Objective: To assess a computer-aided technology for assisting writing in a man who emerged from a minimally conscious state and presented with extensive motor disabilities. Method: The technology served to present letters, in groups, at the centre of a computer screen and display (write) the letters selected by the man ...

The widespread and harmful use of cannabis amongst young people in the community has been well established. In order to assist in identifying young people at risk of harm for their cannabis use, the present paper documents the development of a short 12-item cannabis problems measure--the Cannabis Problems Questionnaire for ...

We consider the problem of portfolio selection within the classical Markowitz mean-variance framework, reformulated as a constrained least-squares regression problem. We propose to add to the objective function a penalty proportional to the sum of the absolute values of the portfolio weights. This penalty regularizes (stabilizes) the optimization problem, encourages ...

This article is a definitive review of the enforcement problems inherent in a tobacco-free campus, identifying clearly the depth of the problems and the true challenges they pose. It describes the roles to be played by patients, staff, the CEO, department heads, and clinicians, as well as security officers. It ...

We have developed a template-free hydrothermal method of constructing rare earth phosphate hollow spheres using H(6)P(4)O(13) as the PO(4) (3-) source. The mechanism of hollow spheres formation was proposed on the basis of Ostwald ripening. The resulting hollow spheres, especially with the aid of doping of other lanthanide cations, exhibit ...

Most free flap failures result from technical problems in performing vascular anastomoses, such as endothelial intima lacerations, distortion of the vessels, and unequal intersuture distances. These incorrect practices can lead to thrombosis formation and, ultimately, flap failure. Solving this problem is a challenging issue for all micro-reconstructive surgeons. In the ...

We study the stability of network communication after removal of a fraction q=1-p of links under the assumption that communication is effective only if the shortest path between nodes i and j after removal is shorter than al(ij)(a> or =1) where l(ij) is the shortest path before removal. For a ...

We give a short unified proof of the following theorem, valid in the context of both classical probability theory and Voiculescu's free probability theory: let (X(j)((1)), ..., X(j)((n))) be independent (resp., freely independent) n-tuples of random variables. Let Z(N)((p)) = N(-1/2)(X(1)((p)) + ... + X(N)((p))) be their central limit sums. ...

This article applies a stated preference choice model to assess trade-offs that residents of two squatter settlements in Dhaka, Bangladesh might consider if they were given choices for relocation to flood-free areas. The respondents were asked to choose repeatedly from a set of choice cards, which displayed different configurations of ...

Economic and geopolitical factors (high oil prices, environmental concerns, and supply instability) have been prompting policy-makers to put added emphasis on renewable energy sources. For the scientific community, recent advances, embodied in new insights into basic biology and technology that can be applied to metabolic engineering, are generating considerable excitement. ...

Examining the history of the concept of free will helps distinguish metaphysical issues beyond the interest of a court of law from considerations about the nature of human action germane to legal reasoning. The latter include Plato's conception of the rational governance of the soul and Aristotle's conception of voluntary ...

This article demonstrates that there is no free will problem in forensic psychiatry by showing that free will or its lack is not a criterion for any legal doctrine and it is not an underlying general foundation for legal responsibility doctrines and practices. There is a genuine metaphysical free will ...

OBJECTIVES: To determine the extent of commercial tobacco imagery in the lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) press. METHODS: Content analysis of all advertising containing tobacco related text or imagery in 20 LGB community periodicals, published between January 1990 and December 2000. RESULTS: 3428 ads were found: 689 tobacco product ads, ...

Panchanathan and Boyd describe a model of indirect reciprocity in which mutual aid among cooperators can promote large-scale human cooperation without succumbing to a second-order free-riding problem (whereby individuals receive but do not give aid). However, the model does not include second-order free riders as one of the possible behavioural ...

Canary song is hierarchically structured: Short stereotyped syllables are repeated to form phrases, which in turn are arranged to form songs. This structure occurs even in the songs of young isolates, which suggests that innate rules govern canary song development. However, juveniles that had never heard normal song imitated abnormal ...

Sands for the nourishment of beaches along the Emilia-Romagna coast (northern Adriatic Sea) were dredged from an offshore area characterised by relict sands formed during the last Adriatic post-glacial transgression. The short-term effects of the sand extraction on macrozoobenthic communities were investigated before, during and 1, 6 and 12 months ...

The Fermi-Pasta-Ulam (FPU) problem is discussed in connection with its physical relevance, and it is shown how apparently there exist only two possibilities: either the FPU problem is just a curiosity, or it has a fundamental role for the foundations of physics, casting a new light on the relations between ...

