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Spatial and age distribution of spermarche, and difference of growth and development in pre- and post-spermarcheal boys were analyzed based on the data of national physique and health surveillance for school children collected in 1991 to study the relationship between spermarche and development. Generally, there existed a trend that onset of spermarche was earlier in boys living in south China than in the north, and earlier in urban than in rural areas. Physique, physiological quality and sports performance were significantly better in post-spermarcheal boys aged 11 to 14 than in pre-spermarcheal ones. Discriminant analysis showed there were significant differences in development between pre- and post-spermercheal boys, especially in body height, weight, biacromial diameter, biiliocristal diameter and vital capacity, but there was no difference in type of body build.
Problems involving electromagnetic interference (EMI) with electronic medical equipment are well-documented. However, no systematic investigation of EMI has been done. We have systematically investigated the causes of EMI. The factors involved in EMI were determined as follows: 1) Electric-field intensity induced by invasive radio waves from outside a hospital. 2) Residual magnetic-flux density at welding points in a building. 3) Electric-field intensity induced by conveyance systems with a linear motor. 4) The shielding capacity of hospital walls. 5) The shielding capacity of commercial shields against a wide range frequency radio waves. 6) The immunity of electronic medical equipment. 7) EMI by cellular telephone and personal handy-phone system handsets. From the results of our investigation, we developed a following practical procedure to prevent EMI. 1) Measurement of electric-field intensity induced by invasive radio waves from outside the hospital and industrial systems in the hospital. 2) Measurement of residual magnetic-flux density at electric welding points of hospital buildings with steel frame structures. 3) Control of the electromagnetic environment by utilizing the shielding capacity of walls. 4) Measurement of the immunity of electronic medical equipment. And 5) Installation of electronic gate equipment at the building entrance to screen for handsets.
The aim of this research is to determine which factors affect the self-care capacity of veterans self-pay care institution residents and to build a predictive model of their level of independence. Our study included 404 residents of a veterans care institution. Our data collection involved an integrated, multidisciplinary approach. The tools used by each group were all of high validity and reliability. The resulting data was entered into SPSS statistic software, and then analyzed by related coefficients, Mann- Whitney test, Kruskal-Wallis H test, and stepwise multiple regression. This analysis showed that 12.1% of residents were self-care dependent. Residents medical conditions (stoke, arthritis), physical function (tinnitus, fall), cognitive function (Mini-Mental State Examination score, Geriatric Depression Scale Short-Form score, Acute Confusion Behavior Scale score), and social function (frequency of exercise per week, frequency of visitors), showed correlation with self-care capacity. The predictive model of self-care capacity was built as follows: Self-care predictive value = 93.022 -.274 x GDS score +.196 x MMSE score - 3.222 x Stroke - 1.262 x Arthritis +.225 x Exercise per week. This model explained 10.5% of the total variance. The results of this research can act as a basis for elderly admission to and transfer from veterans care institutions and can be a reference for recommending relevant nursing service. This research also provides important information for those who wish to improve the self-care capacity of care institution residents.
This paper reports on a study of on-line monitoring of the buffer capacity of particleboard furnish using near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy and multivariate analysis models (chemometrics). The buffer capacity of wood furnish is known to affect the quality of polymerization and the curing rates of urea-formaldehyde (UF) resins, which may affect the mechanical properties of manufactured panel. The first phase of the study consisted of building multivariate calibration and validation models from NIR spectroscopy data to predict the buffer capacity of particleboard furnish in a laboratory environment. During this phase, a spectrometer (Ocean Optics USB2000) operating in the 550-1100 nm spectral range was evaluated. The second phase of the study took place at a North American particleboard plant over several weeks. Several multivariate calibration models were constructed and tested on-line during a four-day test period. The on-line root mean square error of prediction (RMSEP) and the coefficient of variation (CV) for buffer capacity predictions ranged from 3.45 to 0.92 and 22.4% to 5.8%, respectively.
Swine building workers (N = 488) and nonfarming neighborhood referents (N = 216) were enrolled in this study. There was a slight but significant increase in the prevalence of chronic bronchitis (17.49 versus 11.57%) and more evidence of airflow obstruction (forced expiratory volume in 1 s/forced vital capacity 0.75 versus 0.78) among the swine workers when they were compared with the referents. The subjects who spent more than 3 h/d in the swine buildings had a higher prevalence of chronic bronchitis (21.94 versus 13.25%) and airflow obstruction (forced expiratory volume in 1 s/forced vital capacity 0.75 versus 0.76) than those with shorter daily contact. Swine building only workers had no precipitins to antigens found in their environment and no clinical evidence of extrinsic allergic alveolitis. The number of years on the farm, dual exposure with dairy cattle, positive skin prick tests, type of piggery, and type of feeding did not add to the respiratory health impact of swine buildings.
As an instrument for the study of the early stages of evolution, we introduce evolutive systems, defined as systems that have the capacity to evolve given appropriate conditions in their environment. They consist of building blocks (e.g. monomers) that are either stable or in steady supply, and of transient assemblies (e.g. polymers) that are entities of great variety, some of which are capable of function. Evolution leads to the accumulation of structure within the transient assemblies during repeated cycles of disintegration (partial or total) and reassembly, on account of the selective advantages associated with transient assembly functions. Transient assemblies must be either inherently unstable or subject to disintegration by agents in their environment. Evolutive systems must have access to a negentropy input in the form of energy in packets larger than typical thermal energies. Reproduction, although not a prerequisite, greatly affects the capacity of evolutive systems to evolve, and thus can be expected to appear in an evolutive system if at all possible. Similarly, functions that require the expenditure of negentropy (for example mobility, breathing, circulation, sensing, communicating, etc.) are not prerequisites for evolution, but can be expected to become established in evolutive systems during evolution through the selective advantages that they confer. A computer-based evolutive automaton is used to explore possible evolutionary scenarios. In the presence of spatial and temporal inhomogeneities, one can construct a multitude of evolutionary scenarios through which various functions, such as the operation of genetic code, can become established within the evolutive automaton. This variety of possible evolutionary scenarios is all the more remarkable because the automaton does not include many important physical processes that would be present in a real system and would greatly multiply the number of possible evolutionary mechanisms and scenarios. Some evolutionary mechanisms are based on survival related selection, while others are based on generation related selection. Previously explored scenarios for the initiation of life have been based mostly on generation related selection. In this paper, we give particular emphasis to survival related selection which is more general in that it does apply to structures and functions related to reproduction but, unlike generation related selection, it is not limited to them. Some of the most basic features of terrestrial living systems can be seen either as prerequisite features of an evolutive system (such as the mortality of living organisms, instability of biological polymers, imperfect reproduction caused by mutations, and the need for a negentropy input) or as features that one can reasonably expect to become established in an evolutive system (such as reproduction and the multitude of living functions that require expenditure of negentropy). This suggests the possibility that an independent definition of living systems may not be necessary if features of living systems substantially overlap with features that one may expect to find in evolutive systems.
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