12,418 research outputs found
Relation between vibrotactile perception thresholds and reductions in finger blood flow induced by vibration of the hand at frequencies in the range 8–250 Hz
No full textPurpose: this study investigated how the vasoconstriction induced by vibration depends on the frequency of vibration when the vibration magnitude is defined by individual thresholds for perceiving vibration [i.e. sensation levels (SL)].Methods: fourteen healthy subjects attended the laboratory on seven occasions: for six vibration frequencies (8, 16, 31.5, 63, 125, or 250 Hz) and a static control condition. Finger blood flow (FBF) was measured in the middle fingers of both hands at 30-second intervals during five successive periods: (i) no force or vibration, (ii) 2-N force, no vibration, (iii) 2-N force, vibration, (iv) 2-N force, no vibration, (v) no force or vibration. During period (iii), vibration was applied to the right thenar eminence via a 6-mm diameter probe during ten successive 3-min periods as the vibration magnitude increased in ten steps (?10 to +40 dB SL).Results: with vibration at 63, 125, and 250 Hz, there was vasoconstriction on both hands when the vibration magnitude reached 10 dB SL. With vibration at 8, 16, and 31.5 Hz, there was no significant vasoconstriction until the vibration reached 25 dB SL. At all frequencies, there was greater vasoconstriction with greater magnitudes of vibration.Conclusions: it is concluded that at the higher frequencies (63, 125, and 250 Hz), the Pacinian channel mediates vibrotactile sensations near threshold and vasoconstriction occurs when vibration is perceptible. At lower frequencies (8, 16, and 31.5 Hz), the Pacinian channel does not mediate sensations near threshold and vasoconstriction commences at greater magnitudes when the Pacinian channel is activate
Michael Rodriguez interviews fiction writer Michael Kimball
No full textAuthor Michael Kimball talks about moving away from Michigan to become a successful writer, his education, the fiction reading series he has started in Baltimore, the life-story-on-postcard project, and his book "Dear everybody." Kimball is interviewed by Michigan State University Librarian Michael Rodriguez for the Michigan State University Libraries' Michigan Writers Series
Effect of room temperature on tests for diagnosing vibration-induced white finger: finger rewarming times and finger systolic blood pressures
No full textPurpose: This study investigates the effects of room temperature on two standard tests used to assist the diagnosis of vibration-induced white finger (VWF): finger rewarming times and finger systolic blood pressures. Methods: Twelve healthy males and twelve healthy females participated in four sessions to obtain either finger skin temperatures (FSTs) during cooling and rewarming of the hand or finger systolic blood pressures (FSBPs) after local cooling of the fingers to 15°C and 10°C. The measures were obtained with the room temperature at either 20 or 28°C. Results: There were lower baseline finger skin temperatures, longer finger rewarming times, and lower finger systolic blood pressures with the room temperature at 20°C than 28°C. However, percentage reductions in FSBP at 15°C and 10°C relative to 30°C (i.e., %FSBP) did not differ between the two room temperatures. Females had lower baseline FSTs, longer rewarming times, and lower FSBPs than males, but %FSBPs were similar in males and females. Conclusions: Finger rewarming times after cold provocation are heavily influenced by room temperature and gender. For evaluating peripheral circulatory function using finger rewarming times, the room temperature must be strictly controlled, and a different diagnostic criterion is required for females. The calculation of percentage changes in finger systolic blood pressure at 15°C and 10°C relative to 30°C reduces effects of both room temperature and gender, and the test may be used in conditions where the ±1°C tolerance on room temperature required by the current standard cannot be achieved
Poor people's knowledge : helping poor people to earn from their knowledge
No full textHow can we help poor people to earn more from their knowledge rather than from their sweat and muscle? This paper draws lessons from projects intended to promote and protect the innovation, knowledge, and creative skills of poor people in poor countries, particularly to improve the earnings of poor people from such knowledge and skills. The international community has paid considerable attention to problems associated with intellectual property that poor countries buy-such as the increased cost of pharmaceuticals brought on by the WTO's agreement on the Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property (TRIPS). This paper is about the other half of the development-intellectual property link. It is about the knowledge poor people own, create, and sell rather than about what they buy. The paper calls attention to a broad range of poor people's knowledge that has commercial potential. It highlights the incentives for and concerns of poor people-which may be different from those of corporate research, northern nongovernmental organizations, or even entertainment stars from developing countries who already enjoy an international audience. The studies find that increased earnings is sometimes a matter of poor people acquiring commercial skills. Legal reform, though often necessary, is frequently not sufficient. Moreover, the paper concludes that the need for novel legal approaches to protect traditional knowledge has been overemphasized. Standard instruments such as patents and copyrights are often effective. Rather than legal innovation, there is a need for economic and political empowerment of poor people so that they have the skills to use such instruments and the influence to insist that institutional structures respond to their interests. Finally, the paper concludes that there is minimal conflict between culture and commerce. There are many income-earning expressions of culture, and it is incorrect to presume that expressions of culture must always be income-using.Cultural Heritage&Preservation,Environmental Economics&Policies,Arts&Music,Public Health Promotion,Cultural Policy,Environmental Economics&Policies,Cultural Heritage&Preservation,Arts&Music,Cultural Policy,Health Monitoring&Evaluation
Poor People's Knowledge : Promoting Intellectual Property in Developing Countries
No full textThis book aims to expand the
international discourse by: Calling attention to a broader
range of knowledge that has commercial potential in
developing countries. Bringing an economic dimension into
the discussion of traditional knowledge, where legal
analysis has thus far been at the forefront. Bringing out
the incentives for and concerns of poor people-which may be
different from those of corporate research, Northern
nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), or already successful
entertainment stars. Demonstrating that the best answer is
sometimes a commercial one, for example, providing musicians
basic training in small business management or reform of
regulations that burden small businesses, rather than
obtaining formal patent or copyright protection. Calling
attention to the many income-earning (rather than the
income-using) dimensions of culture-to dispel the notion
that culture and commerce are necessarily in opposition.
