Encouraging Aspect Research Articles

Equilibrium mechanics model of multiscaling by segmentation: Asymptotic solution for macro-meso-micro damage in anti-plane shear deformation

A multiscaling model of cracking is developed whereby a closed form solution is obtained for the description of microscopic material damage corresponding to different constraints of the micro-crack. Coupling between the damage at the macro- and micro-scale is made via the mesoscopic zone to smooth out the transition. The range of each scale can be controlled to permit the application of equilibrium mechanics. In principle, the procedure can be applied to simulate the behavior of a non-equilibrium process by a series of segmented equilibrium processes. It is rarely possible to obtain closed form solution for multiscale damage models. Exception is found for the present model of macro-meso-micro damage by cracking under anti-plane shear deformation. Accuracies in numerical computations are thus reduced to the evaluation of algebraic equations. Examined, in particular, are the inhomogenities at the microscale arising from uneven stiffness of the material microstructures which can vary the constraints on the micro-crack. These geometrically created inhomogeneities are simulated by the free–free, fixed–fixed and free–fixed boundary conditions. The encouraging aspect of this work is that the results for anti-plane are found to be similar to those for in-plane extension. This suggests further exploration of the procedure where scale segmentation can indeed be reduced to any size at will, in the limit approaching zero. This would in principle correspond to the non-equilibrium process. Keeping in mind that the present modeling process involves segmentation and connection, the latter requires a scale invariant criterion. To this end, the volume energy density function is used with a length parameter or an area parameter so that the product can cross scale. The details of this procedure would be beyond the scope of this discussion. Nevertheless, ample evidence will be shown in the work to follow that the volume energy density function is fundamental not only to the scale shifting process but also in the ways how microscopic constraints can influence macroscopic behavior.

The use of guidelines in the primary care management of hypertension and diabetes

The paper examines to what degree German primary care physicians know and work along the rules established in guidelines for arterial hypertension and diabetes mellitus. HYDRA is a 2-stage cross-sectional point prevalence study with 1912 participating primary care settings throughout Germany including 45,125 patients. A pre-study questionnaire to assess doctors practice patterns was used. Subsequently doctors completed a structured clinical appraisal with a diagnostic workup and characterization of the current treatments provided. All patients filled out a questionnaire. Pre-study results show that only every second primary care physician manages the patients according to established guidelines. Further, physicians estimated their own work as problematic and not always successful. Guideline-oriented doctors were more likely to report hypertension and diabetes treatment patterns that also match guideline's recommendations. The study shows a considerable degree of dissatisfaction with the quality of their work among primary care physicians. Guideline-oriented doctors however reveal more frequently formally adequate management characteristics. This encouraging aspect suggests the need of more successful implementation of medical guidelines in order to achieve improved evidence-based medicine and better patient-oriented health care.

National Identity and the Challenge of Health Reform in Canada

Health reform remains the most contentious policy issue in Canada. Medicare is subject to the same political forces that demand state retrenchment in other areas, but it has escaped wholesale reorganization because of the commitment of Canadians to the principles of medicare, because the provinces and the federal government remain locked in a battle about provincial autonomy, and because the existing system serves the interests of various professional groups including organized medicine. Nevertheless, reform and, especially, expansion of coverage is essential if the existing system is to be sustained. The most encouraging aspect of current debate is the recognition that we can look beyond the U.S. for reforms more consistent with the underlying values of Canadians than is the U.S. system.

Russia and NATO toward the twenty‐first century: conflicts and peacekeeping in Bosnia‐Herzegovina and Kosovo

The new Russian‐NATO relationship plunged to the lowest point during NATO's 78‐day Kosovo air campaign in Spring 1999. Despite the difficulties at the political level, the analysis suggests that Russia's participation in joint peacekeeping with US/NATO forces in Bosnia‐Herzegovina (IFOR/SFOR) and Kosovo (KFOR) stand as perhaps the most encouraging aspect of the contemporary Russian‐NATO relationship. These successes in peacekeeping tended to be overshadowed by the serious strains between Russia and NATO in developing a response to the implosion of Yugoslavia. While such practical cooperation between Russia and NATO can contribute to eroding the barriers of the past and to the development of a constructive relationship for the twenty‐first century, these military‐to‐military accomplishments cannot shape broader Russian‐NATO strategic priorities. The article concludes with examination of Moscow's postmortem assessments on Kosovo and evaluation of prospects for the future of the Russian‐NATO relationship in the aftermath of the Yugoslav experience.

