New public management and employee share ownership plan in Fiji’s public sector

This article provides insights into the implementation of new public management (NPM) practices in Fiji Telecom and whether the use of the employee share ownership scheme was helpful in the organisational change process. The NPM practices were influenced by the World Bank and International Monetary Fund who were the lenders to Fiji government. The adoption of NPM practices was part of a political, economic and public sector reforms introduced after 1989. The paper discusses the background and obstacles of the reform and how the employee share ownership scheme practice at a privatised Telecom Company assists employees to assimilate commercial business norms. The authors finally make recommendations for policy-makers in Fiji and other developing nations

In situ chemichromic studies of interactions between a lutetium bis-octaalkyl-substituted phthalocyanine and selected biological cofactors

This article is available open access through the publisher’s website at the link below. Copyright @ 2011 The Royal Society.Spin-coated films, approximately 100 nm thick, of a newly synthesized bis[octakis(octyl)phthalocyaninato] lutetium(III) complex on ultrasonically cleaned glass substrates exhibit pronounced chemichromic behaviour with potential application in healthcare. In situ kinetic optical absorption spectroscopic measurements show that the phthalocyanine Q-band is red shifted by 60 nm upon oxidation arising from exposure to bromine vapour. Recovery to the original state is achieved by the treatment of the oxidized films with nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide and l-ascorbic acid (vitamin C) in an aqueous solution containing 1.5 M lithium perchlorate. The neutralization process is found to be governed by first-order kinetics. The linear increase of the reduction rate with increasing concentration of cofactors provides a basis for calibration of analyte concentrations ranging from 3.5 mM down to 0.03 mM.Air Force Office of Scientific Research, Air Force Material Command, USAF and the Leverhulme Trust

Jejunal atresia presenting with mesenteric cyst in a neonate: a case report

Jejunoileal atresia is a congenital anomaly that is characterized clinically by bilious vomiting and abdominal distension. It has been associated with various congenital anomalies but its association with mesenteric cyst has only been reported sporadically. As this is a very rare entity, it is being reported with a brief review of literature

Reducing Uncertainty in Sea-level Rise Prediction: A Spatial-Variability-Aware Approach

Given multi-model ensemble climate projections, the goal is to accurately and reliably predict future sea-level rise while lowering the uncertainty. This problem is important because sea-level rise affects millions of people in coastal communities and beyond due to climate change\u27s impacts on polar ice sheets and the ocean. This problem is challenging due to spatial variability and unknowns such as possible tipping points (e.g., collapse of Greenland or West Antarctic ice-shelf), climate feedback loops (e.g., clouds, permafrost thawing), future policy decisions, and human actions. Most existing climate modeling approaches use the same set of weights globally, during either regression or deep learning to combine different climate projections. Such approaches are inadequate when different regions require different weighting schemes for accurate and reliable sea-level rise predictions. This paper proposes a zonal regression model which addresses spatial variability and model inter-dependency. Experimental results show more reliable predictions using the weights learned via this approach on a regional scale

Reducing Uncertainty in Sea-level Rise Prediction: A Spatial-variability-aware Approach

Given multi-model ensemble climate projections, the goal is to accurately and reliably predict future sea-level rise while lowering the uncertainty. This problem is important because sea-level rise affects millions of people in coastal communities and beyond due to climate change's impacts on polar ice sheets and the ocean. This problem is challenging due to spatial variability and unknowns such as possible tipping points (e.g., collapse of Greenland or West Antarctic ice-shelf), climate feedback loops (e.g., clouds, permafrost thawing), future policy decisions, and human actions. Most existing climate modeling approaches use the same set of weights globally, during either regression or deep learning to combine different climate projections. Such approaches are inadequate when different regions require different weighting schemes for accurate and reliable sea-level rise predictions. This paper proposes a zonal regression model which addresses spatial variability and model inter-dependency. Experimental results show more reliable predictions using the weights learned via this approach on a regional scale.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures, I-GUIDE 2023 conferenc

Pediatric carcinoma of rectum - Varanasi experience

Background : Primary gastrointestinal system malignancies constitute approximately 2% of pediatric neoplasm and of these; colorectal carcinoma is the second most common malignancy. This is one of the rarer diseases in children. Aim : We reviewed our records to study the clinical features, outcome and the follow-up of this condition with evaluation of the prognostic factors. Settings and Design: Tertiary care Pediatric Surgery centre. Retrospective study. Materials and Methods : The data of all patients with diagnosis of colorectal carcinoma from January 1986 to January 2006 were reviewed. The confirmation of the diagnosis was by biopsy from the lesion. The age, sex, family history, clinical features, response to the treatment and follow-up were studied. Results : There were four male patients. All had bleeding per rectum as the presenting complaint. Three patients had advanced disease at presentation. All the patients had signet cell adenocarcinoma. The two patients expired and one was lost to follow-up. One patient is alive after one year of follow up and is receiving treatment. Conclusion : Colorectal cancer in children though rare can be a reality, hence any children presenting with pain in abdomen along with doubtful history of constipation and rectal bleeding should be examined carefully with special emphasis on digital rectal examination

Investigation of a SPR based refractive index sensor using a single mode fiber with a large D shaped microfluidic channel

In this work, a highly sensitive surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensor based on a single mode fiber (SMF) incorporating a large microfluidic channel (MFC) for refractive index (RI) sensing is designed and optimized using a full-vectorial finite element method (FEM). The fluidic channel size can be varied according to the requirement due to the availability of the large cladding diameter of SMF, which makes it simple and easy to fabricate. The proposed novel sensor is favourable to both analytes and metallic strips. The D-shaped hollow section above the core is filled with the measurand analytes and a gold (Au) strip is deposited on the base of the MFC, as it is known as the most attractive metal for SPR. Our numerical simulations illustrate that the confinement loss of the designed sensor is highly influenced by the distance of the MFC from the core along with the width and thickness of the Au strip. The designed sensor shows an average sensitivity of 1350 nm/RIU and maximum sensitivity of 8250 nm/RIU in the sensing range of 1.33-1.35 and 1.41-1.43, respectively. However, for a small variation of na at a step of 0.005, within ranges like 1.415, 1.420, and 1.425, we have achieved a maximum sensitivity of 7000 nm/RIU, 9000 nm/RIU and 11000 nm/RIU, respectively. This novel SPR sensor with MFC can open up a new opportunity in the application of chemical and biological sensing

Double coin in esophagus at same location and same alignment - a rare occurrence: a case report

Coin is the most common foreign body swallowed by pediatric age group. The multiple coin swallowing is extremely rare and very few cases had been reported in English literature. Most of them were present at different site and had different alignment in the esophagus. The location of the coin (trachea vs. esophagus) is commonly determined by the alignment of the coin on radiographic studies. A 4-year-girl was presented to us with history of coin ingestions one day back without any respiratory distress. On radiological study there was suspicion of two coins on same location and alignment. The diagnosis was confirmed after removal. The both coin was removed successfully by esophagoscopy. Unexpected second foreign bodies in pediatric esophageal coin ingestions are rare and it is mandatory to do post operative radiography after removal to exclude duplex coin or tracheal coin. We are presenting this case because of its rarity, difficulty in diagnosis especially when proper history is not available