Assessing Human Impact of Organizational Crises: Reliability and Validity of the Triage Assessment Scale for Organizations (TAS:O)

The present study evaluated the reliability and validity of the Triage Assessment Survey: Organizations (TAS:O), a 27-item, 5-point, Likert summated rating scale. One hundred and seventeen participants responded to the TAS:O after reading mild, moderate, marked and severe organizational crisis scenarios. The overall Cronbach's alpha and split-half reliability were both .93. Confirmatory factor analysis revealed three factors, supporting the hypothesis that the TAS:O is comprised of three distinct factors (i.e., Affect, Behavior, and Cognition). An analysis of variance provided evidence that the TAS:O has the capacity to distinguish among mild, moderate, marked, and severe crises. Because this research is the first to evaluate the TAS:O, further studies are needed to strengthen confidence in the psychometric properties of this scale.     

Invariance of lamellar thickness with crystallization temperature of polyesteramide 6NT6 crystals

Polyesteramide of the type [COøCONH(CH₂)₆NHCOøCOO (CH₂)₆O]_n, conventionally referred to as PEA 6NT6, was crystallized from dilute solutions in benzyl alcohol at different temperatures. Single crystals were obtained in ellipsoidal and flat form, as revealed by electron microscopy. X-ray small- and wide-angle diffraction experiments were carried out on oriented mats of the lamellae. Invariance of long spacing with crystallization temperature in the range 72°–118°C was found. Annealing experiments revealed a quantized increase of the long spacing. The thermal behaviour of the single crystals was studied by differential scanning calorimetry and by i.r. spectroscopy. A chain-folding model based on tight folds and adjacent re-entry is proposed for this polymer.     

NSCLC as the Paradigm of Precision Medicine at Its Finest: The Rise of New Druggable Molecular Targets for Advanced Disease

Standard treatment for advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) historically consisted of systemic cytotoxic chemotherapy until the early 2000s, when precision medicine led to a revolutionary change in the therapeutic scenario. The identification of oncogenic driver mutations in EGFR, ALK and ROS1 rearrangements identified a subset of patients who largely benefit from targeted agents. However, since the proportion of patients with druggable alterations represents a minority, the discovery of new potential driver mutations is still an urgent clinical need. We provide a comprehensive review of the emerging molecular targets in NSCLC and their applications in the advanced setting.     

CdTe and HgTe surface growth kinetics for molecular and metalorganic molecular beam epitaxy

The surface growth kinetics of CdTe and HgTe have been investigated during molecular and metalorganic molecular beam epitaxy. The surface growth kinetics was studied through in-situ measurements of the growth rate as a function of flux ratio and substrate temperature on the (001), (111)B, and (211)B CdTe surface orientations. For the (001) and (111)B CdTe growth kinetics, the existence of low binding energy surface precursor sites was proposed for both molecular and atomic growth species before lattice incorporation. Intensity oscillations were observed during HgTe growth on misoriented (111)B surfaces and during CdTe growth on the (211)B orientation. The (211)B surface reconstructions displayed both vicinal and singular surface characteristics, depending on the growth flux ratio.     

使简单欧姆计具备千兆欧量程的积分器

德州仪器公司(TI)的IVC102精密积分器有高质量的内部电容.图1的电路可以用来测量非常高的Rx电阻值.一只精密差分放大器(TI的INA105)为Rx施加一个基准电压.积分期间,在IVC12的输出端产生一个负电压斜坡Vo.两只LM311将Vo的振幅与两个固定阈值作比较,产生两个数字信号:开始和停止.     

