Nanoscale effects and applications of self-organized nanostructured thin films

A nanostructured thin film is a thin material layer, usually supported by a (solid) substrate, which possesses subdomains with characteristic nanoscale dimensions (10 ~ 100 nm) that are differentiated by their material properties. Such films have captured vast research interest because the dimensions and the morphology of the nanostructure introduce new possibilities to manipulating chemical and physical properties not found in bulk materials. Block copolymer (BCP) self-assembly, and anodization to form nanoporous anodic aluminium oxide (AAO), are two different methods for generating nanostructures by self-organization. Using poly(styrene-block-methyl methacrylate) (PS-b-PMMA) nanopatterned thin films, it is demonstrated that these polymer nanopatterns can be used to study the influence of nanoscale features on protein-surface interactions. Moreover, a method for the directed assembly of adsorbed protein nanoarrays, based on the nanoscale juxtaposition of the BCP surface domains, is also demonstrated. Studies on protein-nanopattern interactions may inform the design of biomaterials, biosensors, and relevant cell-surface experiments that make use of nanoscale structures. In addition, PS-b-PMMA and AAO thin films are also demonstrated for use as optical waveguides at visible wavelengths. Due to the sub-wavelength nature of the nanostructures, scattering losses are minimized, and the optical response is amenable to analysis with effective medium theory (EMT). Optical waveguide measurements and EMT analysis of the films’ optical anisotropy enabled the in situ characterization of the PS-b-PMMA nanostructure, and a variety of surface processes within the nanoporous AAO involving (bio)macromolecules at high sensitivity.

Strategic decision making in international firms: effect of top management team internationalization on international strategic decision process

In this research project, I have integrated two research streams on international strategic decisions making in international firms: upper echelons or top management teams (TMT) internationalization research and international strategic decision making process research. Both research streams in international business literature have evolved independently, but there is a potential in combining these two streams of research. The first empirical paper “TMT internationalization and international strategic decision making process: a decision level analysis of rationality, speed, and performance” explores the influence of TMT internationalization on strategic decision rationality and speed and, subsequently, their effect on international strategic decision effectiveness (performance). The results show that the internationalization of TMT is positively related to decision effectiveness and this relationship is mediated by decision rationality while the hypotheses regarding the association between TMT internationalization and decision speed, and the mediating effect of speed were not supported. The second paper “TMT internationalization and international strategic decision rationality: the mediating role of international information” of my thesis is a simple but logical extension of first paper. The first paper showed that TMT Internationalization has a significant positive effect on international strategic decision rationality. The second paper explicitly showed that TMT internationalization affect on international strategic decision rationality comes from two sources: international experience (personal international knowledge and information) and international information collected from managerial international contacts. For this research project, I have collected data from international software firms in Pakistan. My research contributes to the literature on upper echelons theory and strategic decision making in context of international business and international firms by explicitly examining the link between TMT internationalization and characteristics of strategic decisions making process (i.e. rationality and speed) in international firms and their possible mediating effect on performance.

Knowledge Management and Decision Support for Sustainable Land Management

Much research has focused on desertification and land degradation assessments without putting sufficient emphasis on prevention and mitigation, although the concept of sustainable land management (SLM) is increasingly being acknowledged. A variety of SLM measures have already been applied at the local level, but they are rarely adequately recognised, evaluated, shared or used for decision support. WOCAT (World Overview of Technologies and Approaches) has developed an internationally recognised, standardised methodology to document and evaluate SLM technologies and approaches, including spatial distribution, allowing the sharing of SLM knowledge worldwide. The recent methodological integration into a participatory process allows now analysing and using this knowledge for decision support at the local and national level. The use of the WOCAT tools stimulates evaluation (self-evaluation as well as learning from comparing experiences) within SLM initiatives where all too often there is not only insufficient monitoring but also a lack of critical analysis. The comprehensive questionnaires and database system facilitate to document, evaluate and disseminate local experiences of SLM technologies and their implementation approaches. This evaluation process - in a team of experts and together with land users - greatly enhances understanding of the reasons behind successful (or failed) local practices. It has now been integrated into a new methodology for appraising and selecting SLM options. The methodology combines a local collective learning and decision approach with the use of the evaluated global best practices from WOCAT in a concise three step process: i) identifying land degradation and locally applied solutions in a stakeholder learning workshop; ii) assessing local solutions with the standardised WOCAT tool; iii) jointly selecting promising strategies for implementation with the help of a decision support tool. The methodology has been implemented in various countries and study sites around the world mainly within the FAO LADA (Land Degradation Assessment Project) and the EU-funded DESIRE project. Investments in SLM must be carefully assessed and planned on the basis of properly documented experiences and evaluated impacts and benefits: concerted efforts are needed and sufficient resources must be mobilised to tap the wealth of knowledge and learn from SLM successes.

