PSM

Positive surgical margins are an independent predictive factor for biochemical recurrence after radical prostatectomy. We analyzed the incidence of and associative factors for positive surgical margins in a multi-institutional series of 8,418 robotic assisted radical prostatectomies.

This study focused on investigating the factors affecting labour productivity. It begins by defining labour productivity and elaborates on discussing its importance. That is followed by researching the factors affecting labour productivity through revising a number of key studies on this subject and summarising the factors documented in these studies and the way of tabulating them. The careful revision indicated the presence of confusion between the factors affecting productivity in general and labour productivity in specific. Moreover, these studies do not show how these factors affect productivity i.e. the channel of effect between the two sides, which undermines the empirical importance of these studies. The key contribution of this study is the presentation, for the first time, of a simple model that organise the factors affecting labour productivity within three groups according to channel of effect between the two sides. These channels of effect are (i) factors affecting workers' knowledge: education level and training level, (ii) factors affecting workers' ability: level of nutrition, living standard, and health level, and (iii) factors affecting workers' well and desire to work: wages and salaries, management type, and work conditions. This model enables clarifying the relations of effect among these different factors from one side and labour productivity from the other side. Altogether, they help in organising efforts at enhancing labour productivity both at the micro and the macro levels.

Public service motivation and mission valence are two signifi cant and up-to-date approaches to explaining the motivation of public employees. Th is study aims to demonstrate the role of ethical climate in both the relationship between public service motivation and mission valence and the motivation of public service employees by adding ethical climate. Th e research was carried out in public universities operating in Turkey. Data was collected from a total of 1415 participants consisting of academicians, administrative personnel, and administrators with an online questionnaire form. Th e data obtained was evaluated with the structural equation model in three diff erent groups for academicians, administrative personnel, and administrators. Our fi ndings primarily confi rmed the positively signifi cant relationship between mission valence and public service motivation previously demonstrated in the literature. Secondly, it was understood that mission valence aff ected ethical climate. Furthermore, the fi ndings revealed that ethical climate for all three groups had a strong mediation eff ect between public service motivation and mission valence. In other words, ethical climate in organizations contributes to the internalization of the organization's mission and the development of prosocial behavior.

This paper investigates the determinants of human capital investment in the form of formal training (off-the-job training) and estimates effects of this investment on productivity using Propensity Score Matching (PSM) method. We use data from a survey of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Vietnam (completed in 2010) with detailed information about training and several firm characteristics. Our estimates reveal that investment in human capital currently does not have the considerable contribution to the improvement in productivity of SMEs. This result does not support the universalistic perspective in strategic human resource management (SHRM) theoretical model.

OR interventions involve the deployment of three core competences: (1) conducting analysis, (2) managing the process of intervention, and (3) understanding context. The nature of these competences is reasonably well understood in terms of traditional interventions but problem structuring methods (PSMs) make additional demands on practitioners. PSMs are designed to help the OR consultant structure an intervention in which actors relevant to the situation engage in interpreting the context, do some qualitative analysis, debate the issues, and agree some future actions. The OR consultant is required to master the methods, design the intervention, facilitate the set pieces such as workshops, and manage the process overall. The paper considers the burgeoning literature on the competences required to deploy PSMs. It is concluded that these competences can be considered under the same broad headings as those for traditional OR, but the skills and the process of obtaining them make new demands. An enhanced schema of OR competence is developed and its application in education and practice is suggested.

Introduction

Many industries utilize large quantities of chemical products, with rapid development of custom blends and structures. However, the increased use of highly hazardous chemicals poses significant risks to public and environmental health. Historical incidents, such as the Flixborough explosion in 1974 and the Bhopal disaster in 1984, highlight the lethal consequences of chemical accidents. Following numerous lethal or otherwise severe industrial accidents and a growing concern for public and employee safety, OSHA began investigating the chemical industry's safety standards, later proposing a safety standard. The Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 further mandated the creation of chemical process safety standards to prevent accidental releases.

Process Safety Management and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration

The PSM standard, published in 1992, aimed to prevent accidental releases of hazardous chemicals through comprehensive requirements for hazard management, including process safety information, hazard assessments, and emergency response planning. Over the years, the PSM standard has been amended to address various aspects, such as additional hazards, trade secrets, and international harmonization of hazardous material information. Despite these amendments, there has been a notable gap of over two decades since the last major update, indicating the need for continual evaluation and improvement of the PSM standard​.

Risk Management Plan and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) implemented the Risk Management Plan (RMP) regulation as part of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990. The RMP regulation requires facilities handling significant quantities of hazardous chemicals to develop and submit a risk management plan that outlines potential effects of accidental releases, steps to prevent releases, and emergency response procedures. This regulation aims to protect public health and the environment by ensuring that facilities take proactive measures to manage chemical hazards and prepare for potential incidents. The RMP regulation complements OSHA's PSM standard by focusing on off-site consequences and community safety .

Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standard and the Department of Homeland Security

The Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standard (CFATS) was established by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Formalized through the DHS Appropriations Act of 2007, CFATS aims to enhance the security of high-risk chemical facilities. The standard includes risk-based performance standards, vulnerability assessments, site security plans, and provisions for DHS enforcement. Although CFATS has undergone several modifications and reauthorizations, it remains an interim rule, with the statutory authority expiring in July 2023.

Conclusion

The regulatory frameworks for Process Safety Management (PSM), Risk Management Plans (RMP), and the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standard (CFATS) are critical for ensuring chemical safety and security. Despite these efforts, gaps and overlaps between the programs necessitate ongoing evaluation and improvement, especially regarding safer technologies and clarified risk assessment practices. Enhanced interagency coordination, stakeholder engagement, and adoption of best practices are essential for advancing chemical safety and mitigating risks associated with hazardous chemical usage.

