Total Picture Research Articles

Does including pictorial disclosure of intellectual capital resources make a difference?

PurposeThis paper seeks to examine the extent to which pictures are used to communicate intellectual capital (IC) information and the changes in volume of IC disclosure when pictures are included.Design/methodology/approachA content analysis was conducted to determine the impact that pictures have on IC reporting (ICR) results. In determining the extent to which pictures are used in corporate annual reports the paper compares frequencies of IC reported in pictures as proportions of: total IC reported, total pictures and total pages. A key assumption underlying content analysis is that the volume of disclosure signifies the importance of the item(s) being disclosed. The paper compares the volume of IC items disclosed with and without pictures to determine which items firms signal as being most important. Using these volumes the paper determines which of the sampled firms use pictures as a popular reporting mechanism to disclose their IC resources.FindingsA significant portion (42 per cent) of ICR is made in picture form and the majority of pictures (66 per cent) communicate messages about IC resources. Therefore, the volumes of IC items disclosed change significantly when pictures are included. It is found that many firms use pictures to disclose their IC resources, particularly employees and brands which may indicate that these are their most important IC items.Practical/implicationsA significant part of IC is reported in picture form in annual reports. Excluding pictures when analysing content in annual reports will result in ICR not being fully captured, a partial understanding of what IC is disclosed and misunderstanding of what IC items firms consider as being important.Originality/valueThe authors incorporate pictures into their content analysis. Pictures are not normally included in IC disclosure studies.

Inclusive housing, a pattern book: design for diversity and equality

Inclusive Housing focuses on housing that provides access to people with disabilities while benefiting all residents and that incorporates inclusive design practices into neighborhood and housing designs without compromising other important design goals. Emphasizing urban patterns of neighborhood development, the practices outlined here are useful for application to all kinds of housing in all types of neighborhoods. The book addresses trends that have widespread significance in the residential construction market and demonstrates that accessible housing design is compatible with the goals of developing livable and healthy neighborhoods, reducing urban sprawl, reducing reliance on fossil fuels, and ensuring that the benefits of thoughtful urban design are equitably distributed. Inclusive Housing recognizes that to achieve the goals of urbanism, we must consider the total picture. The house must fit on the lot; the lot must fit in the block; and the block must fit with the character of the neighborhood. Its context-sensitive approach uses examples that cover a wide range of housing types, styles, and development densities. Rather than present stock solutions that ignore the context of real projects and design goals, it explores how accessibility can be achieved in different types of neighborhoods and housing forms, all with the goal of achieving high-quality urban places.

Manna to Gall

Manna to Gall

Cupped disc with normal intraocular pressure: The long road to avoid misdiagnosis

We present a series of six patients who had been receiving treatment for normal tension glaucoma (NTG; five patients) or primary open angle glaucoma (one patient). All of them were found to have optic neuropathy secondary to compression of the anterior visual pathway. Even though uncommon, compression of the anterior visual pathway is an important differential diagnosis of NTG. Diagnosis of NTG should be by exclusion. Here the possible causes of misdiagnosis are discussed. We present an approach to distinguish glaucomatous from nonglaucomatous optic neuropathy. The article also emphasizes how important it is for the clinicians to consider the total clinical picture, and not merely the optic disc morphology, to avoid the mismanagement of glaucoma, especially the NTG.

Cardiovascular Risk on Workers Exposed to Heavy Metals, Pb, and Cd

PP-31-142 Background/Aims: Sudden cardiac death caused by malignant ventricular arrhythmias represents a major public health problem. We tried to determine the cardiovascular risk on workers exposed to Pb and Cd from a nonferrous metallurgical plant, based on the repolarization changes and the beat-by-beat variability of the RR and QT intervals that is known to be in relation with the SVT. Methods: We investigated 70 workers with mean age = 36.0 + 8.2 years and mean time of exposure = 12.1 + 7.6 years. We made clinical examinations, standard questionnaires regarding the effects of Pb and Cd on the human organism, biochemical and biotoxicological investigations: total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), HDL-chol (HDL-C), LDL-Chol (LDL-C), glycemia, seric ferrum, anemia degree, blood picture, Ca and Mg in blood, DALA, blood cadmium, blood lead, EKG registering. From this group, 30 workers, aged 30–50 years, with normal myocardium and representative length of service were hospitalized in the Clinic of Occupational Health, completely investigated and followed up by Holter high resolution EKG. Results: More than 80% of the investigated workers presented a small variability of RR interval with TSH fraction significant increased as during the mental stress, and in conclusion a great risk for sudden death due to the supranormal sympathetic drive that is arrhythmogenic and life-threatening. These workers had normal values of lead and cadmium in blood but great values of the lead storage in organism, emphasized by the provocation tests with EDTA that allow to classify great absorption of lead. Ten percent of workers had great levels of serum lipids (TC, TG, LDL-C) LDL-C being known as an aeterogenic factor. Conclusion: The obtained data suggest that heavy metals—in our case Pb—could generate an increase of the SVT with ventricular arrhythmias and sudden death, the risk being assessed by RR-QT variability from the Holter high resolution EKG.

