Pre-Employment Orientation, an Adjunct to Recruiting

Traditionally, GAO has recruited its professional staff from all over the world for assignments in Washington, D.C., and in the regional offices. A recent issue of The GAO Review listed new staff member from the London School of Economic the University of Puerto Rico, and campuses throughout the United States. This diversity of employee affords GAO an ever-broadening per pe live; helps insure objective approach to issues; helps GAO avoid tilted, hackneyed, parochial thinking; and promote creative problemsolving. The selection process, while beneficial to the organization, can create difficulties for the candidate

Dike propagation within active central volcanic edifices: constraints from Somma-Vesuvius, Etna and analogue models

Dikes within stratovolcanoes are commonly expected to have radial patterns. However, other patterns may also be also found, due to regional stresses, magmatic reservoirs, topographic variations. Here we investigate dike patterns within volcanic edifices, by studying dike and fissure complexes at Somma-Vesuvius and Etna (Italy) and using analogue models. At the surface, the dikes and fissures show a radial configuration. At depths of tens to several hundreds of m, in areas exposed by erosion, tangential and oblique dikes are also present. Analogue models indicate that dikes approaching the flanks of cones, regardless of their initial orientation, reorient to become radial (parallel to the maximum gravitational stress). This reorientation is a significant process in shallow magma migration and may also control the emplacement of dike-fed fissures reaching the lower slopes of the volcano

Dyke Emplacement and Hazard at Stromboli

In February 2007, two effusive vents opened along the flank of Sciara del Fuoco (SdF) depression at Stromboli. The summit craters collapsed, obstructing the central conduit, choking the vents and increasing the deformation within SdF. Here a new vent opened, releasing the excess magmatic pressure. The eruption continued, after a summit explosion, until April. The vents were fed by laterally propagating dykes. Vent location is similar to that of the 2002-2003 eruption, fed by dykes triggering landslides, which in turn produced a tsunami. However, the 2007 eruption did not develop landslides, suggesting that their triggering also depends on other factors, (i.e. magmatic pressure)

The Okun Misery Index in the European Union Countries from 2000 to 2009

The study is composed of four main parts and a summary. The first part, introduction, discusses various measures of the economic system's efficiency that are used in practice. Part two emphasises that the GDP per capita according to purchasing power parity still remains the most popular among those measures. Further, it presents the ranking of the European Union countries taking that measure into account, the research period being 1999-2009. Part three points out that it is also the level of poverty (misery) that determines the economic system's efficiency. That level can be measured by means of various indicators, among others, the so called HPI-2 index calculated by the UN. It will be the Okun misery index, however, computed as the sum of inflation and unemployment rates that will be presented as an alternative being of interest from the macroeconomic point of view. The ranking of the European Union member states according to that measure in the 2000-2004 and 2005-2009 periods will be provided in part four. The article will end in a summary containing synthetic conclusions drawn from earlier observations.Opracowanie składa się z czterech części zasadniczych i podsumowania. W punkcie pierwszym omówiono różnorodne mierniki sprawności systemu gospodarczego wykorzystywane w praktyce. W części drugiej podkreślono, iż nadal najpopularniejszym z nich jest PKB per capita według parytetu siły nabywczej. Zgodnie z tym miernikiem przedstawiono ranking państw Unii Europejskiej w latach 1999-2009. W punkcie trzecim podkreślono, że o sprawności systemu gospodarczego decyduje także poziom ubóstwa. Może być on mierzony różnymi wskaźnikami, m.in. tzw. indeksem HPI-2 obliczanym przez ONZ. Jako ciekawą z makroekonomicznego punktu widzenia alternatywę ukazano jednak miarę wskaźnika ubóstwa Okuna obliczanego poprzez zsumowanie stopy inflacji i stopy bezrobocia. Ranking państw Unii Europejskiej według tej miary w okresach 2000-2004 oraz 2005-2009 zaprezentowano w części czwartej. Całość zamknięto podsumowaniem, w którym zawarto syntetyczne wnioski z przeprowadzonych obserwacji

The Feynman effective classical potential in the Schr\"odinger formulation

New physical insight into the correspondence between path integral concepts and the Schr\"odinger formulation is gained by the analysis of the effective classical potential, that is defined within the Feynman path integral formulation of statistical mechanics. This potential is related to the quasi-static response of the equilibrium system to an external force. These findings allow for a comprehensive formulation of dynamical approximations based on this potential.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figure

