3,408 research outputs found
Perception of safety climate among Indonesian nurses: A cross-sectional survey
Background: The measurement of nurse perception on safety, and the factors associated to safety climate, direct the development of effective strategies in reducing adverse events, and patient safety improvement.Design and Method: This research was quantified, using the teamwork and safety climate domains of an Indonesian translated version of the Safety Attitudes Questionnaire (SAQ-INA). The teamwork and safety climate domain scores were calculated, using the published SAQ-INA scoring algorithm. The univariate and multivariate median regression models were performed to examine the association between potential predictors and safety climate.Result: The results showed that 279 nurses responded to the survey (82% response rate). While most of them had a positive attitude towards teamwork (n= 170, 61%), fewer possessed the same mentality towards safety climate (n=109, 39%). The lowest level of teamwork was perceived by nurses working in the emergency department (median 71, interquartile range 12.5), and safety climate (median 64, interquartile range 14.2). Furthermore, those that worked in the private hospitals, also reported lower levels of safety climate, compared to nurses in the public health centres (median difference=-3.571, p=0.009).Conclusion: Ward and hospital type were associated with the level of safety climate, perceived by nurses. Understanding the key areas, the intervention is best directed to target hospital wards with poor safety climate, in a bid to reduce adverse events, and improve patient safety
Taphonomy of a monodominant Gryposaurus sp. bonebed from the Oldman Formation (Campanian) of Alberta, Canada
A monodominant Gryposaurus sp. bonebed in the lower unit of the Campanian Oldman Formation of southern Alberta is the oldest hadrosauroid bonebed documented in the province and the first described from the formation. The sedimentology of the locality and the taphonomy of the hadrosaurid material indicates that the bonebed represents an assemblage of juvenile-sized individuals that were probably transported only a short distance from where they died to where they were finally deposited and preserved in a fine-grained mudstone within an overbank sequence. Histological examination of six limb elements confirms that all individuals are juveniles, with two age classes (<1 and <2 years of age at the time of death) that likely died in the same event. Bone microstructure data indicate that Gryposaurus experienced rapid growth over the 2-year life spans documented, equivalent to other Late Cretaceous hadrosaurids in North America. The parautochthonous nature of the bonebed, and the lack of small neonate (newborn) material and almost complete lack of large adult material, suggests that the bonebed represents a segregated group of juveniles. This group of immature individuals may have been an autonomous unit that had separated itself from a larger social grouping, possibly in an effort to increase their survivability
World health system performance revisited: the impact of varying the relative importance of health system goals
BACKGROUND: In 2002, the World Health Organization published a health system performance ranking for 191 member countries. The ranking was based on five indicators, with fixed weights common to all countries. METHODS: We investigate the feasibility and desirability of using mathematical programming techniques that allow weights to vary across countries to reflect their varying circumstances and objectives. RESULTS: By global distributional measures, scores and ranks are found to be not very sensitive to changes in weights, although differences can be large for individual countries. CONCLUSIONS: Building the flexibility of variable weights into calculation of the performance index is a useful way to respond to the debates and criticisms appearing since publication of the ranking
Estrogen Antagonist and Development of Macular Hole
To describe the clinical and optical coherence tomography (OCT) features of a macular hole (MH) or its precursor lesion in patients treated with systemic antiestrogen agents. We reviewed the medical history of the patient, ophthalmic examination, and both fundus and OCT findings. Three female patients receiving antiestrogen therapy sought treatment for visual disturbance. All of the patients showed foveal cystic changes with outer retinal defect upon OCT. Visual improvement was achieved through surgery for the treatment of MH in two patients. Antiestrogen therapy may result in MH or its precursor lesion, in addition to perifoveal refractile deposits. OCT examination would be helpful for early detection in such cases
C35 overexpression defines subsets of human breast cancer and its immunoreceptor tyrosine-based activation motif represents a novel treatment target
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Blood levels of adiponectin and IL-1Ra distinguish type 3c from type 2 diabetes: Implications for earlier pancreatic cancer detection in new-onset diabetes
BACKGROUND: Screening for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) in populations at high risk is recommended. Individuals with new-onset type 2 diabetes mellitus (NOD) are the largest high-risk group for PDAC. To facilitate screening, we sought biomarkers capable of stratifying NOD subjects into those with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and those with the less prevalent PDAC-related diabetes (PDAC-DM), a form of type 3c DM commonly misdiagnosed as T2DM. METHODS: Using mass spectrometry- and immunoassay-based methodologies in a multi-stage analysis of independent sample sets (n=443 samples), blood levels of 264 proteins were considered using Ingenuity Pathway Analysis, literature review and targeted training and validation. FINDINGS: Of 30 candidate biomarkers evaluated in up to four independent patient sets, 12 showed statistically significant differences in levels between PDAC-DM and T2DM. The combination of adiponectin and interleukin-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1Ra) showed strong diagnostic potential, (AUC of 0.91; 95% CI: 0.84-0.99) for the distinction of T3cDM from T2DM. INTERPRETATION: Adiponectin and IL-1Ra warrant further consideration for use in screening for PDAC in individuals newly-diagnosed with T2DM. FUNDING: North West Cancer Research, UK, Cancer Research UK, Pancreatic Cancer Action, UK