The Definition of GOES Infrared Lightning Initiation Interest Fields

Abstract Within cumulus cloud fields that develop in conditionally unstable air masses, only a fraction of the cumuli may eventually develop into deep convection. Identifying which of these convective clouds is most likely to generate lightning often starts with little more than a qualitative visual satellite analysis. The goal of this study is to identify the observed satellite infrared (IR) signatures associated with growing cumulus clouds prior to the first lightning strike, or lightning initiation (LI). This study quantifies the behavior of 10 Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-12 (GOES-12) IR fields of interest in the 1 h in advance of LI. A total of 172 lightning-producing storms, which occurred during the 2009 convective season, are manually tracked and studied over four regions: northern Alabama, central Oklahoma, the Kennedy Space Center, and Washington, D.C. Four-dimensional and cloud-to-ground lightning array data provide a total cloud lightning picture (in-cloud, cloud-to-cloud, cloud-to-air, and cloud-to-ground) and thus precise LI points for each storm in both time and space. Statistical significance tests are conducted on observed trends for each of the 10 LI fields to determine the unique information each field provides in terms of behavior prior to LI. Eight out of 10 LI fields exhibited useful information at least 15 min in advance of LI, with 35 min being the average. Statistical tests on these eight fields are compared for separate large geographical areas. Median IR temperatures and 3.9-μm reflectance values are then determined for all 172 events as an outcome, which may be valuable when implementing a LI prediction algorithm into real-time satellite-based systems.

Critical care “normality”: Individualized versus protocolized care

Patients with critical illness are heterogeneous, with differing physiologic requirements over time. Goal-directed therapy in the emergency room demonstrates that protocolized care could result in improved outcomes. Subsequent studies have confirmed benefit with such a "bundle-based approach" in the emergency room and in preoperative and postoperative scenarios. However, this cannot be necessarily extrapolated to the medium-term and long-term care pathway of the critically ill patient. It is likely that the development of mitochondrial dysfunction could result in goal-directed types of approaches being detrimental. Equally, arterial pressure aims are likely to be considerably different as the patient's physiology moves toward "hibernation." The agents we utilize as sedative and pressor agents have considerable effects on immune function and the inflammatory profile, and should be considered as part of the total clinical picture. The role of gut failure in driving inflammation is considerable, and the drive to feed enterally, regardless of aspirate volume, may be detrimental in those with degrees of ileus, which is often a difficult diagnosis in the critically ill. The pathogenesis of liver dysfunction may be, at least in part, related to venous engorgement that will contribute toward portal hypertension and gut edema. This, in association with loss of the hepatosplanchnic buffer response, it is likely to contribute to venous pooling in the abdominal cavity, impaired venous return, and decreased central blood volumes. Therapies such as those used in "small-for-size syndrome" may have a role in the chronic stages of septic vascular failure.

Assorted Legal Issues Affecting Medical Practice

The current article surveys an assortment of legal issues identified by the editors that relate to the malpractice sphere. However, this represents only a small part of the total legal medicine picture. The interaction of law and medical care in the United States today encompasses a broad array of specific points of contact between physicians' professional activities and various public bodies and private entities. Several articles by other authors will appear in subsequent issues of CHEST and flesh out much more comprehensively both the topics outlined briefly here and other legal questions that concern contemporary members of the medical profession.

Neutrinos from CNO cycle at the present epoch of the solar neutrino research

The CNO cycle contributes only a small fraction to the energy generated in the Sun but there’s still no experimental data on exactly how small this contribution is. After the results of Borexino experiment the CNO neutrinos it is the last missing chain to compose the total picture of the energy generation of the Sun. To get precision in the evaluation of the flux of pp-neutrinos one needs to measure the flux of CNO neutrinos. Then it will be possible to address the question on the presence of still unknown (hidden) sources of solar energy and/or on the presence of sterile neutrinos. The future experimental program to measure the effect from CNO neutrinos is discussed.