Modeling of surface myoelectric signals. I. Model implementation

The relationships between the parameters of active motor units (MU's) and the features of surface electromyography (EMG) signals have been investigated using a mathematical model that represents the surface EMG as a summation of contributions from the single muscle fibers. Each MU has parallel fibers uniformly scattered within a cylindrical volume of specified radius embedded in an anisotropic medium. Two action potentials, each modeled as a current tripole, are generated at the neuromuscular junction, propagate in opposite directions and extinguish at the fiber-tendon endings. The neuromuscular junctions and fiber-tendon endings are uniformly scattered within regions of specified width. Muscle fiber conduction velocity and average fiber length to the right and left of the center of the innervation zone are also specified. The signal produced by MU's with different geometries and conduction velocities are superimposed. Monopolar, single differential and double differential signals are computed from electrodes placed in equally spaced locations on the surface of the muscle and are displayed as functions of any of the model's parameters. Spectral and amplitude variables and conduction velocity are estimated from the surface signals and displayed as functions of any of the model's parameters. The influence of fiber-end effects, electrode misalignment, tissue anisotropy, MU's location and geometry are discussed. Part II of this paper will focus on the simulation and interpretation of experimental signals.     

Structure‐Properties Relationship in Iron Oxide‐Reduced Graphene Oxide Nanostructures for Li‐Ion Batteries

Non‐aqueous sol‐gel routes involving the reaction of metal oxide precursors in organic solvents (e.g., benzyl alcohol) at moderate temperature and pressure, offer advantages such as high purity, high reproducibility and the ability to control the crystal growth without the need of using additional ligands. In this paper, a study carried out on a series of iron oxide/reduced graphene oxide composites is presented to elucidate a structure‐properties relationship leading to an improved electrochemical performance of such composites. Moreover, it is demonstrated that the easy production of the composites in a variety of temperature and composition ranges, allows a fine control over the final particles size, density and distribution. The materials obtained are remarkable in terms of the particle's size homogeneity and dispersion onto the reduced graphene oxide surface. Moreover, the synthesis method used to obtain the graphene oxide clearly affects the performances of the final composites through the control of the restacking of the reduced graphene oxide sheets. It is shown that a homogeneous and less defective reduced graphene oxide enables good electrochemical performances even at high current densities (over 500 mAh/g delivered at current densities as high as 1600 mA/g). The electrochemical properties of improved samples reach the best compromise between specific capacity, rate capability and cycle stability reported so far.     

Signal detection in compound-Gaussian noise: Neyman-Pearson andCFAR detectors

This paper handles the problem of detecting signals with known signature and unknown or random amplitude and phase in the presence of compound-Gaussian disturbance with known spectral density. Two alternative approaches are investigated: the Neyman-Pearson criterion and the generalized likelihood ratio strategy. The first approach leads to a hardly implementable detector but provides an upper bound for the performance of any other detector. The generalized likelihood ratio strategy, instead, leads to a canonical detector, whose structure is independent of the disturbance amplitude probability density function. Based on this result, the threshold setting, which is itself independent on both the noise distribution and the signal parameters, ensures a constant false alarm rate. Unluckily, this receiver requires the averaging of infinitely many components of the received waveform. This is not really a drawback since a close approximation can be found for a practical implementation of the receiver. The performance analysis shows that the generalized likelihood ratio test (GLRT) detector suffers a quite small loss with respect to the optimum Neyman-Pearson receiver (less than 1 dB in the case of random amplitude) and largely outperforms the conventional square-law detector     

Microbiological,physical and chemical characteristics of freshwater prawns (Macrobrachium rosenbergii) in modified‐atmosphere packaging

This study evaluated the influence of packaging atmosphere (air versus 50% N₂/50% CO₂) on microbiological (mesophiles, psychrotrophs), physical (gas measurement) and chemical (pH, total volatile basic nitrogen [TVB‐N], NH₃, H₂S and biogenic amines) parameters in freshwater prawns during storage at 0 ± 1 °C for 240 h. To select the most appropriate packaging, 21 batches of each treatment were analysed. Both the packaging permeability and the combination of gases affected the shelf life, but the modified‐atmosphere packaging (MAP) was more efficient than air packaging, increasing the shelf life by 40 h. The parameters of pH and TVB‐N showed no statistical difference between the two atmosphere conditions all along the storage period. The biogenic amine agmatine showed potential for use as a quality indicator due to the increased concentration during storage. In further studies, this amine can be applied as an indicator for public health issue.