En la actualidad existe una gran cantidad de proyectos o aplicaciones que disponen de una API REST, una nueva opción o estilo de uso de los Servicios Web (Web Services, WS), para la creación de servicios profesionales. Twitter, YouTube, los sistemas de identificación con Facebook, y cientos de empresas generan negocio gracias a REST y las APIs REST. REST es una interfaz entre sistemas que usa HTTP para obtener datos o generar operaciones sobre esos datos en todos los formatos posibles, como XML, JSON, HTTP, etc. En los últimos años logró un gran impacto en la web que prácticamente logró desplazar a SOAP y las interfaces basadas en WSDL por tener un estilo bastante más simple de utilizar y sobre todo por su eficiencia. La línea de investigación propone un mecanismo de generación de API REST a partir de versiones existentes de API Java, en el contexto del desarrollo dirigido por modelos (Model-Driven Development, MDD), para la construcción de WSs. Aplicar esta técnica mediante la tran...

Import 22/07/2015Virtualizace je jednou z oblastí, která v současnosti zažívá výrazný rozmach v datových centrech i u koncových uživatelů. V bakalářské práci se zabývám problematikou pro automatické nasazení testů ve virtuálních strojích. Popíšu druhy virtualizačních technik spolu s jejich klady a zápory. Provádím jejich porovnání a v neposlední řadě otestuji vybrané virtualizační řešení. Vytvořím testovací platformu pro benchmarking různých komponent PC jako jsou: pevný disk, operační paměti, grafické výpočty a síťová propustnost. Vyhodnotím výsledky testů a doporučím konkrétní řešení pro typické scénáře nasazení.Virtualization is one of the areas that are currently experiencing a significant boom in data centers even end users. In the thesis deals with the issue for automatic deployment testing in virtual machines. Describe the types of virtualization techniques along with their pros and cons. Doing comparing them and finally I test the selected virtualization solutions. Create a ...

The performance of objective speech and audio quality measures for the prediction of the perceived quality of frequency-compressed speech in hearing aids is investigated in this paper. A number of existing quality measures have been applied to speech signals processed by a hearing aid, which compresses speech spectra along frequency in order to make information contained in higher frequencies audible for listeners with severe high-frequency hearing loss. Quality measures were compared with subjective ratings obtained from normal hearing and hearing impaired children and adults in an earlier study. High correlations were achieved with quality measures computed by quality models that are based on the auditory model of Dau et al., namely, the measure PSM, computed by the quality model PEMO-Q; the measure qc, computed by the quality model proposed by Hansen and Kollmeier; and the linear subcomponent of the HASQI. For the prediction of quality ratings by hearing impaired listeners, exten...

Business organizations are currently witnessing intense competition in attracting customers and gaining their loyalty. To achieve this, many leading banks are working to adopt the philosophy of social responsibility until this is achieved because attracting customers is an important factor to face competition as a result of modern customer-focused trends. This study aimed to identify the extent to which social responsibility in its dimensions (ethical responsibility, charitable responsibility, and responsibility towards the environment) affects attracting customers in its dimensions, and also aimed to study the relationship between them.
This study targeted a sample of 55 customers of the cham Islamic bank. 49 questionnaires were retrieved. The study used the analytical descriptive approach, and the questionnaire was the main data collection tool to test hypotheses and answer the study's questions.
The subjects were tested using the statistical analysis program SPSS.21 with a response rate of (89.09%). The study found that there is a partial positive impact of social responsibility on attracting customers. The study also showed a positive relationship between social responsibility and attracting customers. The study recommended the need to adopt the philosophy of social responsibility within its marketing plans, focusing on the dimensions of ethical and legal responsibility. These programs are scientific work programs so that companies can evaluate them and measure their return. It also recommends the need to work to build a community and institutional culture to enhance knowledge of social responsibility and increase The phrase: social responsibility, attracting custom

The demand for free and compulsory education in India began more than a century ago. The narration of free and compulsory education during British rule in India was a chequered history of unfulfilled vision. India attained its independence from British rule in 1947. On 26 January 1950 when the Constitution of India came into operation, the constitutional directive for free and compulsory education was under the directive principles as a 'non-justiciable' right through Article 45 promising to fulfil within a period of ten years from its commencement. But the state failed to do so for the next 5 decades. Ultimately, the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act (Right to Education Act), 2009, came into effect on 1 April 2010, pursuant to the 86th Amendment to the Constitution of India (2002), which mandates elementary education as a fundamental right. India took more than a half-century in evolving free and compulsory education from the directive principle to fundamental right, from 'justiciable right' to 'non-justiciable right'. However, this article intends to analyse the dynamics of transformation of the right to free and compulsory education in India from directive principle to fundamental right in light of the history of persistent denial in the post-Constitutional era. The article also explores what actually happened at the time of framing the Indian Constitution that the right to education was finally shifted from a 'justiciable right' to 'non-justiciable right' in the final text of the Constitution of India.

This paper investigates the determinants of human capital investment in the form of formal training (off-the-job training) and estimates effects of this investment on productivity using Propensity Score Matching (PSM) method. We use data from a survey of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Vietnam (completed in 2010) with detailed information about training and several firm characteristics. Our estimates reveal that investment in human capital currently does not have the considerable contribution to the improvement in productivity of SMEs. This result does not support the universalistic perspective in strategic human resource management (SHRM) theoretical model.

