4,778 research outputs found
New Labour, education and Wales: the devolution decade
No full textAn account is given of the development of a distinctive set of education policies in Wales after devolution of power in 1999. In contrast to policies in England that emphasised consumer choice concerning accountability, and central state ‘support’ of the profession, Wales chose a more ‘producerist’ paradigm that emphasised collaboration between educational partners. Differences between the two societies are also in evidence concerning levels of expenditure, and the role of local authorities as delivery mechanisms. Performance data do not suggest that Wales has improved more rapidly than England, although there are considerable difficulties in making these kinds of assessments. Conclusions are drawn concerning the legacy of Welsh educational change for the New Labour/Blairite paradig
Values as reasons for consumer decisions – an inter-cultural comparison
No full textNowadays, consumers usually do not just consider the functional use of a product. At least equally important are the emotional experiences that are tied up with the product and that are sated with non-material elements of a product. Which non-material elements of a product are considered important by the consumer, depends on his or her personal values. Therefore, the identification of personal values assists in explaining the consumers’ purchasing motives. Since personal values do not just influence a consumers’ purchasing decision but vary between cultural circles, it is expected that cultural values lead to culture-specific consumption patterns. To analyse the coherences between cultural values and the consumer behaviour of a cultural circle, 40 female wine consumers, comprised of 20 German and 20 Ukrainian women, were interviewed on the basis of Means-End-Chain-Theory using laddering-interviews. The initial findings of this qualitative survey will be presented in this poster.Means-End-Chain-Theory, cross-cultural comparison, wine consumers, Consumer/Household Economics,
Diagnostic imaging in patients with paragangliomas. Computed tomography, magnetic resonance and MIBG scintigraphy comparison
No full textDrop migration of middle Reynolds number in a vertical temperature gradient
No full textThe experimental investigation of the thermocapillary drop migration in a vertical temperature gradient uns performed on ground. Silicon oil and pure soybean oil were used as experimental medium in drops and as continuous phases, respectively, in the present experiment. The drop migration, under the combined effects of buoyancy: and thermocapillarity, was studied for middle Reynolds numbers in order of magnitude O(10(1)). The drop migration velocities depending on drop diameters were obtained. The present experimental results show relatively small migration velocity in comparison with the one suggested by Young et nl. for linear theory of small Reynolds number. An example of flow patterns inside the drop was observed by PIV method
The influence of Reynolds number on a plane jet
No full textThe present study systematically investigates through experiments the influence of Reynolds number on a plane jet issuing from a radially contoured, rectangular slot nozzle of large aspect ratio. Detailed velocity measurements were performed for a jet exit Reynolds number spanning the range 1500≤Reh≤16 500, where Reh≡Ubh/υ with Ub as the momentum-averaged exit mean velocity, h as the slot height, and υ as the kinematic viscosity. Additional centerline measurements were also performed for jets from two different nozzles in the same facility to achieve Reh=57 500. All measurements were conducted using single hot-wire anemometry to an axial distance (x) of x≤160h. These measurements revealed a significant dependence of the exit and the downstream flows on Reh despite all exit velocity profiles closely approximating a “top-hat” shape. The effect of Reh on both the mean and turbulent fields is substantial for Reh<10 000 but becomes weaker with increasing Reh. The length of the jet’s potential core, initial primary-vortex shedding frequency, and far-field rates of decay and spread all depend on Reh. The local Reynolds number, Rey0.5≡2Ucy0.5/υ, where Uc and y0.5 are the local centerline velocity and half-width, respectively, are found to scale as Rey0.5∼x1/2. It is also shown that, for Reh≥1500, self-preserving relations of both the turbulence dissipation rate (ε) and smallest scale (η), i.e., ε∼Reh3(x/h)−5/2 and η∼Reh−3/4(x/h)5/8, become valid for x/h≥20.Ravinesh C. Deo, Jianchun Mi, and Graham J. Natha
Socioeconomic status and anxiety as predictors of antidepressant treatment response and suicidal ideation in older adults.
No full textBACKGROUND: Separate reports from the maintenance treatment for late-life depression (MTLD) trials have shown that low socioeconomic status (SES) and anxiety symptoms at the time of treatment initiation predict lower levels of response to antidepressant treatment and higher levels of suicidal ideation in older adults. AIM: To determine whether SES and anxiety independently contribute to worse treatment outcomes, as indicated by persistence of depressive symptoms during treatment and the persistence of suicidal ideation. Consistent with prior evidence that sociodemographic factors and clinical history are both prognostic of depression treatment efficacy, we hypothesized that SES and pre-existing anxiety symptoms will both predict lower levels of response to treatment and higher levels of suicidal ideation. METHOD: Secondary analyses of data from the MTLD trials. RESULTS: Regression analyses which controlled for comorbid anxiety indicated that residents of middle- and high-income census tracts were more likely to respond to treatment (HR, 1.63; 95%CI, 1.08-2.46) and less likely to report suicidal ideation during treatment (OR, 0.51; 95%CI, 0.28-0.90) than residents of low income census tracts. The same regression models indicated that pre-existing anxiety symptoms were independently related to lower treatment response (HR, 0.73; 95%CI, 0.60-0.89) and higher risk of suicidal ideation (OR, 1.45; 95%CI, 0.98-2.14). CONCLUSION: These findings demonstrate the importance of treating anxiety symptoms during the course of treatment for late-life depression and, at the same time, addressing barriers to treatment response related to low SES
Eggshell appearance does not signal maternal corticosterone exposure in Japanese quail: an experimental study with brown-spotted eggs
No full textReproduction is a critical period for birds as they have to cope with many stressful events. One consequence of an acute exposure to stress is the release of corticosterone, the avian stress hormone. Prolonged stress can have negative impacts on the immune system, resulting in, for example, increased oxidative stress. Through maternal effects, females are known to modulate their investment in eggs content according to their own physiological condition. Less is known about maternal investment in eggshells, especially in pigments. The two main eggshell pigments may possess opposite antioxidant properties: protoporphyrin (brown) is a pro-oxidant, whereas biliverdin (blue-green) is an antioxidant. In Japanese quail, we know that the deposition of both pigments is related to female body condition. Thus, a chronic stress response may be reflected in eggshell coloration. Using female Japanese quails that lay brown-spotted eggs, we explored whether physiological exposure to corticosterone induces a change in female basal stress and antioxidant factors, and eggshell pigment concentration, spectrophotometric reflectance, and maculation coverage. We supplemented adult females over a 2 week period with either peanut oil (control) or corticosterone (treatment). We collected pre- and post-supplementation eggs and analysed the effect of corticosterone treatment on female physiology and eggshell appearance parameters. Except for corticosterone-fed birds which laid eggs with brighter spots, supplementation had no significant effect on female physiology or eggshell pigment concentration, reflectance and maculation. The change in eggshell spot brightness was not detected by a photoreceptor noise-limited color opponent model of avian visual perception. Our data confirms that eggshell reflectance in spotted eggs varies over the laying sequence, and spot reflectance may be a key factor that is affected by females CORT exposure, even if the changes are not detected by an avian visual model.Camille Duval, Phillip Cassey, Paul G. Lovell, Ivan Mikšík, S. James Reynolds, Karen A. Spence
Anti-murine antibody response to mouse monoclonal antibodies: clinical findings and implications
No full textRole of magnetic resonance in the study of benign and malignant pheochromocytomas. Quantitative analysis of the intensity of the resonance signal
No full textPelvic radioiodine uptake in a rectal wall teratoma after thyroidectomy for papillary carcinoma.
No full text- …