Open-source software will never achieve ubiquity. There are environments in which it simply does not flourish. By its nature, open-source development requires free exchange of ideas, community involvement, and the efforts of talented and dedicated individuals. However, pressures can come from several sources that prevent this from happening. In addition, ...

Models of large-scale human cooperation take two forms. 'Indirect reciprocity' occurs when individuals help others in order to uphold a reputation and so be included in future cooperation. In 'collective action', individuals engage in costly behaviour that benefits the group as a whole. Although the evolution of indirect reciprocity is ...

We report three unrelated patients with hypertrichosis, mild to moderate mental retardation, and dysmorphic facial features including low anterior hairline, thick arched eyebrows, nose with broad tip and columella below alae nasi, short philtrum, thick drooping lower lip and simple posteriorly rotated ears. They also had rough skin with hyperkeratotic ...

Following the recognition of their usefulness by the authorities and the scientific community, automatic water monitoring networks were developed again to be able to measure seawater. For that purpose, they had to be fully autonomous, with low power consumption (solar panel power supply), wireless communicating (satellite, GSM, radio) and very ...

It is shown that existing problems with the formal theory of ionization can be effectively resolved. An integral representation for the ionization amplitude free of ambiguity and divergence problems is given. Moreover, the ionization amplitude in the new formulation is shown directly to have an ideal form for practical calculations.

OBJECTIVE: Vestibular evoked myogenic potential (VEMP) has become a diagnostic tool to evaluate the integrity of sacculo-collic reflex. To obtain a more consistent VEMP response in normal-hearing subjects, we examine whether clicks or short tone bursts are more effective in eliciting VEMP responses. DESIGN: Prospective study. Twenty-nine normal-hearing volunteers (58 ...

The present results show that in the ovarioles of a newly emerged (0 day) queen of A. mellifera only two regions may be distinguished: a proximal, short germarium and a very long distal, terminal filament. As the queen matures and gets ready for the nuptial flight, the germarium increases in ...

The problem of 'seemingly impeccable trials' that produce unbelievable results is approached from basic notions of the philosophy of science: facts and theory are interdependent, and 'crucial experiments' do not exist. This does not lead to an 'anything goes' attitude, but obliges us to consider arguments and counter-arguments in the ...

Bayesian networks provide a valuable aid for representing epistemic relationships in a body of uncertain evidence. The paper proposes some simple Bayesian networks for standard analysis of patterns of inference concerning scientific evidence, with a discussion of the rationale behind the nets, the corresponding probabilistic formulas, and the required probability ...

Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) is the most common and most treatable cause of vertigo. In most cases, a simple maneuver that takes less than a few minutes to do resolves the problem. BPPV is caused by misplaced calcium carbonate crystals (otoconia) in the semicircular canal of the inner ear ...

The small, compact, robust, and nonpolar units of [CpM(CO)3] (M = Re, Tc) coupled with biomolecules may be considered as bioorganometallic entities of potential interest in the field of medicinal chemistry. However, the short half-life of useful radionuclides (186Re t1/2 = 3.7 d, 188Re t1/2 = 16.8 h, 99mTc t1/2 ...

'Many professional scientists over the years have expressed their thoughts and ideas in poetry.'

On the centenary of the foundation of the FDI and the fiftieth anniversary of the International Dental Journal, the editor looks at the beginnings of the Fédération. This paper sets out to aid the understanding not only of the early history of the FDI but also the social, scientific and ...

Kotter believes that generating short-term wins is a critical component of the change and transformation process. Our short-term win-wins have allowed us to further collaborate, which consequently has given us more wins. These wins have been communicated. The communication has conveyed a sense of optimism and hope, and has empowered ...

Barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) etioplasts were isolated, and the pigments were extracted with acetone. The extract was analyzed by HPLC. Only protochlorophyllide a and no protochlorophyllide b was detected (limit of detection < 1% of protochlorophyllide a). Protochlorophyllide b was synthesized starting from chlorophyll b and incubated with etioplast membranes ...

Now that extrasolar planets have been found, it is timely to ask whether some of them might be suitable for life. Climatic constraints on planetary habitability indicate that a reasonably wide habitable zone exists around main sequence stars with spectral types in the early-F to mid-K range. However, it has ...

