Improving Creativity in Temporary Virtual Teams

We live in an interconnected world in which physical location has become less of a hindrance to communication, yet newer message transmission media alter not only the process but also the content of creative communication. While temporary virtual teams offer alternatives to solve issues which resist resolution using traditional approaches, virtual team characteristics can limit the ability to create novel and useful solutions. Since creativity is a necessary and significant requirement for success across a wide variety of domains, this poses a serious challenge for those intending to improve organizational creativity through the use of virtual teams and exposes the difficulty of studying creativity in a virtual environment. The author creates a modular online research tool to more effectively study how eight characteristics of virtual teams interact to improve or restrict creativity: depersonalization, time pressure, noise, level of organization, degree of autonomy, range of potential solution categories, expectation, clarity of purpose, and potential personal gain. The design and implementation of the virtual creativity research environment are examined and used to research whether it is possible to improve the creativity of ad-hoc online teams. Qualitative analysis of twenty quasi-experimental groups with total 136 participants determined a statistically significant difference between groups with two selected environments, with an effect size over 2.5. While the ability to control individual environmental elements is within the ability of the research tool created in this study, a multivariate analysis of individual elements was outside the scope of this initial study, but is suggested for further research

Comparison of PCR methods and culture for the detection of Borrelia spp. in patients with erythema migrans

ABSTRACTThe sensitivities of two PCR assays and culture were compared for the detection of Borrelia spp. in skin specimens of 150 patients with typical erythema migrans. In addition, the accuracy of the methods for the identification of Borrelia spp. was compared by analysing culture isolates and material obtained directly from skin biopsy specimens. Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato was isolated from 73 (49%) of 150 skin biopsy specimens. Using a nested PCR targeting the rrf–rrl region and a PCR targeting the flagellin gene, 107 (71%) and 36 (24%) specimens, respectively, were positive. With both PCRs, positive results were more frequent with culture-positive samples (67/73 (92%) and 24/73 (33%) for the nested and flagellin PCRs, respectively) than with culture-negative samples (40/77 (52%) and 12/77 (16%) for nested and flagellin PCR, respectively). Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis after MluI restriction identified 69/73 (95%) isolates, of which 58/69 (84%) were Borrelia afzelii and 11/69 (16%) were Borrelia garinii. After MseI restriction of PCR products amplified from the intergenic rrf–rrl region, B. afzelii was identified in 73/107 (68%) samples, B. garinii in 22/107 (21%) samples, and both species in 11/107 (10%) samples. The corresponding results for culture-positive specimens were 41/69 (59%), 14/69 (20%), and 7/69 (10%). Comparison of the results for specimens positive according to both approaches revealed complete uniformity in 80% of the cases. Overall, nested PCR was the most sensitive method for the demonstration of Borrelia spp. in erythema migrans skin lesions, followed by culture and PCR targeting the flagellin gene. The congruence of identification results obtained by analyzing culture isolates and material obtained directly from skin biopsies was relatively high but incomplete

The Satisfaction with the Removable Partial Denture Therapy in the Croatian Adult Population

Little is known about the outcomes of treatment and patient’s satisfaction with removable partial dentures in adult Croatian population. Therefore patient’s satisfaction with their partial dentures in relation to some socio-economic variables was studied. Patient’s satisfaction with denture retention, speech, aesthetics, comfort of wearing dentures, chewing ability was also studied in relation to different denture classification, construction, material, denture base shape (major connectors), denture support and the number of missing teeth. A total of 165 patients, 59 males and 105 females between 38 and 87 years took part in this study. A questionnaire, devised for a purpose of the study, was divided into three parts. In the first part, patients answered questions about age, gender, marital status, education, general health, socio-economic status, self-supporting life, period of tooth loss and number of previous denture experiences and in the second part, patients graded their partial dentures, depending on the level of satisfaction, by using a scale from 1 to 5. In the third part a dentist determined Kennedy classification and their modifications, denture material and denture support, denture base shape and the number of missing teeth and graded a denture construction. Influence of these factors on patient’s satisfaction was analyzed. A majority of the examined patients were satisfied with the partial prosthesis, but a small amount of dissatisfaction existed. More then half of them scored all the examined parameters to the best score category. Considering chewing with lower partial dentures, women were more satisfied than men (p <0.05). Patients with more missing teeth gave lower grades for the comfort of wearing dentures (p<0.05). Patients of higher education gave lower grades (p<0.05) for the aesthetics. Patients were not satisfied with speech if the dentist graded a construction of alower partial denture low (p<0.05). Dissatisfaction was related to mastication, aesthetics, number of missing teeth and ability of speech. These findings can aid a clinician in discussing a treatment plan and help a patient understand the risk of dissatisfaction in the presence of certain factors

