The prepaparation of amorphous, homogeneous blends of zwitterionic polymers and transition metal salts was investigated. Homogeneous miscibility was achieved in many cases up to equimolar amounts of salt, depending on the anion and cation chosen. Various analytical techniques point to a solid state solution of the inorganic ions in the polymer matrix.

The article reviews water-soluble polymers characterized by surfactant side chains, and related amphiphilic polymers. Various synthetic approaches are presented, and rules for useful molecular architectures are given. Models for the self-organization of such polymers in water are presented comparing them with the micellization of low molecular weight surfactants. Highlighting key properties of aqueous polysoap solutions such as viscosity, surface tension and solubilization power, some structure-property relationships are established. Further, the formation of mesophases and of superstructures in bulk is addressed. Finally, the functionalization of polysoaps, and potential applications are discussed.

Contents: Potential of amphiphilic NLO polymers Ring-opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP) Properties of the polymers Monolayer properties Experimental part - Methods - Materials - Analytical data - General polymerization procedure Conclusions

We present an approach to the correlated dynamics of many-electron systems. We show, that the twoelectron reduced density matrix (2RDM) can provide a suitable description of the real time evolution of a system. To achieve this, the hierarchy of equations of motion must be truncated in a practical way. Also, the computational effort, given that the 2RDM is represented by products of two-electron determinants, is discussed, and numerical model calculations are presented.

This report is part of a larger study undertaken in 1996 and 1997 for the author's doctoral dissertation. The study's purpose was to explore the experiences of male dental hygienists--focusing on their experiences before, during, and after graduation. The researcher interviewed 14 practicing male dental hygienists from east of the Mississippi River and one participant from the Midwest. Because of the length of the study, only their experiences following graduation from a dental hygiene program are discussed. Qualitative research methods were used to evaluate the information gained from the interviews, which entails analyzing interview transcripts and developing themes from the data. Four post-graduation themes emerged: participants experienced (1) no job-search difficulties, although some participants experienced minor problems with securing a position, most had little trouble in finding a job; (2) societal gender discrimination, mainly in relation to societal stereotypes about what men and women should do; (3) mixed feelings of acceptance by the profession, although most felt the profession accepting, there were some feelings of not belonging; and (4) career satisfaction, all but one of the participants felt satisfied with his career choice.

Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease (CMT) is a peripheral neuropathy presenting with distal weakness and sensory loss. This thesis examines the role that proximal activity plays in compensating for distal weakness to maintain functional walking. Comparative 3D gait analysis showed reduced range of ankle motion kinetics in people with CMT. Additionally, swing phase hip flexion increased, moments and power around the knee altered during preswing and trunk motion increased. These changes were related to the degree of distal weakness. Proximal adaptations were also observed in healthy control subjects following isolated bilateral fatigue of the plantarflexors but did not resemble those of people with CMT. The role the hip flexors play in compensating for plantarflexor weakness to maintain walking was examined in two studies. When walking on a treadmill people with CMT took an average of 48 minutes to reach level 17 on the Borg perceived exertion scale whereas matched control subjects reached level 8 while walking at the same speed and cadence. After prolonged walking the maximum voluntary contraction of the hip flexors reduced by 20% in the CMT group. Additionally, hip flexor velocity reduced during swing phase and trunk motion increased. A separate study specifically fatigued the hip flexors by 20% resulting in similar kinematic changes to the first study, plus a reduction in walking time to reach Borg level 17 in people with CMT. The effect of ankle foot orthoses (AFO) was investigated in people with CMT. A variation in the stiffness of the three splints was observed when worn with footwear. During walking all AFOs reduced footdrop during swing phase but did not reduce hip flexion. One of the more rigid devices also reduced the total ankle power generation during preswing. These studies suggest that proximal compensations are present, they maintain functional walking and may be influenced by orthotics intervention.

The words 'competence' and 'capability' are used independently by the human resource managment and the strategy communities who relate the terms to people and organisations respectively. However, the linkage between the individual and organisational level is not well documented. A better understanding of this link is important in being able to understand how organisational and individual performance may be improved but also why things sometimes go wrong. This research based case study is to identify the linkage between individual and organisation capability through an examination of patient care provided by dcotors in St George's Hospital, Tooting, London using the perspective of the resource based view of the firm. The research showed that patient care is achieved through the emergent skilful exploitation by doctors of their own capabilities, interaction with others, an their use of artefacts representing technical systems, processes, and structural influences within which the doctor operates. The role of artefacts is particularly important because continuity of patient care is dependent on information provided via artefacts rather than doctors' individual knowledge of particular patients. Doctors need not only medical knowledge but also an understanding of 'how to work the organisation'. that is how to get the organisation to do what the doctor needs for the patient. Competent action of the hospital is dependent on a series of inter-relating and inter-locking activity systems, from the doctor carrying out direct actions for a patient through the operation of departmental support systems to the overall hospital level patient care systems. Contradictions or non-copetence occurred when there was a breakdown within or between the systems. A conceptual model and diagnostic is developed that will be of use in analysing these dimensions of organisational capability.