Organisational knowledge and responses of public sector clients towards value management

This paper reports the results of a questionnaire survey of public clients in the construction industry in Hong Kong on their organisational knowledge, responses and use of value management (VM). It concludes that VM is essential to capital projects both to reduce costs and to improve the quality of finished projects. In simple terms, it helps to achieve value for money. Although a fair number of respondents have comprehensive knowledge of VM, lack of practical experience in VM is still a problem frequently encountered in the promotion of VM in Hong Kong. Shortage of VM specialists to facilitate studies presents further problems. The analyzed data indicate that value management is still in its infancy in Hong Kong. More trained VM specialists are needed. VM training for clients and professionals is also important and can be accomplished through different media such as professional institutions, universities and practice guides. Government legislation is regarded as unnecessary at this point in time. An encouraging aspect of the findings is that whenever VM studies are applied in capital projects, clients are satisfied with the results.

Action on Injury—a stepping off point for the UK

How to measure the success or failure of a conference is always problematic. One crude but perhaps encouraging aspect of the Action on Injury Conference held in London in November...

Turbulent Bursting-Based Sediment Entrainment Function

One of the basic impediments to a clear understanding of a variety of fundamental problems in the context of sediment transport has been the lack of a well-grounded formulation of bed sediment entrainment. This is dealt with herein, physically based on the mechanism that bed sediment particles are actually entrained by the bursting process inherent in wall turbulent flows. A simple theoretical model for sediment entrainment from flat, loose bed is established using the averaged bursting period scaled on inner variables and the spatial scales of turbulent bursts. Sediment entrainment is shown to depend strongly on bed-shear velocity. The theoretical entrainment flux is compared to available laboratory data sets covering both hydraulically smooth and transitional bed situations. Generally good agreement is obtained, representing the best performance of the present model in relation to existing entrainment functions. It appears to characterize a rather encouraging aspect for a new approach to sediment transport, given the enhanced understanding of turbulent bursting.

Entropy, likelihood and phase determination.

Entropy, likelihood and phase determination.

Determinants of Attitudes Toward Physical Education

The development of positive attitudes toward physical education has been a longstanding and desirable goal of the program of physical education. The intent of this investigation was to identify those aspects of the program students reported as turning them on to or turning them off from physical education. The critical incident report was the tool used to gather information. The subjects (N = 100) classified the reported incidents as either positive or negative, and their comments were then categorized into five broad categories: (a) teacher, (b) curriculum, (c) atmosphere of the classroom, (d) peer behavior, and (e) perceptions of self. Further classification occurred within each category. The results indicated that the items most frequently mentioned in relation to both positive and negative attitudes related to the teacher and the curriculum. Some interesting patterns evolved both within and between the various categories. The most encouraging aspect of the investigation is that the great majority of causal determinants of negative attitudes are amenable to change. If physical educators value the goal of developing positive attitudes toward physical education, then information gathered in studies such as this should prove valuable to both current physical educators and those involved in teacher education programs.

Why has inflation fallen?

There is no doubt that the most encouraging aspect of Britain's economic performance in recent years has been the fall in inflation from a peak of over 20 per cent in June 1980 to a current rate of about 5 per cent. The speed at which inflation fell has taken many forecasters (including ourselves) by surprise. In this Economic Viewpoint we ask why the inflation rate has fallen. If we can understand why it has happened we are better placed to answer questions about the future. In particular we can try to decide whether the success in reducing inflation will be maintained and whether further cuts in inflation will be consistent with a fall in unemployment.

Financing Oil, Gas And Coal Projects

Abstract THE GOOD NEWS is that recovery, albert slow, is underway in the Canadian petroleum industry. Earnings at last are starting to recover. Indeed, the percentage increases from the disastrous levels of the last few years are impressive. They are going to look big in the headlines-and that could be the bad news. It's a fact of life that Canadians are distrustful of profits-especially those made by oil companies. So our industry should be prepared. It won"t be easy to gel attention (at least until those headlines on profits appear) because Canadians are no longer interested in energy issues. They want attention focused on matters they consider far more critical-the worst unemployment levels since the Depression. When I make these statements about public attitudes, I am Quoting research reports by some of the best people in the survey business. They tell us Canadians now have little or no worry of Canada suffering future energy shortages. They tell us Canadians still see multi-national companies taking huge profits out of the country, with little or no benefit to Canadians in terms of investment and jobs. So we have our work cut out for us. We must show skeptical Canadians that they have a false sense of energy security. Despite the current glut at the gasoline pumps, the fact of the matter is that our country is running short or conventional reserves of oil: the present reserve life is about 12 years. Industry is only able La replace 15 per cent of the oil that's being withdrawn from conventional reserves each year. So where can we turn? Either we continue to increase imports of oil from unstable sources-whose own reserves are also depleting. Or else we turn to the Arctic and the Atlantic, those Canadian Frontiers which have been very stubborn about releasing their secrets, and to the Alberta oil sands. That's the energy side of its current sources of oil are depleting; we have to develop new ones. And that brings me to the profits. One encouraging aspect of the research on Canadian attitudes is finding that the people recognize the petroleum industry as a potential major contributor to national economic recovery. They also want Industry to be permitted to "get on with the job." What's needed to "get on with the job"? The answer is in just three words: restore investor confidence. Investors must see acceptable" returns on prior investment before they"ll seriously consider future investments. In recent years, earnings in our industry have provided a return as low as one per cent on capital assets. So much for those huge profits! You could do at least 15 Limes better by pulling money in Canada Savings Bonds. To finance the minimal expansion which it was undertaken, the industry has had to borrow heavily. But at last, things are improving. Governments have begun to realize that they had tried to share in too much, too fast, and they are easing off. Industry is also working very hard to increase efficiency and productivity.

