CHEWING PATTERNS OF VARIOUS TEXTURE FOODS STUDIED BY ELECTROMYOGRAPHY IN YOUNG AND ELDERLY POPULATIONS

The effects of food texture on the chewing patterns of elderly and young people, masticatory recordings using electromyography (EMG) were carried out. Fourteen French adults (mean 29.4 years) and 23 elderly (mean 67.7 years) participated. Six food products (rice, beef, cheese, crispy bread, apple and peanuts) were tested. The chewing pattern of elderly subjects was characterized by a significant increase of number of chews and chewing duration for all foods except rice. Whatever the food type, muscle activity per chew (mean amplitude × burst duration) was lower for elderly than for young subjects. Single chews appeared less effective for food reduction in elderly than in young subjects. This can be partly compensated for by increasing the chewing duration and number of chews. No significant difference was found between both groups of subject for the total amount of EMG activity required prior to swallow whatever the food chewed.     

Milk transport costs under differing seasonality assumptions for the Irish Dairy Industry

Milk production in Ireland is seasonal in nature with the milk supply matching grass growth at farm level. The objective of this paper was to estimate the milk transport costs and carbon emissions from milk transport associated with alternative milk supply patterns and output levels in Ireland. A milk transport simulation model was used to simulate three alternative milk supply patterns with peak‐to‐trough month ratios of 5.37:1, 2.71:1 and 8:1. It was found that milk transport costs were not very sensitive to alternative milk supply patterns. Alternative milk supply pattern also had very little effect on carbon emissions from milk transport in Ireland.     

CAPACITY TO LEAD: THE FUTURE OF URBAN MANAGEMENT

The issues and problems facing local governments over the next 20 years are complex. Understanding and solving these problems will require specialized roles and skills not common among urban management today. Managers of the future must have the capacity to broker, negotiated, and lead unobtrusively. To achieve this, administrators and elected officials should engage in joint training and problem solving, support groups should be developed and nurtured, and techniques for rigorous and thorough recruitment of managers should be utilized.     

A MULTIVARIATE PARADIGM FOR EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH.

PROPOSES A MULTIVARIATE PARADIGM FOR EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH IN THE EXPECTATION THAT IT WILL INCREASE THE LIKELIHOOD OF MAKING FURTHER PROGRESS TOWARD A MEANINGFUL THEORY OF TEACHING. INSTRUCTIONAL COMPARISON STRATEGIES DERIVED FROM SIMPLER PARADIGMS ARE CRITICIZED WITH RESPECT TO (1) CRITERIA EMPLOYED, (2) ERRONEOUS IMPLICIT ASSUMPTIONS OF INDEPENDENCE AND HOMEGENEITY OF CONDITIONS, AND (3) LACK OF SPECIFICITY OF VARIABLES INVESTIGATED. IT IS SUGGESTED THAT FURTHER ADVANCES IN UNDERSTANDING CLASSROOM INSTRUCTION REQUIRE NEW PRETHEORETICAL MODELS EMPHASIZING INTERACTIONS RATHER THAN MAIN EFFECTS. THE PARTICULAR PARADIGM SUGGESTED FOCUSES UPON INTERACTIONS BETWEEN 4 VARIABLE CLASSES: CLASSROOM ENVIRONMENT, INSTRUCTOR, LEARNER, AND COURSE. SPECIFIC VARIABLES WITHIN EACH CLASS ARE DEFINED AND AN INVESTIGATORY PATTERN IS SUGGESTED. REPRESENTATIVE FINDINGS ILLUSTRATING THE POTENTIAL FERTILITY OF THE PARADIGM ARE CITED. (39 REF.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Future outlook for the Irish dairy industry: a study of international competitiveness, influence of international trade reform and requirement for change

European Union (EU) trade liberalisation policies will continue to push EU milk price downwards and necessitate increased efficiency and scale at farm and processing level to maintain profitability. In Ireland pasture-based dairying, based on the efficient conversion of grazed grass into milk can be competitive within the EU. Continued technical innovation increasing animal performance from grazed grass, increasing herd genetic potential and developing labour efficient lower fixed cost systems will be essential. At processing level, increased efficiency in commodity processing, higher margin product development and the evolution of milk payment systems to reflect the true product value of supplies received will be required.     

SUCCESSFUL AND UNSUCCESSFUL PARTICIPATORY ARRANGEMENTS: WHY IS THERE A PARTICIPATORY MOVEMENT AT THE LOCAL LEVEL?

ABSTRACT: The objective of this article is to explore some of the reasons for the growing number of participatory arrangements at the local level. An approach in terms of governance allows us to examine the underlying patterns of logic that induce public authorities to develop new policy tools such as participatory arrangements. Our study focuses on a medium‐sized French city, Bordeaux, where eight types of relatively weak participatory arrangements have been implemented since 1995. The article shows that the French government and European Union have fostered this type of arrangement through a complex series of public programs and policies with the aim of rebuilding their political legitimacy by encouraging participation at the municipal level. This approach is relevant to understanding the origin of the reforms affecting local governments over the past decade.     

MINE VENTILATION EXPERT SYSTEM

A growing trend in the area of artificial intelligence is the development of software that simulates the decision-making process of human experts. The purpose of this paper is to advance the use of available tools from the area of artificial intelligence, and in particular expert systems, into the field of mine ventilation management. The authors have developed an expert system (i.e., a smart manager) that controls the operation of a mine ventilation network. The expert system is rule based and hence can be (independently) enhanced in an incremental fashion. It serves as a smart interface between the monitoring and control components of a mine ventilation system.