Cost of maintenance and depreciation of cotton mills

In cotton mill accounting, as in practically all accounting which has to do with manufacturing processes, the division of the bookkeeping most difficult to handle successfully is that pertaining to maintenance. This term being used in its broadest sense as covering all costs of wear and tear of plant, including buildings, machinery, tools, etc. Maintenance, rightfully used in this broad sense, includes repairs, renewals, reconstruction, deterioration (or deferred maintenance) and obsolescence. We will, in this paper, view it under three primary aspects

The changing pattern of domestic cannabis cultivation in the UK and its impact on the cannabis market

With improvements in both technology and information cannabis is being increasingly grown indoors for domestic use, rather than being imported. This study examines 50 cannabis farms detected by an English police force, and examines the characteristics of the 61 suspects associated with them. The study highlights a UK pattern in domestic cultivation, that is moving away from large scale commercial cultivation, at times co-ordinated by South East Asian organised crime groups, to increased cultivation within residential premises by British citizens. Offenders range from those who have no prior criminal history to those who are serious and persistent offenders. The ramifications for law enforcement agencies and policy formers are discussed

Paradox as invitation to act in problematic change situations

It has been argued that organizational life typically contains paradoxical situations such as efforts to manage change which nonetheless seem to reinforce inertia. Four logical options for coping with paradox have been explicated, three of which seek resolution and one of which ‘keeps the paradox open’. The purpose of this article is to explore the potential for managerial action where the paradox is held open through the use of theory on ‘serious playfulness’. Our argument is that paradoxes, as intrinsic features in organizational life, cannot always be resolved through cognitive processes. What may be possible, however, is that such paradoxes are transformed, or ‘moved on’ through action and as a result the overall change effort need not be stalled by the existence of embedded paradoxes

Hipertensión arterial inducida por el tratamiento con antiangiogénicos en el paciente oncológico

Introduction: high blood pressure is a multifactorial disease; there is a wide range of stimuli that can trigger it, including drugs.Objective: to describe the pathophysiological mechanisms involved in the development of hypertension induced by treatment with antiangiogenic drugs in oncological patients.Methods: a search for information was carried out in the PubMed/MEDLINE, SciELO and Scopus databases. Twenty-four bibliographic references were chosen.Development: the mechanisms of blood pressure elevation in patients treated with antiangiogenic agents are multifactorial. The mechanisms involved are not seen in isolation, but some are cause and/or effect of others. This interrelationship is shown during inhibition of vascular endothelial growth factor A, which is associated with a decrease in serum levels of nitric oxide metabolites, which triggers sodium retention and increased local and systemic blood pressure, showing changes in renal dynamics. Monitoring is necessary to allow early diagnosis and adequate treatment. This suggests that the use of appropriate antihypertensive drugs may be necessary for maintenance therapy to avoid dose interruption/discontinuation. Conclusions: there are several pathophysiological mechanisms related to the development of hypertension during treatment with antiangiogenic drugs such as induction of vascular endothelial growth factor A, variations in nitric oxide production, increased expression of pre-hypertensive agents such as endothelin-1, microvascular rare- fraction, activation of the renin-angiotensin system and oxidative stress.Introducción: la hipertensión arterial una enfermedad multifactorial; existe una alta gama de estímulos que pueden desencadenarla, entre ellos, los medicamentos.Objetivo: describir los mecanismos fisiopatológicos que intervienen en el desarrollo de hipertensión arterial inducida por el tratamiento con antiangiogénicos en pacientes oncológicos.Métodos: se realizó una búsqueda de información en las bases de datos PubMed/MEDLINE, SciELO y Scopus. Se seleccionaron 24 referencias bibliográficas.Desarrollo: los mecanismos de elevación de la presión arterial en pacientes tratados con antiangiogénicos son multifactoriales. Los mecanismos implicados no se ven de forma aislada, sino que unos son causa y/o efecto de otros. Esta interrelación se muestra durante la inhibición del factor A del crecimiento endotelial vascular, que se asocia con una disminución de los niveles séricos de los metabolitos del óxido nítrico, el cual desencadena la retención de sodio y aumento de la presión arterial local y sistémica, mostrando cambios en la dinámica renal. Es necesaria una monitorización que permita un diagnóstico temprano y tratamiento adecuado. Esto sugiere que el uso de medicamentos antihipertensivos apropiados puede ser necesario para la terapia de mantenimiento, a fin de evitar la interrupción/discontinuación de la dosis.Conclusiones: existen varios mecanismos fisiopatológicos relacionados al desarrollo de hipertensión arterial durante el tratamiento con antiangiogénicos como la inducción del factor A de crecimiento endotelial vascular, las variaciones de la producción de óxido nítrico, aumento de la expresión de agentes prehipertensivos como la endotelina-1, la rarefracción microvascular, la activación del sistema renina-angiotensina y el estrés oxidativo

