Inertial oscillation forced by the September 1997 cyclone in the Bay of Bengal

Time-series measurements from a moored data buoy located in the Bay of Bengal captured signals of inertial oscillation forced by the September 1997 cyclone. The progressive vector diagram showed mean northeastward current with well-defined clockwise circulation. Spectral analysis exhibited inertial peak at 0.67 cpd with blue shift and high rotary coefficient of –0.99, which signifies strong circular inertial oscillation. The wind and SST also exhibited spectral peak at inertial band (0.69 cpd) with higher blue shift. The inertial amplitude of 148.8 cm/s corresponding to a wind stress of 0.99 N/m2 and spectral peak near the local inertial frequency (0.653 cpd) indicate that the transfer of momentum was high.

Scoring Methods for Ordinal Multidimensional Forced-Choice Items

In most psychological tests and questionnaires, a test score is obtained by taking the sum of the item scores. In virtually all cases where the test or questionnaire contains multidimensional forced-choice items, this traditional scoring method is also applied. We argue that the summation of scores obtained with multidimensional forced-choice items produces uninterpretable test scores. Therefore, we propose three alternative scoring methods: a weak and a strict rank preserving scoring method, which both allow an ordinal interpretation of test scores; and a ratio preserving scoring method, which allows a proportional interpretation of test scores. Each proposed scoring method yields an index for each respondent indicating the degree to which the response pattern is inconsistent. Analysis of real data showed that with respect to rank preservation, the weak and strict rank preserving method resulted in lower inconsistency indices than the traditional scoring method; with respect to ratio preservation, the ratio preserving scoring method resulted in lower inconsistency indices than the traditional scoring method

Análisis de los factores políticos y administrativos que han incidido en el cumplimiento de la Sentencia T - 025 de 2004 de la Corte Constitucional en la Alcaldía de Samuel Moreno Rojas (Periodo 2008 - 2011)

El fenómeno del desplazamiento interno forzado en el mundo representa una problemática de gran envergadura que impacta a aquellas personas que se ven obligadas a migrar dentro del territorio de su país huyendo de las zonas de conflictos y de las persecuciones de los actores armados, debido al contexto de violencia en el que se encuentran y del cual resultan ser las principales víctimas. Así pues, en el caso de Colombia, el desplazamiento forzado interno representa una de las principales consecuencias que ha dejado el contexto de violencia armada sufrido en el país a lo largo de las últimas décadas, lo cual ha llevado a las instancias constitucionales a pronunciarse sobre el accionar del Estado para darle solución a esta problemática. El trabajo se enfoca específicamente en la Sentencia T-025 de 2004 proferida por la Corte Constitucional donde se establece que el país atraviesa por un Estado de Cosas Inconstitucional. De manera particular, a lo largo del análisis se realiza una evaluación de la implementación, cumplimiento y alcance de la Sentencia en la Ciudad de Bogotá, durante la Administración de Samuel Moreno Rojas.

Land Restitution and Prevention of Forced Displacement in Colombia

The armed conflict in Colombia, which has generated over three million internally displaced persons, has dramatic humanitarian consequences and raises serious issues regarding the protection of displaced peoples’ rights. The underlying reasons for the displacement often lie in the dynamics associated with territorial control and land seizures undertaken for strategic, military or purely economic purposes. Domestic and international legal provisions have established the victims’ right to the restitution of their homes and property as the “preferred remedy” in cases of displacement. However, policies dealing with displacement, both those of the Colombian government and of several international institutions, fail to take this sufficiently into account. A comprehensive reparation policy for victims must necessarily entail the reversion of lands, territories and goods seized in Colombia under the pretext of the internal armed conflict.

