bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Untersuchungen zur Eiweiß- und Energieversorgung von Intensivpatienten
Authors: Schmitz J.E. , Lotz P. , Ahnefeld F.W. , Grünert A.
Published: May 2009

Die Untersuchungen wurden an 30 chirurgischen Intensivpatienten durchgeführt, welche nach Randomisierung zwei Gruppen zugeord-net wurden. Zur Bestimmung der Stickstoff- und Energiebilanz wurden Substratbilanzen und Gaswechselmessungen durchgeführt. Die erste Gruppe erhielt im Anschluß an unsere routinemäßig applizierte parenterale Ernährung, mit 1,5 g Aminosäuren und 6,7 g Koh-lenhydrate pro kg und Tag, am zweiten posttraumatischen bzw. post-operativen Tag ein infusionsregime, bei dem der Kohlenhydrat-Anteil deutlich den gemessenen Energieumsatz überstieg (12 g/kg/Tag), un-ter Beibehaltung der ursprünglichen Aminosäurensubstitution (1,5 g/ kg/Tag). Der zweiten Gruppe wurde am zweiten posttraumatischen bzw. postoperativen Tag die doppelte Aminosäurenmenge (3 g/kg/ Tag) infundiert, wobei die Kohlenhydratzufuhr mit 6,7 g/kg/Tag konstant gehalten wurde. Der Energieumsatz in beiden Gruppen belief sich auf ungefähr 3000 kcal/Tag. Obwohl wir durch eine erhöhte Zufuhr von 12 g Kohlenhydraten/kg/Tag diesen Betrag allein durch Kohlenhydratkalorien decken konnten, blieb der respiratorische Quotient (RQ) bei 0,9. So-wohl dieser RQ als auch eine unverändert hohe Harnstoff-Stickstoff-ausscheidung im Urin deuten darauf hin, daß selbst eine Kohlenhydratzufuhr im Überschuß die Beteiligung endogenen Fettes und Proteins an der oxidativen Energiebildung nicht völl·ig unterdrücken kann. Durch Zufuhr von 3,0 g Aminosäuren/kg/Tag kann formal ein Ausgleich der Stickstoffbilanz erreicht werden, was dann aber andererseits zu einer erheblichen Steigerung der Blutharnstoffkonzentration führt, während die Stickstoffausscheidung nur unwesentlich gegenüber dem routinemäßig durchgeführten parenteralen Ernährungsregime erhöht war. Die Ergebnisse zeigen deutlich, daß in Zukunft dem Problem, welche Energie- und Substratmengen ein Patient in der frühen posttraumatischen Phase ohne zusätzliche BelastungdesMetabolismus sicher verwerten kann, vermehrt Aufmerksamkeit geschenkt werden muß.
Kohlenhydratinfusion bei internistischen Erkrankungen. Eine vergleichende Studie bei Stoffwechselgesunden, Leberkranken und diabetischen Patienten
Authors: Luft D.
Published: May 2009

Die biochemischen Grundlagen des Stoffwechsels von Glukose und Nicht-Glukose-Kohlenhydraten (Fruktose, Sorbit, Xylit) und die möglichen Nachteile einer hochdosierten parenteralen Gabe dieser Kohlenhydrate bei internistischen Patienten, wie sie sich aus Unter-suchungen an perfundierten Organen und Tieren sowie aus Einzelfall-beschreibungen beim Menschen ergeben könnten, werden dargestellt. DieseÜberlegungensinddieGrundlagefürUntersuchungenbeiinter-nistischen Patienten (Leberzirrhose, Diabetes mellitus) und stoffwechselgesunden Kontrollen, in denen die Verträglichkeit sowie Art und Ausmaβ von Nebenwirkungen einer niedrigdosierten, langfristigen parenteralen Gabe von Glukose oder Kohlenhydratgemischen gepriift wurde. Die Ergebnisse dieser Untersuchungen werden in weiteren Mitteilungen dargestellt.
Klinische Erfahrungen mit einer standardisierten bilanzierten Diät in der Kiefer- und Gesichtschirurgie
Authors: Bünger Bernd
Published: May 2009

Die klinische Erprobung einer »standardisierten, bilanzierten Diät-form« – Berodiät S – in der Mund-, Kiefer- und Gesichtschirurgie während eines ca. einjährigen Untersuchungszeitraumes erlaubt unter Würdigung sämtlicher Aspekte eine vollauf befriedigende Beurteilung dieser Sondenkostform. Die ausgewogene Relation der einzelnen, biologisch hochwertigen Nährstoffkomponenten in enger Anlehnung an ernährungsphysiologische Empfehlungen, eine gute Sondenpassage, der minimale Arbeitsaufwand für Zubereitung und ggf. Applikation durch das Pflegepersonal und die praktisch zu vernachlässigende Gefahr einer bakteriellen Verunreinigung bei peinlicher Beachtung diesbezüglicher Anwendungshinweise erfüllen sämtliche Auswahlkriterien einer klinischen Eignung dieser Sondendiät, zumal auch ihre individuelle Verträglichkeit als überaus positiv und weitgehend komplikations- und nebenwirkungsfrei zu werten ist auf dem Boden einer ausreichenden Wahrung physiologischer Gegebenheiten.
Untersuchungen zum Verhalten wichtiger metabolischer Parameter in der Peripartalperiode unter dem Einfluß der Periduralanästhesie
Authors: Knoche E. , Traub E. , Strecker J. , Fehm H. , Dick W.
Published: May 2009

