Managing design in the new product development process — methods for company executives

New product development which may stem from ‘needs pull’ or ‘discovery push’ requires careful management particularly in the area of design. As the design progresses through various stages it is necessary to conduct objective design reviews to appraise performance and ensure that the specification is going to be met. Following the design ‘freeze’ stage, a tight control over modifications and alterations must be exercised if success in the field is to be achieved. This is best conducted by configuration management. The effort involved in setting up and running designs audit and configuration management is more than paid for by the assurance of a sound new product being realised at the time of launch into the market place.     

Development of an abbreviated Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory (SPAI) using item response theory: The SPAI-23.

An abbreviated version of the Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory (SPAI) was developed using methods based in nonparametric item response theory. Participants included a nonclinical sample of 1,482 undergraduates (52% female, mean age = 19.4 years) as well as a clinical sample of 105 individuals (56% female, mean age = 36.4 years) diagnosed with either generalized (73%) or specific social phobia (27%). Twenty-three of the 45 SPAI items demonstrated good discrimination along the social anxiety continuum. In addition, option characteristic curves (OCCs) indicated that the SPAI's 7-point scale may generate errors in ranking individuals. Thus, options were collapsed to improve item performance. No gender differences emerged between any of the items' OCCs, suggesting that items function similarly among men and women. The abbreviated version also correlated highly with the original 45-item SPAI and exhibited similar patterns of correlations with measures of social anxiety. The SPAI-23 has considerable practical benefits, including a screening of both social and agoraphobic anxiety as well as decreased assessment and scoring time. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Expression of Escherichia coli TehA gives resistance to antiseptics and disinfectants similar to that conferred by multidrug resistance efflux pumps

The genes tehAB located at 32.3 min on the Escherichia coli chromosome were initially identified by their ability to mediate resistance to potassium tellurite (128 micrograms of K2TeO3 per ml) when overexpressed with a high-copy-number plasmid. The genes encode an integral membrane protein (TehA) of 36 kDa with 10 putative transmembrane segments and a second protein (TehB) of 23 kDa. Overexpression of TehAB results in hypersensitivity to dequalinium CI and methyl viologen (paraquat). Expression of TehA alone gives similar hypersensitivity. Overexpression of TehA gave resistance to tetraphenylarsonium CI, ethidium bromide, crystal violet and proflavin. The efflux of ethidium, measured by fluorescence quenching, revealed that TehA transported ethidium at twice the control rate and 10% of the rate of the highly resistant efflux transporter Emr Eco. Addition of tellurite had no effect on ethidium transport. In addition to the ethidium transport assay, a proflavin fluorescence assay which was approximately 200-fold more sensitive was also used. TehA was also found to have proflavin efflux activity. The addition of TeO32- to the proflavin transport assay on TehA caused a 20% increase in transport rate. Both ethidium and proflavin transport were found to be energy dependent.     

Relationship between renal plasma flow response to angiotensin II and blood pressure in a population-based sample

OBJECTIVE: The positive short-term effects of postmenopausal hormone replacement therapy (HRT) on serum lipids are well known, but it has been suggested that they vanish with time. Cholecalciferol (vitamin D3) is widely used to prevent postmenopausal osteoporosis but the influence of vitamin D3 on serum lipids is poorly known. The long-term effects of HRT and vitamin D3 on the concentrations of serum lipids were studied in a population-based prospective 3-year study. DESIGN AND METHODS: 464 women were randomized into four treatment groups: (i) HRT (sequential combination of 2 mg estradiol valerate and 1 mg cyproterone acetate), (ii) Vit D3 (vitamin D3 300 IU/day), (iii) HRT+Vit D3 (both as above), (iv) placebo (calcium lactate 500 mg/day). RESULTS: 320 women completed the study. After three years of treatment, serum concentrations of low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol decreased in the HRT group (10.1%, P<0.001) and the HRT+Vit D3 group (5.9%, P=0.005), increased in the Vit D3 group (4.1%, P=0.035) but remained unchanged in the placebo group. The concentrations of total cholesterol decreased by 5.8% in the HRT group (P<0.001) and by 3.3% in the HRT+Vit D3 group (P=0.023), but did not change in the other two groups. Serum concentrations of high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol decreased in the Vit D3 group (5.2%, P=0.001), HRT+Vit D3 group (3.7%, P=0.046), and the placebo group (4.5%, P=0.006) but did not change significantly in the HRT group. The HDL/LDL ratio increased in the HRT group (10.5%, P=0.006) and decreased in the Vit D3 group (10.5%, P<0.001) whereas no changes occurred in the other two groups. In addition, serum triglycerides increased similarly in all groups (14.0-18.8%, P<0.05-0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Our results confirm the positive long-term effect of HRT with sequential estradiol valerate and cyproterone acetate on serum lipid concentrations. In addition, the results suggest that vitamin D3 supplementation may have unfavorable effects on lipids in postmenopausal women. Pure vitamin D3 treatment was associated with increased serum LDL cholesterol. Furthermore, the beneficial effects of HRT on serum LDL cholesterol content were reduced when estradiol valerate was combined with vitamin D3. However, the relevance of these associations to cardiovascular morbidity remains to be established.     