Traditional scores versus IRT estimates on forced-choice tests based on a dominance model

Resumen tomado de la publicaci??n

Quality of medicines stored together in multi-compartment compliance aids

Background and Objective: Dispensing medicines into compliance aids is a common practice in pharmacy contrary to manufacturers’ advice and studies have shown the appearance of light-sensitive tablets is compromised by such storage; we previously found evidence of reduced bioavailability at elevated temperature and humidity. Our objective was to examine the physicochemical stability of two generic atenolol tablets in different compliance aids and with aspirin co-storage at room temperature and at 40 °C/75% relative humidity. Methods: The physicochemical stability of atenolol tablets was evaluated after 28 days of storage and compared with controls by examining visual appearance, weight, disintegration, dissolution, friability and hardness to accepted standards and using a previously validated HPLC method for chemical assay. Results and Discussion: The response to storage was brand-dependent and not straightforward. With one make of atenolol (Alpharma), storage in compliance aids even at room temperature impacted on physical stability, reducing tablet hardness, with storage in Dosett® exerting a greater impact than storage in Medidos® (t-test P < 0·001). Co-storage at elevated temperature and humidity also impacted on the appearance of non-coated aspirin tablets (Angette™). The chemical stability of atenolol was not affected and we did not find evidence of changes to bioavailability with either make. Certainly data for one atenolol make (CP Pharmaceuticals) co-stored with aspirin (Angette™ and Nu-Seals) in both compliance aids at room temperature provided evidence of short-term stability. But medicines are dispensed into compliance aids in multi-factorial ways so our study highlights not only the lack of evidence but also a realization that evidence to support real practice may not be accomplished through research. Conclusion: Reassuring practitioners of the continued stability of medicines in compliance aids under the countless condition in which they are dispensed in practice may requires a different approach involving medical device regulators and more definitive professional guidance.

Pilot study of the short-term physico-chemical stability of atenolol tablets stored in a multi-compartment compliance aid

Study objectives: There is a possibility that lower air, moisture and light protection could impact on physico-chemical stability of medicines inside multi-compartment compliance aids (MCCAs), although this has not yet been proved. The objectives of the study were to examine the physico-chemical stability of atenolol tablets stored in a compliance aid at room temperature, and at elevated temperature and humidity to simulate practice conditions. Methods: Atenolol 100 mg tablets in 28-chamber, plastic compliance aids with transparent lids were stored for four weeks at room temperature and at 40°C with 75% relative humidity. Tablets were also stored at room temperature in original packaging and Petri dishes. Physical tests were conducted to standards as laid down in the British Pharmacopoeia 2005, and dissolution to those of the United States Pharmacopoeia volume 24. Chemical stability was assessed by a validated high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method. Results: Tablets at room temperature in original packaging, in compliance aids and Petri dishes remained the same in appearance and passed physico-chemical tests. Tablets exposed to 40°C with 75% relative humidity in compliance aids passed tests for uniformity of weight, friability and chemical stability but became pale and moist, softer (82 newtons ± 4; p< 0.0001) than tablets in the original packaging (118 newtons ± 6), more friable (0.14% loss of mass) compared with other tablets (0.005%), and failed the tests for disintegration (>15 minutes) and dissolution (only 15% atenolol released at 30 minutes). Conclusion: Although chemical stability was unaffected, storage in compliance aids at 40°C with 75% relative humidity softened atenolol tablets, prolonged disintegration time and hindered dissolution which could significantly reduce bioavailability. This formulation could be suitable for storage in compliance aids at 25°C, but not in hotter, humid weather.

A score test for binary data with patient non-compliance

A score test is developed for binary clinical trial data, which incorporates patient non-compliance while respecting randomization. It is assumed in this paper that compliance is all-or-nothing, in the sense that a patient either accepts all of the treatment assigned as specified in the protocol, or none of it. Direct analytic comparisons of the adjusted test statistic for both the score test and the likelihood ratio test are made with the corresponding test statistics that adhere to the intention-to-treat principle. It is shown that no gain in power is possible over the intention-to-treat analysis, by adjusting for patient non-compliance. Sample size formulae are derived and simulation studies are used to demonstrate that the sample size approximation holds. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.