Short-term outcomes of laparoscopic gastric plication in morbidly obese patients: Importance of postoperative follow-up

Demand for feasible, safe, and preferably low-cost methods of weight reduction is rising every day. The present study reports findings from laparoscopic gastric plication (LGP), which is a new restrictive bariatric technique, combined with a postoperative follow-up program. A 2-year prospective study was performed following LGP in 53 female morbidly obese patients from Gorgan, Iran, with a mean age of 36.3 years and mean body mass index (BMI) of 42.6 kg/m2 (35.3-62.4). Through a four-port approach, the greater omentum and short gastric vessels were transected and the greater curvature was imbricated into the body of the stomach with two rows of nonabsorbable sutures. After surgery, all patients were scheduled to attend a weekly group meeting for behavioral modification and psychotherapy. The mean operative time and hospital stay was 95 min and 72 h, respectively. No intraoperative complications occurred. Mean percentages of excess weight loss (%EWL) were 25.6 %, 54.2 %, 70.2 %, and 74.4 % after 1, 6, 12, and 24 months, respectively. Six patients lost >84 % of their excess weight after 24 months. Patients who did not participate in the group meetings had a lower %EWL after 12 (79.5 % vs. 55.6 %) and 24 months (90 % vs. 43.4 %) compared with the patients who regularly participated in the group meetings (P < 0.005). LGP is a feasible, safe, and effective surgical method for weight loss for at least 24 months when performed on morbidly obese patients. Postoperative group meetings (POGM) for psychotherapy and behavioral modification helped patients to achieve better results. © 2012 Springer Science + Business Media, LLC

Evidence for the coexistence of low-dimensional magnetism and long-range order in Ca3CoRhO6

We report the results of neutron powder diffraction studies on the spin-chain compound Ca3CoRhO6 in the temperature range 3 to 293 K. Bragg peaks due to magnetic ordering start appearing below about 100 K. The most interesting observation is that there is a diffuse magnetic peak superimposed over the strongest magnetic Bragg peak. The diffuse magnetic intensity is observed below as well above 100 K. This finding provides a new insight into the physics of this compound as though the low-dimensional magnetic interaction coexists with long range magnetic order - a novel situation among quasi one-dimensional oxides.Comment: accepted by Eur. Phys. Let

The Relationship Between Values and Interests

Some writers equate values with interests. Philipp Heck defines interests, which he treats as synonymous with values, as “all things that man holds dear, and all ideals which guide man\u27s life. ”There are many writers who distinguish between the two concepts and go into the details of the distinction, as is explained below. There is an apparent relationship between interests, principles, rules, values, objectives and other similar terms. Our main purpose is to find the link between interests and values, because the term interest dominates all legal discourse. In simple terms, interests recognized and enforced by law become rights. To elaborate the meaning of interests in relation to values, we need to refer to the work of Roscoe Pound, however briefly

Magnetic frustration in a stoichiometric spin-chain compound, Ca3_3CoIrO6_6

The temperature dependent ac and dc magnetization and heat capacity data of Ca$_3$CoIrO$_6$, a spin-chain compound crystallizing in a K$_4$CdCl$_6$-derived rhombohedral structure, show the features due to magnetic ordering of a frustrated-type below about 30 K, however without exhibiting the signatures of the so-called "partially disordered antiferromagnetic structure" encountered in the isostructural compounds, Ca$_3$Co$_2$O$_6$ and Ca$_3$CoRhO$_6$. This class of compounds thus provides a variety for probing the consequences of magnetic frustration due to topological reasons in stoichiometric spin-chain materials, presumably arising from subtle differences in the interchain and intrachain magnetic coupling strengths. This compound presents additional interesting situations in the sense that, ac susceptibility exhibits a large frequency dependence in the vicinity of 30 K uncharacteristic of conventional spin-glasses, with this frustrated magnetic state being robust to the application of external magnetic fields.Comment: Physical Review (Rapid Communications), in pres

Organisational readiness and software process improvement

The Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) is a structured representation of software development processes that can support an organisation's software process improvement (SPI) strategies. However, CMMI and SPI initiatives generally exhibit low levels of adoption and limited success. One of the major reasons for these shortcomings is that many organisations undertake SPI initiatives without knowing whether or not they are ready to undertake them. Our previous research has enabled us to develop a software process improvement readiness model/framework to address this problem. This paper reports on the implementation of the SPI readiness model in three large-scale case studies. We have found that organisations with higher CMMI levels are more ready for SPI initiatives than organisations with low CMMI levels. We suggest that organisations at higher CMMI levels have developed capabilities that enable them to further leverage SPI than organisations at lower CMMI levels. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2007