Expansion of a Bose-Einstein condensate formed on a joint harmonic and one-dimensional optical-lattice potential

We study the expansion of a Bose-Einstein condensate trapped in a combined optical-lattice and axially-symmetric harmonic potential using the numerical solution of the mean-field Gross-Pitaevskii equation. First, we consider the expansion of such a condensate under the action of the optical-lattice potential alone. In this case the result of numerical simulation for the axial and radial sizes during expansion is in agreement with two experiments by Morsch et al (2002 Phys. Rev. A 66 021601(R) and 2003 Laser Phys. 13 594). Finally, we consider the expansion under the action of the harmonic potential alone. In this case the oscillation, and the disappearance and revival of the resultant interference pattern is in agreement with the experiment by Muller et al (2003 J. Opt. B: Quantum Semiclass. Opt. 5 S38).

Financing for sustainable development: visions and proposals for action from a Latin American and Caribbean perspective

Foreword Throughout the preparatory process for the World Summit on Sustainable Development and at the Summit itself, which was held in Johannesburg, South Africa, from 26 August to 4 September 2002, discussions were dominated by one central concern: the need to define and reach consensus on concrete, quantitative goals, with fixed deadlines for implementation, which were to supplement the Millennium Development Goals and facilitate progress towards an effective transition to sustainable development. Participants at the Summit explicitly affirmed the need, as a matter of urgency, to identify the financial and technical resources whereby sustainable development would become a reality and benefit directly and particularly rural and urban communities in the developing countries. The document we are now presenting is the outcome of extensive discussions held at a high-level forum during the Johannesburg Summit. Led by representatives of the Government of Mexico, the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Andean Development Corporation, those discussions were based on the ECLAC/UNDP study entitled Financing for sustainable development in Latin America and the Caribbean: from Monterrey to Johannesburg, which considers the opportunities and challenges for improving prospects for investment and financing for sustainable development and underscores the need to establish a new balance between the market economy and public interest through joint public/private initiatives that combine market innovation, social responsibility and appropriate regulations. Other eminent persons attending the event included heads of State, such as Gustavo Noboa, then President of Ecuador; Enrique V. Iglesias, President of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB); José María Figueres, Managing Director of the Global Agenda of the World Economic Forum and former President of Costa Rica; and Gro Harlem Brundtland, the legendary figure who pioneered sustainable development. Valuable contributions to the discussions were made by Yolanda Kakabadse, President of the World Conservation Union; Xóchitl Gálvez Ruiz, head of the Unit for the Development of Indigenous Peoples of the Office of the President of Mexico; Cecilia López, former Minister for the Environment of Colombia; and Juan Carlos Maqueda, then Vice President of Argentina. The views emerging from the forum as set forth in this document are designed to facilitate and promote application of the Plan of Implementation of the World Summit on Sustainable Development within the framework of the Millennium Development Goals and the commitments assumed at the International Conference on Financing for Development, which was held in Monterrey, Mexico. We also aspire to continue moving forward with the adoption of measures and policies to increase investment and financing for sustainable development as well as to foster partnerships between the public and private sectors and nongovernmental organizations. We recognize, in this context, the importance of strengthening and improving public and private institutions in order to meet the operational needs associated with the effort to achieve the Millennium Development Goals and pursue the Plan of Implementation formulated in Johannesburg. We trust that this document will contribute to in-depth discussions on the application of the Plan of Implementation in the relevant forums, in particular the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development. The Plan of Implementation of the World Summit on Sustainable Development opens up new opportunities for Latin America and the Caribbean to renew and revive their own regional agenda -with emphasis on global and especially regional public goods- and to interweave it more cohesively with the global agenda in order to promote the common interests of Latin America and the Caribbean more forcefully in international development forums. The regional agenda and the global agenda cannot be separated in a contrived manner; indeed, to an increasing degree, what we are witnessing are global environmental processes which call for action at the local level. The achievement of sustainable development in Latin America and the Caribbean, where the necessary economic, social, environmental and geopolitical conditions are combined, requires a subtle balance between the market economy, the State and the citizen. Such a balance will result in the consolidation of democratic governance in the service of human development. VICENTE FOX President of Mexico JOSÉ ANTONIO OCAMPO Executive Secretary, Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) ELENA MARTÍNEZ Assistant Aministrator and Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) ENRIQUE GARCÍA Executive President, Andean Development Corporation (ADC)""

Report of the Joint Meeting of the SIDS Bureau and the Inter-Agency Collaborative Group

Summary An account of the proceedings of the meeting which discussed the following agenda items: report on regional implementation of the SIDS POA; status of regional projects for submission to the meeting of prospective donors and representatives of Small Island Developing States; the regional position on UNDP compendium of project proposals; status of consultations with CARIFORUM and the EU; budget for the regional co-ordinating mechanism and consultation; preparation for the Special Session on the UN General Assembly (UNGASS); to discuss the SIDS plan of action; and a Ministerial meeting on SIDS POA implementation.