Organizational Knowledge Transfer Using Ontologies and a Rule-Based System

In recent automated and integrated manufacturing, so-called intelligence skill is becoming more and more important and its efficient transfer to next-generation engineers is one of the urgent issues. In this paper, we propose a new approach without costly OJT (on-the-job training), that is, combinational usage of a domain ontology, a rule ontology and a rule-based system. Intelligence skill can be decomposed into pieces of simple engineering rules. A rule ontology consists of these engineering rules as primitives and the semantic relations among them. A domain ontology consists of technical terms in the engineering rules and the semantic relations among them. A rule ontology helps novices get the total picture of the intelligence skill and a domain ontology helps them understand the exact meanings of the engineering rules. A rule-based system helps domain experts externalize their tacit intelligence skill to ontologies and also helps novices internalize them. As a case study, we applied our proposal to some actual job at a remote control and maintenance office of hydroelectric power stations in Tokyo Electric Power Co., Inc. We also did an evaluation experiment for this case study and the result supports our proposal.

Surface Properties of PEMFC Gas Diffusion Layers

The wetting properties of proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) gas diffusion layers (GDLs) were quantified by surface characterization measurements and modeling of material properties. Single-fiber contact-angle and surface-energy (both Zisman and Owens–Wendt) data of a wide spectrum of GDL types are presented to delineate the effects of hydrophobic postprocessing treatments. Modeling of the basic sessile-drop contact angle demonstrates that this value only gives a fraction of the total picture of interfacial wetting physics. Polar forces contributed less than dispersive forces to the composite wetting of GDLs. Internal water contact angles obtained from the Owens–Wendt analysis were measured at 13–19° higher than their single-fiber counterparts. An inverse relationship was found between internal contact angle and both Owens–Wendt surface energy and percent polarity of the GDL. The most sophisticated PEMFC mathematical models use either experimentally measured capillary pressures or the standard Young–Laplace capillary-pressure equation. Based on the results of the Owens–Wendt analysis, an advancement to the Young–Laplace equation was proposed for use in these mathematical models, which utilizes only solid surface energies and a fractional surface coverage of a fluoropolymer. Capillary constants for the spectrum of analyzed GDLs are presented for the same purpose.

기침(蜞鍼)(거머리)療法(요법)을 이용한 버거씨병 증례보고

Objective : The purpose of this case is to show a case of buerger`s disease improved by leech therapy. Methods : The patient received Leech Therapy and Oriental medical therapy(acupuncture and herb medicine). Result : We evaluate through visual analog scale(VAS), neuropathic total symptom score(TSS), fontaine grade and picture of patient`s foot. Conclusion : Leech therapy and Oriental medical therapy had a good effect on buerger`s disease.

Amphiphile self-aggregation: An attempt to reconcile the agreement–disagreement between the enthalpies of micellization determined by the van’t Hoff and Calorimetry methods

In this article, discrepancies between the enthalpies of micellization of amphiphiles in aqueous solution determined by the methods of van’t Hoff (VH) and calorimetry have been addressed. The contributions of the hydrophobic interaction, electrostatic interaction and the micellar size effect have been considered to assess the total picture of the amphiphile self-association process and related energetic parameters, especially the enthalpy and the specific heat capacity. Literature results on 23 amphiphile systems (six nonionics, five anionics, and twelve cationics) have been analyzed, and the assessed enthalpies by VH method and direct calorimetry have been presented and compared. VH results considering participation of 5% of total amphiphile monomer to form micelle at cmc have been also compared. In addition to this, the changes in the standard specific heat of micellization for all the amphiphile aggregation processes evaluated by the VH and calorimetry procedures have been presented. The differences between the standard enthalpy of micellization Δ H m ° by the methods of VH and calorimetry are minor for nonionic surfactants but major for ionics, whereas the standard specific heat capacities of micellization Δ C p m ° by both the procedures fairly agree for all types of surfactants. Like Δ H m ° - Δ S m ° compensation observed in kinetic and equilibrium processes, a linear correlation between Lt T → 0 Δ H m ° and Δ C p m ° has been observed with no distinction between the VH and calorimetry derived results for all the surfactant systems herein dealt with.

