Luminous Intensity for Traffic Signals: A Scientific Basis for Performance Specifications

Humnan factors experiments on visual responses to simulated traffic signals using incandescent lamps and light-emitting diodes are described

Data for improvement and clinical excellence: protocol for an audit with feedback intervention in home care and supportive living

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Although considerable evidence exists about the effectiveness of audit coupled with feedback, very few audit-with-feedback interventions have been done in either home care or supportive living settings to date. With little history of audit and feedback in home care or supportive living there is potential for greater effects, at least initially. This study extends the work of an earlier study designed to assess the effects of an audit-with-feedback intervention. It will be delivered quarterly over a one-year period in seven home care offices and 11 supportive living sites. The research questions are the same as in the first study but in a different environment. They are as follows:</p> <p>1. What effects do feedback reports have on processes and outcomes over time?</p> <p>2. How do different provider groups in home care and supportive living sites respond to feedback reports based on quality indicator data?</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The research team conducting this study includes researchers and decision makers in continuing care in the province of Alberta, Canada. The intervention consists of quarterly feedback reports in 19 home care offices and supportive living sites across Alberta. Data for the feedback reports are based on the Resident Assessment Instrument Home Care tool, a standardized instrument mandated for use in home care and supportive living environments throughout Alberta. The feedback reports consist of one page, printed front and back, presenting both graphic and textual information. Reports are delivered to all employees working in each site. The primary evaluation uses a controlled interrupted time-series design, both adjusted and unadjusted for covariates. The concurrent process evaluation includes observation, focus groups, and self-reports to assess uptake of the feedback reports. The project described in this protocol follows a similar intervention conducted in our previous study, Data for Improvement and Clinical Excellence--Long-Term Care. We will offer dissemination strategies and spread of the feedback report approach in several ways suited to various audiences and stakeholders throughout Alberta.</p> <p>Significance</p> <p>This study will generate knowledge about the effects of an audit with feedback intervention in home care and supportive living settings. Our dissemination activities will focus on supporting sites to continue to use the Resident Assessment Instrument data in their quality improvement activities.</p

Quasi-degenerate self-trapping in one-dimensional charge transfer exciton

The self-trapping by the nondiagonal particle-phonon interaction between two quasi-degenerate energy levels of excitonic system, is studied. We propose this is realized in charge transfer exciton, where the directions of the polarization give the quasi-degeneracy. It is shown that this mechanism, unlike the conventional diagonal one, allows a coexistence and resonance of the free and self-trapped states even in one-dimensional systems and a quantitative theory for the optical properties (light absorption and time-resolved luminescence) of the resonating states is presented. This theory gives a consistent resolution for the long-standing puzzles in quasi-one-dimensional compound A-PMDA.Comment: accepted to Phys. Rev. Letter

Gyrofluid simulations of collisionless reconnection in the presence of diamagnetic effects

The effects of the ion Larmor radius on magnetic reconnection are investigated by means of numerical simulations, with a Hamiltonian gyrofluid model. In the linear regime, it is found that ion diamagnetic effects decrease the growth rate of the dominant mode. Increasing ion temperature tends to make the magnetic islands propagate in the ion diamagnetic drift direction. In the nonlinear regime, diamagnetic effects reduce the final width of the island. Unlike the electron density, the guiding center density does not tend to distribute along separatrices and at high ion temperature, the electrostatic potential exhibits the superposition of a small scale structure, related to the electron density, and a large scale structure, related to the ion guiding-center density

Gyrofluid simulations of collisionless reconnection in the presence of diamagnetic effects

The effects of the ion Larmor radius on magnetic reconnection are investigated by means of numerical simulations, with a Hamiltonian gyrofluid model. In the linear regime, it is found that ion diamagnetic effects decrease the growth rate of the dominant mode. Increasing ion temperature tends to make the magnetic islands propagate in the ion diamagnetic drift direction. In the nonlinear regime, diamagnetic effects reduce the final width of the island. Unlike the electron density, the guiding center density does not tend to distribute along separatrices and at high ion temperature, the electrostatic potential exhibits the superposition of a small scale structure, related to the electron density, and a large scale structure, related to the ion guiding-center density

Gyrofluid simulations of collisionless reconnection in the presence of diamagnetic effects

The effects of the ion Larmor radius on magnetic reconnection are investigated by means of numerical simulations, with a Hamiltonian gyrofluid model. In the linear regime, it is found that ion diamagnetic effects decrease the growth rate of the dominant mode. Increasing ion temperature tends to make the magnetic islands propagate in the ion diamagnetic drift direction. In the nonlinear regime, diamagnetic effects reduce the final width of the island. Unlike the electron density, the guiding center density does not tend to distribute along separatrices and at high ion temperature, the electrostatic potential exhibits the superposition of a small scale structure, related to the electron density, and a large scale structure, related to the ion guiding-center density

Dynein Modifiers in C. elegans: Light Chains Suppress Conditional Heavy Chain Mutants

Cytoplasmic dynein is a microtubule-dependent motor protein that functions in mitotic cells during centrosome separation, metaphase chromosome congression, anaphase spindle elongation, and chromosome segregation. Dynein is also utilized during interphase for vesicle transport and organelle positioning. While numerous cellular processes require cytoplasmic dynein, the mechanisms that target and regulate this microtubule motor remain largely unknown. By screening a conditional Caenorhabditis elegans cytoplasmic dynein heavy chain mutant at a semipermissive temperature with a genome-wide RNA interference library to reduce gene functions, we have isolated and characterized twenty dynein-specific suppressor genes. When reduced in function, these genes suppress dynein mutants but not other conditionally mutant loci, and twelve of the 20 specific suppressors do not exhibit sterile or lethal phenotypes when their function is reduced in wild-type worms. Many of the suppressor proteins, including two dynein light chains, localize to subcellular sites that overlap with those reported by others for the dynein heavy chain. Furthermore, knocking down any one of four putative dynein accessory chains suppresses the conditional heavy chain mutants, suggesting that some accessory chains negatively regulate heavy chain function. We also identified 29 additional genes that, when reduced in function, suppress conditional mutations not only in dynein but also in loci required for unrelated essential processes. In conclusion, we have identified twenty genes that in many cases are not essential themselves but are conserved and when reduced in function can suppress conditionally lethal C. elegans cytoplasmic dynein heavy chain mutants. We conclude that conserved but nonessential genes contribute to dynein function during the essential process of mitosis

An attempt to observe economy globalization: the cross correlation distance evolution of the top 19 GDP's

Economy correlations between the 19 richest countries are investigated through their Gross Domestic Product increments. A distance is defined between increment correlation matrix elements and their evolution studied as a function of time and time window size. Unidirectional and Bidirectional Minimal Length Paths are generated and analyzed for different time windows. A sort of critical correlation time window is found indicating a transition for best observations. The mean length path decreases with time, indicating stronger correlations. A new method for estimating a realistic minimal time window to observe correlations and deduce macroeconomy conclusions from such features is thus suggested.Comment: to be published in the Dyses05 proceedings, in Int. J. Mod Phys C 15 pages, 5 figures, 1 tabl