Everyday power struggles: living in an IOIS project

The broad aim of this interpretive study was to investigate the lived experiences of inter-organisational information system (IOIS) project members who worked in a 3-year-long IOIS project. The study presents an original longitudinal study of project member experiences. In this paper, we have described and analysed one core category, project power, which was derived from a grounded theory (GT) study. This study extends existing theories about power in organisational contexts, in particular the everyday use of power in projects. The paper shows how GT can be used to gain significant insights into a case study, and also generate new concepts. This paper gives detailed insights into the power issues as they played out in a complex IOIS project. This IOIS project spanned four user organisations, two suppliers, one national organisation, a research organisation and a government Ministry. One key finding is that, given the complexity of the project management structures in an IOIS project such as this, project members often resorted to formal authority as a means of getting things done, in the absence of informal links between organisations. The project history also had major ramifications on the use of power in this project.     

Porometry, porosimetry, image analysis and void network modelling in the study of the pore-level properties of filters

We present fundamental and quantitative comparisons between the techniques of porometry (or flow permporometry), porosimetry, image analysis and void network modelling for seven types of filter, chosen to encompass the range of simple to complex void structure. They were metal, cellulose and glass fibre macro- and meso-porous filters of various types. The comparisons allow a general re-appraisal of the limitations of each technique for measuring void structures. Porometry is shown to give unrealistically narrow void size distributions, but the correct filtration characteristic when calibrated. Shielded mercury porosimetry can give the quaternary (sample-level anisotropic) characteristics of the void structure. The first derivative of a mercury porosimetry intrusion curve is shown to underestimate the large number of voids, but this error can be largely corrected by the use of a void network model. The model was also used to simulate the full filtration characteristic of each sample, which agreed with the manufacturer's filtration ratings. The model was validated through its correct a priori simulation of absolute gas permeabilities for track etch, cellulose nitrate and sintered powder filters.     

Methylphenidate and baseball playing in ADHD children: Who's on first?

The effects of 0.3 and 0.6 mg/kg methylphenidate were analyzed in a double-blind, placebo-controlled, cross-over study in which 17 boys (ages 7.8–9.9 yrs) with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) played in baseball games. Drug effects were evaluated on children's attention during the game, as indictated by their on-task behavior on the field and their ability to answer questions about the status of the game at all times. Judgment during batting, batting skill during the game, and performance on skill drills prior to the game were also assessed as a function of medication. Results revealed that methylphenidate had a beneficial effect on attending during the game. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Encoding context and retrieval conditions as determinants of the effects of natural category size.

Studying a familiar word activates its associates in long-term memory. In the present experiments we manipulated the number of associates activated by words studied in the presence of unrelated context words, meaningfully related context words, or in the absence of modifying context words. Memory was tested by either cued or free recall. The results showed that the number of directly activated associates can facilitate, have no effect, or disrupt recall for studied words. The direction and magnitude of the effects of number of activated associates is shown to be determined by the encoding/retrieval context. Implications for the distinction between episodic and semantic memory are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

马克·加格布斯:美式风情

在这个大选之年,关于美国是什么,不是什么的话题已经很多.对于作家、音乐家、艺术家、时装设计师,尤其是那些喜欢从各种复杂、矛盾的角度来思考美国生活和历史的人来说,这个大选就是一处可以催生无数话题的肥沃土壤.     

pH‐Cleavable Nucleoside Lipids: A New Paradigm for Controlling the Stability of Lipid‐Based Delivery Systems