Caribbean synthesis review and appraisal report on the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action

The Caribbean sub-regional synthesis report, covering 12 countries, assesses progress towards the gender equality goals articulated in the 1995 World Conference on Women, which produced the Beijing Platform for Action (BPfA). The process leading to the preparation of the report has involved a series of national, regional and global consultations that will culminate in the Beijing + 20 Review. The process has also led to the formulation of the Caribbean Joint Statement on Gender Equality and the Post-2015, as well as the SIDS Agenda, both of which express Caribbean perspectives and expectations regarding gender equality.

Division of labor between M and P visual pathways: different visual pathways minimize joint entropy differently

Visual perception and action are strongly linked with parallel processing channels connecting the retina, the lateral geniculate nucleus, and the input layers of the primary visual cortex. Achromatic vision is provided by at least two of such channels formed by the M and P neurons. These cell pathways are similarly organized in primates having different lifestyles, including species that are diurnal, nocturnal, and which exhibit a variety of color vision phenotypes. We describe the M and P cell properties by 3D Gábor functions and their 3D Fourier transform. The M and P cells occupy different loci in the Gábor information diagram or Fourier Space. This separation allows the M and P pathways to transmit visual signals with distinct 6D joint entropy for space, spatial frequency, time, and temporal frequency. By combining the M and P impacts on the cortical neurons beyond V1 input layers, the cortical pathways are able to process aspects of visual stimuli with a better precision than it would be possible using the M or P pathway alone. This performance fulfils the requirements of different behavioral tasks.

Joint X̄ and R charts with variable parameters

Recent studies have shown that the X̄chart with variable parameters (Vp X̄ chart) detects process shifts faster than the traditional X̄ chart. This article extends these studies for processes that are monitored by both, X̄ and R charts. Basically, the X̄ and R values establish if the control should or should not be relaxed. When the X̄ and R values fall in the central region the control is relaxed because one will wait more to take the next sample and/or the next sample will be smaller than usual. When the X̄ or R values fall in the warning region the control is tightened because one will wait less to take the next sample and the next sample will be larger than usual. The action limits are also made variable. This paper proposes to draw the action limits (for both charts) wider than usual, when the control is relaxed and narrower than usual when the control is tightened. The Vp feature improves the joint X̄ and R control chart performance in terms of the speed with which the process mean and/or variance shifts are detected. © 1998 IIE.

New functional and biomechanical assessments for the improvement of the surgical navigation systems for joint replacement in the human lower limb

