The kinetics of glucose limited growth by a marine yeast

Thesis (M.S.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 1969The kinetics of glucose limited growth by a marine yeast, shown to be a Rhodotorula species, have been studied in a continuous culture apparatus. The saturation constant, in synthetic media, has been calculated to be 0.25 mg/l, on the assumption that saturation kinetics are followed, The maximum growth rate was determined in both synthetic media, and artificial sea water. On the basis of inhibition kinetics, the kinetic behavior of this yeast in the marine environment has been predicted. The effect of temperature on the maximum growth rate has been determined and, on the assumption of a similar effect on the saturation constant, the saturation constant has been postulated to be in agreement with similar values determined for other microorganisms.Abstract -- Introduction -- Materials and Methods -- Results -- Discussion -- Appendices -- Bibliograph

Base Realignment and Closure: Guiding Principles for Peru

In this paper, we examine the prospects for base realignment and closure in Peru and develop an initial strategy for the realignment and closure process. While previous research has focused primarily on the realignment and closure process in developed countries, we instead focus on the need for the realignment and closure process to complement the government’s objectives of democratic governance and economic growth. Given concerns about the reemergence of internal threats, most notably the Shining Path, and significant constraints on public finances, realignment and closure may have to proceed at a significant pace in the near term. We argue that transparency, accountability, and improved civil-military relations should not be sacrificed for the sake of expediency.Base Realignment and Closure, Peru, Defense Spending

Are Errors in Official U.S. Budget Receipts Forecasts Just Noise?

Existing evidence suggests that U.S. Government budget receipts forecasts are unbiased and efficient. Our study is an attempt to examine the veracity of these findings. The time series framework employed in this study is distinguished from previous work in three ways. First, we build a model that explicitly admits serial correlation in the residuals by allowing for autoregressive, moving-average, serial correlation. Second, we employ the nonparametric Monte-Carlo bootstrap to free ourselves from reliance on asymptotic distribution theory which is suspect given the short data series available for this study. Third, we control for errors in the macroeconomic and financial assumptions used to produce the U.S. Government's budget forecasts. We find that the U.S. Government's annual, one-year ahead, budget receipts forecasts for fiscal years 1963 through 2003 are biased and inefficient. In addition, we find that these forecasts exhibit serial correlation in their errors and thus do not efficiently exploit all available information. Finally, we find evidence that is consistent with strategic bias that may reflect the political goals of the Administration in power. Working Paper 07-2

Mapping the optical properties of slab-type two-dimensional photonic crystal waveguides

We report on systematic experimental mapping of the transmission properties of two-dimensional silicon-on-insulator photonic crystal waveguides for a broad range of hole radii, slab thicknesses and waveguide lengths for both TE and TM polarizations. Detailed analysis of numerous spectral features allows a direct comparison of experimental data with 3D plane wave and finite-difference time-domain calculations. We find, counter-intuitively, that the bandwidth for low-loss propagation completely vanishes for structural parameters where the photonic band gap is maximized. Our results demonstrate that, in order to maximize the bandwidth of low-loss waveguiding, the hole radius must be significantly reduced. While the photonic band gap considerably narrows, the bandwidth of low-loss propagation in PhC waveguides is increased up to 125nm with losses as low as 8$\pm$2dB/cm.Comment: 10 pages, 8 figure

Understanding and responding when things go wrong: key principles for primary care educators

Learning from events with unwanted outcomes is an important part of workplace based education and providing evidence for medical appraisal and revalidation. It has been suggested that adopting a ‘systems approach’ could enhance learning and effective change. We believe the following key principles should be understood by all healthcare staff, especially those with a role in developing and delivering educational content for safety and improvement in primary care. When things go wrong, professional accountability involves accepting there has been a problem, apologising if necessary and committing to learn and change. This is easier in a ‘Just Culture’ where wilful disregard of safe practice is not tolerated but where decisions commensurate with training and experience do not result in blame and punishment. People usually attempt to achieve successful outcomes, but when things go wrong the contribution of hindsight and attribution bias as well as a lack of understanding of conditions and available information (local rationality) can lead to inappropriately blame ‘human error’. System complexity makes reduction into component parts difficult; thus attempting to ‘find-and-fix’ malfunctioning components may not always be a valid approach. Finally, performance variability by staff is often needed to meet demands or cope with resource constraints. We believe understanding these core principles is a necessary precursor to adopting a ‘systems approach’ that can increase learning and reduce the damaging effects on morale when ‘human error’ is blamed. This may result in ‘human error’ becoming the starting point of an investigation and not the endpoint

Melody based tune retrieval over the World Wide Web

In this paper we describe the steps taken to develop a Web-based version of an existing stand-alone, single-user digital library application for melodical searching of a collection of music. For the three key components: input, searching, and output, we assess the suitability of various Web-based strategies that deal with the now distributed software architecture and explain the decisions we made. The resulting melody indexing service, known as MELDEX, has been in operation for one year, and the feed-back we have received has been favorable

Understanding patient safety performance and educational needs using the ‘Safety-II’ approach for complex systems

Participation in projects to improve patient safety is a key component of general practice (GP) specialty training, appraisal and revalidation. Patient safety training priorities for GPs at all career stages are described in the Royal College of General Practitioners’ curriculum. Current methods that are taught and employed to improve safety often use a ‘find-and-fix’ approach to identify components of a system (including humans) where performance could be improved. However, the complex interactions and inter-dependence between components in healthcare systems mean that cause and effect are not always linked in a predictable manner. The Safety-II approach has been proposed as a new way to understand how safety is achieved in complex systems that may improve quality and safety initiatives and enhance GP and trainee curriculum coverage. Safety-II aims to maximise the number of events with a successful outcome by exploring everyday work. Work-as-done often differs from work-as-imagined in protocols and guidelines and various ways to achieve success, dependent on work conditions, may be possible. Traditional approaches to improve the quality and safety of care often aim to constrain variability but understanding and managing variability may be a more beneficial approach. The application of a Safety-II approach to incident investigation, quality improvement projects, prospective analysis of risk in systems and performance indicators may offer improved insight into system performance leading to more effective change. The way forward may be to combine the Safety-II approach with ‘traditional’ methods to enhance patient safety training, outcomes and curriculum coverage