Doctor of Philosophy

dissertationThis study explored the expectations of stakeholders in substance abuse treatment services. These findings may help inform treatment, research, and policy development concerning substance abuse disorders. An exploratory qualitative approach was taken to minimize the effect of the model on outcomes. A cohort of 15 self-declared addicts in recovery were interviewed, using advertising in treatment centers and using a snowball method for additional respondents. Respondents were divided into either short-term or long-term recovery groups, each with different perspectives. The study design included an initial individual interview and follow-up interviews. Individual interviews were semistructured with open-ended questions to allow participants to provide the maximum amount of information. Data were entered into the computer journal, and analyzed reflexively after each interview. Relevant concepts, ideas, themes, and categories were identified and relationships explored. To improve trustworthiness, credibility, and plausibility, data were triangulated to improve accuracy and understanding. Recovery was found to be a process in which individuals empower themselves through development of their own values, self-discovery, self-determination, self-responsibility, and community membership. This recovery process is ongoing and based on preferred values that become habitual to each individual

Masticatory biomechanics in the rabbit : a multi-body dynamics analysis

Acknowledgement We thank Sue Taft (University of Hull) for the µCT-scanning of the rabbit specimen used in this study. We also thank Raphaël Cornette, Jacques Bonnin, Laurent Dufresne, and l'Amicale des Chasseurs Trappistes (ACT) for providing permission and helping us capture the rabbits used for the in vivo bite force measurements at la Réserve Naturelle Nationale de St Quentin en Yvelines, France.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Slavnov-Taylor identities in Coulomb gauge Yang-Mills theory

The Slavnov-Taylor identities of Coulomb gauge Yang-Mills theory are derived from the (standard, second order) functional formalism. It is shown how these identities form closed sets from which one can in principle fully determine the Green's functions involving the temporal component of the gauge field without approximation, given appropriate input.Comment: 20 pages, no figure

Predicting Feedlot Growth Performance over the Feeding Period Utilizing Steer Age and Body Weight

A pooled- analysis of UNL feedlot pens examined the effects of steer age and body weight on feedlot growth performance. For data analysis, pens were divided into 3 subclasses based on steer age (calf- fed, short yearling, or long yearling) and, grouped based upon initial body weight (500 to 1200 lb, in 100 lb increments) within each age class. As initial body weight increased, DMI (lb/d) for the whole feeding period increased quadratically in calf-fed steers and increased linearly in short and long yearlings. A quadratic increase in ADG was observed in calf- feds as initial body weight increased. No differences in ADG were observed for short and long yearlings due to initial body weight. As heavier cattle were placed within age group, feed conversion increased linearly. Predicting DMI is more consistent when expressed as % of body weight. Predicting intake and growth performance over the entire feeding period, in order to facilitate management decisions, is dependent upon steer age and initial weight when starting the finishing diet

QCD Down Under: Building Bridges

The strong coupling regime of QCD is responsible for 99% of hadronic phenomena. Though considerable progress has been made in solving QCD in this non-perturbative region, we nevertheless have to rely on a disparate range of models and approximations. If we are to gain an understanding of the underlying physics and not just have numerical answers from computing `` black'' boxes, we must build bridges between the parameter space where models and approximations are valid to the regime describing experiment, and between the different modellings of strong dynamics. We describe here how the Schwinger-Dyson/Bethe-Salpeter approach provides just such a bridge, linking physics, the lattice and experiment.Comment: 8 pages, 10 figures. Opening talk at Workshop on QCD Down Under, March 2004, Barossa Valley and Adelaide (to be published in the Proceedings

Correction of Long Standing Proximal Interphalangeal Flexion Contractures with Cross Finger Flaps and Vigorous Postoperative Exercises

PURPOSE: We reviewed the results of cross finger flaps after surgical release and vigorous postoperative exercises for long-standing, severe flexion contractures of the Proximal Interphalangeal (PIP) joints of fingers. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In 9 patients, all contracted tissue was sequentially released and the resultant skin defect was covered with a cross-finger flap. The cause of the contracture was contact burn in 4, skin graft in 3, and a previous operation in 2. The mean followup period was 41.2 months. RESULTS: The mean flexion contracture/further flexion in the joints were improved from 73.4/87.8 degrees to 8.4/95.4 degrees at the last follow-up. A mean of 19.5 degrees of extension was achieved with vigorous extension exercise after the operation. The mean gain in range of motion (ROM) was 79.4 degrees. Near full ROM was achieved in 3 cases. There were no major complications. CONCLUSION: In severe flexion contractures with scarring of the PIP joints of fingers, cross finger flaps after sufficient release and vigorous postoperative exercise seems to be a reasonable option to obtain satisfactory ROM of the jointsope

Protection Systems Integrity

Discussion GroupAttendees Topics of Interests Reliability Limits of components and systems Considerations for new systems Interlocks Integrity Interlocks testing Surge system integrity and testing LOPA (Layer Of Protection Analysis) SIL (Safety Integrity Levels) Verifying reciprocating compressor protection systems Liquid level integrity Critical Pump protection system

Dependence of the Chiral Symmetry Restoration Transition on the Quark Self-Energy Kernel

The dependence of the dressed quark propagator on the quark chemical potential is investigated in various models based on the Dyson-Schwinger equations. We find that the critical chemical potential of the chiral symmetry restoration transition is strongly dependent on the nature of the interaction kernel in the infrared region.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figures, minor change to introduction, accepted for publication in Phys. Lett.

Kugo-Ojima confinement and QCD Green's functions in covariant gauges

In Landau gauge QCD the Kugo-Ojima confinement criterion and its relation to the infrared behaviour of the gluon and ghost propagators are reviewed. It is demonstrated that the realization of this confinement criterion (which is closely related to the Gribov-Zwanziger horizon condition) results from quite general properties of the ghost Dyson-Schwinger equation. The numerical solutions for the gluon and ghost propagators obtained from a truncated set of Dyson--Schwinger equations provide an explicit example for the anticipated infrared behaviour. The results are in good agreement, also quantitatively, with corresponding lattice data obtained recently. The resulting running coupling approaches a fixed point in the infrared, $\alpha(0) = 8.915/N_c$. Solutions for the coupled system of Dyson--Schwinger equations for the quark, gluon and ghost propagators are presented. Dynamical generation of quark masses and thus spontaneous breaking of chiral symmetry takes place. In the quenched approximation the quark propagator functions agree well with those of corresponding lattice calculations. For a small number of light flavours the quark, gluon and ghost propagators deviate only slightly from the ones in quenched approximation. While the positivity violation of the gluon spectral function is manifest in the gluon propagator, there are no clear indications of analogous positivity violations for quarks so far.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures; Talk given by R.A. at the International School on Nuclear Physics ``Quarks in Hadrons and Nuclei'' in Erice (Italy), September 16 - 24, 200