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Background Levodopa treatment has been shown to improve gait spatio-temporal characteristics in both forward and backward walking. However, effect of levodopa on gait variability during backward walking compared with forward walking has not been reported. Aims of study To study the effects of levodopa on gait variability of forward and backward walking in individuals with Parkinson's disease ( PD). Methods Forty individuals with PD were studied. Their mean age was 68.70 ± 7.46 year. The average time since diagnosis was 9.41 ± 5.72 year. Gait variability was studied while ' OFF' and ' ON' levodopa when the participants walked forward and backward at their usual speed. Variability in step time, swing time, stride length, double support time, and stride velocity were compared between medication condition and walking direction. Results Variability of step time, swing time, stride length, and stride velocity decreased significantly during forward and backward walks ( P < 0.001; P < 0.001; P = 0.003, P = 0.001, respectively) after levodopa administration. Variability of double support time was not changed after levodopa administration ( P = 0.054). Conclusions Levodopa had positive effects on gait variability of forward and backward walking in individuals with PD. However, variability in double support time was not affected by the levodopa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Molybdenum thin films were deposited by rf and dc magnetron sputtering and their properties analyzed with regards to their potential application as a back contact for CIGS solar cells. It is shown that both types of films tend to transition from tensile to compressive strain when the deposition pressure increases, while the conductivity and the grain size decreas. The nucleation of the films characterized by in situ and real time spectroscopic ellipsometry shows that both films follow a Volmer-Weber growth, with a higher surface roughness and lower deposition rate for the rf deposited films. The electronic relaxation time was then extracted as a function of bulk layer thickness for rf and dc films by fitting each dielectric function to a Drude free-electron model combined with a broad Lorentz oscillator. The values were fitted to a conical growth mode and demonstrated that the rf-deposited films have already smaller grains than the dc films when the bulk layer thickness is 30 nm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cu(In,Ga)Se2 solar cells were fabricated using a hybrid cosputtering/evaporation process, and efficiencies as high as 12.4% were achieved. The films were characterized by energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, glancing incidence X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, auger electron spectroscopy, and transmittance and reflectance spectroscopy, and their properties were compared to the ones of films deposited by coevaporation. Even though the films were relatively similar, the ones deposited by the hybrid process tend to have smaller grains with a slightly preferred orientation along the (112) axis and a rougher surface. Both types of films have uniform composition through the depth. Characterization of these films by variable angle of incidence spectroscopic ellipsometry allowed for the calculation of the position of the critical points, via calculation of the second derivative of the dielectric function and fit with critical points parabolic band oscillators. The solar cells were then characterized by current-voltage and quantum efficiency measurements. An analysis of the diode parameters indicates that the cells are mostly limited by a low fill factor, associated mostly with a high diode quality factor (A -- 1.8) and high series resistance (Rs ∼ 1.1Ω-cm²). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim To describe a pilot project on self-scheduling (self-rostering) for hospital nurses and assess its potential values and difficulties in implementation. Background Self-scheduling is one aspect of the effort to make the hospital nursing environment more accommodative of nurses' lives. It is part of the good employment practices that nurses want and that can help recruitment, retention and - possibly - patient care. Method A self-scheduling programme was implemented on one nursing floor for a year. Its effect on nursing perceptions was gauged by an informal questionnaire, and its effect on the nurse manager was gauged by counting change requests and sick calls, as well as her time spent on scheduling and her perceived annoyance in doing it. Findings During the time of the pilot project nurses felt that they had better control of their time and were able to give better patient care. Also, change requests decreased, as did the time spent by the nurse manager and her sense of annoyance. But since the nurses did not adhere to the rules of the programme, despite repeated efforts by the nurse manager, the attempt floundered. Conclusion Self-scheduling can have positive results for nurses and benefit the nurse manager. But if nurses see this as an individual entitlement instead of a balance between individual and unit benefit, everyone loses. This experience may be of use to others trying to implement a self-scheduling system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractMurray cod Maccullochella peelii peelii (Mitchell) is a freshwater Percichthyid fish considered to have high culture potential. Growth and feed utilization were examined in a 56-day experiment, in which triplicate groups of juvenile Murray cod (initial weight 21.5 ± 0.03 g) were fed isocalorific diets (gross energy content of about 21 kJ g-1) containing 40%, 45%, 50%, 55% or 60% protein (designated P40, P45, etc.). Final mean weight, percentage increase in weight and specific growth rate (SGR; % day-1) were highest in fish fed the P50 diet. Food conversion ratio (FCR; 1.05 ± 0.04) and protein efficiency ratio (PER; 1.98 ± 0.11) were also best in fish on the P50 diet, but the differences in these parameters from the corresponding values on diets P55 and P60 were not always significant. FCR (Y) was related to dietary protein content (X), the relationship being a second-order polynomial, in which Y = 0.004X2-0.431X + 12.305 (r = 0.95; P < 0.01). The proportions of carcass moisture, protein, lipid and ash did not differ among the different dietary treatments. The protein conversion efficiency (y) was negatively correlated to percentage dietary protein (X) content, the relationship being: y = 62.76–0.62X (r = 0.99; P < 0.01). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]