Correspondence Course School: Correspondence Courses in Perspective

Are Naval War College correspondence courses really worth the effort? Could an officer spend his limited time more usefully in other professional study programs? What real benefits and rewards do such courses confer

Design descriptions to support reasoning about tolerances

This thesis is concerned with the use of Artificial Intelligence techniques to support human designers. The thesis argues that support for human designers can be improved by adopting an Al-based rather than a geometry-based approach to engineering design. Design Support Systems (DSSs) are proposed as an effective means of delivering this improved support. Representing and reasoning about tolerance statements in design is introduced as a valid area to test these claims. Tolerance statements describe the allowable variations in the geometry of a designed artefact. Two distinct, but related problems involving the use of toler¬ ance statements in design are tackled, namely: tolerance combination (including the way tolerance distributions combine), and tolerance allocation. The problem of tolerance combination (and distribution) involves determining the necessary consequences of the application of known tolerance statements to one or more designed artefact features. Tolerance allocation concerns the assignment of tol¬ erance statements during the design process. Solutions to this second problem are essential before manufactured instances of designed artefacts can be tested for compliance with design descriptions. The use of an experimental DSS, the Edinburgh Designer System (EDS), to solve design problems is illustrated. The implementation of techniques to im¬ prove the support of tolerance combination and tolerance allocation is described and where possible has been tested using EDS. The way that design is situated within the product creation process is investigated and the derivation of parts list information from an EDS design description is demonstrated. The thesis con¬ cludes that the Al-based approach can improve support for human designers, but that further research will be required to demonstrate the effective delivery of this support through DSSs

Some observations on an epidemic of smallpox

In the winter and spring of 1903 -1904 there was in Greenock an Epidemic of Smallpox which smouldered in the heart of - the town till the 9th of February 1904, when it suddenly took up the most alarming activity, testing and straining to the utmost th Hospital accomodation, the Medical Officer of Health, Sanitary Inspector, his office staff and the members of the Health Committee, only sinking to comparative mildness about the end of April, and not leaving the community till the 15th of July, when the last case was dismissed from Hospital and the building closed.It is on this epidemic, and my experiences in it that I base the observations and remarks which follow.I propose to give at first a very short sketch of the history of the epidemic, showing in chart fo at what period the wave was greatest, and what steps were taken to treat those affected, and safeguard the unaffected. Then I shall describe the Smallpox Hospital at Craigieknowes, both the old and permanent buildings and the new or temporary erections, mentioning their good and bad features, and what amount and kind of accommodation seemed to me to be required in a Smallpox Hospital. How cases were admitted; how their clothes were dealt with; how their friends were acquainted with their progress and the method of dismissal and of burial, will each be dealt with in their sequence. Coming then to the nature of the actual cases, the questions which will present themselves and be handled will be such as the social conditions of those affected, the probable source of infection, the nature of the onset or sickening, the number of says between the onset and the appearance of the eruption, and where the eruption made its first appearance. As points of less importance, bu of some interest, I shall give statistics on how long cases remained at home, amongst their people after the appearance of the rash; and on the time taken by medical practitioners to make their diagnosis, counting the number of days either from the date of the appearance of the rash, where the medical attend ant had been in attendance before its appearance, or from the date of his first seeing the case after the appearance of the eruption. I shall then go into the matter of the general characters of the eruptions I saw during my residence in the Hospital, their course, and method of "drying" and "cleaning"; into our methods temperature subjects. rashes will of treatment; into the question of the in smallpox, complications and such like Notes on a few cases showing initial follow these. The question of splenic enlargement is one on which I made frequent and careful observations, and of these I shall give my finding. The discussion of unvaccinated cases, vaccinated cases, concurrent vaccination and variola, cases which had suffered from a previous attack of the smallpox, and of fatal cases, will next be taken up. After that I purpose giving some notes of peculiar and interesting cases, and in that way to bring to a this thesis, which is written entirely on what I have personally seen,investigated, experienced thought and done in the few months during which I acted as House Physician to the Greenock Smallpox Hospital, at Craigieknowes, under the late Dr James Wallace who was at that time the Medical Officer of Health to the Burgh

