Naming Practices in South America

On the basis of previous investigation of modes of address and social structure, this study attempts to show that certain naming practices in South America are related to indicators of a postulated individualism-communalism continuum of the societies. The results suggest a relationship between some naming practices and a continuum based on mean size of the local community

Integrated polarisation rotators

The ability to control and manipulate the state of polarisation of optical signals is becoming an increasingly desirable feature in numerous applications including integrated optical circuits, semiconductor optical amplifiers (SOAs) and optical communication systems. This thesis introduces the design, optimisation, fabrication and operation of two novel integrated reciprocal single-section passive polarisation converter devices based upon mode-beating. The converter designs consist of asymmetric profiled waveguides, which were realised in a single reactive ion dry-etch process step. An in-situ custom built sample holder was utilised to place the samples at a predetermined angle to the incoming ions, which resulted in waveguide profiles with sloped sidewalls. This fabrication technique also allowed the incorporation of adiabatic taper sections within the device design. The converter section waveguide profile of the first design consists of two sloped sidewalls. Devices realised on a GaAs/AlGaAs material structure achieved a converted transverse magnetic (TM) polarisation purity of 81.4% at a device length of 30 μm for a transverse electric (TE) polarised input signal at an operating wavelength of λ = 1064 nm. The convention used is that TE refers to light polarised in the plane of the wafer and TM refers to light polarised perpendicular to the plane of the wafer. The total optical loss imposed by this device was evaluated to be 1.72 dB. This design was also used for the monolithic integration of a passive polarisation converter incorporated within a Fabry-Perot semiconductor laser diode on an unstrained GaAs/AlGaAs double quantum well heterostructure material system. A predominantly TM polarised optical output from the converter facet of greater than 80% is demonstrated for a converter length of 20 μm at an emitting wavelength of 867.1 nm. The about 1.4 mm long fabricated device has a current threshold level of 100 mA and a side mode suppression ratio (SMSR) of 25 dB. The second converter design is based on the modification of an already existing stripe waveguide structure. The converter section is defined by applying the above mentioned angled dry-etch process on a certain length of the stripe waveguide. The fabricated asymmetric waveguide core profile consists of a sloped undercut. A TM polarisation purity of 90% at a device length of 55 μm for a TE polarised input signal at an operating wavelength of λ = 1064 nm was achieved at the output. The total optical loss imposed by this device was evaluated to be 0.47 dB

Control-friendly scheduling algorithms for multi-tool, multi-product manufacturing systems

textThe fabrication of semiconductor devices is a highly competitive and capital intensive industry. Due to the high costs of building wafer fabrication facilities (fabs), it is expected that products should be made efficiently with respect to both time and material, and that expensive unit operations (tools) should be utilized as much as possible. The process flow is characterized by frequent machine failures, drifting tool states, parallel processing, and reentrant flows. In addition, the competitive nature of the industry requires products to be made quickly and within tight tolerances. All of these factors conspire to make both the scheduling of product flow through the system and the control of product quality metrics extremely difficult. Up to now, much research has been done on the two problems separately, but until recently, interactions between the two systems, which can sometimes be detrimental to one another, have mostly been ignored. The research contained here seeks to tackle the scheduling problem by utilizing objectives based on control system parameters in order that the two systems might behave in a more beneficial manner. A non-threaded control system is used that models the multi-tool, multi-product process in a state space form, and estimates the states using a Kalman filter. Additionally, the process flow is modeled by a discrete event simulation. The two systems are then merged to give a representation of the overall system. Two control system matrices, the estimate error covariance matrix from the Kalman filter and a square form of the system observability matrix called the information matrix, are used to generate several control-based scheduling algorithms. These methods are then tested against more tradition approaches from the scheduling literature to determine their effectiveness on both the basis of how well they maintain the outputs near their targets and how well they minimize the cycle time of the products in the system. The two metrics are viewed simultaneously through use of Pareto plots and merits of the various scheduling methods are judged on the basis of Pareto optimality for several test cases.Chemical Engineerin