Towards a Comprehensive Understanding of Molecular Mechanisms of Sexual Reproduction in Higher Plants

Sexual reproduction in higher plants includes a key phase for producing male and female gametes (i.e. microsporogenesis, microgametogenesis, megasporogenesis and megagametogenesis), in addition to the ensuing pollination and fertilization. Development of the gametes is regulated by gametophytic and sporophytic gene expression ( McCormick 2004 ); for example, gametophytic microspores are infl uenced by gene expression in sporophytic tapetum cells of anthers. Such networks of gene expression during gamete development are quite important for the understanding of sexual reproduction, because failure of gene regulation often results in a defect of fertilization, which is known as male and/or female sterility. To date, many reproductive tissuespecifi c genes have been identifi ed and characterized ( Taylor and Hepler 1997 , Endo et al. 2004 , Kagi and Gross-Hardt 2007 ). However, the total picture of gene regulation of events during sexual reproduction is still not clear. This special issue consists of four original articles about transcriptome analysis focused on male gamete development, two original articles about mutant analysis of male or female gamete development, and one review article about male sterility. All the papers take up a common theme about ‘gene regulation in plant reproduction’, and should help towards a comprehensive understanding of sexual reproduction in higher plants. Tapetum cells, which are the innermost cell layer of the anther wall, are important for feeding nutrients to microspores, and pollen maturation is accompanied by the characteristic gene expression of microspore/pollen and tapetum. Therefore, analyses of separated transcriptomes of microspore/pollen and tapetum are necessary to gain an understanding of male gametophyte development. Laser microdissection (LM) is a powerful tool for isolating specifi c cells from complicated plant tissues ( Nakazono et al. 2003 ), and can be applied to these separated transcriptomes. In this issue, authors of four papers have referred to the LM 44K-microarray (44K-LMM) of microspore/pollen and tapetum in japonica rice. First, Suwabe and colleagues established the 44K-LMM with amplifi ed labeled RNAs isolated from microspore/pollen and tapetum cells, which were physically separated from a cross-section of rice anthers. In order to validate the 44K-LMM data, they compared the 44K-LMM data with that of 156 previously characterized anther-specifi c genes, which were identifi ed by Endo et al. (2004) . From this validation, it was demonstrated that the 44K-LMM is highly reliable, and can be used for further comprehensive analysis of gene networks in the development of the male gametophyte (pp. 1407–1416). Secondly, Hobo and colleagues characterized 44K-LMM data by using in silico analyses (cluster analysis, gene ontology, and searching gene regulatory cis -elements and mutant phenotypes). Interestingly, synchronous gene expression between the microspore and tapetum was observed as a novel characteristic in these transcriptomes. Further detailed analyses will reveal the signifi cance of this synchronous expression in the development of the male gamete. In addition, about half of the Tos17 insertion lines in microspore/pollenor tapetumspecifi c genes showed sterile or low fertility phenotypes, indicating that these genes were necessary for the development of anther tissues (pp. 1417–1428). These two fundamental papers clearly indicate that these precise transcriptome data sets of male gametophyte development are useful for understanding various phenomena in the anther, and will shed light on new research fi elds of plant reproduction. The relationship between phytohormones and microspore/ pollen and tapetum transcriptomes is one of the most interesting fi ndings using this 44K-LMM. The phytohormones are important for plant growth, development, differentiation, etc. However, only a few functions in microspore/pollen and tapetum development are known. To date, many genes encoding the regulation of biosynthesis, perception and signal transduction of several phytohormones have been identifi ed and characterized ( Guo and Ecker 2004 , Guilfoyle and

Supply-side Strategy Implications on Demand-side Opportunities

ABSTRACT Emerging Supply Opportunities Major changes in the gas and electric markets have created a range of risk management products to support supply-side planning. The supply-side goal is usually to balance a client's tolerance for cost fluctuations with the lowest possible price. Demand-side Integration There are many implications a supply strategy has on demand-side opportunities. They should be considered carefully. This integration of supply- and demand-side planning often does not take place because they have been thought of as two independent disciplines. They require two separate sets of expertise. Historically, demand-side planning has been a responsibility for engineering and operations, while supply-side planning was the domain of purchasing and procurement. The integration of supply and demand is critical to control of your total energy picture. The right hand needs to know what the left hand is doing. There are a number of situations that illustrate where an integrated supply- and demand-si...

