1,469 research outputs found
Interview With P.C. Hodgell
No full textP.C. Hodgell, author of God Stalk and Dark of the Moon, was one of the many authors who attended Mythcon XIX in Berkeley last summer. She was good enough to meet with the Mythic Circle writers\u27 roundtable and share some of her experiences with us. The following is transcribed from a low-quality tape; when it was possible to recognize a speaker’s voice I have identified them - others are noted as ct. Hope you enjoy it
Surgical resection of hepatic metastases from colorectal cancer: a systematic review of published studies
No full textNo consensus on the indications for surgical resection of colorectal liver metastases exists. This systematic review has been undertaken to assess the published evidence for its efficacy and safety and to identify prognostic factors. Studies were identified by computerised and hand searches of the literature, scanning references and contacting investigators. The outcome measures were overall survival, disease-free survival, postoperative morbidity and mortality, quality of life and cost effectiveness, and a qualitative summary of the trends across all studies was produced. Only 30 of 529 independent studies met all the eligibility criteria for the review, and data on 30-day mortality and morbidity only were included from a further nine studies. The best available evidence came from prospective case series, but only two studies reported outcomes for all patients undergoing surgery. The remainder reported outcomes for selected groups of patients: those undergoing hepatic resection or those undergoing curative resection. Postoperative mortality rates were generally low (median 2.8%). The majority of studies described only serious postoperative morbidity, the most common being bile leak and associated perihepatic abscess. Approximately 30% of patients remained alive 5 years after resection and around two-thirds of these are disease free. The quality of the majority of published papers was poor and ascertaining the benefits of surgical resection of colorectal hepatic metastases is difficult in the absence of randomised trials. However, it is clear that there is group of patients with liver metastases who may become long-term disease-free survivors following hepatic resection. Such survival is rare in apparently comparable patients who do not have surgical treatment. Further work is needed to more accurately define this group of patients and to determine whether the addition of adjuvant treatments results in improved survival. British Journal of Cancer (2006
Detection of genome-scale ordered RNA structure (GORS) in genomes of positive-stranded RNA viruses:Implications for virus evolution and host persistence
No full textDiscrete RNA secondary and higher-order structures, typically local in extent, play a fundamental role in RNA virus replication. Using new bioinformatics analysis methods, we have identified genome-scale ordered RNA structure (GORS) in many genera and families of positive-strand animal and plant RNA viruses. There was remarkably variability between genera that possess this characteristic; for example, hepaciviruses in the family Flaviviridae show evidence for extensive internal base-pairing throughout their coding sequences that was absent in both the related pestivirus and flavivirus genera. Similar genus-associated variability was observed in the Picornaviridae, the Caliciviridae, and many plant virus families. The similarity in replication strategies between genera in each of these families rules out a role for GORS in a fundamentally conserved aspect of this aspect of the virus life cycle. However, in the Picornaviridae, Flaviviridae, and Caliciviridae, the existence of GORS correlated strongly with the ability of each genus to persist in their natural hosts. This raises the intriguing possibility of a role for GORS in the modulation of innate intracellular defense mechanisms (and secondarily, the acquired immune system) triggered by double-stranded RNA, analogous in function to the expression of structured RNA transcripts by large DNA viruses. Irrespective of function, the observed evolutionary conservation of GORS in many viruses imposes a considerable constraint on genome plasticity and the consequent narrowing of sequence space in which neutral drift can occur. These findings potentially reconcile the rapid evolution of RNA viruses over short periods with the documented examples of extreme conservatism evident from their intimate coevolution with their hosts
Nonequilibrium and classical dissipation scalings in DNS of homogeneous isotropic decaying turbulence
No full textWe present data from direct numerical simulations of homogeneous isotropic decaying turbulence showing both the non-equilibrium and the classical dissipation scalings reported in wind-tunnel experiments of both regular and fractal grid-generated turbulence, i.e. Cε ∼ (Re0/Reλ)n with n of order unity and Cε ∼ constant, respectively (Re0 and Reλ are global and local Reynolds numbers). These two dissipation behaviours lead to different power-law decay exponents in both regimes also in accord with the experiments. Finally, we show that in both regimes the maximum non-linear energy cascade flux, Π, reasonably satisfies the classical expectation that Π ∼ K3/2/l
Reinforcing glass with glass: Application of transport reinforcement in structural glass beams
No full textDue to the increasing demand of transparency in buildings, it is no longer unusual to apply transparent elements into the bearing structure. Glass is a strong but very brittle material, which means safety is rather problematic should it break. Safety is an issue that has to be improved before glass can be considered suitable for structural elements. Earlier studies have shown that reinforcing glass beams will provide reasonable residual load-bearing capacity, which could provide this safety. Glass fibre is suitable as reinforcement material when the transparency is regarded as important. In February 2009 at the Faculty of Architecture at Delft University of Technology, P.C. Louter designed and tested a laminated glass beam with embedded glass fibre rods. The bonding interlayer consisted of SentryGlas foil, developed by DuPont and often applied for lamination in hurricane-resistant windows. The results were promising and the concept showed high potential for further research. The study of this thesis project is focussed on improving the concept of embedding reinforcement in laminated glass beams.Design and ConstructionCivil Engineering and Geoscience
Foreign Direct Investment. The key determinants of foreign direct investment in Poland. Case company: ArgusPack P.C.
