2,136 research outputs found
Sabbatical as a part of the academic excellence journey: A narrative qualitative study.
INTRODUCTION: Sabbaticals were first offered by Harvard University in the late 17th century to provide "renewal" for faculty members. In this period of career development, a professor might learn new techniques, expand a research program, or finish off that book or pile of languishing manuscripts. This article tried to organize lived experiences of a visiting scholar from Isfahan University of Medical Sciences to Johns Hopkins University. The research aimed to study the context and conditions of the sabbatical in an alternative academic setting. METHODS: This article applies a narrative qualitative study integrated with Eisner critical and connoisseurship approach as a combined naturalistic methodology. Using narrative inquiry and reflective analysis in form of observations and audit reports, written dairy notes and memos, the content analyzed thematically and extracted the themes of lived experiences as well as lessons learned and then have been transformed into tables. RESULTS: Extracted themes from research sources are categorized into three main themes: organizational and professional experiences; teaching, instruction, and curricular experiences; and research and technology management experiences. These are resulted in the explanation of the field and events (description), discussion about them (interpretation), followed by concluding remarks (evaluation). It also represents research questions and findings in descriptive and interpretation phases. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS: This article addresses some descriptions, interpretations, and evaluations extracted from the experiences through answering the research questions. It categorizes these practical lessons into three categories: (1) lessons about becoming a lifelong learner, (2) lessons about remaining a professor, and (3) innovative experiences
Auricular diagnosis in chronic illnesses
2013-2014 > Academic research: refereed > Publication in refereed journalAccepted ManuscriptPublishe
Application of auricular therapy for cancer-related pain in nursing care
Author name used in this publication: Yeh CHAuthor name used in this publication: Chien LCAuthor name used in this publication: Suen LKP2013-2014 > Academic research: refereed > Publication in refereed journalVersion of RecordPublishe
Resonant tunneling of electromagnetic waves through polariton gaps
We consider resonant tunneling of electromagnetic waves through an optical
barrier formed by dielectric layers with the frequency dispersion of their
dielectric permiability. The frequency region between lower and upper polariton
branches in these materials presents a stop band for electromagnetic waves. We
show that resonance tunneling through this kind of barriers is qualitatevely
different from tunneling through other kind of optical barriers as well as from
quantum mechanic tunneling through a rectangular barrier. We find that the
width of the resonance maxima of the transmission coeffcient tends to zero as
frequency approach the lower boundary of the stop band in a very sharp
non-analytical way. Resonance transmission peaks give rise to new photonic
bands inside the stop band if one considers periodical array of the layers.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figure
Weekly gemcitabine plus 24-h infusion of high-dose 5-fluorouracil/leucovorin for locally advanced or metastatic carcinoma of the biliary tract
[[abstract]]Both gemcitabine and weekly 24-h infusion of high-dose 5-fluorouracil/leucovorin (HDFL) have shown promising antitumour activity for patients with locally advanced or metastatic carcinoma of the biliary tract (CBT). From April 1999 through December 2002, 30 patients with inoperable CBT were treated with gemcitabine 800 mg m(-2), intravenous infusion for 30 min, followed by 5-FU, 2000 mg m(-2) and leucovorin, 300 mg m(-2), intravenous infusion for 24 h, on day 1, 8 and 15, every 4 weeks. A total of 166 cycles were given (median of four cycles per patient, range 1-24 cycles). Response was evaluable in 28 patients and toxicity in 29 patients. Partial response was obtained in six patients, stable disease in 13, while progressive disease occurred in nine. The objective response rate was 21.4% (95% CI: 5.2-37.6%). The most common grade 3 or 4 toxicity was infection (nine patients). Other types of grade 3 or 4 toxicity included leucopenia (four patients), thrombocytopenia (three patients), anaemia (three patients), nausea/vomiting (two patients) and elevation of liver transaminases (three patients). As of 30 September 2003, the median progression-free survival was 3.7 months (95% CI: 2.8-4.6 months) and the median overall survival was 4.7 months (95% CI: 0.8-8.6 months). Our data suggest that weekly gemcitabine plus HDFL is modestly active with acceptable treatment-related toxicity for patients with advanced CBT
