Staphylococcal esophagitis causing giant ulcers

A 29-year-old woman with Hodgkin disease developed odynophagia while receiving chemotherapy. Large esophageal ulcers due to staphylococcal infection of the mucosa were visualized by endoscopy and radiography. This unusual bacterial esophagitis represents another potential cause of giant esophageal ulcerations.     

Some dynamics of a strategic market game with a large number of agents

This paper is designed to combine the game-theoretic investigation of the static or equilibrium properties of large strategic market games together with the investigation of some very simple dynamics, which nevertheless are sufficient to show differences between two related games, one with only trade and one in which both borrowing from an outside bank and trade take place. The role of banking reserves emerges as relevant and sensitive to the transient state dynamics.Several 100,000 player games are simulated and the behavior is compared with the analytical prediction for the games with a continuum of agents.The dynamics considered here is so simple that it does not show adaptive learning. A natural extension calls for updating via a learning program such as a genetic algorithm.     

Assessing the utility of private information in transportation planning studies: A case study of trip generation analysis

The extent to which private information should be used in planning for transportation infrastructure has not been fully resolved. To contribute to this debate, this paper discusses the argument for using private information by presenting a transportation planning case study in which the sample size required to detect a significant difference in two types of residential trip generation rates was reduced. One rate is based on ground counts and the other is based on household surveys. The number of vehicle trips generated by suburban dwelling units over a 24-h period is a critical element in the transportation planning process.When no-private information was used, the rates derived using the two methods were not statistically different. However, the use of private information might lead to different rates. Private information, described herein as individual transportation decisions, is defined by four characteristics: individually identifying (not anonymous); linked to another data source (not aggregated); available to a limited audience (not unlimited); and available for only a specific, socially legitimate use.The potential discrepancy between rates using ground counts and household survey data provides an opportunity to investigate the utility of private information. Simulations with an existing data set were performed to determine the extent to which additional private information could have revealed a discrepancy. The study concluded that the required sample size decreases substantially depending on the amount of private information available. The use of limited private information reduces the required sample size by over 30%. With more private information, the required sample size is reduced by over 90%. Thus, the use of robust statistical tests that is infeasible with only public information is possible with the availability of private data.The significance of this study is the approach presented to evaluate the utility of private information by documenting the tangible benefits, such as reduced sample sizes and reduced data collection costs, that will accrue if it is used. The political cost of acquiring the information can then be addressed, as can extending the approach to other situations where the use of private information is being considered.     

Land Restitution in Post-Communist Bulgaria

While international scholarship has generally been laudatory of Bulgaria's land restitution efforts, painting them as part of an overall success story and yet another example of the country's sharp break with communism, a real analysis of Bulgaria's so-called 'success story', particularly by the legal community, has been sorely lacking. This author has found that in many ways the approbation Bulgaria has received from the international community for its restitution efforts is more a reflection of the Bulgarian government's willingness to confront the problem than its ability to effectively deal with it. Through the use of documents, court records, and interviews conducted by the author, this article endeavours to document the problems and shortcomings of a system that is considered such a courageous and worthy pursuit that few have been willing to criticize it. Essentially, this paper attempts to answer the question, not of whether Bulgaria's restitution effort was able to do some good, but whether it could have done--and could still do--much better.     

US firms' evaluation of employee credentials in international business

This paper updates a 1991 survey of salaries and careers among US-based international business professionals and managers. These employees typically offer a high level of both international and functional qualifications, implying that aspiring workers need substantial credentials to compete in this market. International credentials directly increase salaries only modestly, suggesting a rough balance of supply and demand for these qualifications. Larger salary premiums are commanded by functional specialties utilizing new information technology. Comparisons of the 1999 and 1991 surveys document partial convergence in employers' treatment of men and women but remaining 'glass ceiling' barriers to women's advancement.     

Flexibility: The next competitive battle the manufacturing futures survey

Over the past 4 years research teams from INSEAD (Fontainebleau), Boston University and Waseda University (Tokyo) have administered a yearly survey on the manufacturing strategy of the large manufacturers of the three industrialized regions of the world. In this paper the results for the 1986 survey are compared. One of the most striking results of that year's survey is the emphasis some of the more advanced manufacturers put on their efforts to overcome the trade-off between flexibility and cost efficiency. In particular for the Japanese respondents these attempts become clear. Europeans and North Americans are not yet seizing the opportunity to cut costs through rapid production and design changes, and are focusing more on traditional cost reduction programmes and the improvement of quality. This might mean that they are preparing the basis on which they can built to obtain added value from flexible automation. If this is the case then the Japanese are clearly ahead.