Patient-Oriented SCORAD (PO-SCORAD): a new self-assessment scale in atopic dermatitis validated in Europe

BACKGROund: Patient-oriented medicine is an emerging concept, encouraged by the World Health Organization, to greater involvement of the patient in the management of chronic diseases. The Patient-Oriented SCORing Atopic Dermatitis (PO-SCORAD) index is a self-assessment score allowing the patient to comprehensively evaluate the actual course of atopic dermatitis (AD), using subjective and objective criteria derived mainly from the SCORAD, a validated AD severity clinical assessment tool.

Mindfulness meditation counteracts self-control depletion

Mindfulness meditation describes a set of different mental techniques to train attention and awareness. Trait mindfulness and extended mindfulness interventions can benefit self-control. The present study investigated the short-term consequences of mindfulness meditation under conditions of limited self-control resources. Specifically, we hypothesized that a brief period of mindfulness meditation would counteract the deleterious effect that the exertion of self-control has on subsequent self-control performance. Participants who had been depleted of self-control resources by an emotion suppression task showed decrements in self-control performance as compared to participants who had not suppressed emotions. However, participants who had meditated after emotion suppression performed equally well on the subsequent self-control task as participants who had not exerted self-control previously. This finding suggests that a brief period of mindfulness meditation may serve as a quick and efficient strategy to foster self-control under conditions of low resources.

The role of self-monitoring of blood glucose in glucagon-like Peptide-1-based treatment approaches: a European expert recommendation

The role of glucagon-like peptide (GLP)-1-based treatment approaches for type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is increasing. Although self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG) has been performed in numerous studies on GLP-1 analogs and dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitors, the potential role of SMBG in GLP-1-based treatment strategies has not been elaborated. The expert recommendation suggests individualized SMBG strategies in GLP-1-based treatment approaches and suggests simple and clinically applicable SMBG schemes. Potential benefits of SMBG in GLP-1-based treatment approaches are early assessment of treatment success or failure, timely modification of treatment, detection of hypoglycemic episodes, assessment of glucose excursions, and support of diabetes management and diabetes education. Its length and frequency should depend on the clinical setting and the quality of metabolic control. It is considered to play an important role for the optimization of diabetes management in T2DM patients treated with GLP-1-based approaches.

The Impact of Gender and Pedagogy on the Development of Self-Regulated Learning Strategies in Undergraduate Engineering Classrooms

The purpose of this paper is to examine ways in which pedagogy and gender of instructor impact the development of self-regulated learning strategies as assessed by the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ) in male and female undergraduate engineering students. Pedagogy was operationalized as two general formats: lecture plus active learning techniques or problem-base/project-based learning. One hundred seventy-six students from four universities participated in the study. Within-group analyses found significant differences with regard to pedagogy, instructors’ gender, and student gender on the learning strategies and motivation subscales as operationalized by the MSLQ. Male and females students reported significant post-test differences with regard to the gender of instructor and the style of pedagogy. The results of this study showed a pattern where more positive responses for students of both genders were found with the same-gendered instructor. The results also suggested that male students responded more positively to project and problem-based courses with changes evidenced in motivation strategies and resource management. Female students showed decreases in resource management in these two types of courses. Further, female students reported increases in the lecture with active learning courses.

A New Symbiosis: Municipalities, Private Contractors and Non-Governmental Organisations for the Provision of Local Public Services"

This project considered the second stage of transforming local administration and public service management to reflect democratic forms of government. In Hungary in the second half of the 1990s more and more public functions delegated to local governments have been handed over to the private or civil sectors. This has led to a relative decrease of municipal functions but not of local governments' responsibilities, requiring them to change their orientation and approach to their work so as to be effective in their new roles of managing these processes rather than traditional bureaucratic administration. Horvath analysed the Anglo-Saxon, French and German models of self-government, identifying the differing aspects emphasised in increasing the private sector's role in the provision of public services, and the influence that this process has on the system of public administration. He then highlighted linkages between actors and local governments in Hungary, concluding that the next necessary step is to develop institutional mechanisms, financial incentives and managerial practices to utilise the full potential of this process. Equally important is the need for conscious avoidance of restrictive barriers and unintended consequences, and for local governments to confront the social conflicts that have emerged in parallel with privatisation. A further aspect considered was a widening of the role of functional governance at local level in the field of human services. A number of different special purpose bodies have been set up in Hungary, but the results of their work are unclear and Horvath feels that this institutionalisation of symbiosis is not the right path in Hungary today. He believes that the change from local government to local governance will require the formulation of specific public policy, the relevance of which can be proven by processes supported with actions.