Spinal epidural abscess in clinical practice

Spinal epidural abscess (SEA) is a rare but severe infection requiring prompt recognition. The major prognostic factor for a favourable outcome is early diagnosis, leading to appropriate treatment. In clinical practice, a diagnosis of SEA is often not considered, particularly in the early stages of the disease when neurological symptoms are not apparent. Knowledge of persons at risk, clinical features and the required diagnostic procedures may decrease the number of initially misdiagnosed cases. Clinical signs, duration of symptoms and the rate of neurological deterioration show a high inter-individual variability, and the classic triad (spinal pain, fever and neurological deficit) is often not found, especially not at first presentation to a physician. However, most patients complain of severe localized back pain. Inflammatory parameters in the blood are generally elevated, but not specific. Gadolinium-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging is the most sensitive, specific and accurate imaging method. Although neurosurgical decompression is still the treatment of choice in the majority of cases, less invasive procedures (e.g. computed tomography-guided needle aspiration) or antimicrobial treatment alone can be applied in selected cases. The choice of the most appropriate therapy should be discussed immediately after a confirmed diagnosis in consultation with infectious disease, radiology and spinal surgery specialists. The outcome of SEA is largely influenced by the severity and duration of neurological deficits prior to surgery, stressing the importance of early recognitio

Untersuchungen zur Expression von PD-L1 und PD-1 in einer Kohorte neoadjuvant behandelter Magenkarzinome

Um den Einfluss einer neoadjuvanten Chemotherapie auf die PD-L1- und PD-1-Expression zu untersuchen, wurde eine Kohorte von 140 Patienten mit einem neoadjuvant behandelten Magenkarzinom untersucht. Es erfolgte die immunhistochemische Färbung der Gewebeproben mit gegen PD-L1 und PD-1 gerichteten Antikörpern. Des Weiteren wurden Tissue Microarrays hergestellt, um das Vorhandensein einer Mikrosatelliteninstabilität (MSI), den HER2-, MET- und Epstein-Barr-Virus-Status zu überprüfen. Die Ergebnisse wurden mit klinisch-pathologischen Parametern korreliert und mit einer therapienaiven Kohorte verglichen. Insgesamt war eine geringere Expression von PD-L1 zu beobachten. Bei Patienten mit schlechtem Ansprechen auf die neoadjuvante Chemotherapie zeigte sich aber eine vermehrte Expression von PD-L1. Es könnte angenommen werden, dass PD-L1 in einer größeren Patientenkohorte als negativer Vorhersagewert genutzt werden kann. Die PD-1-Expression zeigte ein vermehrtes Auftreten. So scheinen Magenkarzinome mit schlechtem Therapieansprechen besonders gut geeignet für eine Therapie mit gegen PDL1/PD-1 gerichteten Immuncheckpointinhibitoren. Die Expression von PD-L1 im Primärtumor und den korrespondierenden Lymphknotenmetastasen war konkordant. EBV-positive und MSI-Tumoren weisen nach neoadjuvanter Chemotherapie eine vermehrte PD-L1-Expression auf und haben ähnliche klinisch-pathologische Eigenschaften zur therapienaiven Kohorte. So könnte das Vorliegen einer dieser beiden Subgruppen für den Einsatz einer gegen PDL1/PD-1 gerichteten Immuncheckpointtherapie sprechen. HER2- und MET-amplifizierte Tumoren zeigten nach neoadjuvanter Chemotherapie eine geringe PD-L1-Expression. So scheint von einer gleichzeitigen Gabe von gegen Her2/neu bzw. MET und PD-L1/PD-1 gerichteten Immuncheckpointinhibitoren nur eine sehr geringe Patientengruppe zu profitieren

Sex Differences in the Arousal of Need for Affiliation

This study reports that the Pelto Projective Pictures when scored by the Atkinson-Heyns-Veroff procedure is a valid instrument for measuring n affiliation. The hypothesis that an experimental group of junior-high-school students exposed to a stimulus would display a significantly higher mean n affiliation score than a control group was rejected. A sex difference was involved in the failure to reject the null hypothesis. There is strong evidence that n affiliation was aroused in an experimental group of females, but not in an experimental group of males. The Pelto Projective Pictures were successful in discriminating this difference. Moreover, the scoring procedure, developed for use with the TAT, appears to be applicable to other projective techniques