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This article reports on the self-perceived impacts of service-learning experiences from the perspective of alumni who graduated from a technical university in Taiwan. Drawing on the alumni responses in a focus group interview, the study investigated how the respondents perceived the impacts of participation in a service-learning project. Findings suggest that these experiences fostered a lasting change in the alumni personal development, communication skills, ability to adapt and persevere, learning attitude and commitment to service. In addition, the alumni reported not just these practical and personal benefits derived from the service-learning experiences, but also critical transformation that empowered them to face challenges after college.

Current approaches to the diagnosis and assessment of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) rely primarily on scales that measure only the occurrence of various symptoms related to CFS. Such approaches do not provide information on either the severity of symptoms or on fluctuations in symptom severity and activity level that occur over time. As a result, these measures do not reflect the complexities and the interrelations among symptoms. By obscuring the fluctuating nature of CFS and its high variability, current assessment procedures may prevent health care professionals from understanding the complexities of this disease. The present study provides two CFS case studies to illustrate the advantages of using self-reporting rating scales in combination with a device used to measure the frequency and intensity of activity. The implications of this assessment system, which captures the symptom dynamics and variability involved in CFS, are discussed.

In this paper, a new concept of quasi sliding mode control (QSMC) is introduced for the tracking control of chaotic symmetric gyros with linear-plus-cubic damping. In contrast to previous works on sliding mode control, based on the proposed QSMC, the chattering phenomenon can be eliminated. Furthermore, the controlled gyro system can track desired trajectories and tracking errors can be driven into a predictable neighborhood of zero, even when the input nonlinearity is present. Numerical simulations are provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed QSMC design method. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Wafer testing in the semiconductor industry is generally performed using a multilayer probe card. In this paper, Castigliano's second theorem is used to derive analytical formulae for the contact force and scrub mark length generated during the probing test. The formulations are then integrated with a multiobjective programming algorithm to optimize the probe needle parameters in such a way as to ensure a uniform contact force and a minimum scrub mark length. The validity of the analytical model is confirmed by comparing the solutions obtained for the contact force and scrub mark length with the equivalent results obtained from finite element simulations. The effectiveness of the analytical model and optimization procedure is demonstrated by optimizing the needle parameters of a commercial four-layer probe card. It is shown that the optimized probe card not only produces a more uniform contact force than the original probe card but also yields a shorter and more uniform scrub mark length. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In a prospective cohort study, associations of resting heart rate with risk of coronary, cardiovascular disease, cancer, and all-cause mortality in age-specific cohorts of black and white men and women were examined over 22 years of follow-up. Participants were employees from 84 companies and organizations in the Chicago, Illinois, area who volunteered for a screening examination. Participants included 9,706 men aged 18–39 years, 7,760 men aged 40–59 years, 1,321 men aged 60–74 years, 6,928 women aged 18–39 years, 6,915 women aged 40–59 years, and 1,151 women aged 60–74 years at the baseline examination in 1967–1973. Vital status was ascertained through 1992. For fatal coronary disease, multivariate-adjusted relative risks associated with a 12 beats per minute higher heart rate (one standard deviation) were as follows: for men aged 18–39 years, relative risk (RR) = 1.27 (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.08–1.48); for men aged 40–59 years, RR = 1.13 (95% CI 1.05–1.21); for men aged 60–74 years, RR = 1.00 (95% CI 0.89–1.12); for women aged 40–59 years, RR = 1.21 (95% CI 1.07–1.36); and for women aged 60–74 years RR = 1.16 (95% CI 0.99–1.37). Corresponding risks for all fatal cardiovascular diseases were similar to those for coronary death alone. Deaths from cancer were significantly associated with heart rate in men and women aged 40–59 years. All-cause mortality was associated with higher heart rate in men aged 18–39 years (RR = 1.11, 95% CI 1.01–1.20), men aged 40–59 years (RR = 1.16, 95% CI 1.11–1.21), and women aged 40–59 years (RR = 1.20, 95% CI 1.13–1.27). Heart rate was not associated with mortality in women aged 18–39 years. In summary, heart rate was a risk factor for mortality from coronary disease, all cardiovascular diseases, and all causes in younger men and in middle-aged men and women, and for cancer mortality in middle-aged men and women. Am J Epidemiol 1999;149:853–62. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]