16144 research outputs found
Sort by
Rate of Treatment for Osteoporosis in Patients with Previous Fragility Fractures at the Time of Current Fracture
No full textFragility fractures secondary to osteoporosis and osteopenia have reached epidemic levels in the United States. Osteoporosis is one of the most under-treated chronic diseases because it is often disregarded by physicians. The purpose of this study is to assess whether a higher rate of patients who have had a previous fragility fracture are taking osteoporosis medication at the time of their current fragility fracture than patients who have not had a previous fragility fracture. This will help us to see what the current standard of care is for medications following a fragility fracture, and aid in the improvement of this standard. Betty Neuman’s Systems model was used as a framework for this study. The model focuses on the internal and external environments of a patient and how they affect their health and disease process. The sample included all patients who were admitted to a West Michigan hospital following a fragility fracture. Patients are both male and female ages 62 to 93. The study was carried out via retrospective chart review. Chi-squared tests and descriptive statistics will be run using SPSS 19.0. The findings and conclusions of this study are pending. Study limitations include all of the participants coming from one institution which makes generalization to others difficult. The assumption was made that the patient’s current fracture was a fragility fracture. Providing patient education and follow-up care for fragility fractures are the two main implications for future nursing
Electrodeposition and Characterization of Nickel, Iron, and Copper Thin Films and the Creation of Nanoporous Structures
No full textThere has been much research in creating nanoporous platinum or gold thin films for catalysis, but there has not been as much work done with other, less noble metals. This research explored the deposition of nickel, iron, and copper ternary alloys using controlled potential electrolysis (CPE) and the selective removal of the copper with DC potential amperometry (DCPA) and linear sweep voltammetry (LSV) to create nanoporous structures. These structures have the advantage of increased surface area creating more efficient catalysts. All films were characterized before and after dealloying using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDS) for composition. The roughness of each of the films was characterized by the capacitance of the film, with higher capacitances indicating a higher electrochemical surface area
Luxury Fashion Brands in the International Market
No full textThe fashion industry is an interesting market to research because it combines desirability and brand recognition with rarity. Recently, countries like America and Europe have been faced with recessions and Asian countries have not been as affected. Therefore, it was interesting to research how current economic times have affected the luxury market and consumer behavior/attitude towards luxury, non-necessary, goods. Data was compiled from several luxury fashion brands including: Gucci, Bottega Veneta, Yves Saint Laurent, Burberry, Dior, Prada, Armani, Louis Vuitton, and Salvatore Ferragamo. Sales revenue data was compared with percent growth GDP per region and percent high net worth individuals per region. We found a positive relationship in Asia, a strong correlation with European data, and no statistically significant relationship in the Americas. The differences in relationship can be reasoned by changes in market share or social differences that are discussed slightly in this paper
Effects of Caffeine on Balance in Dancers Following Fatiguing Cycle Exercise
No full textThe effects of caffeine on postural control have been underexplored. Since balance is a key component to dance performance, studying the effects of caffeine on postural control could be beneficial to the dancer population especially under fatiguing conditions. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of caffeine ingestion (5mg/kg) on balance performance in collegiate dancers after a cycle ergometer fatigue test. It was hypothesized that caffeine ingestion would improve balance postfatigue, measured by decreased center of pressure (COP) path length and area during unilateral quiet standing or increased Star Excursion Balance test (SEBT) scores compared to placebo. Eleven female Hope College dancers participated in this double blind, counterbalanced study. Balance was assessed pre and post-fatiguing cycling exercise under conditions with (CAF) and without caffeine (PBO). Results indicated that caffeine increased average cycling time to fatigue (PBO: 6:47±0.04 seconds, CAF: 7:00±0.03 seconds, p=.035). There was a significant decrease in balance performance post-fatigue as measured by COP path length during 20s of unilateral quiet standing with eyes open (pre: 97.7±1.9 cm, post: 112.4±2.4 cm, p=.000) and eyes closed (pre: 177.1±7.6, post: 206.0±8.5, p=.008). There was also a significant decrease in balance under caffeine conditions for eyes open COP path length (CAF: 108.0±2.1, PBO: 102.1±2.5 cm, p=.04), eyes closed COP path length (CAF: 199.6±6.5 cm, PBO: 183.5±7.7 cm, p=.002) and eyes closed COP area (CAF: 26.6±2.2 cm2, PBO: 22.3±2.2 cm2, p=.01) during unilateral quiet standing. No change occurred in eyes open COP area or SEBT scores as a result of caffeine intake. There was no interaction between trial conditions and time (pre vs. post). Contrary to the hypothesis, caffeine increased postural sway during unilateral quiet standing, but had no effect on SEBT. Therefore, dancers should not be advised to consume caffeine before performances as a method of enhancing balance
