Ground-state order and spin-lattice coupling in tetrahedral spin systems Cu2Te2O5X2 (X = Br or Cl)

High-resolution ac susceptibility and thermal conductivity measurement on Cu2Te2O5X2 (X=Br,Cl) single crystals are reported. For Br-sample, sample dependence prevents one from distinguishing between possibilities of magnetically ordered and spin-singlet ground states. In Cl-sample a three-dimensional transition at 18.5 K is accompanied by almost isotropic behavior of susceptibility and almost switching behavior of thermal conductivity. Thermal conductivity studies suggest the presence of a tremendous spin-lattice coupling characterizing Cl- but not Br-sample. Below the transition Cl-sample is in a complex magnetic state involving AF order but also the elements consistent with the presence of a gap in the excitation spectrum.

Item master management in the engineer-to-order supply chain

Diplomityöntavoitteena on tutkia, kuinka nimiketiedon hallinnalla voidaan parantaa kustannustehokkuutta projektiohjautuvassa toimitusketjussa. Työn kohdeyritys on Konecranes Oyj:n tytäryhtiö Konecranes Heavy Lifting Oy. Nimiketiedon hallinta liittyy läheisesti tuotetiedon hallintaan. Teoriaosassa käsitellään toimitusketjuympäristön tekijöitä, modulaarisuuden ja asiakaskohtaisuuden ongelmallisuutta sekä informaatiovirran vaikutuksia eri toiminnoissa. Yritysosassa vertaillaan konsernitason kahta liiketoiminta-aluetta strategiavalintojen, tuotteiden modulaarisuuden sekä tilaus-toimitusprosessissa liikkuvan nimikeinformaation perusteella. Diplomityön tuloksena annetaan suuntaviivat; nimikemassan eheytykseen, strategisten nimikkeiden tunnistamiseen ja määrittämiseen, nimikkeiden hallintaan sekä master-datan sijoittamiseen tietojärjestelmäympäristöön.

De què vas, tio?

My study is based on an ethnography of two groups of young people from working-class neighbourhoods in Barcelona. I was interested in researching the impact of Catalan language policies on the identities of young people of Spanish-speaking immigrant families. I sought to go beyond the constraints of traditional structuralist approaches in Sociolinguistics in order to make my analysis relevant to people working for gender equality, the promotion of the Catalan language, or other social causes. I combine ideas from Bakhtin, Bourdieu, Fairclough, Foucault and Goffman to build a dialectical, historical, process-centred perspective that conceptualises practices in terms of social and political struggles.I analyse young people's peer-group activities in terms of their significance for the construction of gender identities. I propose a variety of forms of masculinity and femininity according to the various ways in which members organised their gender displays in face-to-face interaction.I also show how their use of argot and dialectal Spanish was part of the processes whereby members defined their relationships, constructed particular subject positions in interaction and struggled to legitimate their own values.I explore the meanings constructed through Catalan and Spanish by looking into the code-switching practices of my participants. I analysed their talk in terms of narratives that present particular sequential dramatisations of events for conversational audiences. These narratives follow the expressive intention of the author, and are populated with multiple voices of animated characters. I argue that, in the groups I studied, Catalan was generally not used to animate the voices that were central to the identities of the peer-group, and particularly to masculine identities.In order to contextualise these practices within the wider society, I also look into the processes of language choice in face-to-face encounters. I argue that existing conventions made it difficult for people to find opportunities to speak Catalan. I also pointed to the difficulties that my participants had to find employment, which were particularly acute amongst the more politically aware individuals. I conclude that these young working-class people had little possibilities of investing in more egalitarian forms of identity given their lack of resources and opportunities to develop their identities in other social spaces, such as the workplace.

Development of Order-Delivery Process in Purchasing

Diplomityön tavoitteena oli kehittää Fazer Suklaan oston tilaus-toimitusprosesseja, jotta raaka-aineet ja pakkausmateriaalit pystytään hoitamaan mahdollisimman tehokkaasti. Ensin selvitettiin kirjallisuuden avulla tilaus-toimitusprosessin päävaiheet ja niihin vaikuttavat tekijät. Empiirisessä osassa lähdettiin liikkeelle käymällä läpi Fazer Suklaan oston nykytilanne, joka tehtiin ostajille suunnatun aikaselvityksen, haastatteluiden ja nykyisten tilaus-toimitusprosessien kuvaamisen avulla. Tavoitetilanteen rakentaminen aloitettiin ostettavien materiaalien ja toimittajien luokittelemisella. Tämän perusteella nämä materiaalit voitiin jakaa kolmen eri tilaus toimitusprosessin alle. Automaattisessa tilaus-toimitusprosessissa eri vaiheet automatisoidaan yhdessäavain toimittajien kanssa. Puoliautomaattinen prosessi perustuu systeemiin, jossa toimittaja näkee internetin kautta Fazerin tuotantosuunnitelman ja tekee tämän perusteella materiaalien täydennykset. Yksinkertaisessa prosessissa ostoarvoltaan alhaiset materiaalit hoidetaan mahdollisimman lähellä käyttöpistettä ja prosessin vaiheet tehdään mandollisimman pienellä työmäärällä. Tavoiteprosessien implementoinnilla todettiin suurimmiksi eduiksi prosessivaiheiden vähentyminen ja manuaalisen työn automatisoituminen. Tätä kautta saatiin prosessin eri vaiheiden työmäärää vähennettyä, sekä alennettua varastotasoja ja näin tilaus toimitusprosessin kokonaiskustannuksia pystyttiin pienentämään.