This study examined the relationships between transformational and transactional leadership and organizational citizenship behavior in the Public Service Sector of Sierra Leone. While most prior studies have examined transformational leadership-organizational citizenship behavior and transactional leadership-organizational citizenship behavior relationships in developed countries from the western world, testing the mediating influence of transactional and transformational leaderships on employees' citizenship behaviors in public sector organizations in Africa remains scarce. It also tries to fill a critical research gap in human resource management by focusing on a non-western context. The constructs: transformational and transactional leadership, organizational citizenship behavior are not very familiar in the human resource research domain in Sierra Leone as opposed to other styles of leadership like Autocratic, Laissez faire etc that are commonly used. Consequently, the broader objective of this research was to examine the links between transformational leadership, transactional leadership, and organizational citizenship behavior at the Public Service Sector in Sierra Leone. To enrich the debate further, this study explored the relationship between transformational and transactional leadership styles and employees' organizational citizenship behavior. The research questions focused on the correlation between leadership styles and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). To achieve the objective of the research, a case study research design was used; Quantitative research technique also used; the main variables in the study were used to design a questionnaire in collecting the data: using a sample population of 250 through simple random sampling to conduct this study. This research followed a structural equation model (SEM) approach with validity and reliability tests done to validate the data before testing the hypothesis. The survey planet-a virtual data analysis software was used to analyze the completed online survey items. It has an automated analysis system. The likert scale of 1 to 5 was used to gauge responses from respondents. Statistical analysis method is used for the analysis. Based on the results obtained, the study deduces implications for both theory and practice. Hence, all public service institutions must raise managers' awareness and train them properly so that they can efficiently improve and manage the affairs of the institution. Limitations and suggestions for upcoming studies have been discussed.

PurposeThe need to improve the efficiency and quality of public services has increased the interest in innovation. This study seeks to understand the relationship between the Public Service Motivation (PSM) index and the profile of strategic-level public servants who are considered innovative.Design/methodolog/approachQuestionnaires were applied to the group of government managers who registered their projects in an innovation competition. Data were analyzed using t-test, multiple correspondence analysis (MCA) and hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA).FindingsThis paper concluded that the PSM level of these innovative public servants is significantly greater than public servants overall. In terms of the profile of these innovative government managers, it was found that the majority were female, with a high level of education and a background in Information Technology.Practical implicationsThe discovery that innovative government managers have a significantly higher PSM (p < 0.05) t...

This paper examines the utility of a novel and relatively unknown approach to handling messy situations. This approach, developed by Raul Espejo, is the VIPLAN Methodology. It is presented as a heuristic and comprises a set of six activities which act as ‘pointers’ to guide thinking and actions. The methodology’s contribution rests upon its explicit focus upon the context within which messy situations are handled. This draws attention to the cybernetics of the situation (Cybernetic Loop), which can be made sense of using the Viable System Model. However, one of the challenges of the methodology is the perception that it is complex and difficult to use. A case-study is used to investigate how the methodology can be operationalised. This reveals a set of nine lessons, which are offered as guidelines to enhance our understanding of how to use the VIPLAN Methodology.

Model Driven Architecture (MDA) technique is mainly depend on two processes; mapping specification and transformation definition, this last one (sometimes called model transformation definition) has a tool to implement, which the most used one is Query/View/Transformation (QVT) Relational Language. This language sponsored by Object Management Group (OMG), and we found that it needs a repository for the both target model and source model, that mean these two models must be exist before execute the transformation definition (QVT Code). To eliminate this repository problem we propose in this paper a solution for this problem that we can compile the QVT code into Business Process Execution Language for Web Services (BPEL4WS). This solution will provide valuable contribution especially for MDA infrastructure, firstly to eliminate repository requirements for target model, secondly to make model transformation as web services.

The research aims to study how the investors in Damascus Securities Exchange assess the credibility of the mandatory accounting disclosures of the listed companies. To achieve that objective the researcher prepares a questionnaire and distributes it to a random sample of investors in this market. The Pearson Correlation Coefficient and multiple linear regression analysis were used to test the hypotheses and reach the results. The research concludes that there is a relationship between the investor's assessment of the credibility of accounting disclosures of the listed companies in Damascus Securities Exchange and the main factors affecting the credibility of these disclosures (Management's situational incentives at the time of disclosure, Management credibility, Level of assurance services provided for companies, credibility of accounting information source). The research also shows that these four factors together explain 70.3 % of the investors' assessment of the credibility of these accounting disclosures.

All'interno del volume, il Capitolo di Flavia Barca “La sfida del digitale alla missione dei media di servizio pubblico” si interroga sulle modalità con cui i media di servizio pubblico possono affrontare la trasformazione digitale: non solo arginandone gli aspetti più deteriori e preservando uno spazio democratico di dibattito ma, addirittura, giocando un ruolo significativo per la qualità del futuro che ci aspetta.

La tesi centrale è che nella biforcazione netta che la trasformazione tecnologica sta accelerando, tra arretramento della democrazia in configurazioni autoritarie e progresso verso modelli di democrazia più avanzata in grado di realizzare nuove forme di sovranità popolare adeguate ai saperi diffusi delle persone, i media pubblici possano e debbano avere un ruolo decisivo.