Effect of Caffeine on Sprint and Vertical Jump Reaction Time in Male Collegiate Basketball Players
No full textNumerous studies have been conducted that link caffeine supplementation to improved reaction time. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether there was a difference in reaction time during sport-specific movement with supplementation of various dosages of caffeine. Over a period of three weeks, 11 male NCAA Division III basketball players participated in two tests: 1) Vertical jump and 2) 40 yard dash. The tests were administered on three separate testing days. Each participant was randomly assigned in a double blind fashion to one of three caffeine supplementation dosages (3mg/kg body weight, 6mg/kg body weight, or placebo) until they had completed testing days with each dosage. Their reaction time to movement after an auditory stimulus was measured, as well their 40 yard dash time and vertical jump height. Caffeine supplementation of the 3mg/kg body weight dosage resulted in a decreased reaction time to movement of 0.042s ± 0.019s when compared to the placebo group (p \u3c 0.1). No other statistically significant relationship was found between dosage level of caffeine and reaction time or performance. Caffeine supplementation at relatively low dosages (approximately 3mg/kg body weight) can improve reaction time to begin movements requiring maximal speed sprinting
Vowel Perception and Production
No full textVowel identification is influenced by various parameters which enhance or hinder perceptual processing. Those stimuli that are typically more readily identified than are others likely require less time for listeners to make their responses. It was expected that differences in the accuracy of identification across the various vowel categories would be reflected in the reaction times of the respondents. Listeners made judgments across sixteen different vowel categories. Within each block listeners heard a unique randomization of tokens. The listeners were 20 male and female undergraduate students residing in the Midwestern U.S. The speakers were 20 African American and European American adult males and females whose utterances were screened for dialectal variation to ensure that the productions were in General American English (GAE). Results for identification accuracy included a significant main effect across vowel categories. In addition, results for identification reaction time included a significant main effect across phonemic classes. Frontal vowel placement was found to be advantageous for increasing listeners’ accuracy and decreasing their reaction times in vowel identification. These findings suggest that there is differential perceptual facility across the vowel quadrilateral
Review of Identity, Agency and the Acquisition of Professional Language and Culture by Ping Deters
No full textVisualizing Clusters in Artificial Neural Networks Using Morse Theory
No full textThis paper develops a process whereby a high-dimensional clustering problem is solved using a neural network and a low-dimensional cluster diagram of the results is produced using the Mapper method from topological data analysis. The low-dimensional cluster diagram makes the neural network\u27s solution to the high-dimensional clustering problem easy to visualize, interpret, and understand. As a case study, a clustering problem from a diabetes study is solved using a neural network. The clusters in this neural network are visualized using the Mapper method during several stages of the iterative process used to construct the neural network. The neural network and Mapper clustering diagram results for the diabetes study are validated by comparison to principal component analysis
Study of Two-Neutron Radioactivity in the Decay of O-26
No full textA new technique was developed to measure the lifetimes of neutron unbound nuclei in the picosecond range. The decay of 26O→24O+n+n was examined as it had been predicted to have an appreciable lifetime due to the unique structure of the neutron-rich oxygen isotopes. The half-life of 26O was extracted as 4.5-1.5+1.1(stat)±3(syst) ps. This corresponds to 26O having a finite lifetime at an 82% confidence level and, thus, suggests the possibility of two-neutron radioactivity
Designed Autonomic Motion in Heterogeneous Belousov–Zhabotinsky (BZ)-Gelatin Composites by Synchronicity
No full textCritical technologies from medicine to defense are highly dependent on advanced composite materials. Increasingly there is a greater demand for materials with expanded functionality. The state of the art includes a wide range of responsive composites capable of impressive structural feats such as externally triggered shape morphing. Here a different composite concept is presented, one in which a portion of the constituent materials feed off of ambient energy and dynamically couple to convert it to mechanical motion in a cooperative, biomimetic fashion. Using a recently developed self-oscillating gel based on gelatin and the oscillating Belousov–Zhabotinsky (BZ) reaction, a technique is demonstrated for producing continuous patterned heterogeneous BZ hydrogel composites capable of sustained autonomic function. The coupling between two adjacent reactive patches is demonstrated in an autonomic cantilever actuator which converts chemical energy into amplified mechanical motion. The design of heterogeneous BZ gels for motion using a basic finite element model is discussed. This work represents notable progress toward developing internally responsive, bio-inspired composite materials for constructing modular autonomic morphing structures and devices