Interhemispheric coupling between the posterior sylvian regions impacts successful auditory temporal order judgment.

Accurate perception of the temporal order of sensory events is a prerequisite in numerous functions ranging from language comprehension to motor coordination. We investigated the spatio-temporal brain dynamics of auditory temporal order judgment (aTOJ) using electrical neuroimaging analyses of auditory evoked potentials (AEPs) recorded while participants completed a near-threshold task requiring spatial discrimination of left-right and right-left sound sequences. AEPs to sound pairs modulated topographically as a function of aTOJ accuracy over the 39-77ms post-stimulus period, indicating the engagement of distinct configurations of brain networks during early auditory processing stages. Source estimations revealed that accurate and inaccurate performance were linked to bilateral posterior sylvian regions activity (PSR). However, activity within left, but not right, PSR predicted behavioral performance suggesting that left PSR activity during early encoding phases of pairs of auditory spatial stimuli appears critical for the perception of their order of occurrence. Correlation analyses of source estimations further revealed that activity between left and right PSR was significantly correlated in the inaccurate but not accurate condition, indicating that aTOJ accuracy depends on the functional decoupling between homotopic PSR areas. These results support a model of temporal order processing wherein behaviorally relevant temporal information--i.e. a temporal 'stamp'--is extracted within the early stages of cortical processes within left PSR but critically modulated by inputs from right PSR. We discuss our results with regard to current models of temporal of temporal order processing, namely gating and latency mechanisms.

Variation in performance in low-volume mammography screening programmes: experience from Switzerland.

BACKGROUND: Reading volume and mammography screening performance appear positively correlated. Quality and effectiveness were compared across low-volume screening programmes targeting relatively small populations and operating under the same decentralised healthcare system. Except for accreditation of 2nd readers (restrictive vs non-restrictive strategy), these organised programmes had similar screening regimen/procedures and duration, which maximises comparability. Variation in performance and its determinants were explored in order to improve mammography practice and optimise screening performance. METHODS: Circa 200,000 screens performed between 1999 and 2006 (4 rounds) in 3 longest standing Swiss cantonal programmes (of Vaud, Geneva and Valais) were assessed. Indicators of quality and effectiveness were assessed according to European standards. Interval cancers were identified through linkage with cancer registries records. RESULTS: Swiss programmes met most European standards of performance with a substantial, favourable cancer stage shift. Up to a two-fold variation occurred for several performance indicators. In subsequent rounds, compared with programmes (Vaud and Geneva) that applied a restrictive selection strategy for 2nd readers, proportions of in situ lesions and of small cancers (≤1cm) were one third lower and halved, respectively, and the proportion of advanced lesions (stage II+) nearly 50% higher in the programme without a restrictive selection strategy. Discrepancy in second-year proportional incidence of interval cancers appears to be multicausal. CONCLUSION: Differences in performance could partly be explained by a selective strategy for second readers and a prior experience in service screening, but not by the levels of opportunistic screening and programme attendance. This study provides clues for enhancing mammography screening performance in low-volume programmes.

Perceptions of twelve-step mutual-help groups and their associations with motivation, treatment attendance and alcohol outcomes among chronically homeless individuals with alcohol problems.

BACKGROUND: Twelve-step mutual-help groups (TMGs) are among the most available forms of support for homeless individuals with alcohol problems. Qualitative research, however, has suggested that this population often has negative perceptions of these groups, which has been shown to be associated with low TMG attendance. It is important to understand this population's perceptions of TMGs and their association with alcohol outcomes to provide more appropriate and better tailored programming for this multiply affected population. The aims of this cross-sectional study were to (a) qualitatively examine perception of TMGs in this population and (b) quantitatively evaluate its association with motivation, treatment attendance and alcohol outcomes. METHODS: Participants (N=62) were chronically homeless individuals with alcohol problems who received single-site Housing First within a larger evaluation study. Perceptions of TMGs were captured using an open-ended item. Quantitative outcome variables were created from assessments of motivation, treatment attendance and alcohol outcomes. RESULTS: Findings indicated that perceptions of TMGs were primarily negative followed by positive and neutral perceptions, respectively. There were significant, positive associations between perceptions of TMGs and motivation and treatment attendance, whereas no association was found for alcohol outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: Although some individuals view TMGs positively, alternative forms of help are needed to engage the majority of chronically homeless individuals with alcohol problems.