Preparation of the international employee: Career and consultation needs.

Studied how 26 senior managers and 47 senior professional technical staff (recently repatriated) of 4 US owned multinational organizations viewed their international posting, specifically with respect to career path satisfaction. Results of satisfaction scales indicate that many Ss felt under-prepared for their international assignment. It is suggested that a comprehensive international employee development program should assess, provide feedback, and coach individuals on career path, culture shock and adjustment, and performance issues prior, during, and on return from the expatriate assignment. Results suggest that opportunities exist for individual and organizational intervention. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Ultralow-Dielectric-Constant foams by crystallisation from supercritical solution: Application to advanced electronic packaging

Accurate moulding of polymer foams of density 0.02–0.3 g cm^?3 has been achieved by crystallising polyethylene and ethylene/methlacrylate copolymers from dry supercritical solutions. Adherent thick films can be sealed to electronic substrates and are proposed as insulating layers for interconnections on multichip modules and other high-speed electronic devices. The dielectric constant achieved for films of several-mil thickness is between 1.05 and 1.3 and can be tailored along with the physical properties of the film by adjusting the density and composition of the copolymer. Planarisation or complex patterning is possible by detailing the mould.     

Dual role of alpha-acetolactate decarboxylase in Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis

The alpha-acetolactate decarboxylase gene aldB is clustered with the genes for the branched-chain amino acids (BCAA) in Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis. It can be transcribed with BCAA genes under isoleucine regulation or independently of BCAA synthesis under the control of its own promoter. The product of aldB is responsible for leucine sensibility under valine starvation. In the presence of more than 10 microM leucine, the alpha-acetolactate produced by the biosynthetic acetohydroxy acid synthase IlvBN is transformed to acetoin by AldB and, consequently, is not available for valine synthesis. AldB is also involved in acetoin formation in the 2,3-butanediol pathway, initiated by the catabolic acetolactate synthase, AlsS. The differences in the genetic organization, the expression, and the kinetics parameters of these enzymes between L. lactis and Klebsiella terrigena, Bacillus subtilis, or Leuconostoc oenos suggest that this pathway plays a different role in the metabolism in these bacteria. Thus, the alpha-acetolactate decarboxylase from L. lactis plays a dual role in the cell: (i) as key regulator of valine and leucine biosynthesis, by controlling the acetolactate flux by a shift to catabolism; and (ii) as an enzyme catalyzing the second step of the 2,3-butanediol pathway.     

Human wound contraction: collagen organization, fibroblasts, and myofibroblasts

The closure of ungrafted sacrococcygeal pilonidal sinus excisional wounds was studied in 15 patients. Wound punch biopsies were taken on a regular basis, and histologic sections were made. To document changes, computer-assisted morphometric image analysis was employed. Initial average wound depth was 37.8 +/- 4.6 mm, and complete closure (0 wound depth) was reached by 68 days. Wound contraction contributed 88 percent to wound closure, whereas the deposition of scar only contributed 12 percent. Maximum cells density within granulation tissue was reached by day 18. Myofibroblasts, identified by alpha-smooth muscle actin immunostaining, first appeared on day 11. Unlike those observed in laboratory animals, myofibroblasts were a minor cell population of granulation tissue, never exceeding 10 percent of the cells. The pattern of collagen fiber organization was documented by polarized light microscopy of Sirius red-stained sections. Early granulation tissue collagen fibers demonstrated a fine greenish birefringence, whereas more mature granulation tissue collagen fibers were thicker, displaying orange-yellowish birefringence. Myofibroblasts were associated exclusively with thicker collagen fibers, whereas fibroblasts were associated with both fine and thick collagen fibers. It is proposed that human wound contraction involves a volume change whereby normal dermal and adipose tissues are pulled into the defect by forces generated within fibroblasts.     

Castor polyols for urethane foams

Summary A systematic investigation of some 21 castor polyols as base materials for preparing urethane foams was carried out. Prepolymers were prepared both from individual castor polyols and from mixtures of them with an anhydrous castor oil. Foams formed from these prepolymers were checked for shrinkage on cure, density, and modulus. From the wide range of results obtained it is evident that castor polyols can serve as effective urethane components. Aside from serving as major polyols for reaction with di-isocyanates, they can also be used as modifying polyols a) to speed up prepolymer preparation, b) to adjust prepolymer viscosity to any required degree, c) to minimize loss of modulus on humid aging, and as cross-linking centers with negligible loss of foam modulus. Details covering the preparation of a nonshrinking, semi-rigid, light-weight urethane foam based on an 85% anhydrous castor oil/15% epoxidized castor oil mix are outlined in the article. Presented at the Spring Meeting, American Oil Chemists' Society, Memphis, Tenn., April 20–23, 1958.     

