3,870 research outputs found
A comparison of twice-weekly MPD-PUVA and three times-weekly skin typing-PUVA regimens for the treatment of psoriasis
No full textThe most frequent PUVA treatment regimen in current use is three times weekly, using skin typing to estimate the starting dose. Recently, it was suggested that twice-weekly treatment, using the minimal phototoxic dose (MPD) to calculate suberythemal starting doses of UVA, achieved similar clearance rates with fewer treatments and a lower cumulative UVA dose. We have carried out a trial on 83 patients, comparing twice-weekly MPD-PUVA with three times-weekly skin typing-PUVA, in order to test this hypothesis. Although clearance rates were comparable between the two regimens, there was no overall significant difference in the number of treatments or in the cumulative UVA doses at clearance. However, for patients with skin types I and II the cumulative UVA dose was significantly higher using the twice-weekly MPD regimen (70.0 J/cm2 vs. 55.8 J/cm2; P<0.05). Our results do not confirm that there is a reduction in cumulative UVA dosage with twice-weekly MPD-PUVA
Design metrics for evaluating the propulsive efficiency of future ships
No full textThere is an increasing need for the ship design process to take account of environmental issues such as the emission of greenhouse gases and the likely extension of a carbon dioxide charging mechanism to international shipping. These issues, together with the need for economic viability, provide further incentives to improve the efficiency of propulsion of ships. The main components of powering are firstly reviewed. Individual components and other power saving devices are identified which should contribute to improvements in the overall efficiency of propulsion. Suitable design metrics and procedures, taking into account economic and environmental factors, are recommended for the design of future ships
Brief note: some observations on oscillating tangential forces and wear in general plane contacts
No full textFor general plane contact of elastically similar materials, including cases where there are multiple regions of contact, general properties of the partial slip solution for conditions of constant normal force and monotonically increasing shearing force have been found recently by the first author. An extension is given here to cover the unloading and cyclic loading cases. Further, it is shown that, if the tangential load varies between two fixed limits, the region of stick does not change, even if relative microslip causes wear, changing continuously the profile of the indenter. The contact area will change, but wear will not enter the original region of adhesion. The theoretical limit to which wear will eventually, asymptotically proceed is established, viz. almost complete contact over what is the initial stick zone, although it may, in practice, take a long time to reach this state
The description of Kabarda by D.A. Milutin in the context of the cauсasus version of russian orien-talism foundation
No full textThe paper pertains to the analysis of a manuscript authored by D.A. Milutin in the first half of the 19th century, regarding the region of Kabarda. This manuscript, hitherto unpublished in academic circles, has been the subject of our examination. Our endeavor was to uncover the utilization of orientalist clichés by the manuscript's author, in order to depict both the geographical delineations of this ethno-political entity and the ethnography, livelihood, societal structure, and customary legal norms of its inhabitants. A remarkable parallel can be observed between certain aspects of the manuscript and the ideas propounded by E. Said in his discourse on European Orientalism. The researcher drew a comparison between the political framework and traditions of the Kabardian people and those prevalent in Europe. Moreover, the researcher romanticized the region's historical past, employing the conceptof "reverse human progress," along with other typical methodologies embraced by Orientalist thinkers of that era. Concomitantly, D.A. Milutin provided detailed descriptions of the political, social, and everyday existence in Kabarda, thereby endowing the manuscript with an intrinsic value as an original historical and cultural resource for contemporary scholars. It is concluded that, similar to numerous analogous texts produced by Orientalist scholars, the significance of D.A. Milutin's man-uscript lies not in its political arguments concerning the military and economic dominion of the Russian Empire over the Caucasian peoples, or the imperative to extend colonial governance to these ethnic territorie
Timescale and stability in adaptive behaviour
No full textRecently, in both the neuroscience and adaptive behaviour
communities, there has been growing interest in the interplay of multiple
timescales within neural systems. In particular, the phenomenon
of neuromodulation has received a great deal of interest within neuroscience
and a growing amount of attention within adaptive behaviour
research. This interest has been driven by hypotheses and evidence that
have linked neuromodulatory chemicals to a wide range of important
adaptive processes such as regulation, reconfiguration, and plasticity.
Here, we first demonstrate that manipulating timescales can qualitatively
alter the dynamics of a simple system of coupled model neurons.
