Experimental automobile-pedestrian injuries

Fifteen fresh cadaver impacts were conducted in simulation of pedestrian-automobile accidents. The test sled configuration simulated an automobile bumper and hood in "standard" and "nosedive" situations as well as "hard" and "soft" impact surfaces. Instrumentation and film demonstrated large axial compression forces in the struck leg and considerable angular velocity of the torso in all modes. Dissection revealed primary injury at the impact site at low velocities with added remote injury at high velocities. Fracture of the lateral tibial plateau was most common. Lowering the bumper height offered the greatest protection against injury at moderate impact velocities.     

Cardiac transplantation in perspective for the future. Survival, complications, rehabilitation, and cost

Two hundred twenty-seven cardiac transplant procedures have been performed in 206 patients from January, 1968, to April, 1981. Postoperative survival rates, calculated by the actuarial method for program years 1968 to 1973 (66 patients), are 44%, 33%, 27%, 21%, and 18% at 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 years after transplantation, respectively. Postoperative survival rates for program years 1974 to 1981 (140 patients) are 63%, 55%, 51, 44%, and 39% at 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 years after transplantation, respectively. This increase results primarily from improvement in survival achieved in the first 3 postoperative months (59% +/- 7%, 1968 to 1973, versus 80% +/- 40%, 1974 to 1980), reflecting improved patient management. Infection remains the primary cause of death following transplantation (76/131 patients, 58%), followed by acute rejection (24/181, 18.3%), graft arteriosclerosis (14/131, 10.7%), and malignancy (6/131, 4.6%). The development of graft arteriosclerosis has been examined in 85 one-year survivors studied by annual coronary arteriograms. Coronary lesions of varying severity have developed in 21 patients. HLA-A2 incompatibility was associated with a higher incidence of graft arteriosclerosis than was apparent for all other A locus incompatibilities (p less than 0.0003). Lymphoma has been shown to be associated with younger recipient age, a primary disease diagnosis of idiopathic cardiomyopathy, and retransplantation. One hundred six patients have survived at least 1 year after transplantation; 97% were in NYHA Class 1 at that time interval and 82% returned to employment or activity of choice. The longest survival time is new 11 years, 3 months. Cardiac transplantation can be considered "reasonable and therapeutic treatment to extend life" in selected individuals.     

Implementing knowledge building: Analysis of a face‐to‐face discussion by grade‐four students

Abstract:

Researchers say that teachers can implement an educational innovation without adhering to the principles underpinning its design. Such principles may not adequately take typical classroom conditions into account. The goal of this study was to explore tensions between attempts to implement the principles underpinning knowledge building and the influence of contextual factors that compete for the teacher's attention. To this end, we discuss five excerpts from a discussion of the motion of spinning tops held by a class of Grade‐4 students, coming at the end of a five‐month implementation of knowledge building. Each excerpt is followed first by the teacher's perspective and then by the researcher's perspective. Our analysis highlights two tensions that constrain agency, arising from the students’ need for social development and their need to learn scientific concepts. We offer some suggestions for addressing these tensions.     

Multitasking on a Single Device: Arousal and the Frequency,Anticipation, and Prediction of Switching Between Media Content on a Computer

This study measured arousal responses to multitasking by recording switches between content on personal computers over a day. Results showed that switches occurred every 19 seconds, more often than has been reported in previous research. Arousal was highest at the point of a switch with declines in skin conductance afterward. Switches were also preceded by a 12‐second period of increasing skin conductance. 2 new methods were used, one an original application that recorded screen shots, and another that measured changes in skin conductance during the day using a wrist sensor. Results are discussed in light of increasing use of single devices displaying multiple types of content, rather than multitasking that occurs when attention is divided between content on multiple devices.     

包容性工程—借助工程技术发明为身体或精神障碍人士赋能

1. Background The use of engineering tools, design, research, and thinking to create environments and capabilities whereby individuals who are currently under-e...     

Accuracy and uncertainty of single-shot, nonresonant laser-induced thermal acoustics

We study the accuracy and uncertainty of single-shot nonresonant laser-induced thermal acoustics measurements of the speed of sound and the thermal diffusivity in unseeded atmospheric air from electrostrictive gratings as a function of the laser power settings. For low pump energies, the measured speed of sound is too low, which is due to the influence of noise on the numerical data analysis scheme. For pump energies comparable to and higher than the breakdown energy of the gas, the measured speed of sound is too high. This is an effect of leaving the acoustic limit, and instead creating finite-amplitude density perturbations. The measured thermal diffusivity is too large for high noise levels but it decreases below the predicted value for high pump energies. The pump energy where the error is minimal coincides for the speed of sound and for the thermal diffusivity measurements. The errors at this minimum are 0.03% and 1%, respectively. The uncertainties for the speed of sound and the thermal diffusivity decrease monotonically with signal intensity to 0.25% and 5%, respectively.     

Attracting nurses to long-term care

1. A major issue facing nursing, and society as a whole, is the longstanding and continuing nursing shortage in long-term care. 2. The demand for RNs in nursing homes will continue to intensify into the next century as the population of older adults with complex care needs continues to grow. 3. The findings of this study suggest that RN recruitment needs in long-term care include having enough qualified and dedicated staff, supportive and competent administration; competitive salaries and benefits; functional, attractive facilities; improved professional and public image; a caring, supportive environment; realistic regulations; decreased paperwork; progressive nurse practice models; and opportunities for educational advancement and career growth.     

Parathyroid hormone regulates the expression of the nuclear mitotic apparatus protein in the osteoblast-like cells, ROS 17/2.8

This study assessed the prevalence of tobacco and alcohol use in top-grossing American films from 1985 to 1995. The top ten money-making films for 1985 to 1995 were viewed to identify the prevalence of alcohol and tobacco use overall and by lead characters. While the use of tobacco and alcohol was stable across the study period, use of these substances was common. Most films (98%) had references that supported tobacco use and 96% had references that supported alcohol use. Discouraging the use of these substances was uncommon. Only one third of films had any references that discouraged the use of tobacco or alcohol (38% and 37%, respectively). At least one lead character used tobacco or alcohol in 46% and 79% of the films, respectively. The hazards of smoking and drinking are not reflected in the behaviors of film characters who are potential role models for youth facing the decision to smoke or drink.     

Efficient psychotherapy as a viable response to scarce resources and rationing of treatment.

A recent series of articles purported that brief psychotherapy is mostly ineffective, that managed care's use of brief interventions constitutes invisible rationing, and that it is ethically mandatory to disclose this information to the patient. In response, the authors of this article demonstrate that health care rationing is multifaceted and universal in modern society, and patient disclosure is far from the simplistic, one-sided matter purported by the previous articles. It may even be deleterious. The authors advocate effective psychotherapy as a viable response to scarce resources and urge the profession to train future practitioners in the full range of emerging innovative and effective psychotherapies. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)