Suzaku View of the Neutron Star in the Dipping Source 4U 1822−-37

The dipping X-ray source 4U 1822$-$37 was observed by Suzaku on 2006 Octrober 20 for a net exposure of 37 ks. The source was detected with the XIS at a 1-10 keV flux of 5.5$\times10^{-10}$ erg cm$^{-2}$ s$^{-1}$, and with the HXD (HXD-PIN) at a 10-50 keV flux of 8.9$\times10^{-10}$ erg cm$^{-2}$ s$^{-1}$. With HXD-PIN, the pulsation was detected at a barycentric period of 0.592437 s, and its change rate was reconfirmed as $-2.43\times$10$^{-12}$ s s$^{-1}$. The 1-50 keV spectra of 4U 1822-37 were found to be very similar to those of Her X-1 in the slopes, cutoff and iron lines. Three iron lines (Fe K$\alpha$, Fe XXV, and Fe XXVI) were detected, on top of a 1-50 keV continuum that is described by an NPEX model plus a soft blackbody. In addition, a cyclotron resonance scattering feature was detected significantly ($>99\%$ confidence), at an energy of 33$\pm$2 keV with a depth of 0.4$^{+0.6}_{-0.3}$. Therefore, the neutron star in this source is concluded to have a strong magnetic field of 2.8$\times10^{12}$ G. Further assuming that the source has a relatively high intrinsic luminosity of several times 10$^{37}$ erg s$^{-1}$, its spectral and timing properties are consistently explained

Contributions of the Bone Marrow Microenvironment to Bone and Skeletal Metastasis.

The skeleton, a favored organ for prostate cancer is organized by a mineralized connective tissue, and a rich marrow where hematopoiesis replenishes a variety of blood cells and gives rise to many cell populations. Thus, when tumors metastasize to bones they encounter many cells, once considered bystanders such as hematopoietic stem cells and macrophages, which play key roles in tumor growth progression and metastasis. Macrophages are implicated in both skeletal homeostasis and tumorigenesis; yet their role in skeletal metastasis is unclear. Macrophage phagocytosis of apoptotic cells is referred to as efferocytosis, and is an integral process by which harmful by-products of dead and dying cells are removed to create a pro-resolving environment. The purpose of this study was to determine the role of macrophages and efferocytosis in prostate cancer skeletal metastasis. In vivo experimental approaches resulting in macrophage ablation showed significant reduction in tumor growth in tibiae after intratibial tumor inoculations. Efferocytosis of apoptotic tumor cells increased MFG-E8 expression and promoted macrophage polarization into the M2 macrophage phenotype. Conversely, efferocytosis inhibition with neutralizing MFG-E8 antibody resulted in reduced M2 polarization, suggesting that efferocytosis is important for macrophage polarization into tumor promoting M2 cells. The involvement of the STAT3/SOCS3 activation pathway in macrophage polarization was observed. Increased MFG-E8 levels when bone marrow macrophages were co-cultured with apoptotic cells was accompanied by SOCS3 downregulation. Inhibition of STAT3 phosphorylation resulted in decreased efferocytosis and M2 macrophage polarization with an associated increase in SOCS3 protein expression. This suggests that SOCS3 and phospho-STAT3 act in an inversely dependent manner when stimulated by MFG-E8 and efferocytosis. Therefore we report a novel mechanism by which MFG-E8, by mediating efferocytosis of prostate cancer cells, can support tumor growth through facilitation of M2 macrophage polarization and regulation of SOCS3/STAT3 activation. In conclusion, the bone microenvironment provides a dynamic and rich soil for tumors to thrive. Continued investigation on the role of bone marrow cells will provide a better understanding of the metastatic bone environment and aid in the advancement of new targets for the treatment and prevention of skeletal metastasis.PHDOral Health SciencesUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/111335/1/fabisoki_1.pd

The Nature of the Stable Soft X-ray Emissions in Several Types of Active Galactic Nuclei Observed by Suzaku

To constrain the origin of the soft X-ray excess phenomenon seen in many active galactic nuclei, the intensity-correlated spectral analysis, developed by Noda et al. (2011b) for Markarian 509, was applied to wide-band (0.5-45 keV) Suzaku data of five representative objects with relatively weak reflection signature. They are the typical bare-nucleus type 1 Seyfert Fairall 9, the bright and typical type 1.5 Seyfert MCG-2-58-22, 3C382 which is one of the X-ray brightest broad line radio galaxies, the typical Seyfert-like radio loud quasar 4C+74.26, and the X-ray brightest radio quiet quasar MR2251-178. In all of them, soft X-ray intensities in energies below 3 keV were tightly correlated with that in 3-10 keV, but with significant positive offsets. These offsets, when calculated in finer energy bands, define a stable soft component in 0.5-3 keV. In each object, this component successfully explained the soft excess above a power-law fit. These components were interpreted in several alternative ways, including a thermal Comptonization component which is independent of the dominant power-law emission. This interpretation, considered physically most reasonable, is discussed from a viewpoint of Multi-Zone Comptonization, which was proposed for the black hole binary Cygnus X-1 (Makishima et al. 2008).Comment: 18 pages, 12 figures, 7 table

