Simultaneous use of mephedrone and alcohol: A qualitative study of users' experiences

Mephedrone (4-methylmethcathinone) gained popularity across "recreational" drug scenes in the United Kingdom and Ireland during 2009. Although mephedrone was banned in both jurisdictions in 2010, the drug was subsequently sourced through street dealers. This qualitative study explores the simultaneous use of mephedrone and alcohol, among study participants who used mephedrone following legislative controls. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with male and female respondents. The results suggest a three-tier classification system that describes users' experiences with simultaneous use of mephedrone and alcohol. Most participants engaged in "heavy" alcohol use immediately prior to consuming mephedrone, and then reduced alcohol consumption as the effects of mephedrone were experienced during the drug episode. Spontaneous use of mephedrone often was associated with larger amounts of alcohol being consumed just prior to the mephedrone episode. The findings have the potential for informing socioepidemiological surveys as well as peer interventions to reduce harm associated with
simultaneous drug use.

Temporal and statistical information in causal structure learning

Three experiments examined children’s and adults’ abilities to use statistical and temporal information to distinguish between common cause and causal chain structures. In Experiment 1, participants were provided with conditional probability information and/or temporal information and asked to infer the causal structure of a three-variable mechanical system that operated probabilistically. Participants of all ages preferentially relied on the temporal pattern of events in their inferences, even if this conflicted with statistical information. In Experiments 2 and 3, participants observed a series of interventions on the system, which in these experiments operated deterministically. In Experiment 2, participants found it easier to use temporal pattern information than statistical information provided as a result of interventions. In Experiment 3, in which no temporal pattern information was provided, children from 6-7 years, but not younger children, were able to use intervention information to make causal chain judgments, although they had difficulty when the structure was a common cause. The findings suggest that participants, and children in particular, may find it more difficult to use statistical information than temporal pattern information because of its demands on information processing resources. However, there may also be an inherent preference for temporal information.

Perceptions of collaboration between general practitioners and community pharmacists: Findings from a qualitative study based in Spain

According to the theory of reasoned action (TRA), collaboration is only possible when it is perceived as useful by the participants involved. This paper describes a qualitative study using semi-structured interviews to explore the preceived usefulness of general practitioner (GPs)-community pharmacists (CPs)' collaboration from these professionals' perspectives based in two Spanish regions. Thirty-seven interviews were conducted with GPs and CPs with and without previous experience of collaborating with the other groups of professionals. Analysis of the data indicated that the GPs and CPs considered that collaboration between practitioners and pharmacists to have different forms of usefulness, ranging from positive to negative perceptions of usefulness. Negative and neutral opinions (collaboration generates conflict and/or is not benefitial) could prevent practitioners from initiating collaboration with the other group of professionals, which is explained by the TRA. These perceptions were only found among those participants without experience in collaboration. When collaboration was perceived as advantageous, it could be beneficial on three levels: health system (i.e. provision of integrated care, increased efficiency of the system), GPs and CPs (i.e. increased job satisfaction and patient loyalty) and patients (i.e. improved patient safety). Although GPs and CPs with experience identified benefits using a range of examples, GPs and CPs who had never collaborated also believed that if collaboration was undertaken there would be benefits for the health system, patients and health professionals. These results should be considered when developing strategies to encourage and improve the implementation of collaborative working relationships between GPs and pharmacists in primary care.

Dynamics of interacting Dicke model in a coupled-cavity array

We consider the dynamics of an array of mutually interacting cavities, each containing an ensemble of N two-level atoms. By exploring the possibilities offered by ensembles of various dimensions and a range of atom-light and photon-hopping values, we investigate the generation of multisite entanglement, as well as the performance of excitation transfer across the array, resulting from the competition between on-site nonlinearities of the matter-light interaction and intersite photon hopping. In particular, for a three-cavity interacting system it is observed that the initial excitation in the first cavity completely transfers to the ensemble in the third cavity through the hopping of photons between the adjacent cavities. Probabilities of the transfer of excitation of the cavity modes and ensembles exhibit characteristics of fast and slow oscillations governed by coupling and hopping parameters, respectively. In the large-hopping case, by seeding an initial excitation in the cavity at the center of the array, a tripartite W state, as well as a bipartite maximally entangled state, is obtained, depending on the interaction time. Population of the ensemble in a cavity has a positive impact on the rate of excitation transfer between the ensembles and their local cavity modes. In particular, for ensembles of five to seven atoms, tripartite W states can be produced even when the hopping rate is comparable to the cavity-atom coupling rate. A similar behavior of the transfer of excitation is observed for a four-coupled-cavity system with two initial excitations.

