337,028 research outputs found
ROUNDTABLE: Women on the Bench
No full textIn long-established western democracies, women have made inroads as judges only during the past few decades. In post-conflict and transitional developing countries, however, women constitute an increasingly larger proportion of judges. Why is this so? Situations of political rupture generally create new opportunity structures; some may favour the entry of women into public positions of power. Post-conflict assistance often includes gender friendly rule of law reforms, and the conflict itself may have attracted more attention to rights issues. How do these conditions affect women’s access to, and utilization of, positions of judicial power? What are the main pathways of women judges to the bench? What are the gendered experiences of women on the bench? In this roundtable we invite participants from the “Women on the Bench” research project to reflect on the experiences of women judges in five fragile states across the world: Afghanistan, Angola, Guatemala, Haiti, and Uganda.
This session is part of the CMI/LawTransform project “Women on the Bench” funded by the RCN.
Participants: Ana Braconnier , CIESAS, Mexico; Antonio De Lauri , CMI; Marianne Tøraasen , CMI; Pilar Domingo , ODI, UK ; Aslak Jangård Orre , CMI. Moderator: Elin Skaar , CMI
John S. Knight and unidentified man sitting on bench (BK2_F03_I0004)
No full text3 x4 in. black and white photographic print of John S. Knight (left) and an unidentified man sitting on a bench
Bench development along the regulated, lower River Dee, UK
No full textChannel change to regulated flows along large lowland rivers with cohesive bank materials has been investigated on the lower Welsh Dee, including the tidally influenced reach. Reduction of channel width has involved the formation of a 5-40m wide discontinuous bench, often linking point and concave locations. Map evidence shows that wide benches occur where historically the channel had migrated laterally; narrow benches were found at stable channel locations. Auger cores of the bench deposits clearly differentiated the two contrasting depositional environments within meandering rivers: point bench and concave bench. Around an individual bend a morphologically continuous bench showed a gradient in sediment characteristics from coarser sediments (point locations) to finer organic deposits (concave locations); it also showed a topographic gradient, gaining 0.5m in elevation around the bend suggesting that bench accretion at concave locations is faster than at point locations in fluvially dominated reaches. Such patterns are suggested to have important implications for riparian ecosystems
Effectiveness of critical care discharge information in supporting early recovery from critical illness
No full textBackgroundDischarge from critical care can lead to substantial distress and uncertainty for patients and relatives. Providing information may alleviate or reduce this distress, but the best way to do this is unclear. Aims This review assesses research evidence addressing the effectiveness of written and/or verbal information for adult patients or their relatives upon discharge from critical care to identify the factors likely to influence its impact on physical and psychological outcomes.MethodsWe undertook a narrative critical review of published research. Medline, Embase, PyschInfo, Web of Science, The British Nursing Index and the Cochrane Library as well as key web sites and reference lists were searched for relevant research published between 1990-2011,which explored the impact of written or verbal critical care discharge information. Methodological appraisal of studies was undertaken using tools provided by the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme. ResultsWe found eight publications reporting four independent studies: one multi-centre randomised controlled trial, two quasi-experimental studies and a descriptive qualitative study. In total 133 patients, 193 relatives and 33 nurses were studied. Results showed beneficial physical effects for patients from using a self-help manual, and improved knowledge and increased satisfaction for relatives for combined written and verbal information. Evidence on anxiety was mixed and the value of a written booklet alone was unclear. However the evidence base was of low overall quality. Implications for practiceCritical care discharge information should: • Combine written and verbal information• Take account of physical and psychological vulnerabilities • Be individualized and flexible • Incorporate opportunities for user participation and reflectionConclusionsCurrent evidence suggests that individualised information incorporating user participation and opportunities for reflection may improve the psycho-social well-being of both patients and relatives. Further development and evaluation of strategies that combine effective verbal and written information is required. <br/
Puberty from Bench to Clinic : Lessons for Clinical Management of Pubertal Disorders /
No full textPuberty is a unique paradigm for the understanding of gene-environment interaction and developmental programming. Therefore, normal and abnormal pubertal development can be divided and examined in three sections: the role of genetic factors, the role of environmental factors (including nutrition) and therapeutic issues in disorders of puberty.Dealing with all of these sections and framed along current key concepts in pediatric endocrinology, experts share their view on critical issues such as weighting of genetic versus environmental factors or the impact of environmental factors in relation to critical periods in development. Not only showing the consensus and controversial issues in the various areas, each chapter presents lessons for clinical management in an attempt to link basic research, physiology and pathophysiology with the clinical management of pubertal disorders. Puberty from Bench to Clinic bridges up-to-date concepts from animal and human physiology and pathology towards a better understanding and management of pubertal disorders, making it a unique resource for researchers in the field of development and reproduction, clinical scientists and practitioners in neuro-, pediatric and adolescent endocrinology as well as gynecology.Towards a better understanding and management of pubertal disordersPuberty is a unique paradigm for the understanding of