Bringing out instances in which more or less standard legal
approaches have been effective as an antidote to the general
sense of conflict between traditional knowledge and normal
legal conceptions so as to identify the problems in which
legal innovation-beyond diligent application-is really
needed. Imbuing into the discourse a sense of the legal and
commercial tasks needed to solve a developmental
problem-away from "knowledge" as an isolated legal issue
Do rules control power? GATT articles and arrangements in the Uruguay Round
No full textMany complain and offer evidence that in recent years the GATT system has become more power-oriented, less stable, and less equitable. A concern to reverse this drift was one of the motives that brought the international community to agree to undertake the Uruguay Round. Rules control power, assumed the signers of the Punte del Este declaration, therefore elaborating and extending GATT rules would move the international community toward a fairer, more stable international trading system. Finger and Dhar contend that the opposite is true. Particularly in the 1980s, the elaboration and application of GATT rules has been an exercise in the application of economic and political power, not in its control. GATT rules, in theory, are there to limit national trade restrictions. Finger and Dhar contend that in fact things work the other way around: national practice comes first, and determines what the GATT rules mean. GATT's rules do not put limits on national practices, but provide international santion for these practices. Such rules are not part of the thereforelution but are part of the problem. Theirs is a situation-specific argument, say Finger and Dhar, not a generic one. Their target is not"rules", nor is it"GATT". Rather, it is the GATT rules.Rules of Origin,TF054105-DONOR FUNDED OPERATION ADMINISTRATION FEE INCOME AND EXPENSE ACCOUNT,Common Carriers Industry,Transport and Trade Logistics,Trade Policy
Michael Rodriguez interviews author Paul Clemens
No full textAuthor Paul Clemens talks about his book "Made in Detroit," the genre of memoir, and writing about race. Clemens is interviewed by Michigan State University Librarian Michael Rodriguez for the MSU Libraries' Michigan Writers Series. Held in the MSU Main Library
Salvaguardias y antidumping en la liberalizacion comercial de America Latina : combatiendo el fuego con fuego
No full textThis book is a report on success-success
in trade liberalization and in the removal of trade barriers
so as to integrate Latin American economies into the
international economy. More particularly, this book is about
how several Latin American governments created and managed
safeguards and antidumping mechanisms as part of this
liberalization. The core of this book is a set of studies
describing how seven Latin American countries-Argentina,
Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Mexico, and Peru-have
used these trade instruments. Each country study was
conducted by analysts from that country. Many of the
analysts were high government officials during their
country's liberalization, so they have hands-on
experience with the construction and the management of these instruments
Michael Rodriguez interviews author Tom Springer
No full textAuthor Tom Springer is interviewed about his writing career and his newest book "Looking for hickories". Springer talks about his career following after earning an Environmental Journalism degree from Michigan State University. He calls his genre "creative non-fiction" and explains how he weaves his memories into his books about life in rural and wild Michigan. Part of the Michigan State University Libraries' Michigan Writers Series. Springer is interviewed by Librarian Michael Rodriguez
Michael Rodriguez interviews author Gary Gildner
No full textAuthor Gary Gildner explains why he left his tenured teaching position to move to Idaho to became a full-time writer of poetry. Gildner talks about donating his personal papers to Michigan State University Libraries' Special Collections, his writing style and how he approaches writing. Gildner is interviewed by MSU Librarian Michael Rodriguez for the MSU Libraries' Michigan Writer Series. Held at the MSU Main Library
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