The premise and promise of ergogenic aid use is rooted in antiquity and is based upon superstition and ritualistic behavior of athletes who perceive that past performances were predicated upon unique dietary constituents or dietary manipulation. Accounts from ancient times recommended that athletes and soldiers preparing for battle consume specific ...

Myosin molecules contacting an actin filament in the presence of ATP were found to regulate the filamental fluctuations due to ATP hydrolysis in a communicative manner along the filament. As an evidence of the occurrence of the communication, ATP-activated fluctuating displacements of the filament in the direction perpendicular to its ...

Short echo time proton spectra have been acquired from the brains of 30 male homosexual Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) patients and 12 age-matched control subjects on a 1.5 T MR system. The acquisition protocol used stimulated acquisition voxel localisation with a voxel size of 8 ml and repeat, echo, and ...

The daily activities observed in a Colombian village community of contemporary hunting and gathering people were analysed with respect to their time structure. Short term cycles of about 2 hours could be detected in both individual and common behavioural patterns. These behaviour cycles of individual group members appear to have ...

Posters are a commonly used method of communication at scientific meetings. How can a significant amount of information be provided on a limited surface area, in a manner that will interest the viewer? This article describes a simple and inexpensive answer. By being interactive, a poster display overcomes the problems ...

OBJECTIVES: The effect on restaurant revenues of local ordinances requiring smoke-free restaurants is an important consideration for restauranteurs themselves and the cities that depend on sales tax revenues to provide services. METHODS: Data were obtained from the California State Board of Equalization and Colorado State Department of Revenue on taxable ...

When you use the principles of hyphenation, you communicate your ideas clearly to the reader. By using hyphens correctly, authors can demonstrate their writing expertise to editorial board members. By commenting on hyphen problems during a review, board members can demonstrate their attention to detail to the author and editor.

Apparent competition is indirect competition between two or more victim species that share a natural enemy, caused by that enemy's numerical response. We review empirical examples of apparent competition in phytophagous insect hosts attacked by polyphagous parasitoids and develop models of apparent competition in host-parasitoid systems. Apparent competition is particularly ...

There is strong sentiment for a policy which would exclude foreigners from access to organs from American cadaver donors. One common argument is that foreigners are 'free riders'; since they are not members of the community which gives organs, it would be unfair to allow them to receive such a ...

An increase in short-term fluctuation is a clinically useful clue in the diagnosis of acquired disorders of the visual pathways. However, short-term fluctuation can also be increased in normal subjects by several factors. We found an increase in short-term fluctuation occurred in normal subjects when the visual field was tested ...

A review of cases of short frenulum (tongue-tie) seen in a recent year at the Lactation Institute and Breastfeeding Clinic provides data about its relationship to sucking and breastfeeding problems such as insufficient infant weight gain and reduced milk supply, sore nipples and repeat bouts of mastitis in the mother. ...

Problems with currently available trocar sleeves are listed. A second-puncture, lower-quadrant sleeve of a special design that eliminates these problems is described: short, self-retaining because of a screw grid on its external surface, and without a trap. Suggestions for modification of the umbilical sleeve trocar are advanced.

The effects of four isomers of dinitrotoluene (DNT) and technical DNT (a mixture of DNT isomers and other compounds, with 2,4-DNT as the major constituent) were studied in two short-term in vitro assays. None of the isomers or technical DNT induced an increase in morphological transformation of Syrian hamster embryo ...

A series of straight and branched chain phthalate monoesters were examined for their effects on hepatocyte intercellular communication in male B6C3F1 mouse hepatocytes. Intercellular communication was determined autoradiographically following the passage and incorporation of [5-3H]uridine nucleotides from pre-labelled hepatocytes into non-labelled hepatocytes. Intercellular communication was evaluated in hepatocytes after 8 ...

Excessive drooling in severely retarded students is a common classroom problem. This report presents a short, easy-to-execute correction procedure consisting of cleaning up saliva and pressing a tissue under the lips to decrease drooling. The procedure was used with a severely retarded girl who did not have any severe motor ...

To sum up: Communication, particularly oral, would be aided or furthered by abstention from cacolalia. Clichés, redundancies, and expressions battered by overuse should be avoided and the imparting of knowledge by means of precise language should be done audibly and at a reasonable speed. One should speak at scientific meetings ...

In order to determine the significance and implications of falls from heights in the North Central Bronx Hospital (NCBH) patient population area, the records of 203 patients who fell from heights of 5 to 72 feet and who died or were admitted to NCBH over a five-year-period were reviewed. Demographic ...