RXTE Observations of the Low-Mass X-Ray Binary 4U 1608-522 in Upper-Banana State

To investigate the physics of mass accretion onto weakly-magnetized neutron stars, 95 archival RXTE datasets of an atoll source 4U 1608-522, acquired over 1996-2004 in so-called upper-banana state, were analyzed. The object meantime exhibited 3-30 keV luminosity in the range of <~ 10^35 - 4 x 10^37 erg s^-1, assuming a distance of 3.6 kpc. The 3-30 keV PCA spectra, produced one from each dataset, were represented successfully with a combination of a soft and a hard component, of which the presence was revealed in a model-independent manner by studying spectral variations among the observations. The soft component is expressed by so-called multi-color disk model with a temperature of ~1.8 keV, and is attributed to the emission from an optically-thick standard accretion disk. The hard component is a blackbody emission with a temperature of ~2.7 keV, thought to be emitted from the neutron-star surface. As the total luminosity increases, a continuous decrease was observed in the ratio of the blackbody luminosity to that of the disk component. This property suggests that the matter flowing through the accretion disk gradually becomes difficult to reach the neutron-star surface, presumably forming outflows driven by the increased radiation pressure. On time scales of hours to days, the overall source variability was found to be controlled by two independent variables; the mass accretion rate, and the innermost disk radius which changes both physically and artificially.Comment: ApJ accepted, 29 pages, 9 figure

Competing logics in hospital mergers - The case of the Karolinska University Hospital

Introduction. Today there is no doubt that mergers have permeated all sectors of society, including health care. Starting in the US, extensive waves of hospital mergers occurred at a record pace in the 1980’s typically justified by promising dramatic financial and operational improvements. In the 1990’s, the merger trend reached Europe and by the turn of the century “merger mania” had taken a strong hold within the UK. By the end of the 1990s, there had been a number of hospital mergers in Sweden. In 2004, Karolinska University Hospital was formed through the flagship merger between the Karolinska Hospital and the Huddinge University Hospital. In 2010, yet another prestigious merger of two university hospitals was announced with the formation of Skåne University Hospital. However, there has been almost no research on hospital mergers in Sweden. The aim of this thesis is to increase our understanding of the pitfalls and possibilities in merger processes by exploring the Karolinska University Hospital merger. The merger in brief. On 1 January 2004, the Karolinska Hospital and the Huddinge University Hospital merged to form the Karolinska University Hospital. Although the merger was controversial and far from obvious, the merger decision passed by a single vote in the Stockholm County Council on 9 December 2003. To achieve a balanced budget by the next political election in 2006, the new director of the merged hospital was told to reduce expenditures by €70 million over the next three years. The top management delegated identical assignments to all clinical managers: to reduce costs and to consolidate 125 clinical departments into 74 new departments each with a common management. Over the three-year period (2004 to 2006), the predicted cost savings for the merger were not achieved. Eventually the original implementation plan was withdrawn and the hospital director left the organization. Methodology and research questions. An embedded case study design was used to explore pre- and post-merger processes, in which data was collected by interviews, non-participant observation and extensive documents (allowing triangulation). Three studies addressing different organisational levels examined the following issues: how and why a merger decision that was considered “impossible” became possible (Study I); how and why top management’s radical ambitions resulted in an unintended convergent process and dysfunctional outcomes (Study II); how and why considerably different outcomes in terms of clinical integration occurred at the clinical department level (Study III). Results. Spanning from the years 1995 to 2007, the three studies show that the merger processes evolved through a non-linear, undirected and complex interplay between external and internal actors. The process was mainly driven by the competing institutional logics of managerialism in a political and administrative arena, and professionalism in a scientific and professional arena. Means convergence and a politico-economic crisis led to the merger decision. The top management was overwhelmed by the “vertical clash” between managerialism and professionalism. On the clinical department level, managerial factors that hindered integration were a sole attention on the formal mandate from the top management, leadership based on one formal actor, and the use of a planned top-down approach to change. Managerial factors that facilitated integration were a dual attention to two majors stakeholders (top management and clinical staff), shared leadership between multiple actors, including an informal leader, and the use of an emergent, bottom-up management approach to change within the planned assignment. Discussion. The key finding is that the competing institutional logics between managerialism and professionalism seems to be the main driver of merger processes. This vertical conflict is probably the main explanation why intended outcomes were not achieved. While top management followed the merger literature’s classic recommendation to focus on the horizontal tension and to take a planned linear top-down approach to change, the unanticipated challenge stemming from the competing institutional logics made it difficult for the management to handle the post-merger process. A true understanding of the intra- and inter dynamics inherent in a context with multiple layers of competing institutional logics, such as public sector health care, seems essential to produce functional organizational outcomes

