The Fry method applied to an augen orthogneiss: Problems and results

The application of the Fry method to measure strain in deformed porphyritic granites is discussed. This method requires that the distribution of markers has to satisfy at least two conditions. It has to be homogeneous and isotropic. Statistics on point distribution with the help of a Morishita diagram can easily test homogeneity. Isotropy can be checked with a cumulative histogram of angles between points. Application of these tests to undeformed (Mte Capanne granite, Elba) and to deformed (Randa orthogneiss, Alps of Switzerland) porphyritic granite reveals that their K-feldspars phenocrysts both satisfy these conditions and can be used as strain markers with the Fry method. Other problems are also examined. One is the possible distribution of deformation on discrete shear-bands. Providing several tests are met, we conclude that the Fry method can be used to estimate strain in deformed porphyritic granites. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Catalogue des dessins et estampes... composant la collection de M. L. P. M. Norblin... / [expert] Mannheim

[Vente. Estampes. 1855-02-05. Paris]

The Lausanne cohort Lc65+: a population-based prospective study of the manifestations, determinants and outcomes of frailty

BACKGROUND: Frailty is a relatively new geriatric concept referring to an increased vulnerability to stressors. Various definitions have been proposed, as well as a range of multidimensional instruments for its measurement. More recently, a frailty phenotype that predicts a range of adverse outcomes has been described. Understanding frailty is a particular challenge both from a clinical and a public health perspective because it may be a reversible precursor of functional dependence. The Lausanne cohort Lc65+ is a longitudinal study specifically designed to investigate the manifestations of frailty from its first signs in the youngest old, identify medical and psychosocial determinants, and describe its evolution and related outcomes. METHODS/DESIGN: The Lc65+ cohort was launched in 2004 with the random selection of 3054 eligible individuals aged 65 to 70 (birth year 1934-1938) in the non-institutionalized population of Lausanne (Switzerland). The baseline data collection was completed among 1422 participants in 2004-2005 through questionnaires, examination and performance tests. It comprised a wide range of medical and psychosocial dimensions, including a life course history of adverse events. Outcomes measures comprise subjective health, limitations in activities of daily living, mobility impairments, development of medical conditions or chronic health problems, falls, institutionalization, health services utilization, and death. Two additional random samples of 65-70 years old subjects will be surveyed in 2009 (birth year 1939-1943) and in 2014 (birth year 1944-1948). DISCUSSION: The Lc65+ study focuses on the sequence "Determinants --> Components --> Consequences" of frailty. It currently provides information on health in the youngest old and will allow comparisons to be made between the profiles of aging individuals born before, during and at the end of the Second World War.

Causality and endogeneity: Problems and solutions

Most leadership and management researchers ignore one key design and estimation problem rendering parameter estimates uninterpretable: Endogeneity. We discuss the problem of endogeneity in depth and explain conditions that engender it using examples grounded in the leadership literature. We show how consistent causal estimates can be derived from the randomized experiment, where endogeneity is eliminated by experimental design. We then review the reasons why estimates may become biased (i.e., inconsistent) in non-experimental designs and present a number of useful remedies for examining causal relations with non-experimental data. We write in intuitive terms using nontechnical language to make this chapter accessible to a large audience.

Catalogue d'une très-belle collection de tabatières... [collections Prince Demidoff, Comte Potocki] ... vente... 15 février 1861... / [expert] Mannheim

[Vente. Art. 1861-02-15 - 1861-02-16. Paris]

Catalogue d'une précieuse et rare collection de 124 miniatures anciennes... [Guérin-Laurens] / [expert] Mannheim

[Vente. Art. 1860-03-23 - 1860-03-24. Paris]

Being Drunk to Have Fun or to Forget Problems? Identifying Enhancement and Coping Drinkers Among Risky Drinking Adolescents

Prevention programs in adolescence are particularly effective if they target homogeneous risk groups of adolescents who share a combination of particular needs and problems. The present work aims to identify and classify risky single-occasion drinking (RSOD) adolescents according to their motivation to engage in drinking. An easy-to-use coding procedure was developed. It was validated by means of cluster analyses and structural equation modeling based on two randomly selected subsamples of a nationally representative sample of 2,449 12- to 18-year-old RSOD students in Switzerland. Results revealed that the coding procedure classified RSOD adolescents as either enhancement drinkers or coping drinkers. The high concordance (Sample A: kappa - .88, Sample B: kappa - .90) with the results of the cluster analyses demonstrated the convergent validity of the coding classification. The fact that enhancement drinkers in both subsamples were found to go out more frequently in the evenings and to have more satisfactory social relationships, as well as a higher proportion of drinking peers and a lower likelihood to drink at home than coping drinkers demonstrates the concurrent validity of the classification. To conclude, the coding procedure appears to be a valid, reliable, and easy-to-use tool that can help better adapt prevention activities to adolescent risky drinking motives.

Monitoring of illicit pill distribution networks using an image collection exploration framework

This paper proposes a novel approach for the analysis of illicit tablets based on their visual characteristics. In particular, the paper concentrates on the problem of ecstasy pill seizure profiling and monitoring. The presented method extracts the visual information from pill images and builds a representation of it, i.e. it builds a pill profile based on the pill visual appearance. Different visual features are used to build different image similarity measures, which are the basis for a pill monitoring strategy based on both discriminative and clustering models. The discriminative model permits to infer whether two pills come from the same seizure, while the clustering models groups of pills that share similar visual characteristics. The resulting clustering structure allows to perform a visual identification of the relationships between different seizures. The proposed approach was evaluated using a data set of 621 Ecstasy pill pictures. The results demonstrate that this is a feasible and cost effective method for performing pill profiling and monitoring.

Work and health conditions of sugar cane workers in Brazil

This is an exploratory research, with a quantitative approach, developed with the objective of analyzing the work and of life situations that can offer risks to the workers' health involved in the manual and automated cut of the sugar cane. The sample was composed by 39 sugar cane cutters and 16 operators of harvesters. The data collection occurred during the months of July and August of 2006, by the technique of direct observation of work situations and workers' homes and through interviews semi-structured. The interviews were recorded and later transcribed. Data were analyzed according to Social Ecological Theory. It was observed that the workers deal with multiple health risk situations, predominantly to the risks of occurrence of respiratory, musculoskeletal and psychological problems and work-related accidents due to the work activities. The interaction of individual, social and environmental factors can determine the workers' tendency to falling ill.