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Application of various methods for study of relation between operation strategy and supply management, based on strength of marketing-operation interface, is described.

The GERDA (GERmanium Detector Array) is an experiment for the search of neutrinoless double beta decay (0νββ) in 76Ge, located at Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso of INFN (Italy). In the first phase of the experiment, a 90% confidence level (C.L.) sensitivity of 2.4⋅1025 yron the 0νββdecay half-life was achieved with a 21.6 kg⋅yr exposure and an unprecedented background index in the region of interest of 10−2counts/(keV⋅kg⋅yr). No excess of signal events was found, and an experimental lower limit on the half-life of 2.1 ⋅ 1025yr (90% C.L.) was established. Correspondingly, the limit on the effective Majorana neutrino mass is mee<0.2–0.4 eV, depending on the considered nuclear matrix element. The previous claim for evidence of a 0νββdecay signal is strongly disfavored, and the field of research is open again.

Quantitative source preparation is indispensable for radionuclide standardisation. To improve the source quality, a device has been developed to accelerate the evaporation of solvents from a drop deposited on a substrate. Short drying times were reached by stirring the rotating drop with multiple jets of dry nitrogen at elevated temperature. Uniform deposits with a large number of small crystals were obtained. The source-quality was checked by micrographs and scans of autoradiographs and by the shape parameters of α-particle spectra.

A synthesis model of the general health care system is developed based on literature from a variety of disciplines. The synthesis model is then used to create a theoretical framework of fundamental laws and derivative propositions. The integrated synthesis model and the theoretical framework should provide opportunities for future research. For the practitioner, they provide a macro-oriented understanding of the general health care system and the activities that are crucial within the system. Several practical examples that are based on interviews and case studies with health care providers are used to explain the elements in the synthesis model.

To many health care executives, emphasis on marketing strategy has become a means of survival in the threatening new environment of cost attainment, intense competition, and prospective payment. This paper develops a positive model of the health care organization based on organizational learning theory and the concept of the health care offering. It is proposed that the typical health care organization represents the prototype of the learning organization. Thus, commitment to a shared vision is proposed to be an integral part of the health care organization and its diagnosis, treatment, and delivery of the health care offering, which is based on the exchange relationship, including its communicative environment. Based on the model, strategic marketing implications are discussed.

Objective: To study the risks for hypertension, glucose intolerance and overweight forty years after fetal or childhood exposure to famine afflicting Biafra during the Nigerian civil war (1967-1970).Design: Prospective cohort study performed in June 27 – July 31, 2009.Setting: Enugu, Nigeria. Participants: Adults (n=1,339) born before (1965-67), during (1968-January 1970), or after (1971-73) the years of famine.Main outcome measures: Blood pressure (BP), random plasma glucose and anthropometrics, as well as prevalence of hypertension (BP >140/90 mmHg), impaired glucose tolerance (IGT; p-glucose 7.8-11.0 mmol/l), diabetes (DM; p-glucose =11.1 mmol/l), or overweight (BMI >25 kg/m2).Results: Fetal-infant exposure to famine was associated with elevated systolic (+7 mmHg; p< 0.001) and diastolic (+5 mmHg; p< 0.001) BP, increased p-glucose (+0.3 mmol/L; p < 0.04) and waist circumference (+ 3cm, p< 0.001), increased risk of systolic hypertension (adjusted OR 2.87; 95% CI 1.90-4.34), IGT (OR 1.65; 95% CI 1.02-2.69) and overweight (OR 1.41; 95% CI 1.03-1.93) as compared to people born after the famine. The effect of fetal-infant famine on BP was seen in both women and men, whereas the effect on IGT was seen in men only, and the increased risk of overweight was confined to women.Conclusions: Fetal and infant undernutrition is associated with significantly increased risk of hypertension and impaired glucose tolerance in 40-year-old Nigerians. Prevention of undernutrition during pregnancy and in infancy should therefore be given high priority in health, education, and economic agendas.

The Institute for Reference Materials and Measurements operates a 7.0 MV Van de Graaff accelerator to generate monoenergetic neutron radiation for experimental applications. Owing to increased intensities of generated neutron fields and the more stringent regulation related to the maximum dose for the public, a concrete shielding wall surrounding the experimental building was constructed. This paper presents a study aiming at evaluating the effect of the shielding on the neutron field outside the wall. For this purpose, the following measurements were carried out around the building:

Following the use of in vivo measurements of 210Pb to estimate retrospectively radon exposure, interest has been expressed in the use of in vivo measurements of 208Tl to estimate thorium intake. To aid with calibration and to determine the optimum part of the body on which in vivo measurements should be made, the distribution of 208Tl and 228Ac amongst different human bones was measured in the underground laboratory HADES. The 208Tl activity was determined by the 2614.5 keV and the 583.2 keV gamma ray lines. The 228Ac activity was determined by the 911.2 keV and 969.0 keV gamma ray lines. The background under those peaks when measured on the 106% relative efficiency coaxial HPGe detector in HADES is of the order of 1 d-1, resulting in detection limits in the order of 1 mBq for both radionuclides for a typical 10 g bone sample and for a measuring time of 1 week.

Abstract: The viability of producing BEGe-type detectors from isotopically modified germanium for the neutrinoless double beta decay experiment GERDA is demonstrated by a complete test of the supply chain. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]