Project management maturity levels and organizational revenue in New South Wales local government.

Local government in New South Wales (NSW) is responsible for the delivery of a variety of projects, each with variable success measures. Due to the variation in success indicators, measurement of project management maturity (process and procedures) was sought. An industry specific project management maturity model was used to assess maturity levels. Using a mixed-methods approach, the project management maturity levels of NSW local government were determined. Correlation analysis was used to determine that maturity and organizational revenue are related

Primary Prophylaxis for Gastrointestinal Bleeding in Children With Biliary Atresia and Portal Hypertension Candidates for Liver Transplantation: A Single-Center Experience

Background. Cirrhosis for biliary atresia (BA) is associated with risk of gastrointestinal bleeding (GB) from gastroesophageal varices due to portal hypertension. Primary prophylaxis of GB is controversial in children who are candidates for liver transplantation (LT). The aim of the study was to define the management of gastroesophageal varices and to identify the benefit of primary prophylaxis for GB in BA children waiting for LT.Methods. A retrospective single-center study including all BA children listed for LT in 2008-2016. Clinical, endoscopical, and biochemical data were analyzed.Results. Of 82 children, 50 (61%) did not receive primary prophylaxis and did not present any episode of bleeding, 16 (19.5%) underwent primary prophylaxis, and 16 (19.5%) presented spontaneous GB and received secondary prophylaxis. Children without primary prophylaxis and GB were younger than patients with primary prophylaxis and those with GB (7.7 years [range, 4.1-37.9 years] vs 11.2 years [range, 5.1-43 years]; P = .03 vs 10.7 years [range, 6.9-39.9 years], respectively; P = .004). Seventy-five percent of GB occurred in children older than 8 months. Fifteen (93.8%) children with GB presented esophageal varices (grade III = 10 [62.5%]) and 10 (62.5%) required endoscopic treatments, consisting mainly of sclerotherapy. Median time to LT was similar for children with or without bleeding (2 months [range, 0-17.7 months] vs 2.2 months [0-17.9 months], respectively; P = .89). After 45.5 months (range, 13.7-105.5 months) of follow-up, the overall patient survival was 97.6%. At the intention-to-treat analysis, the survival rate was 100% for patients without bleeding episode and 87.5% for children with GB (P = .16).Conclusions. Despite the risk of GB being not clinically predictable in children with BA waiting for LT, our experience suggests that primary prophylaxis of GB might be unnecessary in children younger than 6 months, while it should be considered in older children. Thus, the occurrence of GB does not delay the timing of transplantation

Ethanol‐Lock Therapy for the Prevention of Central Venous Access Device Infections in Pediatric Patients With Intestinal Failure

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/141158/1/jpen0067.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/141158/2/jpen0067-sup-0001.pd

A fine-grained silicon detector for high-energy gamma-ray astrophysics

We propose a silicon telescope to be placed in a satellite for the search of g-ray sources in the energy range between 25 MeV and 100 GeV. The proposed experiment will have an area of 2500 cm2, an energy resolution ranging from 7% to 8% and an angular resolution from 0.2 and 0.1 degrees between 1 GeV and 10 GeV. The telescope is based on the use of silicon strip detectors. Together with the energy measurement, a calorimeter of this type allows the determination of the particle type and its arrival direction, through the analysis of the spatial and energetic distribution of the electromagnetic shower produced. Detectors based on silicon technology have many advantages for space applications: no gas refilling system or high voltages, no need of photomultipliers (low consumption), short dead time, possibility of selftriggering. The GILDA project has been designed having in mind the weight limitation of 400 kg required by the Resource-01 satellite and it is carried out in the framework of the RIM (Russian Italian Mission) program. The launch is foreseen for the beginning of the next century

Highlights from the Pierre Auger Observatory

The Pierre Auger Observatory is the world's largest cosmic ray observatory. Our current exposure reaches nearly 40,000 km$^2$ str and provides us with an unprecedented quality data set. The performance and stability of the detectors and their enhancements are described. Data analyses have led to a number of major breakthroughs. Among these we discuss the energy spectrum and the searches for large-scale anisotropies. We present analyses of our X$_{max}$ data and show how it can be interpreted in terms of mass composition. We also describe some new analyses that extract mass sensitive parameters from the 100% duty cycle SD data. A coherent interpretation of all these recent results opens new directions. The consequences regarding the cosmic ray composition and the properties of UHECR sources are briefly discussed.Comment: 9 pages, 12 figures, talk given at the 33rd International Cosmic Ray Conference, Rio de Janeiro 201

A search for point sources of EeV photons

Measurements of air showers made using the hybrid technique developed with the fluorescence and surface detectors of the Pierre Auger Observatory allow a sensitive search for point sources of EeV photons anywhere in the exposed sky. A multivariate analysis reduces the background of hadronic cosmic rays. The search is sensitive to a declination band from -85{\deg} to +20{\deg}, in an energy range from 10^17.3 eV to 10^18.5 eV. No photon point source has been detected. An upper limit on the photon flux has been derived for every direction. The mean value of the energy flux limit that results from this, assuming a photon spectral index of -2, is 0.06 eV cm^-2 s^-1, and no celestial direction exceeds 0.25 eV cm^-2 s^-1. These upper limits constrain scenarios in which EeV cosmic ray protons are emitted by non-transient sources in the Galaxy.Comment: 28 pages, 10 figures, accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journa

Reconstruction of inclined air showers detected with the Pierre Auger Observatory

We describe the method devised to reconstruct inclined cosmic-ray air showers with zenith angles greater than $60^\circ$ detected with the surface array of the Pierre Auger Observatory. The measured signals at the ground level are fitted to muon density distributions predicted with atmospheric cascade models to obtain the relative shower size as an overall normalization parameter. The method is evaluated using simulated showers to test its performance. The energy of the cosmic rays is calibrated using a sub-sample of events reconstructed with both the fluorescence and surface array techniques. The reconstruction method described here provides the basis of complementary analyses including an independent measurement of the energy spectrum of ultra-high energy cosmic rays using very inclined events collected by the Pierre Auger Observatory.Comment: 27 pages, 19 figures, accepted for publication in Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics (JCAP

The Pierre Auger Observatory: Contributions to the 34th International Cosmic Ray Conference (ICRC 2015)

Contributions of the Pierre Auger Collaboration to the 34th International Cosmic Ray Conference, 30 July - 6 August 2015, The Hague, The NetherlandsComment: 24 proceedings, the 34th International Cosmic Ray Conference, 30 July - 6 August 2015, The Hague, The Netherlands; will appear in PoS(ICRC2015