Tropos is a software development methodology founded on the key concepts of agent-oriented software development. Specifically, Tropos emphasizes concepts for modelling and analysis during the early requirements phase. This phase precedes the prescriptive requirements specification of the system-to-be. In this paper, we present the Tropos metamodel starting from the basic concepts of actor, goal...

Negative Pressure Wound Therapy [NPWT], or Vacuum-assisted closure therapy [VAC therapy], is a therapeutic method using a special sponge or gauze dressing with a vacuum device to promote wound healing. Aim of the study was to assess changes in indications for use of NPWT as well as evaluation of results of its use during the last ten years by comparing the literature published in the years 2002...

Ketamine has been known to the medical world for over 30 years, yet is not widely used to its full potential. It is often considered to be a 'third world' drug only. In light of a recent increase in interest in its use in the developed world, this review is for emergency physicians to use as a quick reference.

We present the prosody module of the VERBMOBIL speech–to–speech translation system, the world wide first complete system, which successfully uses prosodic information in the linguistic analysis. This is achieved by computing probabilities for clause boundaries, accentuation, and different types of sentence mood for each of the word hypotheses computed by the word recognizer. These probabilities...

The role and value of theory in improvement work in healthcare has been seriously underrecognised. We join others in proposing that more informed use of theory can strengthen improvement programmes and facilitate the evaluation of their effectiveness. Many professionals, including improvement practitioners, are unfortunately mystified-and alienated-by theory, which discourages them from using i...

Clopidogrel and Its Use in Stroke Patients To the Editor: Substantial clinical data support the use of antiplatelet therapy in reducing the incidence of secondary atherothrombotic events in individuals who have experienced a transient ischemic attack (TIA) or stroke.1 The consensus based on recent trials is that antiplatelet therapy can reduce the incidence of subsequent ischemic events in thos...

Recent advances have brought new insight into the physiological mechanisms that enable birds and other animals to use magnetic fields for orientation. Many birds seem to have two magnetodetection senses, one based on magnetite near the beak and one based on light-dependent radical-pair processes in the bird's eye(s). Among the most exciting recent results are: first, behavioural responses of bi...

Traditionally, L-T4 has been available in tablet form as a stable salt that contains sodium; approximately 6090 % of the dose is absorbed in the jejunum and ileum within 3 hours of ingestion.6 Absorption is maximal when it is taken on an empty stomach, demonstrating the importance of gastric acidity in the process. In fact, the acid gastric pH is essential to dissolve the tablet, removing sodiu...