Correlates of self-reported nonadherence to antiretroviral therapy in HIV-infected patients: the Swiss HIV Cohort Study

BACKGROUND: Adherence is one of the most crucial issues in the clinical management of HIV-infected patients receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART). METHODS: A 2-item adherence questionnaire was introduced into the Swiss HIV Cohort Study in July 2003. All 3607 eligible patients were on ART for > or =6 months and their current regimen for > or =1 month. Three definitions of nonadherence were considered: missing > or =1 dose, missing > or =2 doses, and taking <95% of doses in the past 4 weeks. RESULTS: Over 30% of patients reported missing > or =1 dose, 14.9% missed > or =2 doses, and 7.1% took <95% of doses in the previous 4 weeks. The rate of drug holidays was 5.8%. Whether using more or less conservative definitions of nonadherence, younger age, living alone, number of previous regimens, and boosted protease inhibitor regimens were independent factors associated with nonadherence. There was a significant association between optimal viral suppression and nonadherence as well as a significant linear trend in optimal viral suppression by missed doses. CONCLUSIONS: Younger age, lack of social support, and complexity of therapy are important factors that are related to nonadherence with ART. Investment in behavioral dimensions of HIV is crucial to improve adherence in ART recipients.

Predicting the risk of hospital admission in older persons--validation of a brief self-administered questionnaire in three European countries

OBJECTIVES: To validate the Probability of Repeated Admission (Pra) questionnaire, a widely used self-administered tool for predicting future healthcare use in older persons, in three European healthcare systems. DESIGN: Prospective study with 1-year follow-up. SETTING: Hamburg, Germany; London, United Kingdom; Canton of Solothurn, Switzerland. PARTICIPANTS: Nine thousand seven hundred thirteen independently living community-dwelling people aged 65 and older. MEASUREMENTS: Self-administered eight-item Pra questionnaire at baseline. Self-reported number of hospital admissions and physician visits during 1 year of follow-up. RESULTS: In the combined sample, areas under the receiver operating characteristic curves (AUCs) were 0.64 (95% confidence interval (CI)=0.62-0.66) for the prediction of one or more hospital admissions and 0.68 (95% CI=0.66-0.69) for the prediction of more than six physician visits during the following year. AUCs were similar between sites. In comparison, prediction models based on a person's age and sex alone exhibited poor predictive validity (AUC or= 0.5) were 2.3 times as likely (95% CI=2.1-2.6) as low-risk individuals to have a hospital admission, and 2.1 times as likely (95% CI=2.0-2.2) to have more than six physician visits. CONCLUSION: The Pra instrument exhibits good validity for predicting future health service use on a population level in different healthcare settings. Administrative data have shown similar predictive validity, but in practice, such data are often not available. The Pra is likely of high interest to governments and health insurance companies worldwide as a basis for programs aimed at health risk management in older persons.

Performance evaluation of a novel asymmetric capacitor using a light-weight, carbon foam supported nickel electrode

Electrochemical capacitors have been an important development in recent years in the field of energy storage. Capacitors can be developed by utilizing either double layer capacitance at the electrode/solution interfaces alone or in combination with a battery electrode associated with a faradic redox process in one electrode. An asymmetric capacitor consisting of electrochemically deposited nickel hydroxide, supported on carbon foam as a positive electrode and carbon sheet as a negative electrode has been successfully assembled and cycled. One objective of this study has been to demonstrate the viability of the nickel carbon foam positive electrode, especially in terms of cycle life. Electrochemical characterization shows stable, high cycle performance in 26 wt. % KOH electrolyte with a maximum energy density of 4.1 Wh/Kg and a relaxation time constant of 6.24 s. This cell has demonstrated high cycle life, 14,500 cycles, with efficiency better than 98%. In addition, the cell failure mechanism and self-discharge behavior of the aforesaid capacitor are analyzed.

STATE-AND-TRANSITION MODELING AND ADAPTIVE MANAGEMENT: TOOLS FOR FUTURE CO-DEVELOPMENT OF MADAGASCAR’S NATURAL RESOURCES AND PEOPLE