gene-environment interaction and developmental programming. Therefore, normal and abnormal pubertal development can be divided and examined in three sections: the role of genetic factors, the role of environmental factors (including nutrition) and therapeutic issues in disorders of puberty.Dealing with all of these sections and framed along current key concepts in pediatric endocrinology, experts share their view on critical issues such as weighting of genetic versus environmental factors or the impact of environmental factors in relation to critical periods in development. Not only showing the consensus and controversial issues in the various areas, each chapter presents lessons for clinical management in an attempt to link basic research, physiology and pathophysiology with the clinical management of pubertal disorders. Puberty from Bench to Clinic bridges up-to-date concepts from animal and human physiology and pathology towards a better understanding and management of pubertal disorders, making it a unique resource for researchers in the field of development and reproduction, clinical scientists and practitioners in neuro-, pediatric and adolescent endocrinology as well as gynecology.Print version recor
Exploratory Analysis of Benchmark Experiments -- An Interactive Approach
No full textThe analysis of benchmark experiments consists in a large part of exploratory methods, especially visualizations. In Eugster et al. [2008] we presented a comprehensive toolbox including the bench plot. This plot visualizes the behavior of the algorithms on the individual drawn learning and test samples according to specific performance measures. In this paper we show an interactive version of the bench plot can easily uncover details and relations unseen with the static version
Involving users in the development of effective critical care discharge information: a focus group study
No full textBackground Discharge from critical care to a general care unit is a difficult period, and more effective information is needed to support patients and their families at this time.Objectives This study sought the views of patients, relatives and health care staff on (1) the most effective methods of delivering critical care discharge information, (2) the required information content of any proposed strategies, (3) the benefits and limitations of any existing strategies, and (4) potential resource implications.Methods In this qualitative focus group study, 11 adult patients, 8 family members, and 23 health care staff in Eng-land took part in 8 focus group interviews at 2 hospitals. The computer software program NVIVO7 was used for thematic analysis of the data.Results Three key themes were identified from the data: (1) considerations related to effective discharge information, (2) goals of critical care discharge information, and (3) resource implications.Conclusions This focus group study provides unique user insight into what influences successful and unsuccessful information giving. Based on real experiences, it adds to the limited international body of current evidence. Findings will be of value in designing future critical care discharge information and identifying the related resource implications
Bench-Scale Synthesis and Characterization of Biodegradable Aliphatic–Aromatic Random Copolymers with 1,4-Cyclohexanedimethanol Units Toward Sustainable Packaging Applications
No full textThe development of
biodegradable packaging films can resolve environmental
issues caused by plastic waste, but it still remains a great challenge
to develop economically feasible polymers that simultaneously balance
robust mechanical properties, biodegradability, and transparency.
In this work, we describe the bench-scale synthesis (∼1.5 kg)
and blown film characterization of new biodegradable aliphatic–aromatic
copolymers, poly(1,4-butylene-1,4-cyclohexanedimethylene carbonate–terephthalate)s
(PBCCTs) with different molar ratios of two diol monomers, 1,4-cyclohexanedimethanol
(CHDM) and 1,4-butandiol (BD), from 0:1 to 5:5 (CHDM/BD) to optimize
the mechanical, optical, and thermal properties and biodegradability.
The incorporation of CHDM units significantly impacted the thermal
properties of the blown films from these copolymers; PBCCT films with
50 mol % CHDM content had a more amorphous and glassy character compared
with the films with 0 mol % CHDM. And, PBCCT films with 30–50%
CHDM content exhibited superior mechanical properties (tear strength
= 11.5 kgf/mm and tensile strength = 369 kgf/cm2) and comparable
transparency (haze = 16%) to those of nondegradable polyethylenes
(PEs), the most commonly employed materials for packaging film applications.
Taken together, the bench-scale synthesis of biodegradable polymers
with suitable thermomechanical, optical, and permeability properties
presented here showcases the potential of these materials as sustainable
packaging materials
Diffusive author(s), cohesive author: Analysis of S/N (1994)
No full textThis study indicates the ways in which various aspects of the author(s) are brought forth in Dumb type’s performance art, the S/N production. Previous research has suggested a non-hierarchical organization of Dumb type and the absence of a “privileged author” in Dumb type’s collaborative work, S/N. However, the results that I have investigated from member’s interviews on the creative process of S/N along with my analysis of the recorded images of S/N, indicate a different aspect of the author(s). First, S/N was created through, so to speak, the collective ideas of the members of Dumb type. Further, S/N has at least nine quotations from previous performances, installations, and printed writings, besides the work-in-progress technique. Explicating one of the “author functions” as given by Michel Foucault, each text has plural subjects of the author. However, it has been revealed from members’ interviews that Teiji Furuhashi had a decision-making role in selecting the members’ ideas within the performance. Since then, S/N has had plural subjects of creation; however, Furuhashi is one of the subjects of creation along with the “privileged author.” S/N has plural authors (diffusive authors) yet at the same time, it has a “privileged author,” Teiji Furuhashi (cohesive author)
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
No full textThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
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