The Organizational Context, Job Embeddedness, And Effectiveness Of Managing Knowledge Work Teams

The relationships between organizational context, job embeddedness, and knowledge work team effectiveness are examined in this paper. We proposed a research model and tested the model empirically based on a sample of 144 enterprises from the Taiwanese Information Service Industry. The results show that open-mindedness and organizational commitment are positively related to job embeddedness. Job embeddedness also has strong relationship with knowledge work team effectiveness. However, the link between job autonomy and job embeddedness is not significant

Stationary Light Pulses in Cold Atomic Media

Stationary light pulses (SLPs), i.e., light pulses without motion, are formed via the retrieval of stored probe pulses with two counter-propagating coupling fields. We show that there exist non-negligible hybrid Raman excitations in media of cold atoms that prohibit the SLP formation. We experimentally demonstrate a method to suppress these Raman excitations and realize SLPs in laser-cooled atoms. Our work opens the way to SLP studies in cold as well as in stationary atoms and provides a new avenue to low-light-level nonlinear optics.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Risk factors for subsidence in anterior cervical fusion with stand-alone polyetheretherketone (PEEK) cages: a review of 82 cases and 182 levels

INTRODUCTION: To determine risk factors for subsidence in patients treated with anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF) and stand-alone polyetheretherketone (PEEK) cages. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Records of patients with degenerative spondylosis or traumatic disc herniation resulting in radiculopathy or myelopathy between C2 and C7 who underwent ACDF with stand-alone PEEK cages were retrospectively reviewed. Cages were filled with autogenous cancellous bone harvested from iliac crest or hydroxyapatite. Subsidence was defined as a decrease of 3 mm or more of anterior or posterior disc height from that measured on the postoperative radiograph. Eighty-two patients (32 males, 50 females; 182 treatment levels) were included in the analysis. RESULTS: Most patients had 1–2 treatment levels (62.2 %), and 37.8 % had 3–4 treatment levels. Treatment levels were from C2–7. Of the 82 patients, cage subsidence occurred in 31 patients, and at 39 treatment levels. Multivariable analysis showed that subsidence was more likely to occur in patients with more than two treatment levels, and more likely to occur at treatment levels C5–7 than at levels C2–5. Subsidence was not associated with postoperative alignment change but associated with more disc height change (relatively oversized cage). CONCLUSION: Subsidence is associated with a greater number of treatment levels, treatment at C5–7 and relatively oversized cage use

Long-Term Prediction of Emergency Department Revenue and Visitor Volume Using Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average Model

This study analyzed meteorological, clinical and economic factors in terms of their effects on monthly ED revenue and visitor volume. Monthly data from January 1, 2005 to September 30, 2009 were analyzed. Spearman correlation and cross-correlation analyses were performed to identify the correlation between each independent variable, ED revenue, and visitor volume. Autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) model was used to quantify the relationship between each independent variable, ED revenue, and visitor volume. The accuracies were evaluated by comparing model forecasts to actual values with mean absolute percentage of error. Sensitivity of prediction errors to model training time was also evaluated. The ARIMA models indicated that mean maximum temperature, relative humidity, rainfall, non-trauma, and trauma visits may correlate positively with ED revenue, but mean minimum temperature may correlate negatively with ED revenue. Moreover, mean minimum temperature and stock market index fluctuation may correlate positively with trauma visitor volume. Mean maximum temperature, relative humidity and stock market index fluctuation may correlate positively with non-trauma visitor volume. Mean maximum temperature and relative humidity may correlate positively with pediatric visitor volume, but mean minimum temperature may correlate negatively with pediatric visitor volume. The model also performed well in forecasting revenue and visitor volume

Predictors of intra-abdominal coagulopathic hemorrhage after living donor liver transplantation

AbstractBackgroundResults of preoperative conventional coagulation assays are a poor predictor of hemorrhage after liver transplantation. In this study, we evaluated the factors that are predictive of intra-abdominal coagulopathic hemorrhage after living donor liver transplantation surgery.MethodsDuring the period from January 2009 to December 2012, 118 adults underwent living donor liver transplantation (LDLT) in our institution. Of those patients, 18 (15.3%) developed intra-abdominal coagulopathic hemorrhage (n = 7) or hemorrhage due to non-coagulopathic causes (n = 11) that required emergency medical, radiological, or surgical intervention within the first month after LDLT. Possible predictors of postoperative coagulopathic hemorrhage included donor-related factors, age, body mass index, MELD score, INR value, intra-operative blood transfusion, graft/recipient weight ratio, anhepatic phase, cold ischemia time, operative time, APACHE II score, onset of re-bleeding, and hemoglobin levels during rebleeding episodes.ResultsThere were no differences in any of the variables between the two groups (coagulopathic and noncoagulopathic hemorrhage) except for cold ischemia time. We found that cold ischemia time was significantly longer in patients with postoperative coagulopathic hemorrhage (160.50 ± 45.02 min) than in patients with hemorrhage due to non-coagulopathic causes (113.55 ± 29.31 min; P = 0.027).ConclusionProlonged cold ischemia time is associated with postoperative intra-abdominal coagulopathic hemorrhage in patients after LDLT. It is, therefore, necessary to shorten the cold ischemia time in order to reduce the risk of postoperative intra-abdominal hemorrhage due to coagulopathic causes