In einer klinischen Studie wurden zwei Gruppen von kreislauf- und stoffwechselgesunden Patientinnen am Geburtstermin verglichen. 10 Patientinnen erhielten zur Schmerzbekämpfung über den Geburts-verlauf keine Analgetika Oder Minidosen von Pethidin (Kontroll-gruppe), 17 Patientinnen auf eigenen Wunsch und Ordination des Geburtshelfers eine kontinuierliche PDA mit fraktionierten Dosen von Bupivacain-CCh (PDA-Gruppe). Bei gleichem Infusionsregime, 120 ml/h einer 5 % halbisotonen Laevuloselösung, wurden zu Beginn der Eröffnungsperiode, der Austreibungsperiode, zum Geburtszeitpunkt und 2h postpartal bei der Mutter folgende biochemische Parameter bestimmt: Blutgase und Säuren-Basen-Status, Blutzucker, Laktat, Betahydroxybuttersäure, ACTH, Cortisol, Hk, Elektrolyte und Osmolalität. Unmittelbar postpartal wurden die oben angegebenen Werte, außer Elektrolyten und Osmolalität, im kindlichen Nabelschnurblut untersucht. 30, 60 und 120 min post partum diente die kapilläre Blutabnahme von Blutgasen, Säuren-Basen-Status und Blutzucker beim Neugeborenen der Beurteilung des postpartalen Adaptationszustandes. In beiden Patientengruppen stiegen Laktat, Betahydroxybuttersäure, ACTH und Cortisol bis zur Geburt signifikant an, signifikante Unterschiede zwischen beiden Gruppen dagegen konnten nur bei den Blutgasen, den Blutzucker- und ACTH-Werten errechnet werden. In der kindlichen Nabelschnur waren nur beim Blutzucker signifikante Unterschiede festzustellen. Als Fazit kann man sagen, daß man den Müttern in der langen Eröffnungsperiode den Geburtsschmerz wirksam nehmen, den Geburtsstreß aber, dokumentiert durch die oben aufgeführten Stoffwechsel-parameter, offensichtlich nur bis zu einem gewissen Grad.
Untersuchung über den Einfluß einer Infusion von mittelmolekularer Hydroxyäthylstärke (HAES-steril® 10%) auf die Fließeigenschaften des Blutes gesunder Probanden
Authors: Landgraf H. , Ehrly A.M. , Saeger-Lorenz K. , Vogel C.
Published: May 2009

Die Infusion von 500 ml einer 10%igen Lösung von mittelmolekularer Hydroxyäthylstärkelösung (HAES-steril®) bei gesunden Probanden führt zu folgenden Veränderungen der Fließeigenschaften des Blutes: Die Vollblutviskosität wird statistisch signifikant gesenkt Die Plasmaviskosität wird geringgradig, aber statistisch signifikant erhöht Die Erythrozytenverformbarkeit bleibt unverändert Die Erythrozytenaggregation bleibt unbeeinflußt. Die vorliegenden Untersuchungen zeigen, daß trotz eines verhältnismäßig hohen Molekulargewichts der Hydroxyäthylstärke die Fließeigenschaften des Blutes insgesamt günstig beeinflußt werden. Die bei gesunden Probanden durchge-führten Untersuchungen lassen HAES-steril® als einen Plasmaersatzstoff erkennen, der bei verhältnismäßig langer intravasaler Verweildauer eine günstige Wirkung auf die Fließeigenschaften des Blutes aufweist.
Public Opinion on State Responsibility for Minimum Income Protection
Authors: Pfeifer Michaela
Published: May 2009

In this article I investigate attitudes towards a subfield of European welfare states in comparative perspective: minimum income protection. My goal is to demonstrate that certain socio-economic characteristics matter universally for attitude formation, but that their impact varies according to specific welfare state institutions. Analysing poverty risks and the structural position of minimum income protection schemes in the welfare state, I hypothesize that attitudes may be more polarized in generous welfare states than in less generous states. Additionally, I assume that labour market performance may have an influence on attitudes, leading to more sympathetic positions towards state responsibility in times of high unemployment. Using data from Eurobarometer 56.1 (2001) and performing country-wise regressions, I demonstrate that individual socio-economic traits impact on attitudes depending on national contexts. Combining preferences and degrees of polarization shows that attitudes might be formed in the interplay between welfare state and labour market.
Cannabis Use: Subcultural Opposition or Social Marginality?
Authors: Pedersen Willy
Published: May 2009

