The classification and application of toxic Chinese Materia Medica

Many important drugs in the Chinese materia medica (CMM) are known to be toxic, and it has long been recognized in classical Chinese medical theory that toxicity can arise directly from the components of a single CMM or may be induced by an interaction between combined CMM. Traditional Chinese Medicine presents a unique set of pharmaceutical theories that include particular methods for processing, combining and decocting, and these techniques contribute to reducing toxicity as well as enhancing efficacy. The current classification of toxic CMM drugs, traditional methods for processing toxic CMM and the prohibited use of certain combinations, is based on traditional experience and ancient texts and monographs, but accumulating evidence increasingly supports their use to eliminate or reduce toxicity. Modern methods are now being used to evaluate the safety of CMM; however, a new system for describing the toxicity of Chinese herbal medicines may need to be established to take into account those herbs whose toxicity is delayed or otherwise hidden, and which have not been incorporated into the traditional classification. This review explains the existing classification and justifies it where appropriate, using experimental results often originally published in Chinese and previously not available outside China.

Economic forecasting in a changing world

This article explains the basis for a theory of economic forecasting developed over the past decade by the authors. The research has resulted in numerous articles in academic journals, two monographs, Forecasting Economic Time Series, 1998, Cambridge University Press, and Forecasting Nonstationary Economic Time Series, 1999, MIT Press, and three edited volumes, Understanding Economic Forecasts, 2001, MIT Press, A Companion to Economic Forecasting, 2002, Blackwells, and the Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, 2005. The aim here is to provide an accessible, non-technical, account of the main ideas. The interested reader is referred to the monographs for derivations, simulation evidence, and further empirical illustrations, which in turn reference the original articles and related material, and provide bibliographic perspective.

The catastrophic flash-flood event of 8–9 September 2002 in the Gard region, France: a first case study for the Cévennes–Vivarais Mediterranean Hydrometeorological Observatory

The Cévennes–Vivarais Mediterranean Hydrometeorological Observatory (OHM-CV) is a research initiative aimed at improving the understanding and modeling of the Mediterranean intense rain events that frequently result in devastating flash floods in southern France. A primary objective is to bring together the skills of meteorologists and hydrologists, modelers and instrumentalists, researchers and practitioners, to cope with these rather unpredictable events. In line with previously published flash-flood monographs, the present paper aims at documenting the 8–9 September 2002 catastrophic event, which resulted in 24 casualties and an economic damage evaluated at 1.2 billion euros (i.e., about 1 billion U.S. dollars) in the Gard region, France. A description of the synoptic meteorological situation is first given and shows that no particular precursor indicated the imminence of such an extreme event. Then, radar and rain gauge analyses are used to assess the magnitude of the rain event, which was particularly remarkable for its spatial extent with rain amounts greater than 200 mm in 24 h over 5500 km2. The maximum values of 600–700 mm observed locally are among the highest daily records in the region. The preliminary results of the postevent hydrological investigation show that the hydrologic response of the upstream watersheds of the Gard and Vidourle Rivers is consistent with the marked space–time structure of the rain event. It is noteworthy that peak specific discharges were very high over most of the affected areas (5–10 m3 s−1 km−2) and reached locally extraordinary values of more than 20 m3 s−1 km−2. A preliminary analysis indicates contrasting hydrological behaviors that seem to be related to geomorphological factors, notably the influence of karst in part of the region. An overview of the ongoing meteorological and hydrological research projects devoted to this case study within the OHM-CV is finally presented.

The representation of bodily pain in late nineteenth-century English culture

This book deals with bodily pain in the late Victorian period, considering the ways in which its understanding is shaped by medicine and theology.

Anticipatory engineering: anticipation in sensory-motor systems of human

In visual tracking experiments, distributions of the relative phase be-tween target and tracer showed positive relative phase indicating that the tracer precedes the target position. We found a mode transition from the reactive to anticipatory mode. The proposed integrated model provides a framework to understand the antici-patory behaviour of human, focusing on the integration of visual and soma-tosensory information. The time delays in visual processing and somatosensory feedback are explicitly treated in the simultaneous differential equations. The anticipatory behaviour observed in the visual tracking experiments can be ex-plained by the feedforward term of target velocity, internal dynamics, and time delay in somatosensory feedback.

Synapses in digital medium: computational investigations of neural basis of anticipation

Anticipation is an emerging concept that can provide a bridge between the deepest philosophical theories about the nature of life and cognition on one hand and the empirical biological sciences steeped in reductionist and Newtonian conception of causality. Three conceptions of anticipation have been emerging from the literature that may be operationalised in a way leading to a viable empirical programme. The discussion of the research into a novel dynamical concept of anticipating synchronisation lends credence to such a possibility and suggests further links between the three anticipation paradigms. A careful progress mindful to the deep philosophical concerns but also respecting empirical evidence will ultimately lead towards unifying theoretical and empirical biological sciences and may offer progress where reductionist science have been so far faltering.