Void formation in an Al-Mg-Si alloy under different precipitation conditions after irradiation with 100 keV Al ions

The influence of different precipitation treatments upon the radiation-induced void formation was studied on an Al-Mg-Si alloy and the results were compared with those obtained on high-purity Al. The changes in the microstructure and the void formation were investigated by TEM methods for the dose range 0.8 to 80 dpa and the temperature range 55 to 250° C. The irradiations were carried out using 100 keV Al ions. Highpurity Al showed void formation over the whole temperature range investigated with a maximum volume increase V/V of 3.4% at 150° C. The behaviour of the Al-Mg-Si alloys depends strongly upon the thermal pretreatments. The alloy in its homogenized state shows no voids between 55 and 140° C. Trapping of vacancies on solute Si atoms could be the explanation. An ageing treatment leading to coherent precipitates results in the complete suppression of void formation for the temperature region of highest swelling (0.35 T _sT0.44 T _s). On the other hand, treatments which cause incoherent or partially coherent precipitates result in swelling. The amount of swelling, however, is lower compared to pure Al and the temperature of the swell maximum is shifted to lower temperatures. These results could be explained by the mechanism of trapping vacancies by solute atoms, on the one hand, and the coherent precipitates acting as recombination centres, on the other.     

Osmotic concentration of polypeptides from hemofiltrate of uremic patients

In order to clarify the interactions between various doses of thiopental and fentanyl in producing "balanced anaesthesia", their effects on consciousness, superficial nociception, and respiration and circulation were studied during N2O+O2 inhalation in connection with the induction of anaesthesia. Altogether 60 patients were studied; the drug combinations used were thiopental 5 mg/kg (TP5), thipental 3 mg/kg (TP3), thiopental 3 mg/kg and fentanyl 0.5 micrograms/kg (TP3F0.5), thiopental 2 mg/kg and fentanyl 1 micrograms/kg (TP2F1), thiopental 1 mg/kg and fentanyl 2 micrograms/kg (TP1F2), and fentanyl 3 micrograms/kg (F3). Five minutes after the i.v. supplementation of N2O+O2 anaesthesia, the depth of anaesthesia and analgesia (antinociception) were evaluated from the eyelid reflex and by pinching an inguinal skin fold. Cardiorespiratory parameters were measured during this study period at 1-min intervals. The balance between antinociception and anaesthesia was closest to optimum in groups TP2F1 and TP2F0.5. In pure thiopental groups, the analgesia was poor; only four patients did not respond to the nociceptive stimulus, whereas in group F3 anaesthesia (disappearance of the eyelid reflex) was obtained in only two patients. The respiratory depression was most pronounced in groups receiving 3, 2 and 1 micrograms/kg fentanyl and weakest in groups where only thiopental was used. Blood pressure decreased in all groups but no statistically significant differences were noted. On the basis of the results it seems obvious that attempts to achieve what is called "balanced anaesthesia" by the supplementation of an N2O+O2 mixture with fentanyl only leads to an unnecessarily prnounced respiratory depression, whereas supplementation with thiopental alone does not offer adequate antinociception.     

The identification of tropical deforestation fronts at broad spatial scales

Land cover changes are measured at increasingly broader spatial scales. Yet understanding and modelling change processes with a satisfactory accuracy require fine scale observations. The objective of this study is to design and test a methodology to detect tropical deforestation 'hot spots' at broad spatial scales. This methodology is designed to allow concentration of the data collection and modelling of change processes only on the areas characterized by a high rate of change. The procedure is based on a hierarchical set of decision rules with selection criteria being first measured on an exhaustive basis at a global scale and then only for the areas retained in the first sorting, with increasingly selective constraints. The first set of criteria, i.e., proportions in key land cover, landscape fragmentation, and fire activities, were derived from subcontinental scale remote sensing data. Socio-economic variables were also measured at that scale. These different variables were combined over West Africa and the northern boundary of the Central African evergreen forest to identify potential tropical deforestation fronts. Different models were used to generate maps of deforestation hot spots. These were validated with data from the literature.