Ethical Dilemmas during mergers, acquisitions and takeovers

The organisational world is still shaking from the impact of individual and organisational actions that are contrary to the open-ended community standards of ethics. Yet, ethical values have to fight continually for organisational space as the conflict between many differing corporate values problematises the workplace environment and decision-making for managers. This paper is based on a study that is investigating the relations between such values at times of significant organisational stress, when organisations merge, are acquired, or are taken-over, and the ethical dilemmas that arise from these events within the framework provided by Kidder (2009). The paper concludes by summarising the key issues of diversity and policy, which are emerging and the implications for managers and academics

Dynamics of Moraxella bovis infection and humoral immune response to bovine herpes virus type 1 during a natural outbreak of infectious bovine keratoconjunctivitis in beef calves

Infectious bovine keratoconjunctivitis (IBK) is an acute disease caused by Moraxella bovis (Mb). Several factors may predispose animals to an IBK outbreak; one commonly observed is infection with bovine herpes virus type 1 (BHV-1). The aim of this study was to investigate the dynamics of BHV-1 virus infection and its relation with clinical cases of IBK in weaned calves from a beef herd with a high prevalence of lesions caused by Mb. Sampling was carried out in six stages and included conjunctival swabs for isolating Mb as well as blood samples for identifying antibodies specific for BHV-1. A score for IBK lesions after observing each eye was determined. The findings of this study showed a high prevalence of BHV-1 virus infection (100% of animals were infected at the end of the trial); 67% of animals were culture-positive for Mb, but low rates of clinical IBK (19% of calves affected) were detected at the end of the trial. These results suggest that infection with BHV-1 did not predispose these animals to IBK, and that Mb infection produced clinical and subclinical disease in the absence of BHV-1 co-infection

An array of WO3 and CTO heterojunction semiconducting metal oxide gas sensors used as a tool for explosive detection

Terrorists frequently use explosives and they represent an imminent threat to national and global security. Recent events highlight the necessity of explosive detection, demonstrating the need for developing and applying new sensors for explosive gas detection. Semiconducting metal oxide gas sensors can be incorporated into electronic noses, which provide a cheap, portable and highly sensitive device. Using unmodified, admixed and 2-layered sensors consisting of WO3 and chromium titanium oxide (CTO), an array of seven heterojunction semiconducting metal oxide sensors was produced. All seven sensors were tested against four gases associated with explosive materials. The sensitivity was improved by using 2-layered sensors in response to ethanol, ammonia and nitromethane, whereas the admixed sensors showed high sensitivity when exposed to nitrogen dioxide. The selectivity of the array of sensors was tested using machine-learning techniques with a support vector machine. The technique produced good data classification when classifying the gases used within the study

Patterns of primary care and mortality among patients with schizophrenia or diabetes: a cluster analysis approach to the retrospective study of healthcare utilization

Abstract Background Patients with schizophrenia have difficulty managing their medical healthcare needs, possibly resulting in delayed treatment and poor outcomes. We analyzed whether patients reduced primary care use over time, differentially by diagnosis with schizophrenia, diabetes, or both schizophrenia and diabetes. We also assessed whether such patterns of primary care use were a significant predictor of mortality over a 4-year period. Methods The Veterans Healthcare Administration (VA) is the largest integrated healthcare system in the United States. Administrative extracts of the VA's all-electronic medical records were studied. Patients over age 50 and diagnosed with schizophrenia in 2002 were age-matched 1:4 to diabetes patients. All patients were followed through 2005. Cluster analysis explored trajectories of primary care use. Proportional hazards regression modelled the impact of these primary care utilization trajectories on survival, controlling for demographic and clinical covariates. Results Patients comprised three diagnostic groups: diabetes only (n = 188,332), schizophrenia only (n = 40,109), and schizophrenia with diabetes (Scz-DM, n = 13,025). Cluster analysis revealed four distinct trajectories of primary care use: consistent over time, increasing over time, high and decreasing, low and decreasing. Patients with schizophrenia only were likely to have low-decreasing use (73% schizophrenia-only vs 54% Scz-DM vs 52% diabetes). Increasing use was least common among schizophrenia patients (4% vs 8% Scz-DM vs 7% diabetes) and was associated with improved survival. Low-decreasing primary care, compared to consistent use, was associated with shorter survival controlling for demographics and case-mix. The observational study was limited by reliance on administrative data. Conclusion Regular primary care and high levels of primary care were associated with better survival for patients with chronic illness, whether psychiatric or medical. For schizophrenia patients, with or without comorbid diabetes, primary care offers a survival benefit, suggesting that innovations in treatment retention targeting at-risk groups can offer significant promise of improving outcomes.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/78274/1/1472-6963-9-127.xmlhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/78274/2/1472-6963-9-127.pdfPeer Reviewe

Association of skeletal muscle relaxers and antihistamines on mortality, hospitalizations, and emergency department visits in elderly patients: A nationwide retrospective cohort study