Energy input and response from prompt and early optical afterglow emission in gamma-ray bursts
The taxonomy of optical emission detected during the critical first few
minutes after the onset of a gamma-ray burst (GRB) defines two broad classes:
prompt optical emission correlated with prompt gamma-ray emission, and early
optical afterglow emission uncorrelated with the gamma-ray emission. The
standard theoretical interpretation attributes prompt emission to internal
shocks in the ultra-relativistic outflow generated by the internal engine;
early afterglow emission is attributed to shocks generated by interaction with
the surrounding medium. Here we report on observations of a bright GRB that,
for the first time, clearly show the temporal relationship and relative
strength of the two optical components. The observations indicate that early
afterglow emission can be understood as reverberation of the energy input
measured by prompt emission. Measurements of the early afterglow reverberations
therefore probe the structure of the environment around the burst, whereas the
subsequent response to late-time impulsive energy releases reveals how earlier
flaring episodes have altered the jet and environment parameters. Many GRBs are
generated by the death of massive stars that were born and died before the
Universe was ten per cent of its current age, so GRB afterglow reverberations
provide clues about the environments around some of the first stars.Comment: 13 pages, 4 figures, 1 table. Note: This paper has been accepted for
publication in Nature, but is embargoed for discussion in the popular press
until formal publication in Natur
A cross-national study on the antecedents of work–life balance from the fit and balance perspective
Drawing on the perceived work–family fit and balance perspective, this study investigates demands and resources as antecedents of work–life balance (WLB) across four countries (New Zealand, France, Italy and Spain), so as to provide empirical cross-national evidence. Using structural equation modelling analysis on a sample of 870 full time employees, we found that work demands, hours worked and family demands were negatively related to WLB, while job autonomy and supervisor support were positively related to WLB. We also found evidence that resources (job autonomy and supervisor support) moderated the relationships between demands and work–life balance, with high resources consistently buffering any detrimental influence of demands on WLB. Furthermore, our study identified additional predictors of WLB that were unique to some national contexts. For example, in France and Italy, overtime hours worked were negatively associated with WLB, while parental status was positively associated with WLB. Overall, the implications for theory and practice are discussed.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft
Direct measurement of antiferromagnetic domain fluctuations
Measurements of magnetic noise emanating from ferromagnets due to domain
motion were first carried out nearly 100 years ago and have underpinned much
science and technology. Antiferromagnets, which carry no net external magnetic
dipole moment, yet have a periodic arrangement of the electron spins extending
over macroscopic distances, should also display magnetic noise, but this must
be sampled at spatial wavelengths of order several interatomic spacings, rather
than the macroscopic scales characteristic of ferromagnets. Here we present the
first direct measurement of the fluctuations in the nanometre-scale spin-
(charge-) density wave superstructure associated with antiferromagnetism in
elemental Chromium. The technique used is X-ray Photon Correlation
Spectroscopy, where coherent x-ray diffraction produces a speckle pattern that
serves as a "fingerprint" of a particular magnetic domain configuration. The
temporal evolution of the patterns corresponds to domain walls advancing and
retreating over micron distances. While the domain wall motion is thermally
activated at temperatures above 100K, it is not so at lower temperatures, and
indeed has a rate which saturates at a finite value - consistent with quantum
fluctuations - on cooling below 40K. Our work is important because it provides
an important new measurement tool for antiferromagnetic domain engineering as
well as revealing a fundamental new fact about spin dynamics in the simplest
antiferromagnet.Comment: 19 pages, 4 figure
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Output from VIP cells of the mammalian central clock regulates daily physiological rhythms
The suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) circadian clock is critical for optimising daily cycles in mammalian physiology and behaviour. The roles of the various SCN cell types in communicating timing information to downstream physiological systems remain incompletely understood, however. In particular, while vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP) signalling is essential for SCN function and whole animal circadian rhythmicity, the specific contributions of VIP cell output to physiological control remains uncertain. Here we reveal a key role for SCN VIP cells in central clock output. Using multielectrode recording and optogenetic manipulations, we show that VIP neurons provide coordinated daily waves of GABAergic input to target cells across the paraventricular hypothalamus and ventral thalamus, supressing their activity during the mid to late day. Using chemogenetic manipulation, we further demonstrate specific roles for this circuitry in the daily control of heart rate and corticosterone secretion, collectively establishing SCN VIP cells as influential regulators of physiological timing
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