Cannabis is the most commonly used illegal drug, and numerous studies of cannabis users have been carried out in biomedical and epidemiological disciplines. However, surprisingly few researchers from sociology or other social science disciplines have investigated cannabis use in recent years. During its introduction phase in the 1960s, cannabis use was associated with a so-called 'hang-loose ethic', subversive political values and particular music preferences. In this article I ask whether this continues to be the case. I look for associations that indicate social marginalization and I analyse data from a longitudinal study of the Norwegian population in which a sample was followed from their early teens (in 1992) until their late 20s (in 2005). The results show that the recruitment base for cannabis use during adolescence had much in common with cannabis use in the 1960s. Music preferences such as hip-hop and heavy metal and subversive political attitudes were robust predictors of adolescent initiation into cannabis use. Indicators of parental social marginalization played no role. Conversely, a high level of parental education was positively associated with cannabis initiation. However, when the sample entered their 20s, cannabis users were increasingly located at the margins of society and characterized by poor education, unemployment and low levels of income.
Managing Time and Childcare in Dual-Earner Families
Authors: Forsberg Lucas
Published: May 2009

The article documents how dual-earner families employ different household strategies when managing time and childcare in everyday life. In particular, the focus is the unforeseen consequences of household strategies, that is, novel emerging problems, cultural ideals and subjectivities. In this ethnographic study of eight middle-class couples in Sweden, I analyse three household strategies: delegating, alternating and multitasking. While parents apparently use these strategies to juggle the multiple demands of everyday life in a time-efficient way, they also comply with a norm of involved parenthood. Thus, when employing household strategies, the parents balance between enacting themselves as involved parents and running the risk of being understood as uninvolved.
Analysis of Alternative Keyboards Using Learning Curves
Authors: Anderson Allison M. , Mirka Gary A. , Joines Sharon M. B. , Kaber David B.
Published: May 2009

Objective : To quantify learning percentages for alternative keyboards (chord, contoured split, Dvorak, and split fixed angle) and understand how physical, cognitive, and perceptual demand affect learning. Background: Alternative keyboards have been shown to offer ergonomic benefits over the conventional, single-plane QWERTY keyboard design, but productivity-related challenges may hinder their widespread acceptance. Method: Sixteen participants repeatedly typed a standard text passage using each alternative keyboard. Completion times were collected and subsequent learning percentages were calculated. Participants were asked to subjectively rate the physical, cognitive, and perceptual demands of each keyboard, and these values were then related to the calculated learning percentages. Results: Learning percentage calculations revealed the percentage for the split fixed-angle keyboard (90.4%) to be significantly different ( p < .05) from the learning percentages for the other three keyboards (chord, 77.3%; contour split, 76.9%; Dvorak, 79.1%). The average task completion time for the conventional QWERTY keyboard was 40 s, and the average times for the fifth trial on the chord, contoured split, Dvorak, and split fixed-angle keyboards were 346, 69, 181, and 42 s, respectively. Conclusions: Productivity decrements can be quickly regained for the split fixed-angle and contour split keyboard but will take considerably longer for Dvorak and chord keyboards. The split fixed-angle keyboard involved physical learning, whereas the others involved some combination of physical and cognitive learning, a result supported by the subjective responses. Application: Understanding the changes in task performance time that come with learning can provide additional information for a cost-benefit analysis when considering the implementation of ergonomic interventions.
Performance and Autonomic Responses During Motion Sickness
Authors: Dahlman Joakim , Sjörs Anna , Lindström Johan , Ledin Torbjörn , Falkmer Torbjörn
Published: May 2009

Objective: The aim of the study was to investigate how motion sickness, triggered by an optokinetic drum, affects short-term memory performance and to explore autonomic responses to perceived motion sickness. Background: Previous research has found that motion sickness decreases performance, but it is not known how short-term memory in particular is affected. Method: Thirty-eight healthy participants performed a listening span test while seated in a rotating optokinetic drum. Measurements of motion sickness, performance, heart rate, skin conductance, blood volume pulse, and pupil size were performed simultaneously throughout the experiment. Results: A total of 16 participants terminated the trial because of severe nausea, and the other 22 endured the full 25 min. Perceived motion sickness increased over time in both groups but less among those who endured the trial. Short-term memory performance decreased toward the end for those who terminated but increased in the other group. Results from the measured autonomic responses were ambiguous. Conclusion: We conclude that performance, measured as short-term memory, declines as perceived motion sickness progresses. Application: This research has potential implications for command and control personnel at risk of developing motion sickness.
Ecological Imperialism and the Global Metabolic Rift
Authors: Clark Brett , Foster John Bellamy
Published: May 2009

Transfers in economic values are shadowed in complex ways by real material-ecological flows that transform ecological relations between city and country, and between the core and periphery. Directing material flows is a vital part of intercapitalist competition. Ecological imperialism creates asymmetries in the exploitation of the environment, unequal exchange, and a global metabolic rift. The 19th-century guano/nitrates trade illustrates the emergence of a global metabolic rift, as guano and nitrates were transferred from Peru and Chile to enrich the soils of Britain and other imperial countries. This global metabolic rift entailed the decline of soil fertility in Britain, importation of Chinese labor to Peru, mass export of natural fertilizer, degradation of the Peruvian/Chilean environment, war over possession of nitrates, and creation of debt-laden economies. It allowed Britain and other imperial countries to maintain an `environmental overdraft' in their own countries, imperialistically drawing on the natural resources of the periphery. The social metabolic order of capitalism is inseparable from such ecological imperialism, which is as basic to the system as the search for profits itself.
Ecologically Unequal Exchange, Ecological Debt, and Climate Justice
Authors: Roberts J. Timmons , Parks Bradley C.
Published: May 2009