We go on to explore this effect in larger systems within the framework
employed by Gardner, Ashby and May in their seminal studies of stability
in complex networks. On the basis of linear stability analysis, we
conclude that, despite evidence that timescale is important for stability,
the presence of multiple timescales within a single system has, in
general, no appreciable effect on the May-Wigner stability/connectance
relationship. Finally we address some of the shortcomings of linear stability
analysis and conclude that more sophisticated analytical approaches
are required in order to explore the impact of multiple timescales on the
temporally extended dynamics of adaptive systems
Theoretical framework for applied climate education: 1. Adult Learning Concepts and Principles to consider when developing and delivering training
No full textThe variable climate has major impacts on agricultural production and sustainable resource management (Nicholls 1985; Garnett and Khandaker 1992; Buckley 2000). Better understanding of this variable climate in terms of how it impacts on production, natural resources and markets is critical for producers and agribusiness to maintain or improve their industry (Hammer et al. 2000). Improving knowledge and skills to better cope with climate is a goal that the Australian government has been working on since drought was no longer to be considered as an ‘exceptional circumstance’ but with an emphasis needing to be on increased self reliance (Anon. 1990).
Effort must therefore be applied to training and education of not only producers but others in the food and fibre chain who are impacted on when:
· production has short falls due to drought or other weather and climate induced problems, or,
· communities are negatively affected by other climate related problems such as competing water issues and other resource problems like erosion or salinity.
This paper describes adult learning principles and concepts that have been used successfully in applied climate and agriculture education. This is an edited version of the paper presented at the International Conference on Applying seasonal climate forecasts in agriculture, 24-26 September 2002., Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Tamil Nadu, INDIA
Elements of Ethnotaxonomy in Dhule and Nandurbar Districts (Maharashtra)
No full textDhule and Nandurbar districts of Maharashtra are mainly inhabited by tribals and rural folks. The author’s ethnobotanical and floristic forays in these districts brought out certain elements of ethnotaxonomy like ethnotaxonomic markers, classifications, principles of nomenclature and exomorphic features. The facts gathered indicated that the people in the area are fairly flooded with reckonable elements of ethnotaxonomy. And 22 ethnotaxonomic markers are identified. These are evaluated and discussed pertinently in this paper.-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Post Graduate Department of Botany, S.S.V.P.S’s L.K. P.R.Ghogrey Science College, Dhule-424005 (Maharashtra), India*Corresponding author, Email: [email protected] Cite This Article As: D.A. Patil. 2010. Elements of Ethnotaxonomy in Dhule and Nandurbar Districts (Maharashtra). J. Ecobiotechnol. 2(3): 18-25
Theoretical framework for applied climate education: 3. Evaluating applied climate research, development and extension processes and their outcomes in agriculture.
No full textAustralian research, development and extension (RD&E) programs and projects are increasingly being asked to justify their activities based on the outcomes of dollars spent (Collins 1996). Evaluating only outputs using indicators such as number of workshops held, number of attendees and papers written are no longer seen as sufficient and relevant because they provide little indication of RD&E impact to funding bodies, managers, extension agents or project staff (White 2000; Robertson and White 1996). What impact has disseminated applied climate research had on target audience management and decision-making, has it been useful, what areas of applied climate research, development or extension need improvement or new directions?
Evaluating applied climate RD&E in Australia is a relatively new philosophy and management tool. Benefits from the process can include enhancing program or project success and client focus, development of new ideas; and gathering of evidence of impact and application of research to real-world decisions. Deciding what, who, how and when to evaluate to collect reliable and accurate information requires effort, creative planning and may involve assessing outcomes in terms of changes in producer knowledge, attitude, aspirations, skills, practice change and end results. For example, what information is important to producer decisions, how do they want to access it and how often, what scientific concepts do they need to understand to interpret and apply climate-based information? Do we know what are the necessary pre-requisite skills and knowledge to use applied climate information effectively? Evaluation activities may vary from a simple approach, such as using a ‘five question one-page’ workshop evaluation sheet to presenting a range of resource management research activities on a computer lap-top at farmer kitchen tables (Carroll et. al. 2001), rigorous surveys using random sampling (Keogh et. al. 2002b) or census of climate workshop participants (Colmar Brunton 1999a, 1999b). These are some general considerations to bear in mind when evaluating climate RD&E.
This paper provides some background on current applied climate RD&E evaluation. It presents a selection of recent evaluation case studies in Australia and general guidelines for designing internal RD&E evaluations to help improve program and project performance or gather evidence of impact. An approach to consider for developing evaluation is also included. It assumes the reader already agrees with the proposition that evaluation is essential. A survey template used to evaluate climate workshops based on Bennett’s hierarchy (Bennett 1976) is also presented in Appendix 1.
This is an edited version of the paper presented at the International Conference on Applying seasonal climate forecasts in agriculture, 24-26 September 2002., Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Tamil Nadu, INDIA
Aanteekeningen omtrent de gevolgen van zware stormvloeden, tusschen 1500 en 1825 voorgekomen, voor de dijken en polders langs het Zuidwestelijk deel der Zuiderzee: samengesteld door den ingenieur van den Rijkswaterstaat D.A. van Heyst
No full textOverzicht van stormvloeden (1500 - 1825) die tot overstromingen langs de Zuiderzee geleid hebben. Aanleiding was de overstroming van 1916, en men wilde weten of deze stormvloed inderdaad uniek was
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