Lipid‐based delivery systems are an established technology with considerable clinical acceptance and several applications in human. Herein, we report the design, synthesis and evaluation of novel orthoester nucleoside lipids (ONLs) for the modulation of liposome stability. The ONLs contain head groups with 3′‐orthoester nucleoside derivatives featuring positive or negative charges. The insertion of the orthoester function in the NL structures allows the formation of pH‐sensitive liposomes. ONL‐based liposomes can be hydrolyzed to provide nontoxic products, including nucleoside derivatives and hexadecanol. To allow the release to be tunable at different hydrolysis rates, the charge of the polar head structure is modulated, and the head group can be released at a biologically relevant pH. Crucially, when ONLs are mixed with natural phosphocholine lipids (PC), the resultant liposome evolves toward the formation of a hexadecanol/PC lamellar system. Biological evaluation shows that stable nucleic acid lipid particles (SNALPs) formulated with ONLs and siRNAs can effectively enter into tumor cells and release their nucleic acid payload in response to an intracellular acidic environment. This results in a much higher antitumor activity than conventional SNALPs. The ability to use pH‐cleavable nucleolipids to control the stability of lipid‐based delivery systems represents a promising approach for the intracellular delivery of drug cargos.     

Cellular Internalization of Water‐Soluble Helical Aromatic Amide Foldamers

The intracellular transport of drugs and therapeutics represents one of the most exciting and challenging areas at the interface of chemistry, biology, and medicine. Most of the effort in this field so far has been devoted to the development of peptide‐based delivery systems that can translocate therapeutic agents into their intracellular targets. More recently, the use of bioinspired non‐natural foldamers has resulted in the successful delivery of cargo molecules, which possess a wide range of sizes and physicochemical properties across the cell membrane. We report herein the synthesis of aromatic amide foldamers and their biological evaluation as cell‐penetrating agents. By using a well‐established synthetic route, a series of fluorescein‐labeled cationic aryl amide conjugates has been constructed, and their cellular uptake into various human cell lines has been analyzed by flow cytometry and fluorescence microscopy. The assays revealed that longer oligomers achieve greater cellular translocation, with octamer Q8 proving to be a remarkable vehicle for all three cell lines. Biological studies have also indicated that these helices are biocompatible, thus showing promise in their application as cell‐penetrating agents and as vehicles to deliver biologically active molecules into cells.     

A cumulative score quality control scheme

Ncube and Woodall (1984) developed combined Shewhart­cumulative score (cuscore) quality control procedures for detecting shifts in the process mean of continuous production processes. These procedures only considered the past history of the scores but not that of the values of the quality characteristic, the sample mean. The proposed scheme takes into consideration the past history of the values of the sample mean quality characteristic and the past history of the scores. It will be shown, by average run length comparisons, that the proposed scheme performs significantly better than the standard cuscore procedures, the Shewhart procedures and cusum procedures for shifts in the process mean considered     

加利福尼亚州的商业景观与购物环境

自20世纪中期第个郊区购物中心兴起之后．北美的商业景观设计也开始逐渐走向成熟。当时的创新理念是打造一个可控制的、无机动车和犯罪行为、室外环境良好的安全购物形式。规模较小的零售点通常会设置在大型购物中心的两端，以吸引购物者。     

Age of onset of child maltreatment predicts long-term mental health outcomes.

The authors tested the hypothesis that children who are maltreated earlier in life are at greater risk for poor psychological functioning in adulthood than those maltreated later in life. Age of onset of maltreatment was assessed with 3 classifications: (a) continuous (ages 0-11 years); (b) dichotomous (early [ages 0-5 years] vs. later [ages 6-11 years]); and (c) developmental (infancy [ages 0-2 years], preschool [ages 3-5 years], early school age [ages 6-8 years], and school age [ages 9-11 years]). Individuals with documented cases of physical and sexual abuse and neglect prior to age 12 (N=496) were followed up and assessed in adulthood. Results indicated that an earlier onset of maltreatment, measured dichotomously and developmentally, predicted more symptoms of anxiety and depression in adulthood, while controlling for gender, race, current age, and other abuse reports. Later onset of maltreatment, measured continuously or developmentally, was predictive of more behavioral problems in adulthood. Implications for the assessment of maltreated children, the prevention of adult psychopathology, and the classification of age of maltreatment onset are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)