An assessment of criteria to evaluate the graduate education program in Brazil

This study sought to identify criteria adequate for the evaluation of graduate programs in Brazil. A survey was the means for collecting the ratings and rankings given by faculty members at selected Brazilian graduate programs. A questionnaire using Likerttype and ranking items asked the importance attributed by each respondent to each of the 109 items listed. The data analysis reported in this dissertation indicates that the most highly rated criteria and indicators were: (1) Library: current periodicals; (2) Facilities: classrooms and laboratories; (3) Library: books and monographs; (4) Academic Environment: discussion, investigation, and expression; and (5) Facilities: research space and equipment. The study presents the means and standard deviations obtained for each indicator and also includes some figures obtained for a relational analysis. This dissertation was developed to provide useful information to educational planners, policy makers, administrators, and evaluators involved in Brazilian higher education or comparative studies. It is suggested that additional investigations concentrate on more specific and in-depth analysis and interpretation of the policymaking processes, i.e., on the study of social facts or organizational and academic variables in their relationships with aspects of the educational system. The appendices section includes a facsimile of the questionnaire and additional data.

O processo decisório no município de Macaé

This research had as objective to identify as if it gives to the process of decisions in the City of Macaé. It was a case study, therefore to make possible this analysis, the used ways had been the research of field, bibliographical and documentary. The bibliographical survey was made in books, specialized periodicals, thesis, dissertations, monographs, sites and the pertinent legislation to the case, generating an analytical base of the subject considered for study. The research also was documentary, since internal document use of the City Hall of Macaé became. In the field, the public decision-making of Macaé, the previous management, had been interviewed, so that it was understood of that it forms if gives the process of taking of decisions in this city. Moreover, the interviewed ones had been encouraged to display its beliefs and feelings, to tell to experiences and personal characteristics. With this, one searched to better understand the universe lived for the respondents and, simultaneously, to compare the speeches and the reality. The data had suffered analysis of content based on the studies from Bardin (1979), Laville and Dione (1999) and Vergara (2005). The study it approaches the City of Macaé, and, in accordance with Yin (2001), studies of cases allow to work with an immense variety of evidences, as documents, devices, interviews and comments. The research bibliographical, documentary, of field, in the case study had been complementary and with its confrontation it searched to get a general vision of form to give to reply to the final question proposal. One concludes that the process of decisions politics and its implementation in the City of Macaé if gave by means of the awareness of the executive former-managers of the City Hall, in assuming roles of true entrepreneurs, the good relationship with the Common Council, in the search of chances and the combat to the problems and the establishment of public politics, focused in the access and the improvement of the quality of the public rendering of services, in the incentive the economic development and in the promotion of the citizenship for the population place.

Análise teórico-metodológica das monografias do curso de turismo da UFMA que abordam o assunto da gestão de negócios turísticos no período de 2001 a 2005.

Este trabalho tem por finalidade analisar as características teóricas e metodológicas das monografias defendidas no curso de turismo da Universidade Federal do Maranhão – UFMA, que tratam de assuntos voltados para a temática em Gestão de Negócios turísticos no período de 2001/2005. Trabalham-se as principais definições e conceitos relacionados à pesquisa, mostrando ser a pesquisa um ato não isolado, processual e sistematizado. Apresenta a importância e as funções da pesquisa afirmando que a mesma vem conquistando um certo espaço na vida acadêmica por melhorar as práticas educativas bem como contribuindo para melhoria de vida dos cidadãos, quando unida à tecnologia, além de apresentar a importância dos métodos de investigação nos vários níveis e fases. Aborda sobre a pesquisa nas diversas concepções na universidade de forma contextualizada. Aborda sobre a função social da pesquisa estimulando a divulgação científica, vinculando esta responsabilidade como débito social do pesquisador para com a comunidade científica. A pesquisa configura-se como um método descritivo - exploratório analisado segundo três matrizes: paradigmática, tipológica e o mapa conceitual que serviram como critério orientador, onde as monografias foram metodicamente analisadas em sua estrutura no nível teórico, apresentando as principais temáticas trabalhadas, as críticas e as propostas, bem como os autores mais citados e os tipos de documento mais pesquisados. No nível técnico são analisados a característica das pesquisas, as técnicas, instrumentos e procedimentos utilizados na coleta e analise dos dados. No nível epistemológico foram observados os critérios de validação, as concepções de causalidade e de ciência, e os pressupostos lógico – gnosiológicos. Os dados obtidos, analisados a luz do referencial teórico apontam para necessidade de um maior rigor científico e espírito crítico por parte dos pesquisadores.