Overthrust Belt of Southwestern New Mexico: Comparison with Wyoming-Utah Overthrust Belt

The Cordilleran Overthrust belt of Laramide age (Late Cretaceous-early Tertiary) trends west-northwesterly through southwestern New Mexico and is characterized by flat-lying thrusts and subordinate closely compressed folds. These Laramide structures and the rocks deposited prior to and during Laramide deformation are exposed as small patches surrounded by younger postorogenic rocks, including voluminous volcanic rocks of middle Tertiary age and late Cenozoic clastic sediments. Middle Tertiary volcanism involved eruption of silicic ash-flow tuffs from several large cauldrons in southwestern New Mexico. Basin-range extensional block faulting occurred in late Cenozoic time, and the range-marginal faults truncate the cauldrons and the Laramide structures. Although the thrust belt in southwestern New Mexico has similarities to the thrust belt in northern Utah and western Wyoming where commercial accumulations of hydrocarbons have been found, there are also marked differences: volcanism is much more intense, and younger basin-range block faulting has probably at least partly destroyed thrust-belt traps in New Mexico, whereas this is less likely in Wyoming and Utah. Also, in New Mexico the most likely source and reservoir rocks are of Paleozoic age and hence are much older than the traps which are probably partly Laramide in age and partly late Cenozoic; in Wyoming and Utah the source rocks are probably Cretaceous and the traps are Late Cretaceous-early Tertiary and thus are closer in age. Lack of continuity of exposure of structures alon strike, coupled with greater structural complexity, makes it more difficult to apply geophysical techniques, particularly seismic, to exploration for hydrocarbons in the New Mexico part of the thrust belt than in the Wyoming-Utah part. An encouraging aspect is that several wells drilled in New Mexico encountered shows of oil and gas within the limits of the thrust-faulted area. The density of drilling in this part of New Mexico is analogous to the situation in western Wyoming and Utah prior to the discovery of Pineview field.

Laser fluorometric detection in liquid chromatography

Lasers have brought new directions in fluorometric detectors for HPLC by improving selectivity and sensitivity. The most encouraging aspect is that extremely sophisticated lasers are not needed, and standard lasers associated with normal Raman instruments can be used both for one-photon and two-photon excitation. As HPLC strives for higher and higher resolution, the small detector volumes offered by lasers will become increasingly important. And, as interests surge in complex environmental and clinical samples, lasers will probably strengthen their hold as an integral part of any multidimensional chromatographic study. 6 figures.

Plan to Restore Arabian Oryx in Oman

The Arabian oryx may now be extinct in the wild. If so it was exterminated by hunters in four-wheel drive vehicles using automatic weapons. Fortunately the species has bred well in captivity thanks largely to the 1962 FPS Operation Oryx, and now animals bred in the USA are becoming available for return to the wild where practicable. Jordan has already embarked on such a project, and Oman, home of the last oryx herds in Arabia, is now planning to release oryx in the Jiddat al Harasis, a vast stony plateau where the last known wild Arabian oryx were killed. In February 1977, at the request of the Oman Government, Dr Jungius, as Director of WWF's Department of Conservation, made a feasibility study, from the report of which the following article is extracted, followed up by a more detailed investigation in March 1978. One most encouraging aspect of the scheme is that the Harasis people regard the oryx as their tribal property. They want the oryx to return, and are prepared to guard them.

