Rayonnement en ondes métriques et décimétriques des orages

This article presents the result of the current knowledge on the very high frequency electromagnetic radiation of lightning. A phenomenology analysis of the new results obtained from the study of triggered lightning in New Mexico (TRIP 82) and at Saint-Privat-d’ Allier in Haute-Loire, France (1983) is first described. The authors then present the spectral and temporal characteristics of the VHF/UHF radiation which can be applied to the electromagnetic compatibility of systems. From a synthesis of the experimental and theoretical contributions, they propose a reflection on the lightning initiation process and on the mechanisms generating lightning radiation.     

Three tokens in Herman’s algorithm

Herman’s algorithm is a synchronous randomized protocol for achieving self-stabilization in a token ring consisting of N processes. The interaction of tokens makes the dynamics of the protocol very difficult to analyze. In this paper we study the distribution of the time to stabilization, assuming that there are three tokens in the initial configuration. We show for arbitrary N and for an arbitrary timeout t that the probability of stabilization within time t is minimized by choosing as the initial three-token configuration the configuration in which the tokens are placed equidistantly on the ring. Our result strengthens a corollary of a theorem of McIver and Morgan (Inf. Process Lett. 94(2): 79–84, 2005), which states that the expected stabilization time is minimized by the equidistant configuration.     

Crossing safety barriers: influence of children's morphological and functional variables

Thirty-three children between 3 and 6 years of age were asked to climb four different types of safety barriers. Morphological and functional variables of the children, which were expected to influence climbing or passing through skills, were collected. The influence of those variables on children’s success rate and time to cross was tested. No barrier offered a total restraining efficacy. The horizontal bars barrier was crossed by 97% of the children. In the group of children that succeeded in crossing the four barriers, mean time to cross the most difficult barrier was 15 s. Age was the best predictor for success in crossing most barriers but morphology and strength were important predictors of time to cross. The influence of anthropometric variables in time to cross was dependent upon the characteristics of the barrier. A good design of safety barriers should consider children’s age, morphology and strength.     

Implementation of physical coordination training and cognitive behavioural training interventions at cleaning workplaces--secondary analyses of a randomised controlled trial

This study evaluates the implementation of physical coordination training (PCT) and cognitive behavioural training (CBTr) interventions in a randomised controlled trial at nine cleaners' workplaces. Female cleaners (n = 294) were randomised into a PCT, a CBTr or a reference (REF) group. Both 12-week interventions were performed in groups guided by an instructor. Records were kept on intervention dose (adherence) unanticipated events at the work place (context) and quality of intervention delivery (fidelity). Participant adherence was 37% in the PCT and 49% in the CBTr interventions. Optimal implementation was reached by only 6% in PCT and 42% in the CBTr. Analysis of the barriers to successful implementation indicated that the intervention process is sensitive to unanticipated events. In order to succeed in improving the health of high-risk populations such as cleaners and to correctly interpret intervention effects, more research on implementation is needed. Trial registration: ISRCTN96241850. PRACTITIONER SUMMARY: Both physical coordination training and cognitive behavioural training are potential effective workplace interventions among low educated job groups with high physical work demands. However, thorough consideration should be given to feasibility in the design of interventions. The optimal intervention should be tailored to closely match the implementation context and be robust and flexible to minimise susceptibility to changes in work organisation.     

Instrumental Learning Within the Rat Spinal Cord: Localization of the Essential Neural Circuit.

Following spinal transection of the upper thoracic spinal cord, male Sprague-Dawley rats given legshock whenever a hindlimb is extended learn to maintain the leg in a flexed position. The region of the cord that mediates this instrumental learning was isolated using neuroanatomical tracing, localized infusion of lidocaine, and surgical transections. DiI and Fluoro-Gold microinjection at the site of shock application labeled motor neuron bodies of lamina IX in the lower lumbar region. Local application of the Na++ channel blocker lidocaine disrupted learning when it was applied over a region extending from the lower lumbar (L3) to upper sacral (S2) cord. The drug had no effect rostral or caudal to this region. Surgical transections as low as L4 had no effect on learning. Learning also survived a dual transection at L4 and S3, but not L4 and S2. The results suggest that the essential neural circuit lies between L4 and S3. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The face of the patent is not the “Whole Story”: determining effective life of a pharmaceutical patent in the United States

This article provides an overview of the factors that may contribute to the effective term of protection for a pharmaceutical product in the USA––by patent and by FDA market exclusivities, identifies public and commercial sources for collecting relevant patent term and exclusivity data, and provides a strategy for ensuring that the effective term of protection has been calculated accurately.     

Updating Situation Models: Reply to Zwaan and Madden (2004).

E. J. O'Brien, M. L. Rizzella, J. E. Albrecht, and J. G. Halleran (1998) demonstrated that, consistent with the memory-based text processing view, outdated or incorrect information can be reactivated through a passive resonance process. Once reactivated, this outdated information can still influence comprehension. R. A. Zwaan and C. J. Madden (2004) suggested that the O'Brien et al. findings resulted from problems with the materials used. The present authors show that the possible "problems" identified by Zwaan and Madden do not adequately explain the findings of O'Brien et al. and that Zwaan and Madden's Experiment 3 lacks sufficient control or power to support their alternative interpretation of O'Brien et al. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cluster randomized trials with treatment noncompliance.

Cluster randomized trials (CRTs) have been widely used in field experiments treating a cluster of individuals as the unit of randomization. This study focused particularly on situations where CRTs are accompanied by a common complication, namely, treatment noncompliance or, more generally, intervention nonadherence. In CRTs, compliance may be related not only to individual characteristics but also to the environment of clusters individuals belong to. Therefore, analyses ignoring the connection between compliance and clustering may not provide valid results. Although randomized field experiments often suffer from both noncompliance and clustering of the data, these features have been studied as separate rather than concurrent problems. On the basis of Monte Carlo simulations, this study demonstrated how clustering and noncompliance may affect statistical inferences and how these two complications can be accounted for simultaneously. In particular, the effect of the intervention on individuals who not only were assigned to active intervention but also abided by this intervention assignment (complier average causal effect) was the focus. For estimation of intervention effects considering noncompliance and data clustering, an ML-EM estimation method was employed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)