Differentiation of chum salmon Oncorhynchus keta Wallbaum populations as revealed with microsatellite and allozyme markers: A comparative study

The character and extent of population differentiation in chum salmon Oncorhynchus keta from Sakhalin and Iturup were comparatively studied with 10 microsatellite and 12 allozyme markers. It was demonstrated with the example of allozyme polymorphism at the EstD locus that the effect of an individual locus with one major allele is capable of distorting the total picture of population differentiation. Multiallelic microsatellites were more efficient in revealing the genetic structure of chum salmon populations at the levels of differences between regional populations and between the stocks of individual rivers of the same region.

Supply-side Strategy Implications on Demand-side Opportunities

Major changes in the gas and electric markets have created arange of risk management products to support supply-side planning.The supply-side goal is usually to balance a client’s tolerance for costfluctuations with the lowest possible price. There are many implicationsa supply strategy has on demand-side opportunities. They should beconsidered carefully. This integration of supply and demand-side plan-ning often does not take place because they have been thought of as twoindependent disciplines. They require two separate sets of expertise.Historically, demand-side planning has been a responsibility forengineering and operations while supply-side planning was the domainof purchasing and procurement. The integration of supply and demandis critical to control of your total energy picture. The right hand needsto know what the left hand is doing. There are a number of situationsthat illustrate where an integrated supply and demand-side approach isvitally important.This article will examine two situations as examples. We will showhow your supply-side strategy affects your true energy costs and howthat is different than in the past. We will also show how a supply-sidestrategy gives new triggers for demand-side actions.

The importance of an organized follow-up for the evaluation of mortality after hospital discharge in cardiac surgery

Does a structured follow-up, after cardiac surgery in an adult, provide additional information on the operation related mortality especially if mortality is used as an outcome parameter within the quality control? Mortality data of 1132 patients undergoing cardiac surgery in 2003 and 2004 in the Academic Hospital Nijmegen, The Netherlands were registered by a structured follow-up one year after surgery. One year after surgery this follow-up is missing information for eight patients (0.7%). Six patients (0.5%) refused further follow-up. Of the 31 patients who died during the first postoperative year, 21 (68%) were registered thanks to this structured follow-up. In 29 patients it was possible to retrieve the cause of death. A structured follow-up one year after cardiac surgery has a high response and not only provides a better total picture of mortality, but also information on the cause of death. Both aspects are important if mortality is used as a parameter for quality control in cardiac surgery.

Diagnostic Accuracy of Consensus Diagnostic Criteria for Frontotemporal Dementia in a Memory Clinic Population

Background/Aims: The goal of the present study was to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of the core diagnostic criteria for frontotemporal dementia (FTD) [Neary D, et al: Neurology 1998;51:1546–1554] within a memory clinic population. Methods: The 5 core diagnostic criteria for FTD were operationalised in an informant-based written questionnaire. For a diagnosis of FTD the total clinical picture was weighted with findings on additional investigations and possible exclusion criteria, with follow-up of at least 1 year. Results: The operationalised core criteria for FTD had a sensitivity of 79% (95% CI = 57–92) and a specificity of 90% (95% CI = 85–94). Conclusion: The core diagnostic criteria for FTD applied in a caregiver questionnaire have good diagnostic accuracy among subjects without advanced dementia attending a memory clinic. This stresses the importance of the informant-based history in the differential diagnosis of dementia.

Understanding the context for best practice facilities management from the client's perspective

PurposeThe paper has the purpose of demonstrating that (business) process modelling can be used to portray facilities management as a hierarchical set of activities which combine to satisfy the business needs of the client organisation. The paper aims to show, through a top‐down approach, how service provision must be set in a wide context if its role in fulfilling those needs is to be successful. The question of whether or not to outsource services is given particular prominence. A secondary purpose is to show how best practice and attempts to improve current practice can benefit from the modelling approach.Design/methodology/approachBusiness process (IDEF0) modelling is used to portray the facilities management process from the perspective of the client organisation.FindingsService provision must be set in a wide context if decisions and their outcomes are to be consistent with the delivery of best value and customer satisfaction. The model of the facilities management process presented in the paper shows, for instance, where and how the decision to outsource or retain services in‐house fits into the total picture. The transparency afforded by the model and the procedures that can be derived from it will enable clients to reach a competent decision and not one based on incomplete consideration. Furthermore, clients are able pursue a policy of continual improvement and with that practices that can be regarded as “best” in their context. As a template of current best practice, the model is also the context for evaluating the worth of new insights and novel practices.Research limitations/implicationsThe model is limited to a top‐down approach to the facilities management process; as such, it does not consider very detailed issues.Originality/valueThere exists no authoritative model of the facilities management process from the client's perspective. The issue of context has not received adequate treatment in the literature.