Octreotide as medical therapy of idiopatic chylothorax in 3 cats after surgery

Idiopathic chylothorax is a rare disease that a ects cats. Dif- ferent therapeutical options both surgical and medical have been described without a clear standard protocol and posi- tive outcome. The use of Octreotide in cats have been described previ- ously (for the medical therapy of hyperinsulinemia in cats a ected by insulinomas, gastrinomas, acromegaly and acute pancreatitis) but its usefulness as de nitive treatment to cure chylothorax its unclear. This preliminary data describe the clinical features of three cats treated with Octreotide after a partial surgical resolution of idiopathic chylothorax. Three cats presenting a moderate amount of chylous e usion one week after surgical closure of thoracic duct with transdiaphragmatic approach were selected for our study. The Octreotide started seven days after surgery at the dose of 20 ug/kg/sc/tid (dose proposed in literature 10\u201320 ug/kg/ sc/tid for maximum 2\u20133 weeks). Standard clinical, radio- graphic and ultrasonographic evaluations were performed twice a month and together blood cell count, seroum bio- chemistry, cytological,chemical-physical evaluation of tho- racic e usion were performed at each control. Clinical, imaging and laboratory abnormalities were reported. The Octreotide administration was interrupted one month later by the end of the pleural collection and each patients was re-evaluated one year after surgery. Cat one: (DSH, 5 years old, neutered male) presented pleural e usion from day one to day 146 of therapy. Octreotide was interrupted at day 176. Cat two: (DSH, 6 years old, neutered male) presented pleural effusion from day one to day 143 of therapy. Octreotide was interrupted at day 173. Both cats were discharged with- out clinical symptoms and they were rechecked six month later without any clinical problems, except the di use pleural thickening observed at the ultrasonographic examination. Cat three: (DSH, 9 years old, neutered male) presented pleural effusion from day one to day 182 of octreotide ther- apy. At day 182 the cat was euthanised according to the owners due to respiratory insu ciency. Necropsy confirmed a severe constrictive pleuririts. In all the subject thoracentesis were performed during controls if necessary. No adverse e ects were observed even considering that this drug was used for 6 months therapy. In our experi- ence on three cats the use of Octreotide turned out useful and safe as complementary therapy of the idiopathic chylothorax

Kinetic energy of solid neon by Monte Carlo with improved Trotter- and finite-size extrapolation

The kinetic energy of solid neon is calculated by a path-integral Monte Carlo approach with a refined Trotter- and finite-size extrapolation. These accurate data present significant quantum effects up to temperature T=20 K. They confirm previous simulations and are consistent with recent experiments.Comment: Text and figures revised for minor corrections (4 pages, 3 figures included by psfig

A dynamic distention protocol for whole-organ bladder decellularization: histological and biomechanical characterization of the acellular matrix

A combined physical\u2013chemical protocol for whole full-thickness bladder decellularization is proposed, based on organ cyclic distention through repeated infusion/withdrawal of the decellularization agents through the urethra. The dynamic decellularization was intended to enhance cell removal efficiency, facilitating the delivery of detergents within the inner layers of the tissue and the removal of cell debris. The use of mild chemical detergents (hypotonic solution and non-ionic detergent) was employed to limit adverse effects upon matrix 3D ultrastructure. Inspection of the presence of residual DNA and RNA was carried out on decellularized matrices to verify effective cell removal. Histological investigation was focused on assessing the retention of adequate structural and functional components that regulate the biomechanical behaviour of the acellular tissue. Biomechanical properties were evaluated through uniaxial tensile loading tests of tissue strips and through ex vivo filling cystometry to evaluate the whole-organ mechanical response to a physiological-like loading state. According to our results, a dynamic decellularization protocol of 17 h duration with a 5 ml/min detergent infusion flow rate revealed higher DNA removal efficiency than standard static decellularization, resulting in residual DNA content\u2009<\u200950 ng/mg dry tissue weight. Furthermore, the collagen network and elastic fibres distribution were preserved in the acellular ECM, which exhibited suitable biomechanical properties in the perspective of its future use as an implant for bladder augmentation