6,244 research outputs found
Dynamics of kinship and the uncertainties of life: Spirit cults and healing management in northern Thailand
No full textThis thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.This thesis is about kinship, health and healing in a Northern Thai village. Although
traditional spirit mediums and spirit cult observances in Chiang Mai city are in
decline and have led to a breakdown of the matrilineal system, in the village of Baan
Yang Luang in Mae Chaem district the belief in matrilineal spirits and ancestors is
still maintained in interesting counterpoint to social change. The power of spirits is
used to manage human suffering-whether sickness, death or agricultural failure.
Kinship in Mae Chaem is based on the relationship between humans and ancestral
spirits or lineage guardian spirits. Illness is thought to derive from conflicts among
humans or between humans and spirits. Healing is attained by the reforming and
reshaping of relationships, and by the reconciliation of conflicted parties. The thesis investigates how matrilineal spirit cults, personhood, and social relatedness are
created, shaped and transformed through the struggles of illness and healing management. It examines the complex relations among illness, kinship and personhood in reincarnation, healing, lineage recruitment, sacrifice, and spirit worship. In conclusion, it explores the mutual relationship between the two processes: kinship transformation and healing management, both of which depend crucially on
power relations within the society. People use the dynamic aspects of the kinship
system to interpret and manage illness; at the same time, illness is used as a means to
reform and maintain the fluidity of kin relationships. The dynamic systems of health
and kinship enable people to create, choose, negotiate and participate in the
transformation of social relations and identity, in order to cope with a changing
society. Finally, I hope this study will shed light on how identity, kinship,
personhood, and lay medical knowledge are conceived, created and sustained from an
emic perspective.This work is funded by the Thai Govenment and Chiang Mai University
Short-term effects of air pollution and temperature on daily morbidity in Chiang Mai Thailand
Full text linkAir pollution is associated with mortality and morbidity worldwide. Hot and cold temperature is also related to increased deaths and possibly hospital visits and admissions in many settings. Climate change is anticipated to pose increasing risks of deaths and illnesses associated with air pollution and temperature variations, particularly in developing world. To date, research studies about health effects of air pollution and temperature have been conducted in developed countries with cool climate more than in developing countries with subtropical or tropical climate. Furthermore, studies to identify susceptible populations are still limited. This study aims to investigate heath effects of air pollution and temperature and to identify people who are more susceptible to air pollution and temperature in a developing, tropical country, Thailand.
A regression analysis of retrospective time series data was employed to assess the shortterm effects of air pollution and temperature on daily out-patient visits and hospital admissions in Chiang Mai, Thailand, from October 2002 to September 2006. Generalised negative binomial regression was used to model the relationships between the exposure and health outcomes, controlling for seasonal patterns and other possible potential confounders. Lag effects up to 4 days for air pollution, and up to 13 days for temperature were considered. Effect modification by age, sex, occupation, season, and previous out-patient visits before admissions were also examined.
There were positive, but not significant, effects of air pollution for some pollutants (particularly for S02), with notably larger effect sizes compared to previous studies in Western countries. There was evidence of hot temperature effects (though wide confidence intervals), with an increase in diabetic visits of 26.3% (95% Cl, 7.1% to 49.0%), and in circulatory visits of 19.2% (95% Cl, 7.0% to 32.8%) for each 1°C increase in temperature above 29°C. There was a rise of both the visits (3.7% increase, 95% Cl, 1.5% to 5.9%) and admissions (5.8% increase, 95% Cl, 2.3% to 9.3%) due to intestinal infectious disease for each 1°C increase across the whole temperature range. Despite no statistically significant differences between subgroups, air pollution effects were stronger in the elderly, females and manual workers, whereas temperature effects were stronger in the elderly, male and unemployed people.
This study suggests that while there was little evidence of air pollution effects, there was significant evidence of high temperature effects on daily morbidity in Chiang Mai. The elderly seemed to be more vulnerable to the daily changes of both air pollution and temperature
Tetragonally Packed Cylinder Structure of Comb-Coil Block Copolymer Bearing Heteroarm Star Architecture
No full textCan models of author intention support quality assessment of content?