Questo è evidente nella loro funzione coesiva, laddove il servizio pubblico ha nel proprio DNA la capacità di legare le diversità, il racconto delle cose che ci uniscono come frutto di negoziazione (non cancellazione) di identità differenti, ai fini della costruzione di capitale sociale. Ma come esaltare questa unità nella diversità nel nuovo spazio digitale, dove le «bolle» spingono verso circoli sempre più autoreferenziali in cui difficilmente entrano idee e informazioni «non allineate», dove altissimo è il rischio di disinformazione? È proprio qui, dove il futuro va prendendo forma, viene argomentato, che le piattaforme multimediali pubbliche possono svolgere un ruolo chiave, offrendo alle proprie audience prodotti ed informazioni affidabili, diversificati e capacitanti, in un dialogo con le persone sempre più generativo e di co-creazione. Inoltre, in questa sfida di tenere assieme unità e diversità, attrattività e capacitazione, si sussume la dinamica nazionale-locale in cui il servizio pubblico ha l’occasione di (ri)acquisire una posizione centrale nel Paese, valorizzando, in una dimensione «place-based», le spinte di cambiamento, di innovazione sociale prodotte dalle diverse comunità nella direzione di promuovere sviluppo sociale ed economico.

The current article analyzes the difficulties faced by public service media in the current political, economic and multimedia context. It proceeds with an examination of the main financing methods used by public service media and of the most recent reforms at the European level. The last part of this article describes a potential "scenario" of reforming public service media license fee model through the dynamics of civic crowdfunding, allowing citizens to decide in which programs they may invest a (20%) quota. The scenario we have built is framed in the direction of a "digitally enabled collaborative economy" (Kostakis and Bauwens, 2014), where citizens can experiment with a form of participation in media that is no longer "content-related" but "structural" (Carpentier, 2011). In order to prove the value of this hypothesis, the model has been tested on 649 Italian citizens. This test demonstrated that, although 83% of the survey sample believe the current cost of the Italian license fee is too high, 70% of them would be willing to pay even more if they could be in control of a part of the license fee and decide where to invest it. Therefore, we have shown that our sample of Italian citizens and Internet users is favorably disposed toward forms of more structural participation in the decision-making processes of public service media and in the co-management of public service media budgets. The aim of the current article is to demonstrate the potential value of audience' structural participation in reshaping the role of public service media in contemporary digital cultures and networked societies.

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES: To compare negative and positive margins pT2-3N0M0 prostate cancers after radical prostatectomy (RP) in terms of percentage of biochemical recurrence (BR), salvage radiotherapy, androgen deprivation therapy (ADT), metastases and cancer specific mortality METHODS: The cohort consisted in patients after RP with pT2-T3N0M0. Exclusion criteria were neoadjuvant and adjuvant ADT, adjuvant radiotherapy and a detectable PSA post RP. All patients were followed with 3 months PSA measurements. The BR was defined as a PSAϾ0.3 ng/ml (confirmed by a second measurement). At this point a 60Gy salvage radiation therapy was proposed. In case of a second biochemical progression patients underwent ADT. The 5-yr and 10-yr biochemical free survival (BFS), radiotherapy free survival (RtFS), hormone therapy free survival (HtFS), metastasis free survival (metsFS) and cancer specific survival (CSFS) were calculated using the Kaplan-Meier method RESULTS: From our data base we identified 1227 that met our inclusion criteria, 741 had no positive margins (Group A) and 486 had positive margins (Groups B). Median FU was 78 months (0.07-241months) and mean age was 63.4yrs (DS5.9yrs). The groups A and B were comparable in term of PSA at prostatectomy (median 7 ng/ml vs. 8ng/ml), cGleason score (GSϭ7: 25.9%vs 25.1%) and clinical stage (pT2: 50.1%vs 51.4%). However, the group B had double rate of T3 and extracapsular extension. At 5yr and 10yr, BFS rate was 89.8%.and 77.4% for group A and 76.2% and 62.1% for group B (Log-rank Ͻ0.0001). RtFS rate at 5yr and 10 yr was 94.2% and 88% for group A and 81.3% and 75.2% for group B (Log-rank Ͻ0.0001). The HtFS rate was similar for both groups at 5yr (97.2% vs 97.5%) but differed at 10yr (95.6% vs 91%) (Log-rankϭ0.02). Nevertheless, no statistical difference was observed for the metFS and CSFS rate at 5yr (99% for both groups). At 10 yr metFS was 98.6% for group A (Log-rankϭ0,28) and 96.2% for Group B and CSFS 98% for Group a and 93.5% for Group B (Log-rankϭ0.14) CONCLUSIONS: In our study, patients with pT2-3N0M0 positive margins survive without the need of radiotherapy in 75% at 10yr. Patients with positive margins and delayed radiotherapy showed to have similar cancer specific mortality and metastases rate compared to the negative margin group at 5 yr. At 10yr CSFS was higher for the negative margins patients compared to the margin positive, but this difference did not reach a statistical significance

A synthetic view of the process that led to the Local Cultural Indicators System (Siclo in its Spanish acronym) is presented. Siclo  is an application designed to improve knowledge about the status of cultural actions at the local administration level. This tool seeks to provide supporting information to facilitate the evaluation of local cultural policies. It is structured into five thematic areas and three modules. The basic module, comprising a total of 46 indicators, is the only one which is operative at the moment

الأزمات المالية والاقتصادية ليست ظاهرة جديدة في العالم، بل شهد التاريخ العديد من الأزمات في عصور مختلفة، مثل أزمة القرن السابع عشر في بريطانيا وأزمة مصر في عهد الخديوي إسماعيل وأزمة البنوك في فرنسا وأزمة الكساد العظيم في الولايات المتحدة. ومنذ ذلك الحين، شهد العالم العديد من الأزمات المالية، مثل أزمة السوق السوداء في 1987 وأزمة المكسيك وتركيا في 1994، وأزمة دول النمور الآسيوية في 1997، وأزمة روسيا في 1998، وأزمة التكنولوجيا في 2000، وأحداث 11 سبتمبر في 2001، وأزمة إنرون وورد كوم في الولايات المتحدة.