Gingyo-San Enhances Immunity and Potentiates Infectious Bursal Disease Vaccination

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effects of Gingyo-san (GGS), a traditional Chinese medical formula, on peripheral lymphocyte proliferation and serum antibody titers in chickens vaccinated against the infectious bursal disease (IBD) virus. Treatment groups were fed one of three doses of GGS in their diet (0.5%, 1.0% and 2.0%, w/w), and the IBD vaccine was administered at 1 and 3 weeks of age. At Weeks 8, 12 and 16, changes in serum IBD antibody titers were measured via the micro-method and T cell proliferation. In gene expression experiments, GGS-treated peripheral T lymphocytes were stimulated with concanavalin A (ConA) for 24 h. The mRNA expression of interleukin-2 (IL-2), interferon-γ (IFN-γ), interleukin-4 (IL-4) and interleukin-12 (IL-12) was determined using a semi-quantitative RT-PCR assay. The results showed that a low dose of GGS could significantly raise the antibody titers. Medium and high doses of GGS enhanced IL-2 and IFN-γ production. GGS altered the expression of IL-4 and IL-12 in T lymphocytes. CD4+ T lymphocyte development was also skewed towards the Th1 phenotype. GGS enhanced cell-mediated immunity and augmented the effects of IBD vaccination in strengthening subsequent anti-viral responses

Managing cardiac arrest with refractory ventricular fibrillation in the emergency department: Conventional cardiopulmonary resuscitation versus extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation

AbstractAimRefractory ventricular fibrillation, resistant to conventional cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), is a life threatening rhythm encountered in the emergency department. Although previous reports suggest the use of extracorporeal CPR can improve the clinical outcomes in patients with prolonged cardiac arrest, the effectiveness of this novel strategy for refractory ventricular fibrillation is not known. We aimed to compare the clinical outcomes of patients with refractory ventricular fibrillation managed with conventional CPR or extracorporeal CPR in our institution.MethodThis is a retrospective chart review study from an emergency department in a tertiary referral medical center. We identified 209 patients presenting with cardiac arrest due to ventricular fibrillation between September 2011 and September 2013. Of these, 60 patients were enrolled with ventricular fibrillation refractory to resuscitation for more than 10min. The clinical outcome of patients with ventricular fibrillation received either conventional CPR, including defibrillation, chest compression, and resuscitative medication (C-CPR, n=40) or CPR plus extracorporeal CPR (E-CPR, n=20) were compared.ResultsThe overall survival rate was 35%, and 18.3% of patients were discharged with good neurological function. The mean duration of CPR was longer in the E-CPR group than in the C-CPR group (69.90±49.6min vs 34.3±17.7min, p=0.0001). Patients receiving E-CPR had significantly higher rates of sustained return of spontaneous circulation (95.0% vs 47.5%, p=0.0009), and good neurological function at discharge (40.0% vs 7.5%, p=0.0067). The survival rate in the E-CPR group was higher (50% vs 27.5%, p=0.1512) at discharge and (50% vs 20%, p=0. 0998) at 1 year after discharge.ConclusionsThe management of refractory ventricular fibrillation in the emergency department remains challenging, as evidenced by an overall survival rate of 35% in this study. Patients with refractory ventricular fibrillation receiving E-CPR had a trend toward higher survival rates and significantly improved neurological outcomes than those receiving C-CPR

Design of microarray probes for virus identification and detection of emerging viruses at the genus level

BACKGROUND: Most virus detection methods are geared towards the detection of specific single viruses or just a few known targets, and lack the capability to uncover the novel viruses that cause emerging viral infections. To address this issue, we developed a computational method that identifies the conserved viral sequences at the genus level for all viral genomes available in GenBank, and established a virus probe library. The virus probes are used not only to identify known viruses but also for discerning the genera of emerging or uncharacterized ones. RESULTS: Using the microarray approach, the identity of the virus in a test sample is determined by the signals of both genus and species-specific probes. The genera of emerging and uncharacterized viruses are determined based on hybridization of the viral sequences to the conserved probes for the existing viral genera. A detection and classification procedure to determine the identity of a virus directly from detection signals results in the rapid identification of the virus. CONCLUSION: We have demonstrated the validity and feasibility of the above strategy with a small number of viral samples. The probe design algorithm can be applied to any publicly available viral sequence database. The strategy of using separate genus and species probe sets enables the use of a straightforward virus identity calculation directly based on the hybridization signals. Our virus identification strategy has great potential in the diagnosis of viral infections. The virus genus and specific probe database and the associated summary tables are available a