Building on structuralist perspectives of the world economy, a small but growing group of researchers have forged a new literature on `ecologically unequal exchange' and documented that energy and materials disproportionately flow from the Global South to the Global North. These findings have begun to influence efforts to negotiate a `post-Kyoto' global climate regime. Since the extraction of resources and energy is one of the most damaging stages of the chain of commodity production, a logical next step is the mounting cry from developing countries that they are owed an `ecological debt' by the North. The G-77 and China have seized on these ideas and a movement for `climate justice' is now gaining strength in and exerting influence in international negotiations, including the UNFCCC meetings in Delhi, Bali, and Poznań. This article reviews the history of these related three ideas and examines their potential to reshape the discussion of `burden sharing' in the post-Kyoto world where development is constrained by climate change.
Gender Differences in Living Arrangements Among Older Persons in India
Authors: Chaudhuri Anoshua , Roy Kakoli
Published: May 2009

This article uses the 52nd round of National Sample Survey data to examine gender differences in living arrangement choices of the elderly in India. Older women are more likely to live alone than older men, even after controlling for demographics, socioeconomic characteristics, health status, economic independence and property ownership. Economic independence is associated with higher likelihood of living alone for men and women. While physical immobility decreases the likelihood of living with children or extended family for older men, older and physically immobile women are less likely to live alone if they have sons rather than daughters.
The Niger Famine
Authors: Rubin Oliver
Published: May 2009

By applying a widely accepted method for famine operationalization, the 2005 food crisis in Niger is categorized as a famine. This presents a unique opportunity to assess Amartya Sen's two most important famine contributions: (1) the entitlement framework for famine analysis; and (2) the hypothesis of a positive effect of democracy on famine protection. The fact that the Niger famine was caused by unfavorable terms of trade rather than a collapse in food production supports the focus of the entitlement framework on access to food; nevertheless, the belated and inadequate response to the crisis from the democratically elected Nigerien government appears to undermine the link between a pluralistic political system and effective famine protection.
Contending Nationalisms in a Transnational Era
Authors: Yusuf Semir
Published: May 2009

Embarking on an outlook pertinent to the state of social fields in a global era, this article demonstrates the validity of the insight that rejects any strict bifurcation between localizing and globalizing tendencies in the maintenance of social life-worlds. By employing an appropriate term for the `transgressive' nature of nationalistic imaginations and actions, `transnationalism', it delves into qualitatively, but briefly analyzing the current status and futurity of, and the nature of the relationship that exists between, Ethiopianist and Oromo (a specific brand) nationalisms. The result is that neither of the two nationalisms seems to vanish amid the `network society' of the new global era, nor, by implication, is the contention between them likely to recede (until and unless they undergo significant, internal qualitative transformations).
Violent Dis-Placements: Natural and Human Violence in Kiran Desai's The Inheritance of Loss
Authors: Ferguson Jesse Patrick
Published: May 2009

This article uses theories of space and place to explore the connections between natural and human violence in Kiran Desai's Booker Prize-winning novel, The Inheritance of Loss (2006). By synthesizing concepts from the work of Bill Ashcroft, Benedict Anderson, Yi-Fu Tuan, Homi K. Bhabha, Michel de Certeau, and others, I develop a theory of “placeness” that involves subjective attachment to a physical location, a range of emotional and intellectual investments that convert “empty” space to place. In Desai's novel, however, this transformation is reversible through violence. Just as nature undermines edifices, so too do humans use violence in order to degrade place to space in the hope of rebuilding place according to a different agenda.
“An Unremembered Time”: Secular Criticism in Pankaj Mishra's The Romantics
Authors: Didur Jill
Published: May 2009

In Pankaj Mishra's novel, The Romantics, Samar writes about his struggle to reconcile diverse cultural influences in his private life with a political context increasingly defined by a narrow definition of Hindu identity during the late 1980s and early 1990s in India. While he characterizes India's political rhetoric as dominated by notions of cultural purity and religious orthodoxy, my essay argues that the novel's setting and historical context is rife with symbols of India's inter-cultural and hybrid past that Samar refers to as emerging out of “an unremembered time”. I argue that Edward Said's notion of “secular criticism”, with its emphasis on exilic consciousness, is a particularly apt way of unpacking the novel's examination of majoritarianism through ironic representations of Hindu nationalism, Indo-Saracenic architecture and the history of the founding of Benares Hindu University. This paper tracks how Samar's fictional memoir is marked by a growing unease with uneven effects of modernity on Indian society in the midst of escalating sectarian violence in the last decade of the twentieth century.
“'Dis poem is vex bout apartheid': Representations of South Africa in Three West Indian Poems”
Authors: Álvarez David
Published: May 2009

This article examines the ways in which three West Indian poems written between 1979 and 1992 — “Soweto” by Kamau Brathwaite, “Bedspread” by Lorna Goodison and “We Are Formed from Volcanoes” by Opal Palmer Adisa — engage the history of South Africa under apartheid. I argue that while Africa as a place with its own historical destiny is rarely encountered in West Indian literature, the texts that I probe constitute a minor yet important exception to this rule. At the same time, however, it is clear that the three poets and others who have written or sung about Africa and South Africa have done so in ways that reveal their own preoccupations, desires and anxieties as West Indians. That is, the representation of “South Africa” as a “real elsewhere” is always already bound up with its representation as an imagined or invented land, one that has been idealized or in some way essentialized.
Industrial Legislation in 2008
Authors: Sutherland Carolyn
Published: May 2009