In case of severe osteoarthritis at the knee causing pain, deformity, and loss of stability and mobility, the clinicians consider that the substitution of these surfaces by means of joint prostheses. The objectives to be pursued by this surgery are: complete pain elimination, restoration of the normal physiological mobility and joint stability, correction of all deformities and, thus, of limping. The knee surgical navigation systems have bee developed in computer-aided surgery in order to improve the surgical final outcome in total knee arthroplasty. These systems provide the surgeon with quantitative and real-time information about each surgical action, like bone cut executions and prosthesis component alignment, by mean of tracking tools rigidly fixed onto the femur and the tibia. Nevertheless, there is still a margin of error due to the incorrect surgical procedures and to the still limited number of kinematic information provided by the current systems. Particularly, patello-femoral joint kinematics is not considered in knee surgical navigation. It is also unclear and, thus, a source of misunderstanding, what the most appropriate methodology is to study the patellar motion. In addition, also the knee ligamentous apparatus is superficially considered in navigated total knee arthroplasty, without taking into account how their physiological behavior is altered by this surgery. The aim of the present research work was to provide new functional and biomechanical assessments for the improvement of the surgical navigation systems for joint replacement in the human lower limb. This was mainly realized by means of the identification and development of new techniques that allow a thorough comprehension of the functioning of the knee joint, with particular attention to the patello-femoral joint and to the main knee soft tissues. A knee surgical navigation system with active markers was used in all research activities presented in this research work. Particularly, preliminary test were performed in order to assess the system accuracy and the robustness of a number of navigation procedures. Four studies were performed in-vivo on patients requiring total knee arthroplasty and randomly implanted by means of traditional and navigated procedures in order to check for the real efficacy of the latter with respect to the former. In order to cope with assessment of patello-femoral joint kinematics in the intact and replaced knees, twenty in-vitro tests were performed by using a prototypal tracking tool also for the patella. In addition to standard anatomical and articular recommendations, original proposals for defining the patellar anatomical-based reference frame and for studying the patello-femoral joint kinematics were reported and used in these tests. These definitions were applied to two further in-vitro tests in which, for the first time, also the implant of patellar component insert was fully navigated. In addition, an original technique to analyze the main knee soft tissues by means of anatomical-based fiber mappings was also reported and used in the same tests. The preliminary instrumental tests revealed a system accuracy within the millimeter and a good inter- and intra-observer repeatability in defining all anatomical reference frames. In in-vivo studies, the general alignments of femoral and tibial prosthesis components and of the lower limb mechanical axis, as measured on radiographs, was more satisfactory, i.e. within ±3°, in those patient in which total knee arthroplasty was performed by navigated procedures. As for in-vitro tests, consistent patello-femoral joint kinematic patterns were observed over specimens throughout the knee flexion arc. Generally, the physiological intact knee patellar motion was not restored after the implant. This restoration was successfully achieved in the two further tests where all component implants, included the patellar insert, were fully navigated, i.e. by means of intra-operative assessment of also patellar component positioning and general tibio-femoral and patello-femoral joint assessment. The tests for assessing the behavior of the main knee ligaments revealed the complexity of the latter and the different functional roles played by the several sub-bundles compounding each ligament. Also in this case, total knee arthroplasty altered the physiological behavior of these knee soft tissues. These results reveal in-vitro the relevance and the feasibility of the applications of new techniques for accurate knee soft tissues monitoring, patellar tracking assessment and navigated patellar resurfacing intra-operatively in the contest of the most modern operative techniques. This present research work gives a contribution to the much controversial knowledge on the normal and replaced of knee kinematics by testing the reported new methodologies. The consistence of these results provides fundamental information for the comprehension and improvements of knee orthopedic treatments. In the future, the reported new techniques can be safely applied in-vivo and also adopted in other joint replacements.

Effectiveness of individual resource-oriented joint protection education in people with rheumatoid arthritis. A randomized controlled trial

the modern joint protection (JP) concept for people with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an active coping strategy to improve daily tasks and role performance by changing working methods and using assistive devices. Effective group JP education includes psycho-educational interventions. The Pictorial Representation of Illness and Self Measure (PRISM) is an interactive hands-on-tool, assessing (a) the individual's perceived burden of illness and (b) relevant individual resources. Both issues are important for intrinsic motivation to take action and change behaviour. This study compared individual conventional JP education (C-JP) with PRISM-based JP education (PRISM-JP).

Strategy and Action Plan for Sustainable Land Management in the High Pamir and Pamir-Alai Mountains

This Strategy and Action Plan was written within the framework of the project on Sustainable Land Management in the High Pamir and Pamir-Alai Mountains (PALM). PALM is an integrated transboundary initiative of the governments of the Kyrgyz Republic and the Republic of Tajikistan. It aims to address the interlinked problems of land degradation and poverty within a region that is one of Central Asia’s crucial sources of freshwater and a location of biodiversity hotspots. The project is executed by the Committee on Environment Protection in Tajikistan and the National Center for Mountain Regions Development in Kyrgyzstan, with fi nancial support from the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and other donors. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is the GEF Implementing Agency for the project, and the United Nations University (UNU) is the International Executing Agency. This Strategy and Action Plan integrates the work of three main teams of experts, namely the Pamir-Alai Transboundary Strategy and Action Plan (PATSAP) team, the Legal Task Forces, and a team of Natural Disaster Risk specialists. The PATSAP team was coordinated by the Centre for Development and Environment (CDE), University of Bern, Switzerland. The Legal Task Force was led by the Australian Centre for Agriculture and Law of the University of New England (UNE), and responsibility for the Natural Disaster Risk assessment was with the Central- Asian Institute of Applied Geosciences (CAIAG) in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. The development of the strategy took place from June 2009 to October 2010. The activities included fi eld study tours for updating the information base with fi rst-hand information from the local level, coordination meetings with actors from the region, and two multi-level stakeholder forums conducted in Khorog and Osh to identify priorities and to collect ideas for concrete action plans. The baseline information collected for the Strategy and Action Plan has been compiled by the experts and made available as reports1. A joint multi-level stakeholder forum was conducted in Jirgitol, Tajikistan, for in-depth discussion of the transboundary aspects. In August 2010, the draft Strategy and Action Plan was distributed among local, national, and international actors for consultation, and their comments were discussed at feedback forums in Khorog and Bishkek. This Strategy and Action Plan is intended as a recommendation. Nevertheless, it proposes concrete mechanisms for implementing the proposed sustainable land management (SLM) activities: The Regional Natural Resources Governance Framework provides the legal and policy concepts, principles, and regulatory requirements needed to create an enabling environment for SLM in the High Pamir and Pamir-Alai region at the transboundary, national, and local levels. The priority directions outlined provide a framework for the elaboration of rayon-level strategies and for strategies on specifi c topics (forestry, livestock, etc.), as well as for further development of government programmes and international projects. The action plans may serve as a pool of concrete ideas, which can be taken up by diff erent institutions and in smaller or larger projects. Finally, this document provides a basis for the elaboration and signing of targeted cooperation agreements on land use and management between the leaders of Osh oblast (Kyrgyz Republic), Gorno Badakhshan Autonomous Oblast, and Jirgitol rayon (Republic of Tajikistan).