The long term effects of sports concussion on retired Australian football players: a study using Transranial Magnetic Stimulation

This study investigated corticomotor excitability and inhibition, cognitive functioning, and fine motor dexterity in retired elite and amateur Australian football (AF) players who had sustained concussions during their playing careers. Forty male AF players who played at the elite level (n=20; mean age 49.7±5.7 years) or amateur level (n=20; mean age 48.4±6.9 years), and had sustained on average 3.2 concussions 21.9 years previously, were compared with 20 healthy age-matched male controls (mean age 47.56±6.85 years). All participants completed assessments of fine dexterity, visuomotor reaction time, spatial working memory (SWM), and associative learning (AL). Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) was used to measure corticospinal excitability: stimulus-response (SR) curves and motor evoked potential (MEP) 125% of active motor threshold (aMT); and intracortical inhibition: cortical silent period (cSP), short-interval intracortical inhibition (SICI), and long-interval intracortical inhibition (LICI). Healthy participants performed better in dexterity (p=0.003), reaction (p=0.003), and movement time (p=0.037) than did both AF groups. Differences between AF groups were found in AL (p=0.027) and SWM (p=0.024). TMS measures revealed that both AF groups showed reduced cSP duration at 125% aMT (p>0.001) and differences in SR curves (p>0.001) than did healthy controls. Similarly, SICI (p=0.012) and LICI (p=0.009) were reduced in both AF groups compared with controls. Regression analyses revealed a significant contribution to differences in motor outcomes with the three measures of intracortical inhibition. The measures of inhibition differed, however, in terms of which performance measure they had a significant and unique predictive relationship with, reflecting the variety of participant concussion injuries. This study is the first to demonstrate differences in motor control and intracortical inhibition in AF players who had sustained concussions during their playing career two decades previously

Cognitive and emotional stressors of child homicide investigations on UK and Danish police investigators

In a previous paper, key differences in the form and manifestation of cognitive and emotional stress experienced by investigators of adult and child homicide were identified, along with a cursory look at how investigators commonly deal or cope with these effects. In this paper, the findings from eleven interviews with UK and Danish police officers with experience of investigating both adult and child homicides, suggest that child homicide investigations can have a profoundly different effect on police investigators that can vary between officers. The effects experienced and coping strategies employed were similar among officers in Denmark and the UK, and these included becoming more emotionally closed and engaging in regular sport and exercise. The findings hold important implications for police training and for the welfare of current and future police homicide investigators particularly where the victim is a child

The potential savings of using thiazides as the first choice antihypertensive drug: cost-minimisation analysis

BACKGROUND: All clinical practice guidelines recommend thiazides as a first-choice drug for the management of uncomplicated hypertension. Thiazides are also the lowest priced antihypertensive drugs. Despite this, the use of thiazides is much lower than that of other drug-classes. We wanted to estimate the potential for savings if thiazides were used as the first choice drug for the management of uncomplicated hypertension. METHODS: For six countries (Canada, France, Germany, Norway, the UK and the US) we estimated the number of people that are being treated for hypertension, and the proportion of them that are suitable candidates for thiazide-therapy. By comparing this estimate with thiazide prescribing, we calculated the number of people that could switch from more expensive medication to thiazides. This enabled us to estimate the potential drug-cost savings. The analysis was based on findings from epidemiological studies and drug trials, and data on sales and prescribing provided by IMS for the year 2000. RESULTS: For Canada, France, Germany, Norway, the UK and the US the estimated potential annual savings were US$13.8 million, US$37.4 million, US$72.2 million, US$10.7 million, US$119.7 million and US$433.6 million, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Millions of dollars could be saved each year if thiazides were prescribed for hypertension in place of more expensive drugs. Our calculations are based on conservative assumptions. The potential for savings is likely considerably higher and may be more than US$1 billion per year in the US