Raman study of carrier-overdoping effects on the gap in high-Tc superconducting cuprates
Raman scattering in the heavily overdoped (Y,Ca)Ba_2Cu_3O_{7-d} (T_c = 65 K)
and Bi_2Sr_2CaCu_2O_{8+d} (T_c = 55 K) crystals has been investigated. For the
both crystals, the electronic pair-breaking peaks in the A_{1g} and B_{1g}
polarizations were largely shifted to the low energies close to a half of
2Delta_0, Delta_0 being the maximum gap. It strongly suggests s-wave mixing
into the d-wave superconducting order parameter and the consequent
manifestation of the Coulomb screening effect in the B_{1g}-channel. Gradual
mixing of s-wave component with overdoping is not due to the change of crystal
structure symmetry but a generic feature in all high-T_c superconducting
cuprates.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, to be published in Phys. Rev. B, Rapid
communicaito
Calculation of atomic spontaneous emission rate in 1D finite photonic crystal with defects
We derive the expression for spontaneous emission rate in finite
one-dimensional photonic crystal with arbitrary defects using the effective
resonator model to describe electromagnetic field distributions in the
structure. We obtain explicit formulas for contributions of different types of
modes, i.e. radiation, substrate and guided modes. Formal calculations are
illustrated with a few numerical examples, which demonstrate that the
application of effective resonator model simplifies interpretation of results.Comment: Cent. Eur. J. Phys, in pres
Allozyme differentiation of two populations of the genus Neoplecostomus Eigenmann & Eigenmann, 1888 (Teleostei, Loricariidae) from the upper Paraná River basin, Brazil
Allozyme electrophoresis was used to examine 12 enzymatic systems in two populations of the genus Neoplecostomus from the Paraná River basin. Samples of Neoplecostomus sp. 1 were collected in Paraitinguinha stream of the Tietê River basin, in the municipality of Salesópolis, São Paulo State, and those of Neoplecostomus sp. 2 from São Domingos stream of the Rio Grande River basin, in the municipality of Muzambinho, Minas Gerais State. The genetic variability of the two populations was estimated by Nei’s expected heterozygosity and was considered lower than average for populations of freshwater fish. The proportion of polymorphic loci was low (only 5.26% for the locus Idh). The low frequency of heterozygosity for both populations revealed a high fixation of alleles for each locus. Homozygote excess was observed in both populations. The values of Nei’s genetic identity and the presence of loci with different allele frequencies in both populations may imply that the two populations belong to different species. The genetic variability between populations was compared to other data for loricariids
Down-regulation of transcription elogation factor A (SII) like 4 (TCEAL4) in anaplastic thyroid cancer
BACKGROUND: Anaplastic thyroid cancer (ATC) is one of the most aggressive human malignancies and appears to arise mainly from transformation of pre-existing differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC). However, the carcinogenic mechanism of anaplastic transformation remains unclear. Previously, we investigated specific genes related to ATC based on gene expression profiling using cDNA microarray analysis. One of these genes, transcription elongation factor A (SII)-like 4 (TCEAL4), encodes a member of the transcription elongation factor A (SII)-like gene family. The detailed function of TCEAL4 has not been described nor has any association between this gene and human cancers been reported previously. METHODS: To investigate the role of TCEAL4 in ATC carcinogenesis, we examined expression levels of TCEAL4 in ACLs as well as in other types of thyroid cancers and normal human tissue. RESULTS: Expression of TCEAL4 was down-regulated in all 11 ACLs as compared to either normal thyroid tissues or papillary and follicular thyroid cancerous tissues. TCEAL4 was expressed ubiquitously in all normal human tissues tested. CONCLUSION: To our knowledge, this is the first report of altered TCEAL4 expression in human cancers. We suggest that loss of TCEAL4 expression might be associated with development of ATC from DTC. Further functional studies are required
- …