Computer Program for Solving Two-dimensional Unsteadystate Flow Problems by the Alternatingdirection Impucit Method

Mechanical Engineerin

Criteria for the Design of "fast," "safe" Asynchronous Sequential Fluidic Circuits

Engineerin

Preoperative Hematocrit Concentration and the Risk of Stroke in Patients Undergoing Isolated Coronary-Artery Bypass Grafting

Background. Identification and management of risk factors for stroke following isolated coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) could potentially lower the risk of such serious morbidity. Methods. We retrieved data for 30-day stroke incidence and perioperative variables for patients undergoing isolated CABG and used multivariate logistic regression to assess the adjusted effect of preoperative hematocrit concentration on stroke incidence. Results. In 2,313 patients (mean age 65.9 years, 73.6% men), 43 (1.9%, 95% CI: 1.4-2.5) developed stroke within 30 days following CABG (74.4% within 6 days). After adjustment for a priori defined potential confounders, each 1% drop in preoperative hematocrit concentration was associated with 1.07 (95% CI: 1.01-1.13) increased odds for stroke (men, OR: 1.08, 95% CI: 1.01-1.16; women, OR: 1.02, 95% CI: 0.91-1.16). The predicted probability of stroke for descending preoperative hematocrit concentration exceeded 2% for values <37% (<37% for men (adjusted OR: 2.39, 95% CI: 1.08-5.26) and <38% for women (adjusted OR: 2.52, 95% CI: 0.53-11.98), with a steeper probability increase noted in men). The association between lower preoperative hematocrit concentration and stroke was evident irrespective of intraoperative transfusion use. Conclusion. Screening and management of patients with low preoperative hematocrit concentration may alter postoperative stroke risk in patients undergoing isolated CABG

Stakeholder Salience for Small Businesses : A Social Proximity Perspective

This paper advances stakeholder salience theory from the viewpoint of small businesses. It is argued that the stakeholder salience process for small businesses is influenced by their local embeddedness, captured by the idea of social proximity, and characterised by multiple relationships that the owner-manager and stakeholders share beyond the business context. It is further stated that the ethics of care is a valuable ethical lens through which to understand social proximity in small businesses. The contribution of the study conceptualises how the perceived social proximity between local stakeholders and small business owner-managers influences managerial considerations of the legitimacy, power and urgency of stakeholders and their claims. Specifically, the paradoxical nature of close relationships in the salience process is acknowledged and discussed.Peer reviewe

The narJ gene product is required for biogenesis of respiratory nitrate reductase in Escherichia coli.

Respiratory nitrate reductase purified from the cell membrane of Escherichia coli is composed of three subunits, alpha, beta, and gamma, which are encoded, respectively, by the narG, narH, and narI genes of the narGHJI operon. The product of the narJ gene was deduced previously to be a highly charged, acidic protein which was not found to be associated with any of the purified preparations of the enzyme and which, in studies with putative narJ mutants, did not appear to be absolutely required for formation of the membrane-bound enzyme. To test this latter hypothesis, the narJ gene was disrupted in a plasmid which contained the complete narGHJI operon, and the operon was expressed in a narG::Tn10 insertion mutant. The chromosomal copy of the narJ gene of a wild-type strain was also replaced by the disrupted narJ gene. In both cases, when nar operon expression was induced, the alpha and beta subunits accumulated in a form which expressed only very low activity with either reduced methyl viologen (MVH) or formate as electron donors, although an alpha-beta complex separated from the gamma subunit is known to catalyze full MVH-linked activity but not the formate-linked activity associated with the membrane-bound complex. The low-activity forms of the alpha and beta subunits also accumulated in the absence of the NarJ protein when the gamma subunit (NarI) was provided from a multicopy plasmid, indicating that NarJ is essential for the formation of the active, membrane-bound complex. When both NarJ and NarI were provided from a plasmid in the narJ mutant, fully active, membrane-bound activity was formed. When NarJ only was provided from a plasmid in the narJ mutant, a cytosolic form of the alpha and beta subunits, which expressed significantly increased levels of the MVH-dependent activity, accumulated, and the alpha subunit appeared to be protected from the proteolytic clipping which occurred in the absence of NarJ. We conclude that NarJ is indispensible for the biogenesis of membrane-bound nitrate reductase and is involved either in the maturation of a soluble, active alpha-beta complex or in facilitating the interaction of the complex with the membrane-bound gamma subunit