Children's use of interventions to learn causal structure

Children aged between 5 and 8 years freely intervened on a three-variable causal system, with their task being to discover whether it was a common-cause structure or one of two causal chains. From 6-7 years, children were able to use information from their interventions to correctly disambiguate the structure of a causal chain. We used a Bayesian model to examine children’s interventions on the system; this showed that with development children became more efficient in producing the interventions needed to disambiguate the causal structure and that the quality of interventions, as measured by their informativeness, improved developmentally. The latter measure was a significant predictor of children’s correct inferences about the causal structure. A second experiment showed that levels of performance were not reduced in a task in which children did not select and carry out interventions themselves, indicating no advantage for self-directed learning. However, children’s performance was not related to intervention quality in these circumstances, suggesting that children learn in a different way when they carry out interventions themselves.

Modelação de torre eólica: controlo e desempenho

Dissertação para obtenção do grau de Mestre em Engenharia Electrotécnica Ramo de Energia

An internet DGPS service for precise outdoor navigation

The goal of the work presented in this paper is to provide mobile platforms within our campus with a GPS based data service capable of supporting precise outdoor navigation. This can be achieved by providing campus-wide access to real time Differential GPS (DGPS) data. As a result, we designed and implemented a three-tier distributed system that provides Internet data links between remote DGPS sources and the campus and a campus-wide DGPS data dissemination service. The Internet data link service is a two-tier client/server where the server-side is connected to the DGPS station and the client-side is located at the campus. The campus-wide DGPS data provider disseminates the DGPS data received at the campus via the campus Intranet and via a wireless data link. The wireless broadcast is intended for portable receivers equipped with a DGPS wireless interface and the Intranet link is provided for receivers with a DGPS serial interface. The application is expected to provide adequate support for accurate outdoor campus navigation tasks.

Auditorias energéticas – definição de um plano de ação para edifícios de serviços

O setor dos edifícios representa perto de 40% do consumo de energia final na Europa e cerca de 30% no caso de Portugal [1]. Para fazer face a esta situação foi elaborada e aprovada uma Diretiva Europeia Relativa ao Desempenho Energético dos Edifícios, que foi transposta a nível nacional através de um pacote legislativo assente em três pilares, nomeadamente o Sistema Nacional de Certificação Energética e da Qualidade do Ar Interior (SCE), o Regulamento dos Sistemas Energéticos de Climatização em Edifícios (RSECE) e o Regulamento das Características de Comportamento Térmico dos Edifícios (RCCTE). Atuando ao nível da eficiência energética o consumo de energia nos edifícios pode diminuir para metade, para tal é necessário proceder-se à execução de auditorias energéticas para poder determinar as soluções mais adequadas de forma a reduzir os desperdícios e custos associados ao consumo de energia. Nesta dissertação desenvolveu-se uma metodologia para a realização de auditorias energéticas em edifícios que assenta essencialmente em cinco etapas, nomeadamente: o planeamento, a análise do estado atual, o planeamento estratégico, a elaboração de relatório e a implementação de medidas com acompanhamento de resultados. A aplicação desta metodologia constitui uma grande ajuda na realização de auditorias energéticas conferindo uma maior qualidade à sua execução. De forma a validar a metodologia efetuada foi realizado o estudo de três casos práticos relativos a três agências bancárias (denominadas de A, B e C), em que duas delas pertencem a um projeto de eficiência energética que engloba 50 agências e uma outra que pertence a um outro projeto de apenas 3 agências. A metodologia segue a mesma lógica para as três agências, no entanto, em termos de validação, a última instalação baseia-se nos consumos dos dados monitorizados em contínuo.