تقارير صندوق النقد الدولي أكدت تأثير هذه الأزمات على الدول الأعضاء، حيث أدت إلى انعكاسات سلبية على اقتصادها. دراسة أخرى أشارت إلى أن الأزمات المالية تؤدي إلى انخفاض في أسعار العقارات والأصول، وزيادة في معدلات البطالة، وتراجع في الناتج المحلي الإجمالي، بالإضافة إلى زيادة في الديون الحكومية.

من الفرضيات المقترحة لهذه الأزمات أنها أظهرت عجزاً في النظام الرأسمالي لمواجهة تحدياتها، وأن ترابط الاقتصاد العالمي يزيد من انتشار الأزمات وتأثيرها على مستوى العالم.

Background: Phosphorus acts as a limiting nutrient in aquatic environments due to its non-availability as it forms insoluble precipitate with Ca, Mg, Fe and Al. Phosphorus solubilising bacteria (PSB) solubilizes the inorganic precipitate into soluble phosphorus. Methods: The PSB isolates were screened and isolated from rhizospheric sediment of mangrove, Avicennia marina of Ennore creek, Tamil Nadu. Their phosphorus transformation potential and the possibilities of their application in aquaculture to solubilize inorganic phosphorus were studied. Result: In the present study, thirteen nos. of PSB isolates were screened from the rhizospheric sediment samples of Avicennia marina collected from Ennore region and identified as Rhodococcus, Arthrobacter, Bacillus, Enterococcus, Staphylococcus and Pseudomonas. The P-solubilizing activity and Acid phosphatase (ACPase) activity of PSB isolates were found to be in the range of 7.62±0.51-16.33±0.84 mg/l and 4.40±0.28-22.77±0.32 mol ml-1 h-1 respectively. The maximum ACPase activity was exhibited by Arthrobacter sp (22.77±0.32 mol ml-1 h-1) followed by Rhodococcus sp. (18.08±0.78 mol ml-1 h-1). The P-mobilizing potential of the isolates obtained in this study were compared with the commercial product following a microcosm study for a period of 21 days. Rhodococcus sp showed higher ACPase activity in sediment (12.00 mol g-1 h-1) than that of the commercial product (11.23 mol g-1 h-1).

La co-creación es un concepto que tiene cada vez más peso en los planteamientos estratégicos de los medios de servicio público, en particular por su potencial innovador, ofreciéndoles a las corporaciones un mecanismo para generar un valor conjunto con su audiencia, volviéndose más relevantes socialmente y cumpliendo con sus compromisos de servicio público. Sin embargo, la ambigüedad en la descripción de este concepto se traduce en muy diversas concepciones del mismo, siendo aplicado de diferentes maneras a través de los PSM europeos. Los resultados muestran cómo las corporaciones utilizan este mecanismo con diferentes propósitos: conseguir feedback por parte de los usuarios, generar valor colaborando en la creación de sus contenidos, o potenciar el engagement en versiones más clásicas de la participación.

Nanoparticles of zeolitic imidazolate framework-7 (nZIF-7) were blended with poly(ether imide) (PEI) to fabricate a new mixed-matrix membrane (nZIF-7/PEI). nZIF-7 was chosen in order to demonstrate the power of postsynthetic modification (PSM) by linker exchange of benzimidazolate to benzotriazolate for tuning the permeability and selectivity properties of a resulting membrane (PSM-nZIF-7/PEI). These two new membranes were subjected to constant volume, variable pressure gas permeation measurements (H 2 , N 2 , O 2 , CH 4 , CO 2 , C 2 H 6 , and C 3 H 8), in which unique gas separation behavior was observed when compared to the pure PEI membrane. Specifically, the nZIF-7/PEI membrane exhibited the highest selectivities for CO 2 /CH 4 , CO 2 /C 2 H 6 , and CO 2 /C 3 H 8 gas pairs. Furthermore, PSM-nZIF-7/PEI membrane displayed the highest permeabilities, which resulted in H 2 /CH 4 , N 2 /CH 4 , and H 2 /CO 2 permselectivities that are remarkably well-positioned on the Robeson upper bound curves, thus, indicating its potential applicability for use in practical gas purifications.

Nanoparticles of zeolitic imidazolate framework-7 (nZIF-7) were blended with poly(ether imide) (PEI) to fabricate a new mixed-matrix membrane (nZIF-7/PEI). nZIF-7 was chosen in order to demonstrate the power of postsynthetic modification (PSM) by linker exchange of benzimidazolate to benzotriazolate for tuning the permeability and selectivity properties of a resulting membrane (PSM-nZIF-7/PEI). These two new membranes were subjected to constant volume, variable pressure gas permeation measurements (H 2 , N 2 , O 2 , CH 4 , CO 2 , C 2 H 6 , and C 3 H 8), in which unique gas separation behavior was observed when compared to the pure PEI membrane. Specifically, the nZIF-7/PEI membrane exhibited the highest selectivities for CO 2 /CH 4 , CO 2 /C 2 H 6 , and CO 2 /C 3 H 8 gas pairs. Furthermore, PSM-nZIF-7/PEI membrane displayed the highest permeabilities, which resulted in H 2 /CH 4 , N 2 /CH 4 , and H 2 /CO 2 permselectivities that are remarkably well-positioned on the Robeson upper bound curves, thus, indicating its potential applicability for use in practical gas purifications.