In March 2008, the Rudd Government started to dismantle Work Choices. The Workplace Relations Amendment (Transition to Forward with Fairness) Act 2008 (Cth) reintroduced agreement-making safeguards, and removed the option of making Australian Workplace Agreements. The legislation also provided the legal framework for the creation of `modern awards', paving the way for the more far-reaching reforms that are outlined in the Fair Work Bill 2008 (Cth). The first section of the article examines these transitional measures. The second section briefly considers the key features of the Fair Work Bill, concluding that its content and relative simplicity are broadly consistent with the promises made by the Government in its pre-election Forward with Fairness policy. Finally, the article highlights some of the legislative developments at the State level in 2008.
Women, Work and Industrial Relations in 2008
Authors: Baird Marian , Williamson Sue
Published: May 2009

The year 2008 was a busy one for matters relating to women, work and industrial relations. The Labor Government introduced the Fair Work Bill with a new bargaining stream for low paid workers and new National Employment Standards, which include the right to request flexible working arrangements and extended unpaid parental leave. A number of public inquires on issues pertaining to women and work were also initiated. In this first annual review of women, work and industrial relations we focus on three topics highlighted in 2008 — pay equity, working hours flexibility and paid maternity leave — and assess the implications of the proposed policy changes for women and gender equity.
Unions and Collective Bargaining in 2008
Authors: Brigden Cathy
Published: May 2009

For Australian unions, 2008 was the first year with a federal labour government in office after more than a decade of conservative government. Attention focused on the promised dismantling of the Work Choices legislation and the introduction of a new legislative framework, although it took until late November for the Fair Work Bill to be introduced into federal parliament. Confronting a disappointing decline in union membership levels, a number of union campaigns focused on recollectivizing workplaces. For other unions, collective bargaining with employers was a frustrating experience, as was the case with Qantas and Telstra. Public sector unions faced lengthy and hard-fought disputes with state labour governments, while an extraordinary dispute over electricity privatization unfolded between unions and the New South Wales Labor government. By the end of the year, the impact of the global financial crisis, and the consequences for jobs was the prevailing concern for many unions.
Major Tribunal Decisions in 2008
Authors: Catanzariti Joseph , Brown Simon
Published: May 2009

On 28 March 2008 a historic process of award modernization, by which Australia's award system will be fundamentally changed, began. Over 4000 existing federal awards and NAPSAs will be replaced by modern awards created primarily along industry lines, and occasionally along occupational lines. Modern awards will operate from January 2010 and, together with the National Employment Standards, will constitute the safety net under Labor's industrial relations system. This article considers some aspects of the award modernization process and the pivotal role of the AIRC in creating modern awards. This article also considers recent case law dealing with the implied duties to act in good faith and of mutual trust and confidence.
An Optimal Design Method for Simulation Verification, Validation and Accreditation Schemes
Authors: Fei Liu  , Ming Yang
Published: May 2009

With the size and complexity of simulation applications growing rapidly, it has become an important problem to design applicable and affordable verification, validation and accreditation (VV&A) schemes for complex simulation systems. To address this problem, this paper proposes an optimal design method for VV&A schemes, which focuses VV&A on most critical aspects rather than selects most appropriate VV&A methods. Fuzzy failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA) is employed to assess the risk of a complex simulation system. In terms of the risk of each failure, its VV&A activities and cost are estimated, and then fuzzy linear regression analysis is used to construct the mathematical model for the relation between the risk and cost for each failure. Based on this model, fuzzy linear programming is adopted to construct the optimal model of the VV&A scheme for the simulation system. According to the optimal solution from the optimal model, the optimal VV&A scheme is found. This optimal method not only provides an effective means to estimate the overall cost that should be invested in VV&A, but also gives an approach to reasonable assign the cost to VV&A activities.
DSiMCluster: A Simulation Model for Efficient Memory Analysis Experiments of DSM Clusters
Authors: Marurngsith Worawan , Ibbett Roland N.
Published: May 2009

The emergence of chip multiprocessors is leading to the rapid development of multicore clusters that provide distributed—shared memory (DSM) programming models, so called DSM systems. DSM systems allow applications to access data in a logically shared address space by abstracting away the distinction of physical memory location. However, a significant drawback of a DSM cluster is that it performs poorly on applications that require large shared memory because of the performance loss or overhead caused by memory locality. Consequently, an effective memory analysis methodology is mandatory to quantify the impact of such overhead. In this respect, a widely used technique is simulation. Nevertheless, both the intrinsically difficult design of cluster architectures and the rapid advance of DSM implementations impose a constraint on simulation model designs. In this paper we describe DSiMCluster, a simulation model for memory analysis experiments of a DSM cluster system. We capitalize on the observation that the components of a simulation model have to be highly reusable and provide automatic behavioral verification. That is, in order to maintain the accuracy of simulation results with the technological advances of target architectures, which grow extensively at the software level. We show that highly reusable simulation components can be created by implementing a system-oriented simulation on top of a well-founded and broadly applicable, discrete-event simulation engine. Our experimental results demonstrate that, with these operations, DSiMCluster provides an efficient framework for memory analysis experiments on a DSM cluster architecture within a reconfigurable, customizable and user-friendly environment.
Walking in Memphis: Testing One DMO’s Marketing Strategy to Millennials
Authors: Loda Marsha D. , Coleman Barbara C. , Backman Kenneth F.
Published: May 2009

