Topical diclofenac/hyaluronic acid gel in the treatment of solar keratoses

Infection remains a major cause of morbidity and mortality among transplant recipients. Aspergillus infections in particular are associated with a high mortality rate. The diagnosis of Aspergillus among transplant recipients may be difficult, because many patients have multiple complications. This article presents a case of Aspergillus in a heart transplant recipient. The discussion provides an overview of the presentation, diagnosis, and treatment of Aspergillus infections.     

A two-stage DC thyristor circuit breaker

High-current DC thyristor circuit breaker (TCB) devices, based on the parallel capacitor-current commutation-forced turn-off principle, require very large capacitors to effect correct operation as fault-current interrupters in electrical circuits. The commutation capacitors of TCB devices that interrupt current in a single switching operation absorb virtually all the electromagnetic energy stored in circuits, where they operate during the single switching process. These device types interrupt current extremely fast, but because of the scale of the energy transfer to the commutation capacitor, they are especially prone to producing short-duration switching overvoltages of excessive magnitude. A novel TCB device involving two switching operations or stages is presented and analyzed. With this device type, the circuit-stored energy is transferred to the commutation capacitor in two stages, which, in so doing, produces significantly lower switching overvoltages than the conventional “single-stage” TCB device. Results of a range of tests on a low-voltage two-stage TCB device and a high-power-prototype version are given together with the basis for determining their optimum design criteria. Comparative simulation studies are also provided. Finally, the limitations of TCB devices are examined and discussed in conjunction with cost comparisons and their merits and limitations for typical applications     

Personal therapy in the training of psychologists.

Surveyed 185 clinical and counseling psychologists in British Columbia about their opinions on personal therapy as a component of professional training, and about the circumstances under which personal therapy had been provided to them while they were in graduate school. Ss identified potential benefits and risks of personal therapy. 88% saw at least 1 benefit for the experience, and 83% saw at least 1 risk. 41% of Ss had undergone therapy as part of their clinical training, and in many cases this experience was provided in a manner inconsistent with ethical guidelines. Of those receiving personal therapy, 46% reported that therapy was required rather than optional. Ethical issues concerning therapeutic interventions in the training of psychotherapists are discussed. A French summary of the article is also presented. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Internal triple-band folded planar antenna design for third generation mobile handsets

A novel internal triple-band folded planar antenna for mobile handsets is introduced, formed by modifying the geometry of a rectangular patch antenna to include a shorting pin, folded sides, a shorted microstrip stub and a notch. The size of the antenna is successfully reduced to a volume of 34 times 34 times 7 times mm³. The antenna is mounted on a finite ground plane of 50times100 times mm². The impedance bandwidth achieved was 29.7% (equivalent to return loss%%10%dB); this covers the DCS1800, PCS1900 and UMTS 2000 bands. The characteristics of the proposed antenna, including impedance bandwidth and far field radiation patterns are discussed theoretically and experimentally; the simulated and measured results show good agreement. The tuning effects of the geometry parameters on impedance matching of the proposed antenna are also investigated.     

Exploration–Exploitation: How business analytics powers organisational ambidexterity for environmental sustainability

Simultaneous exploration and exploitation (i.e., exploration–exploitation) can help a firm address short-term environmental requirements and ensure long-term environmental viability. Exploration–exploitation, however, challenges organisational practices because they compete for resources and time. While business analytics (BA) offers the potential to overcome these challenges, research to date offers very limited insights into how BA capabilities interact with ambidextrous capabilities to realise environmental value. We address this issue by conducting a comparative case study at a bank and at a real-estate trust through the theoretical lens of dynamic capabilities. We develop a process model to explain how BA powers ambidextrous practices to achieve sustainability outcomes over time. We uncover two mechanisms: a BA-powered context shaping mechanism by which BA powers contextual ambidexterity at the employee level using data availability, timeliness, and analytics culture; and a BA-powered resource linking mechanism by which BA powers structural ambidexterity at intra- and inter-organisational levels using holistic insights and analytics leadership. Our model highlights the contextual factors that condition the extent to which a firm moves along the continuum of exploration–exploitation. We also define a new dimension of sustainability outcomes which we label eco-awareness to explain how BA shapes employees' environmental alertness and enables the paradigm shift in an organisation's sustainability mindset.     

Effects of Long-term Storage on Sensory and Nutritional Quality of Rolled Oats

Sixteen samples of regular and quick‐cooking rolled oats stored up to 28 y in a reduced oxygen atmosphere in nr 10 cans at ambient temperatures were analyzed for sensory and nutritional quality. A consumer panel evaluated aroma, texture, flavor, aftertaste, and overall acceptability using a 9‐point hedonic scale. Hedonic scores varied from 4.8 to 6.7. Although there was a loss of sensory quality in samples over time, all samples were considered acceptable by at least 3/4 of panelists for use in an emergency. Vitamin B₁ amounts ranged from 2.7 to 6.6 μg/g and were highest in some older samples. Vitamin E amounts ranged from 1.3 to 37.8 μg/g and were negatively correlated with headspace hexanal levels. Rolled oats can be included in long‐term food storage regimens because of their sensory and nutritional stability when properly packaged and stored.     

Carcass composition and meat quality differences between pasture-reared ewe and ram lambs

Comparisons were made of carcass and meat quality characteristics of pasture-raised Texel-cross ewe (n = 269) and ram (n = 275) lambs between 5 and 8 months of age with an average carcass weight of 17.2 kg. Carcass assessment was based on linear dimensions and dissection of a leg into muscle, fat and bone, and meat quality measurements were made on M. semimembranosus and M. longissimus. At a set carcass weight, ewe lambs had higher dressing percentages (2%), shorter carcasses (0.7 cm), and heavier leg cuts (35 g) (P < 0.01) than males. At the same leg weight, legs of ewe lambs were fatter than males (subcutaneous plus intermuscular fat; 11.2% vs 9.6%; P < 0.001), whereas legs of ram lambs contained significantly more muscle and bone than females (P < 0.001). Leg muscle to bone ratio (4.7 vs 4.4) and muscularity were higher for females than males (P < 0.001). However, the relationship between leg muscle to bone ratio and muscularity was not the same between the sexes, and for any given muscularity value the muscle to bone ratio of ram lambs was lower than females. As a result, if carcass lean meat yield is predicted from a measure of carcass shape, such as muscularity, lean meat yields will be overestimated for males and underestimated for females. Meat quality was lower in ram lambs than in females (P < 0.001) as shown by higher Warner-Bratzler shear values (peak value 109.8 vs 97.0 N for M. Semimembranosus), higher ultimate meat pH values, and lower redness (a¹) and lightness (L¹, for the longissimus muscle only) values (P < 0.001). It is concluded that significant differences between ewe and ram lambs do exist for many carcass and meat quality traits, but for most quality traits the differences are small.