This study undertakes a survey of literature on early childhood care and education (ECCE). The aim is to provide an understanding of the schemes that were adopted by the government for achieving personality development among children, specific to their lifetime learning and well-being. To accomplish this motive, the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) was initiated in 1975 by the government to cater for the needs of children in the age group of 0-6 years and to check infant and child mortality rates. Further, in the last five decades, the government has focused on several programs under Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) for child's social, emotional, cognitive, and physical development. We focus on the Anganwadi scheme, which is an inseparable part of the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS), designed to provide support services to pregnant women and lactating mothers and prepare children for schooling and holistic development. Specifically, our paper focuses on the present scenario of early childhood care and education (ECCE), challenges faced by pre-primary school workers which subsequently causes implementation failure, and suggestions for the policy implications to eradicate the existing challenges for improvising the program efficiency.

Background: Portal thrombosis (PT) is a rare pathology. Its prevalence is estimated at 1%. Its consequences depend on the acute or chronic nature, the extent of the clot and the etiology. In Sub-Saharan Africa, very few studies have been devoted to it. Patients and Method: The objective of our work was to determine the prevalence of PT and to describe its clinical and etiological presentation as well as its therapeutic management in the Hepato-gastroenterology department of the Aristide Le Dantec hospital in Dakar. This was a retrospective, longitudinal and descriptive study during the period from January 1, 2012, to December 31, 2018. It included all patients followed in ambulatory or inpatient, who presented a PT objectively determined by a medical imaging examination (ultrasound and/or CT scan). Age, gender, clinical and radiological aspects, proposed treatments and etiology of PT were collected. Results: We collected 71 observations. The prevalence of PT was 1.9%. The mean age of the patients was 41 years 15 and 75 years. A predominance of men was found with a sex ratio of 2.73. The clinical manifestations were dominated by abdominal pain (74.6%), ascites (35.7%) and gastrointestinal bleeding (25.4%). Imaging allowed the diagnosis to be made in 50 patients on ultrasound and 21 patients on abdominal CT scan. PT was acute in 5 patients and chronic in 66 patients. Thrombosis was complete in 71.4% of cases and extended to the spleno-mesaraic venous trunk and the superior mesenteric vein in 2.8% and 8.4% respectively. Etiological research found cirrhosis complicated by hepatocellular carcinoma in 67.6% of cases, cirrhosis with cruoric

The development of new therapies for surgical adhesions has proven to be difficult as there is no consistently effective way to assess treatment efficacy in clinical trials without performing a second surgery, which can result in additional adhesions. We have developed lipid microbubble formulations that use a short peptide sequence, CREKA, to target fibrin, the molecule that forms nascent adhesions. These targeted polymerized shell microbubbles (PSMs) are designed to allow ultrasound imaging of early adhesions for diagnostic purposes and for evaluating the success of potential treatments in clinical trials while acting as a possible treatment. In this study, we show that CREKA-targeted microbubbles preferentially bind fibrin over fibrinogen and are stable for long periods of time (~48 h), that these bound microbubbles can be visualized by ultrasound, and that neither these lipid-based bubbles nor their diagnostic-ultrasound-induced vibrations damage mesothelial cells in vitro. Moreover, these bubbles show the potential to identify adhesionlike fibrin formations and may hold promise in blocking or breaking up fibrin formations in vivo.

Many phosphate solubilizing fungi (PSF) are found in soil and their introduction in the rhizosphere of crops not only increases the availability of phosphorus from insoluble sources of phosphate but also increases the efficiency of phosphate fertilizers such as superphosphate and rock phosphate. Studies on 2 strains belonging to Aspergillus niger, and 1 strain each of Aspergillus flavus, Penicillium aurantiogriseum and Penicillium claviformis with special reference to phosphate solubilization were performed in this communication. All the fungal strains showed halo zone around them on Pikovskaya plates. Quantitative estimation of 3 indigenous strains along with the other 2 non-indigenous strains taken as reference strains was done in two nutrient broths namely: Czapek's Dox and Pikovskaya containing dicalcium phosphate (DCP) as insoluble source of phosphorus. Out of the two media selected for the study, Pikovskaya broth supported better solubilization. The insoluble phosphates DCP, TCP (tricalcium phosphate) and hypt (hydroxyapatite) were tested, DCP was least solubilized by all strains but there was no significant difference in solubilization of TCP and hydroxyapatite. There was significant negative correlation between pH and phosphate solubilized in all forms of insoluble phosphates. Types of nitrogen sources and metal ions were also screened during the study. (Na 4) 2 SO 4 supported more solubilization than NaNO 3 , whereas phosphate solubilizing activity decreased (except in A. niger ATCC 282) in presence of Mn +2 and Fe +3 but presence of Al +3 did not have statistically significant effect on solubilization. Though various species of Penicillium have been reported for phosphate solubilization in literature but to the best of our knowledge this is first report of phosphate solubilization by P. claviformis.

One major factor shaping the composition and physiology of colon microbiota is the availability of glycans, most of which cannot be digested by enzymes encoded in the human genome. Gut microbiota can digest the indigestible glycans and further produce short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), which serve as nutrients for colonocytes and other gut epithelial cells. Mucus glycoproteins of swiftlet's edible nest (genus Collocalia) are mainly constituted of sialic acid-rich O-glycosylproteins with numerous monosialyl and disialyl glycans. In this study, the glycans from edible bird nest (EBN) have been extracted from the native glycoprotein by reaction alkaline hydrolysis (beta-elimination). The extracted glycans was tested for its potential as prebiotic for the growth of beneficial bacteria in human colon. Results showed that the glycan of EBN can resist human stomach digestion, thus have a potential to act as prebiotic.