Étude des macrorestes végétaux du site Droulers

Ce mémoire porte sur l’étude des macrorestes végétaux provenant du site villageois Droulers occupé durant la 2e moitié du XVe siècle par une communauté iroquoienne du Saint-Laurent. Il vise à vérifier les pratiques de ces habitants en ce qui a trait à la part végétale de leur alimentation à moins d’un siècle avant la fin de la préhistoire. Des vestiges découlant de la pratique de l’agriculture et de la cueillette sont présents sur différents contextes du site. L’analyse de ces derniers permet d’établir l’importance de ces activités dans la vie quotidienne des habitants du site. Ainsi, il est possible de valider l’importance du maïs dans le mode de subsistance de ce groupe par l’ubiquité de cette espèce sur le site. Le maïs est effectivement l’espèce végétale la plus présente dans les différents contextes étudiés. La présence de cette espèce jumelée à celle du haricot en quantité considérable et à celle de la courge démontre la pratique de l’agriculture des Trois Soeurs au site Droulers, une pratique documentée historiquement par les premiers chroniqueurs. Les macrorestes de fruits et de noix sont relativement bien représentés sur le site ce qui suggère la place importante de la cueillette dans la diète des habitants de Droulers. L’étude comparative synchronique et diachronique de ces macrorestes avec ceux recueillis ailleurs en Iroquoisie aide à mieux situer le degré d’importance des activités mentionnées ci-haut au site Droulers par rapport à celui sur d’autres sites plus anciens, contemporains et plus récents du même grand groupe culturel. La majorité des fruits présents sur ce site étaient également cueillis par les groupes proto-iroquoiens Glen Meyer et Princess Point et par d’autres groupes iroquoiens (préhistoriques et historiques). Le degré d’utilisation des fruits sauvages sur le site Droulers est en continuité avec celui des groupes apparentés plus anciens et plus récents. L’utilisation des cultigènes et des noix par les occupants du site Droulers est comparable à celle d’autres groupes iroquoiens.

Sustainability of Participatory Projects: Study of Productive Sector under Peoples’ Planning in Chempu Village Panchayat of Kottayam District

The study has wider policy implications as it identifies the possible variables which influence the sustainability of participatory productive sector projects. The method which is developed to study the sustainability of projects under People’s Planning in Chempu Panchayat could be used for studying the same in other panchayats also. Unlike the case of the standard features of sustainability identified, the independent variables vary according to the nature of the project. Hence, this needs to be modified accordingly while applying the method in a dissimilar domain. Selection of a single panchayat for the present study is relevant on the basis of a common package of inputs for decentralised planning which is forwarded by the State Planning Board respectively for the three-tier panchayat system in Kerala. The dynamic filed realities could be brought out in view of a comprehensive planning approach through an in depth study of specific cases.The assessment of the nature and pattern of productive sector projects in the selected Village Panchayat puts the projects under close scrutiny. The analysis has depended largely on secondary sources of information, especially from panchayat level plan documents, and also on the primary information obtained using direct observation and on-site inspection of project sites. An analysis of the nature and pattem of productive sector projects is important as it gives all necessary information regarding follow-up, monitoring/evaluation and even termination of a particular project. It has also revealed the tendencies of including infrastructure and service sector projects under ‘productive’ category, especially for maintaining the stipulated ratio (40:30:30) of grant-in-aid distribution. The study regarding the allocation and expenditure pattern of plan funds is vital in policy level as it reveals the under-noticed allocation and expenditure pattern of plan funds other than grant-in-aid. One major limitation of the study has been the limited availability of secondary data, especially regarding project-wise expenditure and monitoring/evaluation reports of various project committees.

El sistema nacional de evaluación de resultados educativos : Irlanda.

