more (or less) likely to experience orthostatic hypotension and presyncope than are veteran astronauts. Fifty astronauts were studied retrospectively. Stand test data, which had been collected before and after spaceflight, were compared from at least two flights for each astronaut. For twenty-five of these astronauts, their first flight in this database was also their first time to fly into space. For the remaining 25, their first flight in this database was their second, third or fourth flight, as data were available. No subject became presyncopal during preflight testing. Of the 50 subjects, 45 (90%) had the same outcome on their first and second fligh ts of this study. Of 14 subjects on whom we had data from a third mission, 12 had the same stand test outcome on all three flights (86% same outcome across three flights). There was no correlation between flight duration and orthostatic tolerance (r = 0.39). These data support the idea that astronauts are predisposed to orthostatic tolerance/intolerance after spaceflight and that this predisposition is not altered by subsequent flights. Flight durations within this data set did not alter the likelihood of orthostatic intolerance and rookie fliers were no more likely to experience orthostatic intolerance than were veteran astronauts

Midodrine as a Countermeasure for Post-Spaceflight Orthostatic Hypotension

One possible mechanism for post-spaceflight orthostatic hypotension, which affects approximately 30% of astronauts after short duration shuttle missions, is inadequate norepinephrine release during upright posture. We performed a two phased study to determine the effectiveness of an alpha1-adrenergic agonist, midodrine, as a countermeasure to post-spaceflight orthostatic hypotension. The first phase of the study examined the landing day orthostatic responses of six veteran astronauts after oral midodrine (10 mg) administered on the ground within approximately two hours of wheel stop. One female crewmember exhibited orthostatic hypotension in a previous flight but not after midodrine. Five male crewmembers, who did not exhibit orthostatic hypotension during previous flights, also did not show signs of orthostatic hypotension after midodrine. Additionally, phase one showed that midodrine did not cause hypertension in these crewmembers. In the second phase of this study, midodrine is ingested inflight (near time of ignition, TIG) and orthostatic responses are determined immediately upon landing via an 80 degree head-up tilt test performed on the crew transport vehicle (CTV). Four of ten crewmembers have completed phase two of this study. Two crewmembers completed the landing day tilt tests, while two tests were ended early due to presyncopal symptoms. All subjects had decreased landing day stroke volumes and increased heart rates compared to preflight. Midodrine appears to have increased total peripheral resistance in one crewmember who was able to complete the landing day tilt test. The effectiveness of midodrine as a countermeasure to immediate post-spaceflight orthostatic hypotension has yet to be determined; interpretation is made more difficult due to low subject number and the lack of control subjects on the CTV

Time perception and its neuropsychological correlates in patients with schizophrenia and in healthy volunteers

Disordered time perception has been reported in schizophrenia. We investigated time perception dysfunction and its neuropsychological correlates in patients with schizophrenia. Participants comprised 38 patients and 38 age- and sex-matched healthy volunteers who were compared in an auditory temporal bisection paradigm using two interval ranges (a 400/800 ins condition and a 1000/2000 ms condition). In the temporal bisection, subjects were required to categorise a probe duration as short or long, based upon the similarity with two reference durations. All subjects also completed a battery of neuropsychological tests measuring sustained attention, short- and long-term memory and executive function. In the 400/800 ins condition, patients judged durations significantly shorter than did control subjects. Patients also exhibited decreased temporal sensitivity in both conditions. We found in both groups a negative association between temporal sensitivity and sustained attention for the 400/800 ms condition, and between temporal sensitivity and long-term memory for the 1000/200 ms condition. In patients, short-term memory performance was negatively associated with duration judgement in both conditions, while executive dysfunction was correlated to a general performance deficit in the 400/800 ms condition. These findings suggest the possibility that time perception abnormalities in schizophrenia are part of neuropsychological dysfunction and are likely to adversely impact upon activity of daily living. (c) 2008 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved

The Magondi Belt in southern Africa: Implication for Paleoproterozoic crustal evolution in the northwestern Zimbabwe Craton

The Tenth Symposium on Polar Science/Ordinary sessions: [OG] Polar Geosciences, Wed. 4 Dec. / 3F Seminar room, National Institute of Polar Researc