Phosphatase in the soil was found as extracellular enzymes produced by soil micro-organisms both in acidic or alkaline conditions. Phosphatase is an enzyme complex that plays an important role in deciding soil-bound phosphate bond organic compounds to form orthophosphate which is available to the plant. Mineralization of organic forms into a inorganic-P determined by the ability of these bacteria to produce phosphatase. Therefore, observations of phosphatase activities are important to know how intensely P mineralization process takes place in the soil. Phosphate solubilizing rhizobacteria (PSR) has been widely known to affect mobilization of insoluble inorganic phosphates become available to plants. Although phosphate solubilizing rhizobacteria is widely available in the soil, their activity is usually not strong enough to compete with other bacteria commonly located in the root zone (rhizosphere). That is why, screening of phosphatase enzyme activity and various phosphate solubili...

En la actualidad existe una gran cantidad de proyectos o aplicaciones que disponen de una API REST, una nueva opción o estilo de uso de los Servicios Web (Web Services, WS), para la creación de servicios profesionales. Twitter, YouTube, los sistemas de identificación con Facebook, y cientos de empresas generan negocio gracias a REST y las APIs REST. REST es una interfaz entre sistemas que usa HTTP para obtener datos o generar operaciones sobre esos datos en todos los formatos posibles, como XML, JSON, HTTP, etc. En los últimos años logró un gran impacto en la web que prácticamente logró desplazar a SOAP y las interfaces basadas en WSDL por tener un estilo bastante más simple de utilizar y sobre todo por su eficiencia. La línea de investigación propone un mecanismo de generación de API REST a partir de versiones existentes de API Java, en el contexto del desarrollo dirigido por modelos (Model-Driven Development, MDD), para la construcción de WSs. Aplicar esta técnica mediante la tran...

We present a two-layer representation of the locally sensed 3D indoor environment. Our representation moves one step forward from capturing the geometric structure of the environment to reason about the navigation opportunities for an agent in the environment. The first layer is the Planar Semantic Model (PSM), a geometric representation in terms of meaningful planes (ground and walls). PSM captures more semantics of the indoor environment than a pure planar model because it represents a richer set of relationships among planar segments. In the second layer, we present the Action Opportunity Star (AOS), which describes the set of qualitatively distinct opportunities for robot action available in the neighborhood of the robot. Our twolayer representation is a concise representation of indoor environments, semantically meaningful to both robot and to human. It is capable of capturing incomplete knowledge of the local environment so that unknown areas can be incrementally learned as observations become available. Experimental results on a variety of indoor environments demonstrate the expressive power of our representation.

It is undoubtedly clear that phosphorus is the second most important nutrient after nitrogen required for growth of plants. It is an essential element in all living systems. Hardly 1%-2% of phosphorous is supplied to other parts of the plants. Plants acquire phosphorus from soil solution in the form of phosphate anion. It is the least mobile element in plant and soil in comparison to other macronutrients. It remains in a precipitated form in the soil as mono or orthophosphate or is absorbed by Fe or Al oxides through legend exchange. Generally, the phosphate solubilizing microorganisms (PSM) play a very important role in phosphorus nutrition by exchanging its availability to plants through release from inorganic and organic soil phosphorus pools by solubilization and mineralization. The main mechanism in the soil for mineral phosphate solubilization is by lowering the soil pH by the microbial production of organic acids and mineralization of organic phosphorus by acid phosphates. To fulfill the phosphorous demand of plant, an additional source of phosphorous is applied to plants in the form of chemical fertilizers. One of the most common forms of phosphate is fertilizers in the form of rock phosphate or superphosphate. It is not suggested to apply these phosphates directly to soil as there are so many environmental problems. Hence, biofertilizers or microbial inoculants are used as an alternate source, which are both economic as well as eco-friendly.

We determined the predictive power of tumor percent involvement on prostate specific antigen recurrence in patients when stratified by prostate weight. Materials and Methods: Data on 3,057 patients who underwent radical prostatectomy between 1988 and 2008 was retrieved from our institutional prostate cancer database. Patients with data on tumor percent involvement, prostate volume and prostate specific antigen recurrence were included in analysis. Patients were divided into 3 groups based on prostate volume less than 35, 35 to 45 and greater than 45 cc. The variables tumor percent involvement, age at surgery, race, prostate specific antigen, pathological Gleason score, positive surgical margins, extraprostatic extension, seminal vesicle invasion and surgery year were analyzed using the chi-square and Mann-Whitney tests to determine individual effects on prostate specific antigen recurrence. Tumor percent involvement and prostate specific antigen were evaluated as continuous variables. Significant variables on univariate analysis were included in multivariate Cox regression analysis to compare their effects on prostate specific antigen recurrence. Results: Tumor percent involvement significantly predicted prostate specific antigen recurrence in men with a small prostate (p ϭ 0.006) but not in those with a prostate of greater than 35 cc. Black race was a marginally significant predictor of prostate specific antigen recurrence in men with a medium prostate (p ϭ 0.055). Age at surgery was a predictor of prostate specific antigen recurrence in men with a larger prostate (p ϭ 0.003). Prostate specific antigen, positive surgical margins, seminal vesicle invasion and pathological Gleason score 7 or greater predicted prostate specific antigen recurrence in men with all prostate sizes. Conclusions: In men with a prostate of less than 35 cc tumor percent involvement is an important variable when assessing the risk of prostate specific antigen recurrence. Tumor percent involvement and prostate volume should be considered when counseling patients and determining who may benefit from heightened surveillance after radical prostatectomy.