La propuesta engloba la educación primaria y la secundaria y permite también obtener datos a nivel nacional. Las áreas curriculares que se van a evaluar en primero son las de lectura inglesa, irlandés oral y matemáticas, mientras que en segundo, se evaluarán. Lectura, matemáticas y ciencias. Se plantea la necesidad de solucionar la evaluación de irlandés oral en secundaria. Aquí se trata de las áreas claves del currículo, aunque se trabajará en el desarrollo de técnicas de evaluación de otras áreas curriculares con vistas a facilitar la supervisión de tendencias a lo largo del tiempo este sistema no tendrá éxito a menos que se cumplan tres condiciones: 1.Disponibilidad de recursos y personal técnico con el fin de poder realizar las pruebas y análisis de datos de máxima calidad ; 2. Las estructuras administrativas y políticas se encuentran en disposición de interpretar los datos y emprender acciones pertinentes para la toma de decisiones; 3. Continúa supervisión de la propia avaluación nacional para asegurar que esté cumpliendo su propósito.

Kinematic modeling of head-neck movements

The main objective is to generate kinematic models for the head and neck movements. The motivation comes from our study of individuals with quadriplegia and the need to design rehabilitation aiding devices such as robots and teletheses that can be controlled by head-neck movements. It is then necessary to develop mathematical models for the head and neck movements. Two identification methods have been applied to study the kinematics of head-neck movements of able-body as well as neck-injured subjects. In particular, sagittal plane movements are well modeled by a planar two-revolute-joint linkage. In fact, the motion in joint space seems to indicate that sagittal plane movements may be classified as a single DOF motion. Finally, a spatial three-revolute-joint system has been employed to model 3D head-neck movements.

A joint state and parameter estimation scheme for nonlinear dynamical systems

We present a novel algorithm for concurrent model state and parameter estimation in nonlinear dynamical systems. The new scheme uses ideas from three dimensional variational data assimilation (3D-Var) and the extended Kalman filter (EKF) together with the technique of state augmentation to estimate uncertain model parameters alongside the model state variables in a sequential filtering system. The method is relatively simple to implement and computationally inexpensive to run for large systems with relatively few parameters. We demonstrate the efficacy of the method via a series of identical twin experiments with three simple dynamical system models. The scheme is able to recover the parameter values to a good level of accuracy, even when observational data are noisy. We expect this new technique to be easily transferable to much larger models.

Scanning Electron Microscopic Preliminary Study of the Efficacy of SmearClear and EDTA for Smear Layer Removal after Root Canal Instrumentation in Permanent Teeth

This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of SmearClear (SybronEndo, Orange, CA) and EDTA for smear layer removal from root canals of permanent teeth after instrumentation. Thirty extracted human permanent teeth (n = 10) were randomly assigned to the following groups: group 1 = 14.3% EDTA, group 2 = SmearClear, and group 3 = no smear layer removal procedure was undertaken (control). The specimens were submitted to scanning electron microscopy analysis. Magnifications of 200x and 750x were used to evaluate cleaning at the apical, middle, and cervical thirds according to a three-point scoring system. Data were analyzed statistically by the Mann-Whitney U test (5% significance level). Groups 1 and 2 differed significantly from group 3 (p < 0.01). However, there was no statistically significant difference (p > 0.05) between groups 1 and 2. In conclusion, SmearClear was able to remove the smear layer from the root canals of permanent teeth similarly as 14.3% EDTA, suggesting that both solutions may be indicated for such purpose. (J Endod 2008,34:1541-1544)

New treatment of cellulite with infrared-LED illumination applied during high-intensity treadmill training

Phototherapy improves cellular activation which is an important factor for the treatment of cellulite. The objective of this research was to develop and evaluate the effects of a new (noninvasive and nonpharmacological) clinical procedure to improve body aesthetics: infrared-LED (850 nm) plus treadmill training. Twenty women (25-55 years old) participated in this study. They were separated in two groups: the control group, which carried out only the treadmill training (n = 10), and the LED group, with phototherapy during the treadmill training (n - 10). The training was performed for 45 minutes twice a week over 3 months at intensities between 85% and 90% maximal heart rate (HR(max)). The irradiation parameters were 39 mW/cm(2) and a fluence of 106 J/cm(2). The treatment was evaluated by interpreting body composition parameters, photographs and thermography. This was primarily a treatment for cellulite with a reduction of saddlebag and thigh circumference. At the same time, the treadmill training prevented an increase of body fat, as well as the loss of lean mass. Moreover, thermal images of the temperature modification of the thighs are presented. These positive effects can result in a further improvement of body aesthetics using infrared-LED together with treadmill training.