Trace Element (TE) Release from Two Different Base Alloys Unde Conditions Imitating Oral Saliva

Electrochemical conditions in the oral cavity lead to a release of metal ions into the patient\u27s saliva. The aim of this study was to examine and compare the types andquantities of metal ions released from two base alloys: Co-Cr-Mo alloy (WironitR, Bego, Germany) and Ni-Cr alloy (Wiron 99, Bego, Germany) under in vitro conditions imitating artificial saliva. We soaked ten sets of each alloy having 497 mm2 exposure surface for 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 14, 21 and 30 days (six pieces each set) in phosphate buffered saline (pH 6.0). TE in the phosphate buffered saline (saliva) were assessed by ICP-AES (JY 50P, Jobin-Ywon, France) with the detection limit of 10 mg/L. We found detectable amounts (mg/L) of TE (Mean SD) released from Co-Cr-Mo alloy (Mean SD): Co 337 (170), Fe 21 (15) Zn 87 (56), Ni 41 (68), and Cr 49 (42) and detectable amounts of TE released from Ni-Cr alloy (Mean SD): Co 265 (300), Fe 247 (256) Zn 92 (46), Ni 542 (668), and Cr 396 (410). The manufacturer did not indicate the presence of Fe, Zn, and Ni in the Co-Cr-Mo alloy and the presence of Fe, Co and Zn, in the Ni-Cr alloy. A significantly higher amount of Fe, Ni and Cr was released from Ni-Cr alloy (p<0.05), and a considerably higher amount of Co was released from Co-Cr-Mo alloy, although it did not reach a statistically significant level (p>0.05), while there was no significant difference between the two alloys for Fe ion release (p>0.05). We must keep in mind that the amount of the released TE may be much higher than the reported values in this study, after the laboratory procedures (casting, polishing, etc.) and allergenic essential TE Cr, Co, and Ni may be present locally in a considerably higher amount

Cathepsins B, L and cystatin C in cyst fluid of ovarian tumors

Contains fulltext : 88032.pdf (publisher's version ) (Closed access)INTRODUCTION: In cancer, an extracellular and membrane bound localization of cathepsins contribute to the invasion of tumor cells at the basement membrane. METHODS: This is the first study that explored levels of cathepsins B (CatB), L (CatL) and their inhibitor cystatin C (CysC) in the cystic fluid (CF) of ovarian tumors (n = 110). RESULTS: CF contained considerable amounts of CatB, CatL and CysC. Remarkable differences in CatB and CatL and CysC CF levels were found between different histopathological tumor subtypes. Levels of CatB and CysC were significantly higher in CF of malignant serous tumors compared to those found in benign serous tumors (p = 0.010 and p = 0.001 respectively), whereas levels of CatL were significantly higher in CF of malignant mucinous tumors compared to those found in benign mucinous tumors (p = 0.035). CatB and CysC showed a strong correlation in the group of patients with malignant serous tumors (p < 0.001; R = 0.921) suggesting that the increase in CatB might be balanced by a corresponding increase in CysC. CONCLUSION: Further studies are warranted to investigate cathepsins as possible prognostic biomarkers for the aggressiveness of ovarian cancer.1 mei 201

Amine-Based Latex Coatings for Indoor Air CO₂ Control in Commercial Buildings

High levels of indoor air CO2 in commercial buildings can lead to various health effects, commonly known as sick building syndrome. Passive control of indoor air CO2 through solid adsorbents incorporated into the paint offers a high potential to handle CO2 without utilizing much energy. This study focuses on incorporating silica-supported aminopolymers into a polyacrylic-based latex that could be used as a buffer material for the passive control of CO2 in enclosed environments. To maximize the effect of the pigment (adsorbent), paints were all prepared at critical pigment volume concentration (CPVC) levels. CO2 at 800 and 3000 ppm were used to asses both low and high level contaminations. The removal efficiency of the surface coatings was evaluated within typical time frames (10 h for adsorption and desorption). Our laboratory-scale chamber results indicated that the silica-tetraethylenepentamine-based paint with 70 wt % loading exhibits the best adsorption performance, comparable to that of the powder-based sorbent, with only a ~20% decrease in the adsorption efficiency. Our results also revealed that the optimization of paint formulation is critical in passively controlling indoor air CO2 . The findings of this study highlight the potential of amine-based adsorbents as pigments in high PVC paints for indoor CO2 control in commercial buildings