Collective reflection strategy for moderating conformity tendency and promoting reflective judgment performance

Reflective judgement is crucial for medical-related practitioners in dealing with controversial issues. However, the conformity phenomenon is likely to occur and interfere with reflective judgement learning during interactive activities. Effective strategies are required to moderate the conformity behaviour tendency (CBT) and improve reflective judgement performance (RJP). This study demonstrates two significant results: (a) Compared with the guided self-reflection learning strategy, the online collective reflection (OCR) learning strategy effectively weakened the learners' general CBT while dealing with professional controversial issues; and (b) a significantly negative correlation between the RJP achieved and the change of CBT in online environment was detected in the OCR group. The implications and potential applications in higher education were discussed. Further studies are needed to confirm the long-term effects and the extending application to other professional studies.     

Trouble at the Telco: When GSM Goes Bad

GSM is a series of standards defining various aspects of mobile voice and data communications. These standards provide a framework that looks set to underlie modern mobile business communications well into the 21st century.     

Transient fields of pulsed transducers in solids

The radiation and propagation of elastic waves in solid media are of fundamental importance in ultrasonic NDE. Due to the limitation of analytical approaches, numerical procedures are most appropriate for solving the governing equations. In this paper, the finite element method is used to predict the transient fields of pulsed transducers in a solid medium with axisymmetric geometry. Comparisons with other models are performed. The transducer field interactions with spherical voids are also presented.     

Typicality effects in attitudes toward social policies: A concept-mapping approach.

Social typicality effects occur when people apply their attitudes more consistently toward typical than toward atypical category members presumably because attitudes are directed toward the prototypic category member. Four studies tested whether individuals also apply social policy attitudes more consistently toward typical than toward atypical persons affected by the policy. Study 1 used attitude concept maps to assess how extensively individuals spontaneously reference the typical person affected by a social policy. Death penalty proponents did so more than did opponents; welfare proponents and opponents did so equally. In 3 other studies, death penalty proponents displayed greater typicality effects in sentencing "convicted murderers" than did opponents, welfare proponents and opponents displayed equal typicality effects in evaluating cases of suspected welfare fraud, and individuals whose attitude concept maps about welfare referred more to persons displayed greater typicality effects than did individuals whose maps referred more to principles. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Lumbar lordosis. Effects of sitting and standing

STUDY DESIGN: The effect of sitting versus standing posture on lumbar lordosis was studied retrospectively by radiographic analysis of 109 patients with low back pain. OBJECTIVE: To document changes in segmental and total lumbar lordosis between sitting and standing radiographs. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: Preservation of physiologic lumbar lordosis is an important consideration when performing fusion of the lumbar spine. The appropriate degree of lumbar lordosis has not been defined. METHODS: Total and segmental lumbar lordosis from L1 to S1 was assessed by an independent observer using the Cobb angle measurements of the lateral radiographs of the lumbar spine obtained with the patient in the sitting and standing positions. RESULTS: Lumbar lordosis averaged 49 degrees standing and 34 degrees sitting from L1 to S1, 47 degrees standing and 33 degrees sitting from L2 to S1, 31 degrees standing and 22 degrees sitting from L4 to S1, and 18 degrees standing and 15 degrees sitting from L5 to S1. CONCLUSION: Lumbar lordosis while standing was nearly 50% greater on average than sitting lumbar lordosis. The clinical significance of this data may pertain to: 1) the known correlation of increased intradiscal pressure with sitting, which may be caused by this decrease in lordosis; 2) the benefit of a sitting lumbar support that increases lordosis; and 3) the consideration of an appropriate degree of lordosis in fusion of the lumbar spine.     

Perceptions of social work intervention with bereaved clients: some implications for hospital social work practice

During infection of a mammalian host, African trypanosomes are in constant contact with the host's immune system. These protozoan parasites are infamous for their ability to evade the immune responses by periodically switching their major variant surface glycoprotein (VSG), a phenomenon called antigenic variation. Antigenic variation, however, is likely to be only one of several mechanisms enabling these organisms to thrive in the face of the immune defenses. The ability to grow in high levels of interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) and to avoid complement-mediated destruction may also facilitate the parasite's survival. In this review we summarize (i) the activation of trypanosome genes for three different VSGs during antigenic variation, (ii) the secretion of a trypanosome protein that induces host CD8 T cells to produce IFN-gamma, and (iii) the evidence for trypanosome protein similar to a surface protease of Leishmania that plays a role in resistance to complement-mediated lysis.     

Hydrolysis studies on oleamide in simulated gastrointestinal fluids

Hydrolysis studies using simulated gastrointestinal fluids have been performed on oleamide, an important fatty acid amide slip additive used in plastics food packaging. Experiments have been conducted using the simulated gastrointestinal fluids, specified by the Scientific Committee for Food for hydrolysis studies, and with slightly modified preparations believed to be more representative of the in vivo situation. The degree of hydrolysis in simulated gastric fluids was found to be negligible after incubation for 4 h at 37 degrees C. Addition of 'bile salts' to simulated intestinal fluid was found to significantly increase the degree of hydrolysis to about 95% loss of oleamide after incubation for 4 h at 37 degrees C. Stoichiometric formation of oleic acid, an innocuous substance, was also demonstrated. It has therefore been concluded that ingestion of the very low levels of oleamide expected to migrate into most foods from food packaging is unlikely to pose a threat to the health of the consumer.     

Cuticular lipids of the booklouse,Liposcelis bostrychophila: hydrocarbons,aldehydes, fatty acids,and fatty acid amides

The booklouse, Liposcelis bostrychophila, is an increasingly common pest of stored food products worldwide. We report here the cuticular lipid composition of this pest (the first report of the hydrocarbons of any member of the Order Psocoptera and the first report of fatty acid amides as cuticular components for any insect). No unsaturated hydrocarbons were present. A homologous series of n-alkanes (C₂₁–C₃₄), monomethyl alkanes (3-, 4-, 5-, 7-, 9-, 11-, 12-, 13- and 15-methyl-) with a carbon chain range of C₂₈–C₄₂, and dimethyl alkanes (3, 7-; 9, 13-; 11, 15-; 13, 17-; 9, 21-; 11, 19-; and 13, 21-); with a carbon number range of C₃₁–C₄₃ were identified. The relative abundances of these hydrocarbons were low, comprising approximately 0.0125% of total biomass. The amides were a homologous series (C₁₆–C₂₂ in chain length), with the major amide being stearoyl amide. In addition to the amides, free fatty acids (C_16:1, C_16:0, C_18:2, C_18:1, and C_18:0 in chain length) and three straight chain aldehydes (C₁₅, C₁₆, and C_17:1 in chain length) also occurred as cuticular components. These findings are discussed in terms of the chemical and physiological ecology of this species.     

Mold-filling studies for the injection molding of thermoplastic materials. Part II: The transient flow of plastic materials in the cavities of injection-molding dies

A practically-oriented computer model which computes the temperature, pressure, and velocity fields in a cavity during the mold filling portion of the injection molding process is described. The model is structured so that it can be used for cavities having non-simple shapes and for commonly used molding compounds with complicated viscosity, shear rate, temperature relationships. Predictions from the model are found to be in good agreement with results obtained from exact solutions to special cases. Model predictions in molding problems have been found to correctly describe trends such as an increase in the pressure required to fill molds as injection rate, shot temperature, and mold temperature decrease, and to be reasonably accurate when compared to data for plaque, disc, and telephone housing molds over a wide range of molding conditions. Some illustrative examples of the use of the model in solving real molding problems are provided.