Integração de metadados e padrões de interoperabilidade na troca de recursos educacionais abertos entre repositórios

Trabalho de Conclusão de Curso, apresentado para obtenção do grau de Bacharel no Curso de Ciência da Computação da Universidade do Extremo Sul Catarinense, UNESC.Este trabalho apresenta uma pesquisa que teve como objetivo propor um modelo de metadados para compartilhar Recursos Educacionais Abertos integrando padrões educacionais e protocolos de interoperabilidade. Para alcançar o objetivo da pesquisa foi realizado levantamento bibliográfico sobre REA, padrões de metadados, repositórios digitais, Base Nacional comum curricular Brasileira e protocolos de interoperabilidade. Por meio do levantamento bibliográfico, foram identificados os principais padrões e protocolos usados para catalogar e compartilhar recursos educacionais de modo a facilitar a interoperabilidade entre repositórios digitais. Deste modo, a abordagem aplicada foi descritiva com métodos exploratórios. Como resultado da pesquisa, foi elaborado um modelo de metadados para compartilhamento e catalogação dos REA constituído por elementos extraídos da BNCC e elementos baseados no padrão de metadados LOM - Learning Object Metadata

Mercado de crédito para MPES: falhas e fintechs

Os pequenos negócios ao redor do mundo encontram obstáculos para acessar e utilizar serviços financeiros, vitais à sua sobrevivência e expansão. Falhas do mercado financeiro relacionadas à assimetria informacional e aos custos de transações impactam a disponibilidade de oferta de crédito aos pequenos empresários e no contexto brasileiro, soma-se à dificuldade do alto custo do crédito. As fintechs, prestadoras de serviços resultantes de inovações financeiras viabilizadas pela adoção de novas tecnologias, introduziram novos modelos de negócios para oferta de crédito com o potencial de ampliar o acesso e o uso do crédito pelas micro e pequenas empresas (MPEs). O uso de algoritmos baseados em dados alternativos e de processos digitalizados e virtualizados são algumas das características com o potencial de endereçar assimetria informacional e custos transacionais. Este trabalho propõe uma avaliação desse potencial impacto das fintechs sobre a inclusão financeira das MPEs no mercado de crédito brasileiro. A análise documental indica que as fintechs podem ser parte da solução para a maior e melhor oferta de crédito aos pequenos negócios, entretanto, a redução dos custos não parece ser endereçada até o presente momento pela entrada desses novos ofertantes.Small businesses around the world encounter obstacles to accessing and using financial services, vital to their survival and expansion. Financial market failures related to information asymmetry and transaction costs impact the availability of credit supply to small business owners. In the Brazilian context, it is added to the difficulties imposed by the high cost of credit. Fintechs, service providers based on financial innovations drawing from the adoption of new technologies, have introduced new business models for offering credit with the potential to expand access and use by micro and small enterprises (MSEs). The use of algorithms based on alternative data, digitalized and virtualized processes are some of the characteristics with the potential to address informational asymmetry and transaction costs. This work aims to assess the literature regarding the potential impact of fintechs on the financial inclusion of MSEs in the Brazilian credit market. The review of documents indicates that fintechs may be part of the solution to increase the volume and quality of the offer of credit to small businesses, however, cost reduction does not seem to be addressed by the entry in market of these new providers.107 páginasGovernançaPolíticas Econômica

Assessment of students’ perception of the MBA healthcare management program at Strathmore University

There is a need for healthcare workers to acquire managerial and leadership skills for their training to be relevant to the needs of the country and the community they serve. The main challenge is lack of leadership and managerial skills. With this gap in mind, Strathmore Business School (SBS) launched an MBA in Healthcare Management in 2013 to train health care workers and managers in leadership and managerial skills. The main objective of the study was to assess the experience of the present cohorts of students and past graduates of the MBA in Healthcare Management course at SBS. A mixed methodology provided a detailed analysis of the research problem. A questionnaire was administered to 177 students drawn from the present cohorts (2017, 2016, and 2015) and past graduates. Results indicated that Fifty six (56%) of the students responded. The overall scores were high for relevance, quality and employability. Productive sector linkages got mid-range scores. There was a downward linear trend noted for quality and an upward trend for security. 60% of the respondents were noted to be promoters. Students responded well to international faculty, modular program and case based learning. Points of improvement are in infrastructure (parking, library and cafeteria) and productive-sector linkages. In terms of promoting entrepreneurialism and practical skills, SBS has followed the majority of institutions by employing industry professionals as adjunct faculty and engaging guest speakers to provide business and entrepreneurial advice. New forms and levels of partnerships need to be considered in research, consultancy, staff exchanges and joint curriculum development with the productive sector