Analysis and Modelling of the Structural Components of the Elbow Joint

A recent application of computer simulation is its use for the human body, which resembles a mechanism that is complemented by torques in the joints that are caused by the action of muscles and tendons. Among others, the application can be used to provide training in surgical procedures or to learn how the body works. Some of the other applications are to make a biped walk upright, to build robots that are designed on the human body or to make prostheses or robot arms to perform specific tasks. One of the uses of simulation is to optimise the movement of the human body by examining which muscles are activated and which should or should not be activated in order to improve a person?s movements. This work presents a model of the elbow joint, and by analysing the constraint equations using classic methods we go on to model the bones, muscles and tendons as well as the logic linked to the force developed by them when faced with a specific movement. To do this, we analyse the reference bibliography and the software available to perform the validation.

Nuclease-resistant ribozymes decrease stromelysin mRNA levels in rabbit synovium following exogenous delivery to the knee joint.

Catalytic RNA molecules, or ribozymes, have generated significant interest as potential therapeutic agents for controlling gene expression. Although ribozymes have been shown to work in vitro and in cellular assays, there are no reports that demonstrate the efficacy of synthetic, stabilized ribozymes delivered in vivo. We are currently utilizing the rabbit model of interleukin 1-induced arthritis to assess the localization, stability, and efficacy of exogenous antistromelysin hammerhead ribozymes. The matrix metalloproteinase stromelysin is believed to be a key mediator in arthritic diseases. It seems likely therefore that inhibiting stromelysin would be a valid therapeutic approach for arthritis. We found that following intraarticular administration ribozymes were taken up by cells in the synovial lining, were stable in the synovium, and reduced synovial interleukin 1 alpha-induced stromelysin mRNA. This effect was demonstrated with ribozymes containing various chemical modifications that impart nuclease resistance and that recognize several distinct sites on the message. Catalytically inactive ribozymes were ineffective, thus suggesting a cleavage-mediated mechanism of action. These results suggest that ribozymes may be useful in the treatment of arthritic diseases characterized by dysregulation of metalloproteinase expression.

Programming EU External Action Post-Lisbon: New Opportunities or Business as Usual?

Over 90% of the external relations budget of the EU is processed through its external financial instruments. With the Lisbon Treaty and the creation of the new European External Action Service (EEAS), the institutional architecture of these instruments was significantly reformed. This contribution analyses strategic programming both pre- and post-Lisbon, identifies ‘winners’ and ‘losers’, and examines the potential of the new provisions to increase the coherence of EU external action. The examination shows that the instruments can be categorised into three groupings: ‘the big three’ comprising the bulk of funding characterised by joint programming and responsibilities; the ‘Commission-only’ instruments where all powers remain with the Commission; and the ‘EEAS-led rest’ in which the High Representative and the EEAS play a strong role but only have limited financial resources available. The new system calls for strong coordination of all involved actors in order to make it work. Findings of a case study on the Instrument for Stability reveal, however, that so far the establishment of the EEAS has not made a substantial impact on strategic programming in its first two years.

Food in health and disease; preparation, physiological action and therapeutic value,

Includes bibliographies.

A full and correct report of the testimony given before the Joint committee of the legislature of 1842, inquiring into the charges of bribery and corruption by the banks during the session of 1840 : together with the proceedings has at the bar of the House of representatives, in the case of George Handy, one of the directors of the United States bank: and copies of the original letters of Daniel M. Brodhead, Joseph Solms, Samuel R. Wood ... [and others] as the same were presented in evidence, in the progress of the investigation; accompanied by the report of the committee /

Mode of access: Internet.