This thesis investigates changes in the oscillatory dynamics in key areas of the pain matrix during different modalities of pain. Gamma oscillations were seen in the primary somatosensory cortex in response to somatic electrical stimulation at painful and non-painful intensities. The strength of the gamma oscillations was found to relate to the intensity of the stimulus. Gamma oscillations were not seen during distal oesophageal electrical stimulation or the cold pressor test. Gamma oscillations were not seen in all participants during somatic electrical stimulation, however clear evoked responses from SI were seen in everyone. During a train of electrical pulses to the median nerve and the digit, a decrease in the frequency of the gamma oscillations was seen across the duration of the train. During a train of electrical stimuli to the median nerve and the digit, gamma oscillations were seen at ~20-100ms following stimulus onset and at frequencies between 30-100Hz. This gamma response was found to have a strong evoked component. Following a single electrical pulse to the digit, gamma oscillations were seen at 100-250ms and between 60-95Hz and were not temporally coincident with the main components of the evoked response. These results suggest that gamma oscillations may have an important role in encoding different aspects of sensory stimuli within their characteristics such as strength and frequency. These findings help to elucidate how somatic stimuli are processed within the cortex which in turn may be used to understand abnormal cases of somatosensory processing.

In a series of experiments, we tested category-specific activation in normal parti¬cipants using magnetoencephalography (MEG). Our experiments explored the temporal processing of objects, as MEG characterises neural activity on the order of milliseconds. Our experiments explored object-processing, including assessing the time-course of ob¬ject naming, early differences in processing living compared with nonliving objects and processing objects at the basic compared with the domain level, and late differences in processing living compared with nonliving objects and processing objects at the basic compared with the domain level. In addition to studies using normal participants, we also utilised MEG to explore category-specific processing in a patient with a deficit for living objects. Our findings support the cascade model of object naming (Humphreys et al., 1988). In addition, our findings using normal participants demonstrate early, category-specific perceptual differences. These findings are corroborated by our patient study. In our assessment of the time-course of category-specific effects as well as a separate analysis designed to measure semantic differences between living and nonliving objects, we found support for the sensory/motor model of object naming (Martin, 1998), in addition to support for the cascade model of object naming. Thus, object processing in normal participants appears to be served by a distributed network in the brain, and there are both perceptual and semantic differences between living and nonliving objects. A separate study assessing the influence of the level at which you are asked to identify an object on processing in the brain found evidence supporting the convergence zone hypothesis (Damasio, 1989). Taken together, these findings indicate the utility of MEG in exploring the time-course of object processing, isolating early perceptual and later semantic effects within the brain.

This study examines the invention, innovation, introduction and use of a new drug therapy for coronary heart disease and hypertensio~; beta-blockade. The relationships between drug introductions and changes in medical perceptions of disease are analysed, and the development and effects of our perception of heart disease through drug treatments and diagnostic technology is described. The first section looks at the evolution of hypertension from its origin as a kidney disorder, Bright's disease, to the introduction and use of effective drugs for,its treatment. It is shown that this has been greatly influenced by the introduction of new medical teChnologies. A medical controversy over its nature is shown both to be strongly influenced by the use of new drugs, and to influence their subsequent use. The second section reviews the literature analysing drug innovation, and examines the innovation of the beta-blocking drugs, making extensive use of participant accounts. The way in which the develcpment of receptor theory, the theoretical basis of the innovation,was influenced by the innovation and use of drugs is discussed, then the innovation at ICI, the introduction into clinical use, and the production of similar drugs by other manufacturers are described. A study of the effects of these drugs is then undertaken, concentrating on therapeutic costs and benefits, and changes in medical perceptions of disease. The third section analyses the effects of other drugs on heart disease, looking at changes in mortality statistics and in medical opinions. The study concludes that linking work on drug innovation with that on drug effects is fruitful, that new drugs and diagnostic technology have greatly influenced medical perceptions of the nature and extent of heart disease, and that in hypertension, the improvement in drug treatment will soon result in much of the popUlation being defined as in need of it life-long