Human resources for control of tuberculosis and HIV-associated tuberculosis.

The global targets for tuberculosis (TB) control were postponed from 2000 to 2005, but on current evidence a further postponement may be necessary. Of the constraints preventing these targets being met, the primary one appears to be the lack of adequately trained and qualified staff. This paper outlines: 1) the human resources and skills for global TB and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) TB control, including the human resources for implementing the DOTS strategy, the additional human resources for implementing joint HIV-TB control strategies and what is known about human resource gaps at global level; 2) the attempts to quantify human resource gaps by focusing on a small country in sub-Saharan Africa, Malawi; and 3) the main constraints to human resources and their possible solutions, under six main headings: human resource planning; production of human resources; distribution of the work-force; motivation and staff retention; quality of existing staff; and the effect of HIV/AIDS. We recommend an urgent shift in thinking about the human resource paradigm, and exhort international policy makers and the donor community to make a concerted effort to bridge the current gaps by investing for real change

Dissociative style and directed forgetting.

Dissociative style may correspond to an enhanced ability to avoid conscious recollection of traumatic experiences, which may, however, remain dormant in nonconscious memory. This hypothesis was tested in two "directed-forgetting" experiments with affectively neutral words (experiment 1) and sex and threat words (experiment 2) employing a total of 83 first-year psychology students high and low in dissociative style, and 14 dissociative patients. Conscious and nonconscious memory were separated with the process dissociation procedure (L. L. Jacoby, 1991). Instruction to forget was expected to reduce conscious but to enhance nonconscious memory performance in Ss with a high dissociative ability. Results were opposite to predictions. Particularly for sex words, the instruction to forget raised the overall (conscious and nonconscious) memory performance of the patients. An alternative construction hypothesis is proposed that identifies dissociative style with enhanced skills of constructing conscious experiences

Solving variational inequalities defined on a domain with infinitely many linear constraints

We study a variational inequality problem whose domain is defined by infinitely many linear inequalities. A discretization method and an analytic center based inexact cutting plane method are proposed. Under proper assumptions, the convergence results for both methods are given. We also provide numerical examples to illustrate the proposed method

Complete solution of a constrained tropical optimization problem with application to location analysis

We present a multidimensional optimization problem that is formulated and solved in the tropical mathematics setting. The problem consists of minimizing a nonlinear objective function defined on vectors over an idempotent semifield by means of a conjugate transposition operator, subject to constraints in the form of linear vector inequalities. A complete direct solution to the problem under fairly general assumptions is given in a compact vector form suitable for both further analysis and practical implementation. We apply the result to solve a multidimensional minimax single facility location problem with Chebyshev distance and with inequality constraints imposed on the feasible location area.Comment: 20 pages, 3 figure

Causas de Morte em Doentes com Hemofilia: Estudo Retrospectivo de 1979 a 2007, no Serviço de Imunohemoterapia do HSJ

Neurokinin A (NKA) induces bronchoconstriction mediated by tachykinin NK2 receptors in animals and humans, and may be increased in asthma. Because beta(2)-adrenoceptor agonists are the most widely used bronchodilators in asthma, we investigated the effects of the beta(2)-adrenoceptor agonist fenoterol on NK2 receptor messenger RNA (mRNA) and receptor density as well as the functional responses of bovine tracheal smooth muscle to the NK2 receptor agonist [beta-Ala(8)]-NKA(4-10) in vitro, using Northern blot analysis, receptor binding, and organ bath studies. Incubation with fenoterol induced a time- and concentration-dependent upregulation of NK2 receptor mRNA (71% increase after 12 h at 10(-7) M fenoterol), which was abolished by propranolol (a nonselective beta-adrenoceptor agonist) and ICI118551 (a selective beta(2)-adrenoceptor antagonist), but not by CGP20712A (a selective beta(1)-adrenoceptor antagonist), indicating that fenoterol acts via beta(2)-adrenoceptors. These effects were mimicked by forskolin and prostaglandin E-2 (PGE,), both agents that increase cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP), and by the cAMP analogue 8-bromo-cAMP. The upregulation was blocked by cycloheximide, indicating that it requires new protein synthesis, and was accompanied by an increase in both the stability of NK2 receptor mRNA and the rate of NK2 receptor gene transcription. Radioligand binding assay using the selective NK2 receptor antagonist [H-3]SR48968 showed a significant increase in the number of receptor binding sites after 12 h and 18 h, which was accompanied by an increased contractile responsiveness to the NK2 receptor agonist [beta-Ala(8)]-NKA(4-10). Dexamethasone completely prevented the fenoterol-induced increase in NK2 receptor mRNA and in the contractile response. We conclude that beta(2)-adrenoceptor agonists induce upregulation of functional NK2 receptors in airway smooth muscle by increasing cAMP, and that this can be prevented by a corticosteroid. The increased responsiveness could be relevant to asthma control and mortality

Contribution to the understanding of tribological properties of graphite intercalation compounds with metal chloride

Intrinsic tribological properties of lamellar compounds are usually attributed to the presence of van der Waals gaps in their structure through which interlayer interactions are weak. The controlled variation of the distances and interactions between graphene layers by intercalation of electrophilic species in graphite is used in order to explore more deeply the friction reduction properties of low-dimensional compounds. Three graphite intercalation compounds with antimony pentachloride, iron trichloride and aluminium trichloride are studied. Their tribological properties are correlated to their structural parameters, and the interlayer interactions are deduced from ab initio bands structure calculations

Linked Markov sources: Modeling outcome-dependent social processes

Many social processes are adaptive in the sense that the process changes as a result of previous outcomes. Data on such processes may come in the form of categorical time series. First, the authors propose a class of Markov Source models that embody such adaptation. Second, the authors discuss new methods to evaluate the fit of such models. Third, the authors apply these models and methods to data on a social process that is a preeminent example of an adaptive process: (encoded) conversation as arises in structured interviews. © 2007 Sage Publications

R&D policy instruments – a critical review of what we do and don’t know

In recent years, the term ‘policy instrument’ has been used more frequently with regard to R&D policy and innovation policy. What does this term mean? Where did it come from? What do we know about it, both with regard to the general field of policy studies but also in the specific context of R&D policy? This article examines the development of the notion of policy instruments as part of a body of research known as ‘policy design’. Over the last 50 years, there has been substantial progress in setting policy design on a more systematic basis, with the development of established concepts and analytical frameworks, including various taxonomies of policy instruments. However, with just a few exceptions, this body of research seems to have had little impact in the world of R&D policy. The paper reviews the literature on R&D policy instruments. It identifies a number of challenges for R&D policy instruments in the light of four transitions – the shift from linear to systemic thinking about R&D and innovation, the shift from national governments to multi-level governance, the shift from individual actors to collaborations and networks, and the shift from individual policies to policy mixes. It sets out a research agenda for the study of R&D policy instruments, before ending with a number of conclusions