Background: High-risk medication exposure in the elderly is common and associated with increased mortality, hospitalizations, and emergency department (ED) visits. Skeletal muscle relaxants and antihistamines are high-risk medications commonly prescribed in elderly patients. The objective of this study was to determine the association between skeletal muscle relaxants or antihistamines and mortality, hospitalizations, and emergency department visits. Methods: This study used a new-user, retrospective cohort design using national Veteran Affairs (VA) data from 128 hospitals. Veterans ≥65 years of age on October 1, 2005 who received VA inpatient/outpatient care at least once in each of fiscal year (FY) 2005 and FY 2006 were included. Exposure to skeletal muscle relaxants and antihistamines was defined by the National Committee for Quality Assurance Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set measures for high-risk medications in the elderly. Primary outcomes identified within one year of exposure were death, ED visit, or hospitalization; ED visits or hospitalizations due to falls and fracture were also assessed. Propensity score matching (1 to 1 match) was used to balance covariates between exposed patients and non-exposed patients. Results: In this cohort of 1,807,404 patients 55,566 patients were included in the propensity-matched cohort for skeletal muscle relaxants and 60,058 patients were included in the propensity-matched cohort for anti-histamines. Mortality was lower in skeletal muscle relaxants-exposed patients (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] 0.87, 95% CI 0.81-0.94), but risk of emergency care (AOR 2.25, 95% CI 2.16-2.33) and hospitalization (AOR 1.56, 95% CI 1.48-1.65) was higher for patients prescribed skeletal muscle relaxants. Similar findings were observed for emergency and hospital care for falls or fractures. Mortality (AOR 1.93, 95% CI 1.82-2.04), ED visits (AOR 2.35, 95% CI 2.27-2.43), and hospitalizations (AOR 2.21, 95% CI 2.11-2.32) were higher in the antihistamine-exposed group, with similar findings for falls and fractures outcomes. Conclusion: Skeletal muscle relaxants and antihistamines are associated with an increased risk of ED visits and hospitalizations in elderly patients. Antihistamines were also associated with an increased risk of death, further validating the classification of these drug classes as "high risk"

Exercise-induced improvements in liver fat and endothelial function are not sustained 12 months following cessation of exercise supervision in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).

AIMS: Supervised exercise reduces liver fat and improves endothelial function, a surrogate of cardiovascular disease risk, in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). We hypothesised that after a 16-week supervised exercise program, patients would maintain longer-term improvements in cardiorespiratory fitness, liver fat and endothelial function. MATHERIALS AND METHODS: Ten NAFLD patients [5/5 males/females, age 51±13years, BMI 31±3 kg.m(2) (mean±s.d.)] underwent a 16-week supervised moderate-intensity exercise intervention. Biochemical markers, cardiorespiratory fitness (VO2peak), subcutaneous, visceral and liver fat (measured by magnetic resonance imaging and spectroscopy respectively) and brachial artery flow-mediated dilation (FMD) were assessed at baseline, after 16 weeks supervised training and 12-months after ending supervision. RESULTS: Despite no significant change in body weight, there were significant improvements in VO2peak [6.5 ml.kg(-1).min(-1) (95% CI 2.8, 10.1); P=0.003], FMD [2.9% (1.5, 4.2); P=0.001], liver transaminases (P0.05) and liver fat [1.4% (-13.0, 15.9); P=0.83] were not significantly different from baseline. CONCLUSIONS: Twelve months following cessation of supervision, exercise-mediated improvements in liver fat and other cardiometabolic variables had reversed with cardiorespiratory fitness at baseline levels. Maintenance of high cardiorespiratory fitness and stability of body weight are critical public health considerations for the treatment of NAFLD.International Journal of Obesity accepted article preview online, 21 July 2016. doi:10.1038/ijo.2016.123

Automatic parallelization of irregular and pointer-based computations: perspectives from logic and constraint programming

Irregular computations pose some of the most interesting and challenging problems in automatic parallelization. Irregularity appears in certain kinds of numerical problems and is pervasive in symbolic applications. Such computations often use dynamic data structures which make heavy use of pointers. This complicates all the steps of a parallelizing compiler, from independence detection to task partitioning and placement. In the past decade there has been significant progress in the development of parallelizing compilers for logic programming and, more recently, constraint programming. The typical applications of these paradigms frequently involve irregular computations, which arguably makes the techniques used in these compilers potentially interesting. In this paper we introduce in a tutorial way some of the problems faced by parallelizing compilers for logic and constraint programs. These include the need for inter-procedural pointer aliasing analysis for independence detection and having to manage speculative and irregular computations through task granularity control and dynamic task allocation. We also provide pointers to some of the progress made in these áreas. In the associated talk we demónstrate representatives of several generations of these parallelizing compilers

Antibiotic Prophylaxis Using Third Generation Cephalosporins Can Reduce the Risk of Early Rebleeding in the First Acute Gastroesophageal Variceal Hemorrhage: A Prospective Randomized Study

Bacterial infection may be a critical trigger for variceal bleeding. Antibiotic prophylaxis can prevent rebleeding in patients with acute gastroesophageal variceal bleeding (GEVB). The aim of the study was to compare prophylactic third generation cephalosporins with on-demand antibiotics for the prevention of gastroesophageal variceal rebleeding. In a prospective trial, patients with the first acute GEVB were randomly assigned to receive prophylactic antibiotics (intravenous cefotaxime 2 g q 8 hr for 7 days, prophylactic antibiotics group) or to receive the same antibiotics only when infection became evident (on-demand group). Sixty-two patients in the prophylactic group and 58 patients in the on-demand group were included for analysis. Antibiotic prophylaxis decreased infection (3.2% vs. 15.5%, p=0.026). The actuarial rebleeding rate in the prophylactic group was significantly lower than that in the ondemand group (33.9% vs. 62.1%, p=0.004). The difference of rebleeding rate was mostly due to early rebleeding within 6 weeks (4.8% vs. 20.7%, p=0.012). On multivariate analysis, antibiotic prophylaxis (relative hazard: 0.248, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.067-0.919, p=0.037) and bacterial infection (relative hazard: 3.901, 95% CI: 1.053-14.448, p=0.042) were two independent determinants of early rebleeding. In conclusion, antibiotic prophylaxis using third generation cephalosporins can prevent bacterial infection and early rebleeding in patients with the first acute GEVB