Epigenetic mechanisms and genome stability

Epigenetic marks are well recognized as heritable chemical modifications of DNA and chromatin that induce chromatin structural changes thereby affecting gene activity. A lesser-known phenomenon is the pervasive effects these marks have on genomic integrity. Remarkably, epigenetic marks and the enzymes that establish them are involved in multiple aspects of maintaining genetic content. These aspects include preserving nucleotide sequences such as repetitive elements, preventing DNA damage, functioning in DNA repair mechanisms and chromatin restoration, and defining chromosomal organization through effects on structural elements such as the centromere. This review discusses these functional aspects of epigenetic marks and their effects on human health and disease

Factors affecting accumulation of summer grass for winter standing feed in the high country

A 0.5 ha 6-year trial compared 6 grass species x 4 N fertiliser rates x 2 times of closing for summer-saved standing winter feed. The pre-winter yields averaged 3.4 t DM/ha from November, closing with a high browntop/sweet vernal component, as compared with 1.7 t DM/ha from December closings with a low browntop/sweet vernal component. Grasslands Kara cocksfoot was the highest yielding cultivar, followed by Grasslands Apanui cocksfoot, Grasslands Wana cocksfoot, Grasslands Roa tall fescue, Grasslands Nui perennial ryegrass and Grasslands Maru phalaris, with decreasing proportions of sown grass. Nitrogen fertiliser had a limited effect on prewinter yields but did have a carry-over effect into spring yields

Health Care Reform: Why Not Best Practices?

The passage of the Affordable Care Act (“ACA” or “Obamacare”) in 2010 promises to bring about significant changes in the way that health care is provided and paid for in the United States of America (USA). Supporters of ACA point to a 2000 WHO study of worldwide health care systems in which the USA ranked 37th as justification for proposed changes, and many of them have expressed a preference for ultimately implementing a single-payer or single-provider system (such as currently exists in Canada or the United Kingdom). Detractors, who generally label the act Obamacare, have expressed concerns about whether the act can achieve its stated objectives, whether it represents a negative step instead of a positive one, and whether the ultimate goal of a single-payer or single-provider system is desirable one or even an achievable one. In the context of the ongoing debate over health care in the USA, this paper reviews the WHO study and subsequent comparative analyses of world health care systems to address the following questions:Does the USA really have the 37th best health care system in the world?Does either a “single-payer” health care system or a “single-provider” health care system offer prospects for significant improvement?What model or models for delivery of health care services represent “best practices” and how can and should they be emulated?

Reducing in-stent restenosis therapeutic manipulation of miRNA in vascular remodeling and inflammation

Background: Drug-eluting stents reduce the incidence of in-stent restenosis, but they result in delayed arterial healing and are associated with a chronic inflammatory response and hypersensitivity reactions. Identifying novel interventions to enhance wound healing and reduce the inflammatory response may improve long-term clinical outcomes. Micro–ribonucleic acids (miRNAs) are noncoding small ribonucleic acids that play a prominent role in the initiation and resolution of inflammation after vascular injury.<p></p> Objectives: This study sought to identify miRNA regulation and function after implantation of bare-metal and drug-eluting stents.<p></p> Methods: Pig, mouse, and in vitro models were used to investigate the role of miRNA in in-stent restenosis.<p></p> Results: We documented a subset of inflammatory miRNAs activated after stenting in pigs, including the miR-21 stem loop miRNAs. Genetic ablation of the miR-21 stem loop attenuated neointimal formation in mice post-stenting. This occurred via enhanced levels of anti-inflammatory M2 macrophages coupled with an impaired sensitivity of smooth muscle cells to respond to vascular activation.<p></p> Conclusions: MiR-21 plays a prominent role in promoting vascular inflammation and remodeling after stent injury. MiRNA-mediated modulation of the inflammatory response post-stenting may have therapeutic potential to accelerate wound healing and enhance the clinical efficacy of stenting