No full textThe aim of this thesis was to provide a better understanding of the determinants of foreign direct invest-ment (referred to hereafter as “FDI”). The company ArgusPack P.C. is a flexible packaging manufacturer located in Greece which decided to engage using FDI in Poland. Thus, the factors that favors FDI into the selected region had to be determined.
This thesis was a qualitative research, an empirical non-numerical data research. For primary data a series of interviews was conducted by the author and for secondary data peer-reviewed articles and literatures that fully-describe the determinants of FDI were utilized. There are numerous theories that define the FDI, such as Vernon’s product life cycle (Vernon, 1966), Buckley and Casson’s internalization theory (P. Buckley, 1976) and Dunning’s eclectic paradigm (Dunning J. , 2001). In this project, the Dunning’s eclectic paradigm theory was selected and applied, aiming to provide a better understanding of the factors that motivates a company or an organization to become involved using FDI. Through a research study the primary data were collected and through excessive academic research the secondary data were collected as well. In conclu-sion, an analysis of the primary data in combination with the secondary data was done mainly focusing on the participants’ point of view and the way it aligns with the theoretical aspect given by this thesis. In the end a conclusion and recommendation were formed based on all data mentioned and the personal belief of the author.
Finally, since the key determinants have been identified and examined. Foreign direct investment seems to be an adequate business strategy for ArgusPack P.C. in Polan
Sounding better: fast audio cues increase walk speed in treadmill-mediated virtual rehabilitation environments
No full text
The Quest for Citations: Drivers of Article Impact
No full textWhy do some articles become building blocks for future scholars, while many others remain unnoticed? We aim to answer this question by contrasting, synthesizing and simultaneously testing three scientometric perspectives – universalism, social constructivism and presentation – on the influence of article and author characteristics on article citations. To do so, we study all articles published in a sample of five major journals in marketing from 1990 to 2002 that are central to the discipline. We count the number of citations each of these articles has received and regress this count on an extensive set of characteristics of the article (i.e. article quality, article domain, title length, the use of attention grabbers and expositional clarity), and the author (i.e. author visibility and author personal promotion). We find that the number of citations an article in the marketing discipline receives, depends upon “what one says†(quality and domain), on “who says it†(author visibility and personal promotion) and not so much on “how one says it†(title length, the use of attention grabbers, and expositional clarity). Our insights contribute to the marketing literature and are relevant to scientific stakeholders, such as the management of scientific journals and individual academic scholars, as they strive to maximize citations. They are also relevant to marketing practitioners. They inform practitioners on characteristics of the academic journals in marketing and their relevance to decisions they face. On the other hand, they also raise challenges towards making our journals accessible and relevant to marketing practitioners: (1) authors visible to academics are not necessarily visible to practitioners; (2) the readability of an article may hurt academic credibility and impact, while it may be instrumental in influencing practitioners; (3) it remains questionable whether articles that academics assess to be of high quality are also managerially relevant.Impact;Citation Analysis;Referencing;Scientometrics;Cite
Differential operators degenerating at the boundary as infinitesimal generators of semi-groups
No full textElectrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Scienc
- …