This research examines the two promotional strategies most commonly used by destination marketers: traditional advertising and Web sites.While research concerning both advertising and the Internet is abundant, studies comparing tourism marketing strategies, especially those that target the Millennial generation, are limited. In this study a print advertisement and the official Web site for the Memphis Convention and Visitors Bureau are experimentally tested with a sample of members of the Millennial generation. Four dependent variables are examined: (1) attitude toward the destination, (2) message strength, (3) credibility, and (4) purchase intent. Results reinforce the importance of the Internet to tourism marketing and destination selection. Six strategies deduced from the research are written for tourism marketers.
Cooperative Courtship: Helping Friends Raise and Raze Relationship Barriers
Authors: Ackerman Joshua M. , Kenrick Douglas T.
Published: May 2009

Do people help each other form romantic relationships? Research on the role of the social environment in relationship formation has traditionally focused on competition, but this article investigates novel patterns of cooperation within courtship interactions. Drawing on a functional/evolutionary perspective, women are predicted to cooperate primarily in building romantic thresholds and barriers; men are predicted to cooperate primarily in achieving romantic access. In support of these predictions, four studies reveal that people consistently perceive cooperation, report cooperative behavior, and make cooperative decisions in romantic situations. People also provide the opposite pattern of help to opposite-sex friends from that provided to same-sex friends, suggesting that assistance is flexibly tuned to differences in the romantic selectivity of recipients. Cooperative courtship is revealed to be a commonly used set of mating strategies by which people functionally tailor aid to promote both their own and their friends’ romantic relationship interests.
The Metrial Gland in the Rat and Its Similarities to Granular Cell Tumors
Authors: Picut Catherine A. , Swanson Cynthia L. , Parker Regina F. , Scully Kathryn L. , Parker George A.
Published: May 2009

Metrial glands are normal structures located in the mesometrial triangle of the pregnant rat uterus from gestational day (GD) 8 through termination of pregnancy. Metrial glands are composed of a dynamic mixed cell population of granulated metrial gland (GMG) cells, endometrial stromal cells, trophoblasts, blood vessels, and fibroblasts. Collections of similar cells may be seen in association with pseudopregnancy and other hormonal disturbances. Granulated metrial gland cells are the hallmark cell of the metrial gland. They are bone-marrow-derived, perforin-positive, natural killer cells that proliferate in the pregnant uterus. Understanding the normal histogenesis of the metrial gland and recognizing the possible existence of GMG cells and a reactive metrial gland in the nonpregnant state are important when examining any uterine lesion that contains granulated cells. This report demonstrates that the cellular composition, morphology, and immunohistochemical staining profile of normal metrial glands are similar to reported granular cell neoplasms in rats and mice. The possibility of a non-neoplastic lesion involving the metrial gland should be considered when proliferative lesions involving granulated cells are observed in the uterus of mice and rats from nonclinical toxicity studies. Positive immunohistochemical staining for perforin and S100 would assist in the classification of such lesions as a reactive metrial gland or decidual reaction.
Histological Biocompatibility of a Stainless Steel Miniature Glaucoma Drainage Device in Humans: A Case Report
Authors: De Feo Fabio , Jacobson Stewart , Nyska Abraham , Pagani Paola , Traverso Carlo Enrico
Published: May 2009

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the histological biocompatibility of a stainless steel miniature glaucoma drainage device. Twenty-four months before death due to heart failure, this seventy-three-year-old female patient underwent filtration surgery for primary open-angle glaucoma uncontrolled in the right eye. The device was implanted at the limbus under a scleral flap. For histopathological evaluation, two corneoscleral specimens were embedded in methacrylate blocks sectioned to a thickness of 50 microns, polished and stained with periodic acid schiff. Some sections included a longitudinal cross-section of the implant. At the interface between the spur and the flange of the device and the cornea, there was a small shoulder of fibrous tissue. A thin, fibrous capsule covered the remainder of the body of the device up to the distal tip. No inflammatory cells occurred within the fibrous capsule. No material or blockage was noted within the lumen. Our results support the biological inertness of the device.
Untargeted Metabolomic Profiling as an Evaluative Tool of Fenofibrate-Induced Toxicology in Fischer 344 Male Rats
Authors: Ohta Tetsuya , Masutomi Naoya , Tsutsui Naohisa , Sakairi Tetsuya , Mitchell Matthew , Milburn Michael V. , Ryals John A. , Beebe Kirk D. , Guo Lining
Published: May 2009

Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-α (PPARα) agonists such as fenofibrate are used to treat dyslipidemia. Although fenofibrate is considered safe in humans, it is known to cause hepatocarcinogenesis in rodents. To evaluate untargeted metabolic profiling as a tool for gaining insight into the underlying pharmacology and hepatotoxicology, Fischer 344 male rats were dosed with 300 mg/kg/day of fenofibrate for 14 days and the urine and plasma were analyzed on days 2 and 14. A combination of liquid and gas chromatography mass spectrometry returned the profiles of 486 plasma and 932 urinary metabolites. Aside from known pharmacological effects, such as accelerated fatty acid β-oxidation and reduced plasma cholesterol, new observations on the drug’s impact on cellular metabolism were generated. Reductions in TCA cycle intermediates and biochemical evidence of lactic acidosis demonstrated that energy metabolism homeostasis was altered. Perturbation of the glutathione biosynthesis and elevation of oxidative stress markers were observed. Furthermore, tryptophan metabolism was up-regulated, resulting in accumulation of tryptophan metabolites associated with reactive oxygen species generation, suggesting the possibility of oxidative stress as a mechanism of nongenotoxic carcinogenesis. Finally, several metabolites related to liver function, kidney function, cell damage, and cell proliferation were altered by fenofibrate-induced toxicity at this dose.
Reducing Risk Factors for Childhood Obesity
Authors: Topp Robert , Jacks Dean E. , Wedig Rita Thomas , Newman Jamie L. , Tobe Lisa , Hollingsworth Angela
Published: May 2009

This study has sought to determine if the Tommie Smith Youth Athletic Initiative (TSYAI) intervention could decrease the risk factors for childhood obesity among children 5 to 10 years of age. The TSYAI intervention is a 14-week after-school intervention for students in Grades K-5 that was started during the spring of 2008. It serves 63 children in a predominantly African American elementary school. The intervention consists of supervised after-school sessions 3 days per week. These sessions include 2 days of physical activity (flexibility, resistance, and track-and-field training) and 1 day of 45 min of nutrition education modules based on the Transtheoretical Model of behavior change followed by 45 min of group physical activity. Ninety-two percent of the participants are African American and 60% are overweight or obese (>85th percentile BMI for age and gender). The findings indicate that the TSYAI intervention significantly improves the participant’s cardiovascular fitness, body composition, and dietary habits.
The National Pensions Savings Scheme
Authors: Casey Bernard H.
Published: May 2009

The National Pensions Savings Scheme (NPSS) provides a supplementary personal pension for all employees who choose not to opt out. If they do not opt out, their employer is obligated to pay a contribution. The article considers the employment effect of the increase in labour costs implied by the NPSS. It shows how this employment effect is likely to be greatest for small firms since few of them have any supplementary pensions of the quality that is required.The negative employment effect will be reduced to the extent that there is non-compliance or opt-out, but if this occurs, the purpose of extending pension coverage to employees on lower earnings will be defeated.
Bioeconomic Sustainability of Cellulosic Biofuel Production on Marginal Lands
Authors: Gutierrez Andrew Paul , Ponti Luigi
Published: May 2009

The use of marginal land (ML) for lignocellulosic biofuel production is examined for system stability, resilience, and eco-social sustainability. A North American prairie grass system and its industrialization for maximum biomass production using biotechnology and agro-technical inputs is the focus of the analysis. Demographic models of ML biomass production and ethanol farmer/producers are used to examine the stability properties of the ML system. A bio-economic model that maximizes the utility of consumption having the dynamics of MLs and the farmer/producers as dynamic constraints is used to examine the effects of increased conversion efficiency, input costs, risk, and levels of base resources and inputs on the competitive and societal solutions for biomass production. We posit ML abandonment after biofuel production ceases could lead to permanent land degradation below initial levels that prohibit the establishment of the original flora and fauna.
Between Development and Environment
Authors: León Sicard Tomás Enrique
Published: May 2009

This article examines the dominant agricultural model in Colombia of which the emergence of biofuels is an inevitable and major consequence. Some uncertainties and complexities of the introduction of biofuels and the use of genetically modified crops are analyzed, including a general reflection on the possibilities of producing biofuels on the basis of a model of ecological agriculture.
Robot Navigation in Multi-terrain Outdoor Environments
Authors: Pereira Guilherme A. S. , Pimenta Luciano C. A. , Fonseca Alexandre R. , Corrêa Leonardo de Q. , Mesquita Renato C. , Chaimowicz Luiz , de Almeida Daniel S. C. , Campos Mario F. M.
Published: May 2009

This paper presents a methodology for motion planning in outdoor environments that takes into account specific characteristics of the terrain. Instead of decomposing the robot configuration space into “free” and “occupied”, we consider the existence of several regions with different navigation costs. In this paper, costs are determined experimentally by navigating the robot through the regions and measuring the influence of the terrain on its motion. We measure the robot's vertical acceleration, which reflects the terrain roughness. The paper presents a hybrid (discrete—continuous) approach to guide and control the robot. After decomposing the map into triangular cells, a path planning algorithm is used to determine a discrete sequence of cells that minimizes the navigation cost. Robot control is accomplished by a fully continuous vector field that drives the robot through the sequence of triangular cells. This vector field allows smooth robot trajectories from any position inside the sequence to the goal, even for a small number of large cells. Moreover, the vector field is terrain dependent in the sense it changes the robot velocity according to the characteristics of the terrain. Experimental results with a differential driven, all-terrain mobile robot illustrate the proposed approach.
Visual Servoing in the Large
Authors: Fontanelli Daniele , Danesi Antonio , Belo Felipe A. W. , Salaris Paolo , Bicchi Antonio
Published: May 2009