Madagascar’s terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems have long supported a unique set of ecological communities, many of whom are endemic to the tropical island. Those same ecosystems have been a source of valuable natural resources to some of the poorest people in the world. Nevertheless, with pride, ingenuity and resourcefulness, the Malagasy people of the southwest coast, being of Vezo identity, subsist with low development fishing techniques aimed at an increasingly threatened host of aquatic seascapes. Mangroves, sea grass bed, and coral reefs of the region are under increased pressure from the general populace for both food provisions and support of economic opportunity. Besides purveyors and extractors, the coastal waters are also subject to a number of natural stressors, including cyclones and invasive, predator species of both flora and fauna. In addition, the aquatic ecosystems of the region are undergoing increased nutrient and sediment runoff due, in part, to Madagascar’s heavy reliance on land for agricultural purposes (Scales, 2011). Moreover, its coastal waters, like so many throughout the world, have been proven to be warming at an alarming rate over the past few decades. In recognizing the intimate interconnectedness of the both the social and ecological systems, conservation organizations have invoked a host of complimentary conservation and social development efforts with the dual aim of preserving or restoring the health of both the coastal ecosystems and the people of the region. This paper provides a way of thinking more holistically about the social-ecological system within a resiliency frame of understanding. Secondly, it applies a platform known as state-and-transition modeling to give form to the process. State-and-transition modeling is an iterative investigation into the physical makeup of a system of study as well as the boundaries and influences on that state, and has been used in restorative ecology for more than a decade. Lastly, that model is sited within an adaptive management scheme that provides a structured, cyclical, objective-oriented process for testing stakeholders cognitive understanding of the ecosystem through a pragmatic implementation and monitoring a host of small-scale interventions developed as part of the adaptive management process. Throughout, evidence of the application of the theories and frameworks are offered, with every effort made to retool conservation-minded development practitioners with a comprehensive strategy for addressing the increasingly fragile social-ecological systems of southwest Madagascar. It is offered, in conclusion, that the seascapes of the region would be an excellent case study worthy of future application of state-and-transition modeling and adaptive management as frameworks for conservation-minded development practitioners whose multiple projects, each with its own objective, have been implemented with a single goal in mind: preserve and protect the state of the supporting environment while providing for the basic needs of the local Malagasy people.

Effects of cognitive behavioral stress management on HIV-1 RNA, CD4 cell counts and psychosocial parameters of HIV-infected persons

OBJECTIVE: To determine the effects of cognitive-behavioral stress management (CBSM) training on clinical and psychosocial markers in HIV-infected persons. METHODS: A randomized controlled trial in four HIV outpatient clinics of 104 HIV-infected persons taking combination antiretroviral therapy (cART), measuring HIV-1 surrogate markers, adherence to therapy and well-being 12 months after 12 group sessions of 2 h CBSM training. RESULTS: Intent-to-treat analyses showed no effects on HIV-1 surrogate markers in the CBSM group compared with the control group: HIV-1 RNA < 50 copies/ml in 81.1% [95% confidence interval (CI), 68.0-90.6] and 74.5% (95% CI, 60.4-85.7), respectively (P = 0.34), and mean CD4 cell change from baseline of 53.0 cells/microl (95% CI, 4.1-101.8) and 15.5 cells/microl (95% CI, -34.3 to 65.4), respectively (P = 0.29). Self-reported adherence to therapy did not differ between groups at baseline (P = 0.53) or at 12 month's post-intervention (P = 0.47). Significant benefits of CBSM over no intervention were observed in mean change of quality of life scores: physical health 2.9 (95% CI, 0.7-5.1) and -0.2 (95% CI, -2.1 to 1.8), respectively (P = 0.05); mental health 4.8 (95% CI, 1.8-7.3) and -0.5 (95% CI, -3.3 to 2.2) (P = 0.02); anxiety -2.1 (95% CI, -3.6 to -1.0) and 0.3 (95% CI, -0.7 to 1.4), respectively (P = 0.002); and depression -2.1 (95% CI, -3.2 to -0.9) and 0.02 (95% CI, -1.0 to 1.1), respectively (P = 0.001). Alleviation of depression and anxiety symptoms were most pronounced among participants with high psychological distress at baseline. CONCLUSION: CBSM training of HIV-infected persons taking on cART does not improve clinical outcome but has lasting effects on quality of life and psychological well-being.

Safety and effectiveness of bariatric surgery: Roux-en-y gastric bypass is superior to gastric banding in the management of morbidly obese patients: a reply to the response by Bhoyrul et al

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: We have read the letter by Bhoyrul et al. in response to our recently published article "Safety and effectiveness of bariatric surgery: Roux-en-Y gastric bypass is superior to gastric banding in the management of morbidly obese patients". We strongly disagree with the content of the letter. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: Bhoyrul et al. base their letter mostly on low level evidence such as single-institutional case series (level IV evidence) and expert opinion (level V evidence). Surprisingly, they do not comment on the randomized controlled trial, which clearly favours gastric bypass over gastric banding. CONCLUSION: The letter by Bhoyrul et al. is based on low level evidence and is itself biased, unsubstantiated, and not supported by the current literature.