1,300 research outputs found
Book Reviews: Terry Barrett (1994) Criticizing Art: Understanding the Contemporary
Book review for Criticizing Art: Understanding the Contemporary, Terry Barrett, Mayfield Publication Company, Mountain View, 1994
The Mars Science Laboratory Touchdown Test Facility
In the Touchdown Test Program for the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission, a facility was developed to use a full-scale rover vehicle and an overhead winch system to replicate the Skycrane landing event
Boston University Medical Center: Perspectives on Health Policy
Report of a symposium held at the Boston University Medical Center
Changes in the Economy and Ecology at Proposed Lake Sites in the Salt River Basin, Kentucky, During Early Construction of the Dam for Taylorsville Lake
This is an extension of the work reported in Project numbers B-005-KY, B-016-KY, and B-022-KY that extended from 1 July 1968 through 30 June 1972. Permanent collecting stations have been established at 67 sites throughout the Salt River, Beech Fork, and Chaplin River drainages. Turbidities increases quickly as flow and runoff increase, and subside quickly when the rain stops. Suspended solids range up to 1,700 mg/l in high turbidities and vary considerably as a result of local spates. Water chemistry generally reflects the limestone nature of the substrate and physico-chemical characteristics of a typically healthy limestone stream. Bottom organisms are abundant and diverse, more than 300 different benthic organisms have been identified to date
Cost-Effective Use of Silver Dressings for the Treatment of Hard-to-Heal Chronic Venous Leg Ulcers
Aim
To estimate the cost-effectiveness of silver dressings using a health economic model based on time-to-wound-healing in hard-to-heal chronic venous leg ulcers (VLUs).
Background
Chronic venous ulceration affects 1–3% of the adult population and typically has a protracted course of healing, resulting in considerable costs to the healthcare system. The pathogenesis of VLUs includes excessive and prolonged inflammation which is often related to critical colonisation and early infection. The use of silver dressings to control this bioburden and improve wound healing rates remains controversial.
Methods
A decision tree was constructed to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of treatment with silver compared with non-silver dressings for four weeks in a primary care setting. The outcomes: ‘Healed ulcer’, ‘Healing ulcer’ or ‘No improvement’ were developed, reflecting the relative reduction in ulcer area from baseline to four weeks of treatment. A data set from a recent meta-analysis, based on four RCTs, was applied to the model.
Results
Treatment with silver dressings for an initial four weeks was found to give a total cost saving (£141.57) compared with treatment with non-silver dressings. In addition, patients treated with silver dressings had a faster wound closure compared with those who had been treated with non-silver dressings.
Conclusion
The use of silver dressings improves healing time and can lead to overall cost savings. These results can be used to guide healthcare decision makers in evaluating the economic aspects of treatment with silver dressings in hard-to-heal chronic VLUs
Five High-Redshift Quasars Discovered in Commissioning Imaging Data of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey
We report the discovery of five quasars with redshifts of 4.67 - 5.27 and
z'-band magnitudes of 19.5-20.7 M_B ~ -27. All were originally selected as
distant quasar candidates in optical/near-infrared photometry from the Sloan
Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), and most were confirmed as probable high-redshift
quasars by supplementing the SDSS data with J and K measurements. The quasars
possess strong, broad Lyman-alpha emission lines, with the characteristic sharp
cutoff on the blue side produced by Lyman-alpha forest absorption. Three
quasars contain strong, broad absorption features, and one of them exhibits
very strong N V emission. The amount of absorption produced by the Lyman-alpha
forest increases toward higher redshift, and that in the z=5.27 object (D_A ~
0.7) is consistent with a smooth extrapolation of the absorption seen in lower
redshift quasars. The high luminosity of these objects relative to most other
known objects at z >~ 5 makes them potentially valuable as probes of early
quasar properties and of the intervening intergalactic medium.Comment: 13 pages in LaTex format, two postscirpt figures. Submitted to the
Astronomical Journa
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1974
History of Golf (1) The Nine Toughest Holes in the World (2) Stockie Madness (3) Bartender, One More Round for Pythium (3) Panel: 1973 Turf Problems in Review - 1974 Possible Remedies (A1-A12) Movement of Water to a Holding Pond (A13) Maintenance of Low Budget, Short Season Golf Courses (A16) Turfgrass Fertilization (A18) Determining Turfgrass Fertilizer Needs (A25) Shortage of Plant Food and How to Adjust to Supply and Cost (A29) Panel: Tricalcium Arsenate - Use and Abuse (A33-A46) Operating and Maintaining Municipal Golf Courses (A48) Maintenance of a High Budget Golf Course (A51) Trends in Agricultural Education and Where Are the Emphases (A58) Maintenance of Municipal Parks and Recreation Areas (A60) Maintenance of Grass Tennis Courts (A63) Transition from Natural to Artificial Turf (A67) Plant materials for Outlying Areas (A71) Care of University Grounds (A76) Maintenance of Industrial Sites (A79) Turfgrass Diseases and Systemic Fungicides (A81) A Look at the Future (A 84) Watering of Golf Course Turf (A92
High-Redshift Quasars Found in Sloan Digital Sky Survey Commissioning Data IV: Luminosity Function from the Fall Equatorial Stripe Sampl
This is the fourth paper in a series aimed at finding high-redshift quasars
from five-color imaging data taken along the Celestial Equator by the SDSS.