In this paper we consider the problem of maneuvering an autonomous robot in complex unknown environments using vision. The goal is to accurately servo a wheeled vehicle to a desired posture using only feedback from an on-board camera, taking into account the nonholonomic nature of the vehicle kinematics and the limited field-of-view of the camera. With respect to existing visual servoing schemes, which achieve similar goals locally (i.e. when the desired and actual camera views are sufficiently similar), we propose a method to visually navigate the robot through an extended visual map before eventually reaching the desired goal. The map comprises a set of images, previously stored in an exploratory phase, that convey both topological and metric information regarding the connectivity through feasible robot paths and the geometry of the environment, respectively. Experimental results on a laboratory setup are reported showing the practicality of the proposed approach.
Online Walking Control System for Humanoids with Short Cycle Pattern Generation
Authors: Nishiwaki K. , Kagami S.
Published: May 2009

The present paper presents an online walking control system that frequently generates and updates dynamically stable motion patterns with a cycle time of 20 ms. We show that frequently updating the motion pattern contributes to maintaining long-term balance while performing online walking control. In addition, the system enables a robot to respond quickly to changes in the commanded walking direction. Using preview control theory, we generate dynamically stable walking patterns. We propose a method to adjust the future desired zero moment point (ZMP) by modifying the foot landing position in order to maintain the dynamic balance of the generated motion pattern. This technique can be used to filter input commands that would result in sudden changes to the foot landing position, which would result in dynamic instability. The method is also used to compensate for errors between the actual and desired ZMP due to disturbances encountered while walking. We also present an extension of the short cycle pattern generation method that can accommodate external forces measured online. Experimental results for activities such as pushing a table are demonstrated on the full-size humanoid HRP-2 to evaluate the performance of the proposed walking control system.
Driver Inattention Detection based on Eye Gaze—Road Event Correlation
Authors: Fletcher Luke , Zelinsky Alexander
Published: May 2009

Current road safety initiatives are approaching the limit of their effectiveness in developed countries. A paradigm shift is needed to address the preventable deaths of thousands on our roads. Previous systems have focused on one or two aspects of driving: environmental sensing, vehicle dynamics or driver monitoring. Our approach is to consider the driver and the vehicle as part of a combined system, operating within the road environment. A driver assistance system is implemented that is not only responsive to the road environment and the driver's actions but also designed to correlate the driver's eye gaze with road events to determine the driver's observations. Driver observation monitoring enables an immediate in-vehicle system able to detect and act on driver inattentiveness, providing the precious seconds for an inattentive human driver to react. We present a prototype system capable of estimating the driver's observations and detecting driver inattentiveness. Due to the “look but not see” case it is not possible to prove that a road event has been observed by the driver. We show, however, that it is possible to detect missed road events and warn the driver appropriately.
Hyperelastic Model of Anisotropic Fiber Reinforcements within Intestinal Walls for Applications in Medical Robotics
Authors: Ciarletta P. , Dario P. , Tendick F. , Micera S.
Published: May 2009

The development of an anatomically realistic model of intestinal tissue is essential for the progress of several clinical applications of medical robotics. A hyperelastic theory of the layered structure of the intestine is proposed in this paper to reproduce its purely elastic passive response from the structural organization of its main constituents. The hyperelastic strain energy function is decoupled into an isotropic term, describing the ground biological matrix, and an anisotropic term, describing the single contributions of the directional fiber-reinforcements. The response of the muscular coat layer has been modeled as a stiffening effect due to two longitudinal and circular muscular reinforcements. The contribution of the submucosa has been described from a uniform distribution of fibrillar collagen in a cross-ply arrangement. An experimental procedure has been proposed in order to characterize the passive response of porcine intestinal samples from planar uniaxial traction and shear tests. The experimental data have been non-linearly fitted in the least square sense with the results of the theoretical predictions. The mechanical parameters have been fitted with high accuracy (Rmin =0.9329, RMSEmax =0.01167), demonstrating the ability of the model to reproduce the mechanical coupling due to the presence of multiple directional reinforcements. The fundamental mechanical role of collagen morphology in the passive biomechanical behavior of intestinal wall is demonstrated. These results may drive a better understanding of the key factors in growth and remodeling of healthy and diseased tissue, together with numerous applications in robotic endoscopy, minimally invasive surgery, and biomedical research.
Haptic Effects of Surgical Teleoperator Flexibility
Authors: Tavakoli M. , Howe Robert D.
Published: May 2009

Minimally invasive surgery systems typically involve thin and cable-driven surgical instruments. This introduces link and joint flexibility in the slave robot of a master—slave teleoperation system, reducing the effective stiffness of the slave and the transparency of teleoperation. In this paper, we analyze transparency under slave link and joint flexibility (tool flexibility). We also evaluate the added benefits of using extra sensors at the tip of the flexible robot. It is shown that tip velocity (or position) feedback improves free-space position tracking performance in the presence of robot flexibility. Also, when the interaction forces with an environment are measured by a force sensor and fed back to the user’s hand, tip velocity feedback improves hard-contact force tracking performance. During a hard contact task, tip velocity feedback can also eliminate the transmission of robot flexibility to the user’s hand.