Cerebrospinal fluid real-time quaking-induced conversion is a robust and reliable test for sporadic creutzfeldt–jakob disease:An international study

Real-time quaking-induced conversion (RT-QuIC) has been proposed as a sensitive diagnostic test for sporadic Creutzfeldt\u2013Jakob disease; however, before this assay can be introduced into clinical practice, its reliability and reproducibility need to be demonstrated. Two international ring trials were undertaken in which a set of 25 cerebrospinal fluid samples were analyzed by a total of 11 different centers using a range of recombinant prion protein substrates and instrumentation. The results show almost complete concordance between the centers and demonstrate that RT-QuIC is a suitably reliable and robust technique for clinical practice. Ann Neurol 2016;80:160\u2013165

Management of pulmonary tuberculosis patients in an urban setting in Zambia: a patient's perspective

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Zambia continues to grapple with a high tuberculosis (TB) burden despite a long running Directly Observed Treatment Short course programme. Understanding issues that affect patient adherence to treatment programme is an important component in implementation of a successful TB control programme. We set out to investigate pulmonary TB patient's attitudes to seek health care, assess the care received from government health care centres based on TB patients' reports, and to seek associations with patient adherence to TB treatment programme.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>This was a cross-sectional study of 105 respondents who had been registered as pulmonary TB patients (new and retreatment cases) in Ndola District between January 2006 and July 2007. We administered a structured questionnaire, bearing questions to obtain individual data on socio-demographics, health seeking behaviour, knowledge on TB, reported adherence to TB treatment, and health centre care received during treatment to consenting respondents.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We identified that respondents delayed to seek treatment (68%) even when knowledge of TB symptoms was high (78%) or when they suspected that they had TB (73%). Respondent adherence to taking medication was high (77%) but low adherence to submitting follow-up sputum (47%) was observed in this group. Similarly, caregivers educate their patients more often on the treatment of the disease (98%) and drug taking (100%), than on submitting sputum during treatment (53%) and its importance (54%). Respondent adherence to treatment was significantly associated with respondent's knowledge about the disease and its treatment (p < 0.0001), and with caregiver's adherence to treatment guidelines (p = 0.0027).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>There is a need to emphasise the importance of submitting follow-up sputum during patient education and counselling in order to enhance patient adherence and ultimately treatment outcome.</p

In-situ mechanical weakness of subducting sediments beneath a plate boundary décollement in the Nankai Trough

© 2018, The Author(s). The study investigates the in-situ strength of sediments across a plate boundary décollement using drilling parameters recorded when a 1180-m-deep borehole was established during International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) Expedition 370, Temperature-Limit of the Deep Biosphere off Muroto (T-Limit). Information of the in-situ strength of the shallow portion in/around a plate boundary fault zone is critical for understanding the development of accretionary prisms and of the décollement itself. Studies using seismic reflection surveys and scientific ocean drillings have recently revealed the existence of high pore pressure zones around frontal accretionary prisms, which may reduce the effective strength of the sediments. A direct measurement of in-situ strength by experiments, however, has not been executed due to the difficulty in estimating in-situ stress conditions. In this study, we derived a depth profile for the in-situ strength of a frontal accretionary prism across a décollement from drilling parameters using the recently established equivalent strength (EST) method. At site C0023, the toe of the accretionary prism area off Cape Muroto, Japan, the EST gradually increases with depth but undergoes a sudden change at ~ 800 mbsf, corresponding to the top of the subducting sediment. At this depth, directly below the décollement zone, the EST decreases from ~ 10 to 2 MPa, with a change in the baseline. This mechanically weak zone in the subducting sediments extends over 250 m (~ 800–1050 mbsf), corresponding to the zone where the fluid influx was discovered, and high-fluid pressure was suggested by previous seismic imaging observations. Although the origin of the fluids or absolute values of the strength remain unclear, our investigations support previous studies suggesting that elevated pore pressure beneath the décollement weakens the subducting sediments. [Figure not available: see fulltext.]

Business ethics competencies: KSAOS for business ethics practitioners

This dissertation describes a proposed framework of knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics (KSAOs) of a practitioner who is competent in business ethics, compliance, or integrity should possess. These competencies may be leveraged as key input to selecting content for an institutionalized business ethics (BE) training program. The research problem for this dissertation was: What competencies are important for job performance of business ethics practitioners in industry and how do their perceptions compare with those of academics? Triangulation of research methods and data sources—including industry (public service and private sector) and academics, were used to investigate this problem. Phase I consisted of developing a provisional taxonomy of business ethics competencies through the use of the secondary methodology to help design a survey questionnaire. Phase II involved a survey of academic and industry practitioners implicated in business ethics to empirically validate the conceptually developed provisional taxonomy of business ethics competencies and help identify potentially under or over-emphasized competencies to help make recommendations regarding the selection of business ethics training content by choosing relevant course materials based on competencies and key risks and issues. Several theoretical and pragmatic contributions to the business ethics training, competency-based management, and risk management bodies of knowledge are made that include: Institutionalized BE Program (IBEP) parent theory and body of knowledge A model for content selection for BE instruction is developed to help guide future selection and tailoring of training content based on baseline competencies and organizational context. Competency-Based Management (CBM) parent theory and body of knowledge A conceptually and empirically developed and content validated proposed business ethics competency model that may serve to guide future research in this neglected area is provided. Risk Management (RM) parent theory and body of knowledge Given the rapid pace of technological, social, economic, and other constant changes faced by organizations, future competency identification is made possible by the proposed enhancement of traditional environmental scanning methods to include new dimensions to the risk identification process through the creation of an extended environmental scanning model (STEEP LEDGES). Also, the traditional risk assessment framework is enhanced by adding prevalence, a third dimension to augment likelihood and impact that should help assess current and new risks and issues using the extended risk assessment model (LIP)

Business ethics competencies: controversies, contexts, and implications for business ethics training

This chapter aims to discuss the divergent views of 102 practitioners and academics about business ethics competencies and potential implications for business ethics training. It presents, first, an introduction to the nature of the misalignment between academia and industry and, second, business ethics training issues and controversies. Next, the two phases of the research, including document analysis and a survey in Canada and the US, are noted. When considering practitioner needs, potentially over- or under-emphasized competencies are identified by means of a survey to shed light on the extent of this misalignment, so that future instructional efforts can focus on increasing content considered by practitioners to be under-emphasized, while reducing the content considered to be over- emphasized. Finally,a proposed business ethics competency model is provided, as well as a comprehensive content selection model for business ethics development, designed and recommended for business ethics practitioners and academics

Business ethics competencies research: implications for Canadian practitioners

This paper describes a proposed framework of knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics (KSAOs) that a practitioner who is competent in business ethics, compliance, or integrity should possess. These competencies may be leveraged as key input to selecting content for an institutionalized business ethics training program. The focus in this paper is on the management problem of 'What competencies are important for job performance of business ethics practitioners'. Phase I consisted of developing a provisional taxonomy of business ethics competencies and Phase II involved academic and industry practitioners implicated in business ethics to validate the conceptually developed provisional taxonomy of business ethics competencies to eventually make recommendations regarding the selection of business ethics training content. The contribution to the business ethics competency-based management knowledge that is presented in this paper is a proposed business ethics competency model and the implications of this model for Canadian practitioners are discussed