Influence of study goals on study design and execution

From the viewpoint of a clinician who makes recommendations to patients about choosing from the multiple possible management schemes, quantitative information derived from statistical analyses of observational studies is useful. Although random assignment of therapy is optimal, appropriately performed studies in which therapy has been nonrandomly "assigned" are considered acceptable, albeit occasionally with limitations in inferences. The analyses are considered most useful when they generate multivariable equations suitable for predicting time-related outcomes in individual patients. Graphic presentations improve communication with patients and facilitate truly informed consent.     

Effectiveness of computer-assisted instruction in increasing the rate of universal precautions--related behaviors

BACKGROUND: With widespread noncompliance to universal precautions well established, an experimental study was designed to compare the rate of universal precautions--related behaviors between nurses who participate in computer-assisted instruction. This study also explored the relationship between rates of universal precautions--related behaviors and subjects' demographic and experiential characteristics and history of occupational blood-borne exposure. METHODS: Data were collected by using a questionnaire to elicit information as to subjects' demographic and experiential characteristics and history of occupational blood-borne exposure. The Universal Precautions Assessment Tool was used to gather data on rates of universal precautions--related behaviors on two groups of registered nurses with 30 subjects per group. RESULTS: By using analysis of variance, the null hypothesis was rejected. The intervention used in this study did increase universal precautions--related behaviors. Multiple regression was used to analyze the research question and none of the variables were significant. Forty (67.8%) subjects reported receiving a needlestick or cut caused by a needle or sharp that was actually or potentially contaminated with blood or body fluids. Of these exposures, only one patient was known to be HIV antibody positive. CONCLUSION: Replication studies using computer-assisted instruction interventions are needed as are studies aimed at exploring other potentially effective interventions.     

Symptoms of depression and survival experience among three samples of smokers trying to quit.

Symptoms of depression have been associated with increased smoking prevalence and failure to quit smoking in several cross-sectional and population-based studies. Few studies, however, have prospectively examined the ability of current symptoms of depression to predict failure to quit smoking in treatment-motivated smokers. Pretreatment depressed mood was assessed by 3 different methods in 3 separate samples, 2 of which comprised smokers receiving combined pharmacological and behavioral treatments and a 3rd in which smokers received self-help materials only. In all studies, time in days from quit day until the 1st cigarette was ascertained to document survival. Survival analyses showed that in all 3 studies survival time was significantly and negatively related to measures of even very low levels of pretreatment depressed mood. Results were replicated across 3 independent samples and were robust and uniformly clear, indicating that low levels of depressive symptoms assessed at baseline predict time to 1st cigarette smoked after attempted quitting. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Human coenurosis in North America: case reports and review

To validate the use of mood induction with older adults, 22 older participants receiving a depressed mood induction were compared with 20 controls and 17 older persons with high Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression Scale (CES-D) scores. The mood induction procedure, using self-referent statements and music, changed Depressive Adjective Checklist and CES-D scores in each of 2 sessions 1 week apart. Findings indicated that the use of mood induction procedures with older adults can provide experimental control of mood.     

Sources and determinants of social support for caregivers of persons with AIDS

Endocrine studies of captive strepsirrhine primates suggest that physical environment and social factors mediate inter-individual variations in testicular function and serum testosterone (sT) in males. While these studies have made major contributions to our understanding of the individual proximate mechanisms influencing androgen activity in male strepsirrhines, none have investigated how these mechanisms work coincidentally in free-ranging populations. In this study we used fecal steroid analysis to examine androgen-behavior interactions associated with reproduction in free-ranging male Propithecus verreauxi. Behavioral and hormone data were collected from two social groups during the 1990-91 and 1991-92 breeding seasons at Beza Mahafaly, Madagascar. Solid phase and radioimmunoassay techniques were used to quantify testosterone (T) in 105 desiccated fecal samples collected weekly from seven males. Results suggest that 1) solid phase extraction and radioimmunoassay techniques were reliable and accurate methods for quantifying T in sifaka feces; 2) fecal T (fT) elevations spanned a minimum of 4 months, peak levels occurring 1 month prior to the January onset of the breeding season; 3) fecal T concentrations were influenced by developmental factors and, among mature males, social factors associated with rank, intergroup aggression, and group instability.     

Eradication of live F strain mycoplasma gallisepticum vaccine using live ts-11 on a multiage commercial layer farm

Subsequent to use of a live Mycoplasma gallisepticum (MG) vaccination program, the F strain of MG had been circulating on a commercial layer farm since 1981. In 1994, the ts-11 strain was introduced on the farm; each new placement flock was vaccinated by eyedrop with ts-11 for one production cycle, and then all subsequent placement flocks were left unvaccinated. Birds were monitored by culture and serology before and after vaccination. MG isolates were characterized by random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD). MG was isolated from ts-11-vaccinated flocks up to 100 wk of age; all such isolates tested by RAPD were ts-11 type. After ts-11 vaccination was discontinued, no MG was detected in nonvaccinated birds. After the last vaccinated flock was marketed, no MG was detected on the farm. These results indicate a potential use for ts-11 in an MG eradication program.