Algal growth in diluted pig waste

Society faces many problems related to its growth in numbers and standard of living. Of major concern are the consumptive use of non-renewable natural resources and the environmental degradation resulting from pollution. A procedure for management of animal waste was developed on the premise that one solution to these problems is the use of integrated systems of production utilizing recycled resources. One such system, described in this report, is the use of micro-organisms foor the conversion of animal waste into feed with a high protein content and a methane-rich fuel gas. A conceptual design for such a system is described and results of preliminary experiments conducted in the laboratory are presented. It was decided to use photo-autotroph algae for nutrient recovery. Based on its mineral composition, swine manure is a suitable medium for the culture of algae. The high temperature strain Chlorella vulgaris 211/8K proved to be the most suitable organism and was used in all experiments. Chlorella vulgaris 211/8K grew much better in fresh manure suspensions than in suspensions clarified by filtration through activated charcoal or by precipitation with FeCl 3. The growth rate of the algae was a function of the concentration of manure as characterized by its content of ammonium-nitrogen. The growth rate decreased at concentrations of nitrogen less than 250 mg/l. The amount of nitrogen recovered by the algae ranged from about 35% for a retention time of 6.7 days to 18% for a retention time of 2.8 days. Approximately 58% of the nitrogen was volatilized in these experiments with high aeration rates and culture temperatures of 37° C. The content of essential amino acids of Chlorella vulgaris 211/8K grown in these experiments compares favorably with that of milk and soybeans. Preliminary feeding trials with rats showed the algal material to be superior to cotton seed meal as judged by protein efficiency ratio and growth rate. The cells used in these trials had not been treated to improve digestibility. The most encouraging aspect of the laboratory studies has been the stability of the cultures. The average production rate at 37° C for a 12 hour photoperiod and a retention time of 3.3 days was about 22 g/m 2/day. The consistently high yield of cell dry matter and protein has been encouraging.

Practical Training for the Severely Handicapped Child

for the Severely Handicapped Child. By Milan Morgenstern, Helen L\l=o\w-Beer,and Franz Morgenstern. Translated by Franz Morgenstern. Preface by Jack Tizard. Price, 21s. Pp 134. Spastics Society Medical Education and Information Unit in Association with William Heinemann Medical Books, Ltd., The Press at Kingswood, Tadworth, Surrey, England, 1966. The most encouraging aspect of the book, to this reviewer, is already implicit in the title. Practical Training is surely the aspect of which seems likely in the present state of our knowledge to offer most promise for the amelioration of the lot and the useful function of the severely handicapped child. As was amply demonstrated at the most recent meeting of the American Academy of Cerebral Palsy in November 1966, regimes of therapy which claim to be capable of a fundamental alteration of the natural processes underlying established mental defect and cerebral palsy as yet merit merely the verdict of proven. This little book, as indeed is true for all publications from the Spastics Society, is stimulating and provocative. This is, however, not to say that the theories and practices it invokes should automatically be accepted

Practical Training for the Severely Handicapped Child.

The most encouraging aspect of the book, to this reviewer, is already implicit in the title. Practical Training is surely the aspect of which seems likely in the present state of our knowledge to offer most promise for the amelioration of the lot and the useful function of the severely handicapped child. As was amply demonstrated at the most recent meeting of the American Academy of Cerebral Palsy in November 1966, regimes of therapy which claim to be capable of a fundamental alteration of the natural processes underlying established mental defect and cerebral palsy as yet merit merely the verdict of proven. This little book, as indeed is true for all publications from the Spastics Society, is stimulating and provocative. This is, however, not to say that the theories and practices it invokes should automatically be accepted as being of undoubted validity. In passing, it seems rather unnecessary

Growth inhibitory and haematological effects of alkylating agents and attempts at their modification to give greater selectivity of anti-tumour action.

SummaryAttempts to induce greater relative tumour specificity in cancer chemotherapeutic drugs may be aimed at (1) reducing toxicity towards host tissues or (2) increasing the susceptibility of the tumor.1. Pretreatment with certain thiol derivatives has some protective action against the host toxicity of X-irradiation and of certain alkylating agents. However, in many cases even better protection against the tumour-inhibitory action occurs so that the therapeutic index is unfavourably affected.2. Pretreatment with glucose which accentuates the pH difference between normal and tumour tissues can, in some cases, produce an increase in therapeutic index.3. The most encouraging aspect is to explore and take advantage of biochemical variations from the normal tissue pattern which are found in certain tumours, e.g. the successful treatment of the ADJ/PC5 mouse myeloma with «aniline mustard» is believed to be related to the very high glucuronidase activity of this tumour.

State-Logic Relations for Autonomous Sequential Networks

A new theoretical approach to the description of state-logic relations is presented, which applies to linear as well as nonlinear autonomous networks. A formal link, based on a matrix algorithm, is found between the internal logic of the network and its terminal behavior. The application of matrix algebra is the most attractive and encouraging aspect of this theory, in view of possible systematic minimization procedures.