Many phosphate solubilizing fungi (PSF) are found in soil and their introduction in the rhizosphere of crops not only increases the availability of phosphorus from insoluble sources of phosphate but also increases the efficiency of phosphate fertilizers such as superphosphate and rock phosphate. Studies on 2 strains belonging to Aspergillus niger, and 1 strain each of Aspergillus flavus, Penicillium aurantiogriseum and Penicillium claviformis with special reference to phosphate solubilization were performed in this communication. All the fungal strains showed halo zone around them on Pikovskaya plates. Quantitative estimation of 3 indigenous strains along with the other 2 non-indigenous strains taken as reference strains was done in two nutrient broths namely: Czapek's Dox and Pikovskaya containing dicalcium phosphate (DCP) as insoluble source of phosphorus. Out of the two media selected for the study, Pikovskaya broth supported better solubilization. The insoluble phosphates DCP, TCP (tricalcium phosphate) and hypt (hydroxyapatite) were tested, DCP was least solubilized by all strains but there was no significant difference in solubilization of TCP and hydroxyapatite. There was significant negative correlation between pH and phosphate solubilized in all forms of insoluble phosphates. Types of nitrogen sources and metal ions were also screened during the study. (Na 4) 2 SO 4 supported more solubilization than NaNO 3 , whereas phosphate solubilizing activity decreased (except in A. niger ATCC 282) in presence of Mn +2 and Fe +3 but presence of Al +3 did not have statistically significant effect on solubilization. Though various species of Penicillium have been reported for phosphate solubilization in literature but to the best of our knowledge this is first report of phosphate solubilization by P. claviformis.

While soft OR tools offer specific solutions to manage complexity in organisations, little is known concerning soft OR tools to deal with self-organisation in communities. This paper describes an action research project where the authors facilitated a process of self-organisation in a developing Irish ecocommunity whose members operate in a non-hierarchical, and cooperative fashion. We used the Viable System Model as a hermeneutical enabler of the community learning process concerning their selforganisation: by embedding VSM distinctions, they redesigned their primary tasks and developed meta-systemic management tools to deal with the complexity they were facing. Observations of the dynamics of the self-organising process over a period of 3 years show the community designed their roles and tasks more effectively, improved the connectivity of roles, and in general, their viability and sustainability. We reflect on the distinctiveness of the methods used, and their contributions to research in soft OR in community projects.

This paper investigates the determinants of human capital investment in the form of formal training (off-the-job training) and estimates effects of this investment on productivity using Propensity Score Matching (PSM) method. We use data from a survey of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Vietnam (completed in 2010) with detailed information about training and several firm characteristics. Our estimates reveal that investment in human capital currently does not have the considerable contribution to the improvement in productivity of SMEs. This result does not support the universalistic perspective in strategic human resource management (SHRM) theoretical model.

In most of today's agent systems migration of agents requires homogeneity in the programming language and/or agent platform in which an agent has been designed. In this paper an approach is presented with which heterogeneity is possible: agents can migrate between non-identical platforms, and need not be written in the same language. Instead of migrating the "code" (including data and state) of an agent, a blueprint of an agent's functionality is transferred. An agent factory generates new code on the basis of this blueprint. This approach of generative mobility not only has implications for interoperability but also for security, as discussed in this paper.

Microorganisms present within the intercellular spaces of plant parts, enhancing plant growth and development, are referred as endophytes. They are the endosymbionts without showing any visible symptoms of their presence. In this paper we compared the tri ...

Mucin-type O-glycans have profound effects on the structure and stability of glycoproteins. O-glycans on the cell surface proteins also modulate the cell's interactions with the surrounding environments and other cells. The synthetic pathway of O-glycans involves a large number of enzymes with diverse substrate specificity. The expression pattern of these enzymes is cell and tissue-specific, thus making the pathway highly diverse. To facilitate pathway analysis in a cell and tissue-specific fashion, we developed an integrated platform of RING (Rule Input Network Generator) and O-GlycoVis. RING uses an English-like reaction language to describe the substrate specificity of enzymes and additional constraints on the formation of the glycan products. Using this information, RING generates a list of possible glycans, which is used as input into O-Glycovis. O-GlycoVis displays the glycan distribution in the pathway and potential reaction paths leading to each glycan. With the input glycan data, O-Glycovis also traces all possible reaction paths leading to each glycan and outputs pathway maps with the relative abundance levels of glycans overlaid. O-glycan profiles from two breast cancer cell lines, MCF7 and T-47d, Human Umbilical Vascular Endothelium cells, Chinese Hamster Ovary cells were generated based on transcriptional data and compared to experimentally observed O-glycans. This RING based program allows rules to be added or subtracted for network generation and visualization of networks of O-glycosylation network of different tissues and species.

We present an extension of the Martini coarse-grained force field to glycolipids. The glycolipids considered here are the glycoglycerolipids monogalactosyldiacylglycerol (MGDG), sulfoquinovosyldiacylglycerol (SQDG), digalactosyldiacylglycerol (DGDG), and phosphatidylinositol (PI) and its phosphorylated forms (PIP, PIP2), as well as the glycosphingolipids galactosylceramide (GCER) and monosialotetrahexosylganglioside (GM1). The parametrization follows the same philosophy as was used previously for lipids, proteins, and carbohydrates focusing on the reproduction of partitioning free energies of small compounds between polar and nonpolar solvents. Bonded parameters are optimized by comparison to lipid conformations sampled with an atomistic force field, in particular with respect to the representation of the most populated states around the glycosidic linkage. Simulations of coarse-grained glycolipid model membranes show good agreement with atomistic simulations as well as experimental data available, especially concerning structural properties such as electron densities, area per lipid, and membrane thickness. Our coarse-grained model opens the way to large scale simulations of biological processes in which glycolipids are important, including recognition, sorting, and clustering of both external and membrane bound proteins.