Program evaluation: resource for decision making

Formal program evaluation is an important resource for health care decision making. It is necessary in situations where traditional organizational evaluative capabilities an no longer meet the requirements of the job at hand.     

Development of surgical instruments for implanting a flexible fixation device for the lumbar spine

A new flexible fixation device for the lumbar spine has been developed. This paper describes the development and evaluation of two surgical instruments required for implanting this device. Prototypes were designed, manufactured and then evaluated for use in surgery. Further evaluation was performed, if necessary, and the design finalized, in accordance with BS EN 12011. This process involved close collaboration between engineers and surgeons.     

Glass Conductance Controlled Electric Forehearth

The heating currents flow longitudinally between transverse submerged electrodes. Their arrangement distributes heating current throughout the glass body without zone control interference while using a minimum number of electrodes. Conventional gas firing remains unchanged as an alternate mode of operation. Heating is controlled to an average glass electric conductance setting (as measured in the exit half of each zone). The basic electrode and holder design is briefly described. It does not require forced cooling. The operator's control panel is explained in addition to the all solid-state measuring, calculating, and controlling system with glass level compensation. A muffled cooling system improvement is also outlined.     

Case Study: Analysis of Corrosion Patterns to Evaluate the Preaccident Configuration of an ATV Tie Rod End Connection

A forensic investigation was performed on an ATV that was involved in an accident in which the vehicle struck a tree. Postaccident, the front knuckle/tie rod end connection was found to be loose. The prevailing torque nut was found positioned at the end of the tie rod end bolt such that there was a gap between the face of the nut and the knuckle. The subject nut exhibits machining asperities that resulted from close contact with the knuckle face. EDS analysis of the corrosion product ring on the knuckle face revealed the corrosion product was zinc oxide, which had formed due to galvanic corrosion between the galvanized nut and the carbon steel knuckle. Scuffing patterns on the nut, wear patterns on the bolt, and lack of damage to the knuckle corrosion ring confirmed that the nut could not have loosened from the as-manufactured position to the postaccident position. No viable nut loosening mechanism was identified other than deliberate, manual manipulation.     

Robert Louis Stevenson and the Portrait Photographers

This article is prompted by the remarkable characteristic of nineteenth-century Scotland that circumstances congregate to give an unprecedentedly generous or democratic view of life. Four forms of communication – the statistical accounts, which were followed by the British census records, the boom in publishing, especially in newspapers and journals, and inexpensive communication promoted by the penny post, even the information in street directories and advertisements – all combine with the exploitation of photography to give us insights, which can be disconcertingly specific, acting as occasional spotlights on the landscape. This article is prompted by one particular letter from Robert Louis Stevenson, written when he was a young man, and is followed through two lines of connected thought: the practice of studio photography in Scotland and Stevenson's continuing interest in the photographic portrait.