Full text linkAcademics seek to find, understand and critically review the work of other researchers through published scientific articles. In recent years, the volume of available information has significantly increased, partly due to technological advancements and partly due to pressures on academics to 'publish or perish'. This amount of papers presents a challenge not only for the peer-review process but also for readers, particularly inexperienced readers, to find publications of high quality. Whilst one might rely on citation or journal rankings to help guide this decision, this approach may not be completely reliable due to biased peer-review processes and the fact that the citation count of an article does not per se indicate its quality. Here, we analyse how expected author intentions in a Related Work section can be used to indicate its quality. We show that author intentions can predict the quality with reasonable accuracy and propose that similar approaches could be used in other sections to provide an overall picture of quality. This approach could be useful in supporting peer-review processes and for a reader in prioritising articles to read. © 2019 CEUR-WS. All rights reserved.Peer reviewe
Early Neuromechanical Outcomes of the Triceps Surae Muscle-Tendon After an Achilles’ Tendon Repair.
No full textService-oriented models for audiovisual content storage
No full textWhat are the important topics to understand if involved with storage services to hold digital audiovisual content? This report takes a look at how content is created and moves into and out of storage; the storage service value networks and architectures found now and expected in the future; what sort of data transfer is expected to and from an audiovisual archive; what transfer protocols to use; and a summary of security and interface issues
Complex Event Processing Network Usage in WS-BPEL Processes
No full textBiznesa procesu pārvaldības sfērā ir parādījies jauns tirgus virziens, kas ir orientēts uz reāla laika biznesa procesu pārvaldību (RTBPM). No citas puses aktuāla sfēra ir komplekso notikumu apstrāde (angl.Complex Event Processing, CEP) ar CEP dziņiem, kas ir attīstījusies neatkarīgi no biznesa procesu pārvaldības. Diemžēl šobrīd CEP dziņi maz tiek izmantoti RTBPM realizācijai.
Autors paplašina CEP dziņa abstrakciju ar CEP tīklu, kas reprezentē notikumu apstrādes infrastruktūru daudzu sistēmu vidē. Darbā tiek sniegts uz standartiem balstīts CEP tīkla un WS-BPEL (angl. WS-Business Process Execution Language, izvēlēts biznesa procesu modelis) dziņa integrēts RTBPM risinājums, kā arī praktiska šī risinājuma realizācija. Galvenā risinājuma ideja ir ietvert CEP tīkla vaicājumus WSRF (angl. WS-Resource Framework) resursos, kas ļauj WS-BPEL procesiem saņemt notikumus izmantojot WSN (angl. WS-Notification).
Atslēgas vārdi: BPM, RTBPM, CEP, WSRF, WSN, integrācija.Recently a new market segment has emerged in business process management which is oriented towards real time business process management (RTBPM). On the other hand a topical area is Complex Event Processing (CEP) with CEP engines, which has developed independently of business process management. Unfortunately CEP engines are used rarely to implement RTBPM solutions.
Author extends the CEP engine abstraction with a CEP network which represents an infrastructure for event processing in a multi system environment. In this paper author provides CEP network and WS-BPEL (WS-Business Process Execution Language, selected business process model) engine integrated RTBPM solution as well a practical implementation of this solution. Main solution idea is to encapsulate CEP network queries in WSRF (WS-Resource Framework) resources which then allow WS-BPEL processes to receive events using WSN (WS-Notification).
Keywords: BPM, RTBPM, CEP, WSRF, WSN, integration
Ontology matching evaluation : A statistical perspective
No full textThis paper proposes statistical approaches to test if the difference between two ontology matchers is real. Specifically, the performances of the matchers over multiple data sets are obtained and based on their performances, the conclusion can be drawn whether one method is better than one another or not. To do so, the paired t-test and Wilcoxon signed rank test are proposed and the comparisons over six recently proposed methods are reported. © 2016, CEUR-WS. All rights reserved
Increased matrix metalloproteinase-1 concentrations are associated with advanced coronary artery disease.
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