Advantage

Bisphosphonates are a class of drugs of proven efficacy in the prevention and treatment of various bone diseases, affecting bone turnover by decreasing bone resorption by different mechanisms. In recent years, this class of drugs has become the target of numerous studies in relation to oral and maxillofacial surgery. The aim of this paper is to review the literature on the effects of bisphosphonates in this context, especially in the development of osteonecrosis and as adjuvant in implant placement, osteogenic distraction and bone grafting surgery.

Leaves come in many sizes and shapes, and the relationships between leaf traits and the environments they occur in are better understood every day. However we still know very little about the ecological consequences of plants having either compound or simple leaves. We attempted to address this knowledge gap by comparing chemical and physical characteristics (leaf area, length:width ratio, water content, leaf mass per area, ‘toughness’ and C:N ratio), as well as rates of herbivory between compound and simple leaves across 34 species in adjacent rainforest, open woodland and wet sclerophyll (tall open forest) vegetation in northeastern Australia. We found C:N ratio to be lower in simple leaves, but this was the only leaf trait that differed significantly between leaf types and did not stand up under phylogenetic analysis. Overall, we found no differences in herbivory between simple and compound leaves. While it remains unclear what the advantages of having one leaf type over another might be, the differences do not seem to lie in construction, or in vulnerability to herbivores, at least in the Australian Wet Tropics.

Review of literature on corporate portals, whose main purpose is to provide easy access to enterprise digital information. Corporate portals use metadata and eXtensible Markup Language to integrate unstructured data to structured data from enterprise operational databases, supplying access to corporate information through a personalized interface, available over the internal hypertext network—the Intranet. A corporate portal functions as a single gateway to all information and knowledge resources in an enterprise. At the beginning, the author describes the improvements in information management, going through different stages—from physical control of information containers to corporate portals. This paper presents definitions, concepts, main components of corporate portal architecture, and different kinds of corporate portals found in specialized literature. The author also points out the potential benefits of this technology to enterprise business.

The Zimbabwean Insurance Industry has continued to see an increase in the number of players entering the market on one hand and a shrinking market at the back of an underperforming economy on the other hand. This has resulted in both old and new players in the insurance industry scrambling for the few clients who still see value in taking up life assurance policies especially after the losses that they suffered when the Zimbabwean economy adopted the multicurrency system. This challenge has been coupled with the influx of many new insurance companies that have joined the industry since the introduction of the multicurrency system. Competition in the industry has therefore been inadvertently on the increase over the years. It is against this background that the researchers sought to investigate into the various strategies that different players within the insurance industry have implemented in creating competitive advantage to attain improved organizational performance and sustainabl...

Our objective is to present a new surgical concept for the aesthetic treatment of the abdominal region using the principles of liposuction associated with the traditional abdominoplasty. Lipoabdominoplasty is different from other techniques because it has the advantages of conserving perforator vessels of the abdominal wall, it preserves suprapubic sensibility, results in better abdominal contouring, has a low rate of complications, and a faster recuperation after surgery. The traditional abdominoplasty has been used for many years with several modifications intending to achieve better aesthetic contouring and to reduce complications. However, each modification solves problems only partially. The authors perform the surgery beginning with wet lipoplasty in superficial and deep fat layers. The skin below the umbilical scar is excised as in classical abdominoplasty. After that, selective and safe undermining of the dermocutaneous flap is done in the middle section of the upper abdomen between the borders of the rectus abdominis muscle, preserving mainly supply vessels of the abdominal wall.

This paper discusses the internal patterns of competence building in the multinational enterprise (MNE), with a focus on the creation of capabilities in its foreign subsidiaries. We present a new framework to synthesize 10 types of MNE–subsidiary linkages leading to capability development. We find that several of the 10 capability development processes are associated with subsidiary-specific advantages. We discuss the process of subsidiary-specific advantage development within the organizational structure of the MNE when it is a differentiated network of dispersed operations. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Jorge Hirsch (2005a, 2005b) recently proposed the h index to quantify the research output of individual scientists. The new index has attracted a lot of attention in the scientific community. The claim that the h index in a single number provides a good representation of the scientific lifetime achievement of a scientist as well as the (supposed) simple calculation of the h index using common literature databases lead to the danger of improper use of the index. We describe the advantages and disadvantages of the h index and summarize the studies on the convergent validity of this index. We also introduce corrections and complements as well as single-number alternatives to the h index.

An Internet service provider is examined, along with the factors that should be considered when entering the ISP market. The global Internet scenario is discussed regarding the phases of the Internet in India, i.e. pre and post commercialisation. The main players are described: ERNET, NICNET, STPI, VSNL, MTNL, Satyam Infoway and Bharti‐BT. The financial and legal implications are highlighted in the Indian context. Many companies entered the nascent ISP business in India due to deregulation. Building local content, foreknowledge of new Internet technologies, connecting issues, competitiveness, etc. would help in their sustainability.

This paper considers how best to establish user valuations of the benefits for freight traffic from reducing both scheduled journey times and the variability of actual journey times. It first looks at who receives these benefits and establishes a case for delving further. A theoretical discussion then shows that estimated ‘values of time’ are likely to be conflations of several different effects, most probably varying from study to study. Results are then given from a case study where special care was taken to separate out these effects. As an Adaptive Stated Preference method is used, arguments are presented that counter the suggestion that resulting estimates will necessarily be biased. The paper ends with some conclusions.

Leaves come in many sizes and shapes, and the relationships between leaf traits and the environments they occur in are better understood every day. However we still know very little about the ecological consequences of plants having either compound or simple leaves. We attempted to address this knowledge gap by comparing chemical and physical characteristics (leaf area, length: width ratio, water content, leaf mass per area,'toughness' and C: N ratio), as well as rates of herbivory between compound and simple leaves across ...

Gridlock along arterial systems in New England is often the result of adverse weather conditions, which can render the normal signal plans unsuitable. The current study has two main objectives: ( a) to assess the impact of inclement weather on traffic flow parameters at signalized intersections in northern New England and ( b) to evaluate the likely operational benefits of implementing special timing plans for inclement weather conditions. A signalized intersection in Burlington, Vermont, was selected, and at least 30 h of videotaped data were collected over a period of 3 months. The weather and road surface conditions were categorized into six different classes, and values for the saturation headways and start-up lost times were collected and statistically analyzed. A signalized collector was then selected as a case study for evaluating the likely benefits of developing special timing plans for inclement weather. Optimal signal plans were developed for the corridor for the six diff...

... Related Items: Show Related Items. Click on any of the links below to perform a new search. Title: Intranets: Considerations for the Information Services Manager. Authors: Blackmore, Paul. ... Microfiche to Megabytes. ERIC Microfiche Digitization. ...

The award-winning flood alleviation scheme in the historic town of Bewdley, Worcestershire was completed in 2002. This unique design solution was put to the test in February 2004 when the barrier was erected 'in anger' for the first time. Residents and businesses along Severnside North were spared the upheaval and disruption caused in the past by the River Severn bursting its banks.