Emil Theodor Kocher, M.D., and his Nobel Prize (1841-1917).

Major contributions to the advancement of surgery occurred at the turn of the 20th century. Theodor Billroth was in the midst of revolutionizing abdominal surgery, whereas Louis Pasteur and Joseph Lister were making landmark strides in antisepsis, forever changing the foundations of surgical thinking. Undoubtedly, Theodor Kocher’s (Fig. 1) exposure to these and other giants had a major influence on his career and contributed to his success and ascent as the first, and one of only 10, surgeons ever to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine

Christian Albert Theodor Billroth, M.D., founding father of abdominal surgery (1829-1894).

In the 1800s, the field of surgery was in its infancy, somewhat primitive and embryonic. The technical nature of surgery was the basis for the dividing line between the disciplines of surgery and internal medicine. Sterilization was not a common practice. Radical surgical resections and experimentation in medicine were shunned. With his boldness equaled only by his innovation and resourcefulness, Theodor Billroth would become a pioneer not only in the development of modern surgery, but also in the advancement of its cultural and historical significance

Theory of tunneling magnetoresistance in a disordered Fe/MgO/Fe(001) junction

Calculation of the tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) of an Fe/MgO/Fe(001) junction with a disordered Fe/MgO interface is reported. It is shown that intermixing of Fe and Mg atoms at the interface decreases the TMR ratio rapidly and when about 16% of interfacial Fe atoms are substituted by Mg the calculated TMR saturates with increasing MgO thickness in good agreement with experiment. It is demonstrated that the saturation of TMR occurs because interfacial scattering leads to a redistribution of conductance channels, which opens up the perpendicular tunneling channel in the antiferromagnetic configuration that is forbidden for a perfect epitaxial junction

The complex nature of the nuclear star cluster in FCC 277

Recent observations have shown that compact nuclear star clusters (NSCs) are present in up to 80% of galaxies. However, detailed studies of their dynamical and chemical properties are confined mainly to spiral galaxy hosts, where they are more easily observed. In this paper we present our study of the NSC in FCC 277, a nucleated elliptical galaxy in the Fornax cluster. We use a combination of adaptive optics assisted near-infrared integral field spectroscopy, Hubble Space Telescope imaging, and literature long slit data. We show that while the NSC does not appear to rotate within our detection limit of ~6 km/s, rotation is detected at larger radii, where the isophotes appear to be disky, suggesting the presence of a nuclear disk. We also observe a distinct central velocity dispersion drop that is indicative of a dynamically cold rotating sub-system. Following the results of orbit-based dynamical modelling, co-rotating as well as counter-rotating stellar orbits are simultaneously needed to reproduce the observed kinematics. We find evidence for varying stellar populations, with the NSC and nuclear disk hosting younger and more metal rich stars than the main body of the galaxy. We argue that gas dissipation and some level of merging have likely played an important role in the formation of the nucleus of this intermediate-mass galaxy. This is in contrast to NSCs in low-mass early- type galaxies, which may have been formed primarily through the infall of star clusters.Comment: 10 pages, 11 figures, MNRAS in press, changes to this version: co-author adde

Sharing a Top Manager’s Experience with the Next Generation: The Use of Electronic Discussions and Short Video Fragments in Teaching

In: A.J. Kallenberg and M.J.J.M. van de Ven (Eds), 2002, The New Educational Benefits of ICT in Higher Education: Proceedings. Rotterdam: Erasmus Plus BV, OECR ISBN 90-9016127-9This paper presents an effective educational method to transfer managerial knowledge to students. This method consists among other of online discussions between small groups of students and video clips of lectures. The set-up of the course and the ICT-tool used in the course were evaluated for two years through a questionnaire among the students. The results show that the applied e-learning concept is highly appreciated and serves as an effective tool to exchange knowledge

First-principles prediction of redox potentials in transition-metal compounds with LDA+U

First-principles calculations within the Local Density Approximation (LDA) or Generalized Gradient Approximation (GGA), though very successful, are known to underestimate redox potentials, such as those at which lithium intercalates in transition metal compounds. We argue that this inaccuracy is related to the lack of cancellation of electron self-interaction errors in LDA/GGA and can be improved by using the DFT+$U$ method with a self-consistent evaluation of the $U$ parameter. We show that, using this approach, the experimental lithium intercalation voltages of a number of transition metal compounds, including the olivine Li$_{x}$MPO$_{4}$ (M=Mn, Fe Co, Ni), layered Li$_{x}$MO$_{2}$ ($x=$Co, Ni) and spinel-like Li$_{x}$M$_{2}$O$_{4}$ (M=Mn, Co), can be reproduced accurately.Comment: 19 pages, 6 figures, Phys. Rev. B 70, 235121 (2004

Are tearful individuals perceived as less competent? Probably not

What are the social signals of emotional tears? This question has fascinated scholars ever since Darwin. Studies have suggested several interpersonal effects of emotional tears. A recent study by Van de Ven, Meijs, and Vingerhoets (2017) presented evidence in three studies that tearful individuals are perceived as warmer, but also less competent than their non-tearful counterparts. However, the competence effect was relatively small, and a recent replication failed to find such an effect in two different populations while the warmth effect was replicated (Zickfeld & Schubert, 2018). This questions the generalizability of the effect of tears on perceived competence. To test whether individuals expressing emotional tears are really perceived as less competent and what boundary conditions such an effect might have, we specified a decision tree of three different studies in which we test differences between the original reference study and the replication. We replicated previous findings of the perceived (in)competence in Study 1 (n = 531) but observed a considerably smaller non-significant effect when proceeding to Study 2 (n = 471), which increased the number of stimuli. The earlier and now repeated replication failure can therefore likely be attributed to an increased variation in stimulus material. We conclude that there is not enough evidence to argue that one social outcome of tears signals a relative lack of competence as the effect seems to depend on the specific stimuli used.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Managing digital coordination of design: emerging hybrid practices in an institutionalized project setting

What happens when digital coordination practices are introduced into the institutionalized setting of an engineering project? This question is addressed through an interpretive study that examines how a shared digital model becomes used in the late design stages of a major station refurbishment project. The paper contributes by mobilizing the idea of ‘hybrid practices’ to understand the diverse patterns of activity that emerge to manage digital coordination of design. It articulates how engineering and architecture professions develop different relationships with the shared model; the design team negotiates paper-based practices across organizational boundaries; and diverse practitioners probe the potential and limitations of the digital infrastructure. While different software packages and tools have become linked together into an integrated digital infrastructure, these emerging hybrid practices contrast with the interactions anticipated in practice and policy guidance and presenting new opportunities and challenges for managing project delivery. The study has implications for researchers working in the growing field of empirical work on engineering project organizations as it shows the importance of considering, and suggests new ways to theorise, the introduction of digital coordination practices into these institutionalized settings