Customized clinical case management for chronically ill patients. Health system sees remarkable results with teams of case managers,physicians, patients

Securing excellent care and positive outcomes for seriously ill, high-risk patients requires extraordinary measures. A health system in Georgia is experiencing strong results by taking a team approach to health care with case managers, physicians and patients working together.     

Nanotechnology risk perceptions and communication: emerging technologies, emerging challenges

Nanotechnology involves the fabrication, manipulation, and control of materials at the atomic level and may also bring novel uncertainties and risks. Potential parallels with other controversial technologies mean there is a need to develop a comprehensive understanding of processes of public perception of nanotechnology uncertainties, risks, and benefits, alongside related communication issues. Study of perceptions, at so early a stage in the development trajectory of a technology, is probably unique in the risk perception and communication field. As such it also brings new methodological and conceptual challenges. These include: dealing with the inherent diversity of the nanotechnology field itself; the unfamiliar and intangible nature of the concept, with few analogies to anchor mental models or risk perceptions; and the ethical and value questions underlying many nanotechnology debates. Utilizing the lens of social amplification of risk, and drawing upon the various contributions to this special issue of Risk Analysis on Nanotechnology Risk Perceptions and Communication, nanotechnology may at present be an attenuated hazard. The generic idea of "upstream public engagement" for emerging technologies such as nanotechnology is also discussed, alongside its importance for future work with emerging technologies in the risk communication field.     

Two-stage hierarchical modeling for analysis of subpopulations in conditional distributions

In this work, we develop modeling and estimation approach for the analysis of cross-sectional clustered data with multimodal conditional distributions where the main interest is in analysis of subpopulations. It is proposed to model such data in a hierarchical model with conditional distributions viewed as finite mixtures of normal components. With a large number of observations in the lowest level clusters, a two-stage estimation approach is used. In the first stage, the normal mixture parameters in each lowest level cluster are estimated using robust methods. Robust alternatives to the maximum likelihood estimation are used to provide stable results even for data with conditional distributions such that their components may not quite meet normality assumptions. Then the lowest level cluster-specific means and standard deviations are modeled in a mixed effects model in the second stage. A small simulation study was conducted to compare performance of finite normal mixture population parameter estimates based on robust and maximum likelihood estimation in stage 1. The proposed modeling approach is illustrated through the analysis of mice tendon fibril diameters data. Analyses results address genotype differences between corresponding components in the mixtures and demonstrate advantages of robust estimation in stage 1.     

多效唑对亚热带低寒带桃“Flordaprince”物候循环的影响

Allan，p，George，A．P，Nissen，R．J，Rasmussen，T．S．和Morley－Bunker，M．J，1993。多效吐对亚热带澳大利亚的低寒带桃“Flordaprince”物候循环的影响。园艺科学，53：73-84。将低寒带桃“Flordaprince”种植在亚热带澳大利亚，用多效吐处理两次以矮化树体，或使用氮处理来强化树体。疏花之后，调整并统一单株果实数，使每棵树的果实具有充分空间。多效唑能显著地抑制竞争性的春梢生长，引起果实提早成熟，并使产量增加，果实增大，品质提高。多效吐减少根的春季生长，而导致秋季根的大量生长。在乔化树中，果实生长的第二阶段稍长，使得种子和胚的生长推迟，胚中干物质较多。淀粉储藏量以根中为最大，其次是根干、枝和叶。在硬核期和果实成熟阶段，淀粉储藏量降到最低水平，但在枝梢伸长生长结束之后，又会升高，到落叶时，再次达到峰值。叶分析显示，整个季节中N、P和K的浓度降低，而Ca和Mg的浓度升高。多效唑处理树中，K的水平显著低于乔化树，而Ca、Mg水平显著高于乔化树。     

英国史学研究的新方向

在过去一百多年中,英国的史学经历了两次革命,一次革命已经完成,另一次革命仍在进行中。在十九世纪八十年代之前,英国的历史编纂工作是隶属于非专业人员和那些创作文学名著的文人的学术研究领域。从那时以来,英国的史学研究日益成为专业学者的学术研究领域。在英国,这一专业化的过程是从十九世纪八十年代开始,到二