during its commissioning phase. In this paper, we use the color-selected sample
of 39 luminous high-redshift quasars presented in Paper III to derive the
evolution of the quasar luminosity function over the range of 3.6<z<5.0, and
-27.5<M_1450<-25.5 (Omega=1, H_0=50 km s^-1 Mpc^-1). We use the selection
function derived in Paper III to correct for sample incompleteness. The
luminosity function is estimated using three different methods: (1) the 1/V_a
estimator; (2) a maximum likelihood solution, assuming that the density of
quasars depends exponentially on redshift and as a power law in luminosity and
(3) Lynden-Bell's non-parametric C^- estimator. All three methods give
consistent results. The luminous quasar density decreases by a factor of ~ 6
from z=3.5 to z=5.0, consistent with the decline seen from several previous
optical surveys at z<4.5. The luminosity function follows psi(L) ~ L^{-2.5} for
z~4 at the bright end, significantly flatter than the bright end luminosity
function psi(L) \propto L^{-3.5} found in previous studies for z<3, suggesting
that the shape of the quasar luminosity function evolves with redshift as well,
and that the quasar evolution from z=2 to 5 cannot be described as pure
luminosity evolution. Possible selection biases and the effect of dust
extinction on the redshift evolution of the quasar density are also discussed.Comment: AJ accepted, with minor change
Span of control in supervision of rail track work
The supervision of engineering work on the railways has received relatively little examination despite being both safety-critical in its own right and having wider implications for the successful running of the railways. The present paper is concerned with understanding the factors that make different engineering works perceived as easier or harder to manage. We describe an approach building on notions of ‘span of control’, through which we developed the TOECAP inventory (Team, Organisation, Environment, Communication, Activity and Personal). This tool was validated through both interviews and questionnaires. As well as identifying the physical factors involved, the work also emphasised the importance of collaborative and attitudinal factors. We conclude by discussing limitations of the present work and future directions for development
Acupressure for smoking cessation – a pilot study
BACKGROUND: Tobacco smoking is a serious risk to health: several therapies are available to assist those who wish to stop. Smokers who approach publicly funded stop-smoking clinics in the UK are currently offered nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) or bupropion, and group behaviour therapy, for which there is evidence of effectiveness. Acupuncture and acupressure are also used to help smokers, though a systematic review of the evidence of their effectiveness was inconclusive. The aim of this pilot project was to determine the feasibility of a study to test acupressure as an adjunct to one anti-smoking treatment currently offered, and to inform the design of the study. METHODS: An open randomised controlled pilot study was conducted within the six week group programme offered by the Smoking Advice Service in Plymouth, UK. All participants received the usual treatment with NRT and group behavioural therapy, and were randomised into three groups: group A with two auricular acupressure beads, group B with one bead, and group C with no additional therapy. Participants were taught to press the beads when they experienced cravings. Beads were worn in one ear for four weeks, being replaced as necessary. The main outcome measures assessed in the pilot were success at quitting (expired CO ≤ 9 ppm), the dose of NRT used, and the rating of withdrawal symptoms using the Mood and Symptoms Scale. RESULTS: From 49 smokers attending four clinics, 24 volunteered to participate, 19 attended at least once after quitting, and seven remained to the final week. Participants who dropped out reported significantly fewer previous quit attempts, but no other significant differences. Participants reported stimulating the beads as expected during the initial days after quitting, but most soon reduced the frequency of stimulation. The discomfort caused by the beads was minor, and there were no significant side effects. There were technical problems with adhesiveness of the dressing. Reporting of NRT consumption was poor, with much missing data, but reporting of ratings of withdrawal symptom scores was nearly complete. However, these showed no significant changes or differences between groups for any week. CONCLUSION: Any effects of acupressure on smoking withdrawal, as an adjunct to the use of NRT and behavioural intervention, are unlikely to be detectable by the methods used here and further preliminary studies are required before the hypothesis can be tested
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