The Hamiltonian Formulation of Higher Order Dynamical Systems

Using Dirac's approach to constrained dynamics, the Hamiltonian formulation of regular higher order Lagrangians is developed. The conventional description of such systems due to Ostrogradsky is recovered. However, unlike the latter, the present analysis yields in a transparent manner the local structure of the associated phase space and its local sympletic geometry, and is of direct application to {\em constrained\/} higher order Lagrangian systems which are beyond the scope of Ostrogradsky's approach.Comment: 17 pages. Revised: references adde

An economic analysis of five selected LANDSAT assisted information systems in Oregon

A comparative cost analysis was performed on five LANDSAT-based information systems. In all cases, the LANDSAT system was found to have cost advantages over its alternative. The information sets generated by LANDSAT and the alternative method are not identical but are comparable in terms of satisfying the needs of the sponsor. The information obtained from the LANDSAT system in some cases is said to lack precision and detail. On the other hand, it was found to be superior in terms of providing information on areas that are inaccessible and unobtainable through conventional means. There is therefore a trade-off between precision and detail, and considerations of costs. The projects examined were concerned with locating irrigation circles in Morrow County; monitoring tansy ragwort infestation; inventoring old growth Douglas fir near Spotted Owl habitats; inventoring vegetation and resources in all state-owned lands; and determining and use for Columbia River water policies

Direct Analysis and Quantification of Metaldehyde in Water using Reactive Paper Spray Mass Spectrometry

Metaldehyde is extensively used worldwide as a contact and systemic molluscicide for controlling slugs and snails in a wide range of agricultural and horticultural crops. Contamination of surface waters due to run-off, coupled with its moderate solubility in water, has led to increased concentration of the pesticide in the environment. In this study, for the first time, rapid analysis (0.99, without any pre-concentration/separation steps. This result is of particular importance for environmental monitoring and water quality analysis providing a potential means of rapid screening to ensure safe drinking water

The Benefits of Opt-In Federalism

The Affordable Care Act (“ACA”) is a controversial and historic statute that mandates people make insurance bargains. Unacknowledged is an innovative mechanism ACA uses to select the law that governs those bargains: opt-in federalism. Opt-in federalism—-in which individuals may in part choose between federal and state rules—-is a promising theoretical means to make and choose law. This Article explains why and concludes that the appeal of opt-in federalism is independent of the ACA. Whatever the statute’s constitutional fate, future policymakers should consider opt-in federalist approaches to answer fundamental but exceedingly difficult questions of health and retirement law

MicroRNA-330-5p as a putative modulator of neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy sensitivity in oesophageal adenocarcinoma

Oesophageal adenocarcinoma (OAC) is the sixth most common cause of cancer deaths worldwide, and the 5-year survival rate for patients diagnosed with the disease is approximately 17%. The standard of care for locally advanced disease is neoadjuvant chemotherapy or, more commonly, combined neoadjuvant chemoradiation therapy (neo-CRT) prior to surgery. Unfortunately, ~60-70% of patients will fail to respond to neo-CRT. Therefore, the identification of biomarkers indicative of patient response to treatment has significant clinical implications in the stratification of patient treatment. Furthermore, understanding the molecular mechanisms underpinning tumour response and resistance to neo-CRT will contribute towards the identification of novel therapeutic targets for enhancing OAC sensitivity to CRT. MicroRNAs (miRNA/miR) function to regulate gene and protein expression and play a causal role in cancer development and progression. MiRNAs have also been identified as modulators of key cellular pathways associated with resistance to CRT. Here, to identify miRNAs associated with resistance to CRT, pre-treatment diagnostic biopsy specimens from patients with OAC were analysed using miRNA-profiling arrays. In pre-treatment biopsies miR-330-5p was the most downregulated miRNA in patients who subsequently failed to respond to neo-CRT. The role of miR-330 as a potential modulator of tumour response and sensitivity to CRT in OAC was further investigated in vitro. Through vector-based overexpression the E2F1/p-AKT survival pathway, as previously described, was confirmed as a target of miR-330 regulation. However, miR-330-mediated alterations to the E2F1/p-AKT pathway were insufficient to significantly alter cellular sensitivity to chemotherapy (cisplatin and 5-flurouracil). In contrast, silencing of miR-330-5p enhanced, albeit subtly, cellular resistance to clinically relevant doses of radiation. This study highlights the need for further investigation into the potential of miR-330-5p as a predictive biomarker of patient sensitivity to neo-CRT and as a novel therapeutic target for manipulating cellular sensitivity to neo-CRT in patients with OAC

Identifying and enabling core management competencies and compliance factors in high reliability organisations : a study in organisational risk management psychology and training: A small n modified grounded theory qualitative analysis

High reliability entities governed by statutory regulations are required to comply with safety guidelines and specifications. When fatalities or serious injuries occur in otherwise preventable accidents these entities are routinely exonerated from any responsibility by claiming to have ‘systemic management problems’ and their managing coalitions have been able to hide behind the ‘corporate veil’. This thesis maintains that the core managerial competencies needed to prevent preventable accidents, can be acquired through training, particularly if their mastery is mandated by a strong regulatory and compliance regime. The cases chosen for analysis revealed ten core managerial and organisational competencies and compliance as issues of concern, in a small n study Commission of Inquiry and Coronial reports. Other than ‘acts of God’, most accidents resulting in fatalities and serious injury, occur in organisations where prior knowledge of a potential accident existed and this knowledge was not utilised. Most accidents in high reliability organisations might have been prevented if the cascade of events leading to the accidents could have been interrupted. The competencies, revealed by the research as necessary to intervene in the unfolding of preventable accidents, are generally not taught in orthodox management studies programs in higher education institutions. However, when these competencies are inadequate they not only result in accidents but also cause orthodox management problems such as production delays and losses, costly litigation, increasing indemnity insurance and erosion of an organisation’s credibility in the marketplace

Retrieving Movement Memory With and Without the Use of Musical Cues

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between learning and retrieving movement with and without musical cues. Twenty-three students all of whom had not had any formal dance training participated in this study. The subjects were required to make two visits for data collection purposes. Testing included performance of the “Mayim” folk dance on day one and then again on day two. Subjects in groups one and two learned the dance with music and subjects in groups two and three learned the dance to the beat of the metronome. On their second visit, groups one and three performed the dance with the music while groups two and four performed the dance with the metronome. It was hypothesized that the subjects who learned the folk dance with the music would be able to perform the folk dance better than the subjects who learned the folk dance without the music and that the recall performance of the folk dance would be greater by the subjects who had the music as their cue rather than by the subjects who only had the metronome as their cue. However, the results indicated that learning the folk dance with and without the music did not produce any significant performance differences. Yet there were significant differences found between the movement performance scores on day one and day two (F=4.004, p\u3c.05). The groups’ total movement scores for days one and two went from a mean of 95.3 down to a mean of 78.8. Although no significant differences were found between the groups on day 2, three out of the four groups showed a decrease in retention performance. The results of this investigation did not provide enough evidence to support the theory that music does enhance one’s ability to recall movement with the aid of musical cues