An empirical investigation of the influence of organizational culture on individual readiness for change in Syrian manufacturing organizations

Purpose - While few recent studies have paid attention to the relationship between Organizational Culture (OC) and Individual Readiness for Change (IRFC), there is still a lack of systematic and empirical studies regarding the influence of all OC types on the IRFC components within the change management literature. This study aims to fill this gap in the literature by empirically examining the influence of all four organizational culture types of the Competing Values Framework (CVF) on the components of IRFC regarding TQM implementation, within the context of manufacturing organizations operating in Syria. Design/methodology/approach - A total of four hypotheses were proposed for testing. A questionnaire was developed and distributed to 350 Syrian Manufacturing Organizations (SMOs) in order to measure the level of IRFC and to identify the cultural profiles and characteristics of these organizations. Findings - The analysis of the collected shows that certain types of organizational culture are conducive to fostering IRFC. In particular, the findings of an empirical investigation revealed that group culture and adhocracy culture are the most supportive culture types for IRFC. Originality/value - This paper contributes to the existing literature of change management by providing empirical evidence leading to advancement of knowledge and the understanding of the relationship between OC types and IRFC components. Furthermore, the paper adds value via its contextual originality; being the first study that empirically examined the Syrian cultural context, and hence contributing to the scarce body of literature of both OC and IRFC, and in particular the developing countries

Acute vascular rejection after kidney transplantation outcome and effect of different therapeutic modalities

Background: Steroid resistant acute vascular rejection (AVR) is a great obstacle in successful renal transplantation (KTx). The aim of this work was to evaluate the outcome of histologically confirmed acute vascular rejection - which occurred in severe aggressive form in 39 patients following kidney transplantation as well as to study the outcome of therapy. These cases were chosen from 1000 renal allograft recipients who underwent kidney transplantation in the period between March, 1976 and April 1997 in Urology-Nephrology Center, Mansoura, Egypt.Methods: Statistical analysis of risk factors leading to AVR was carried out. The outcome of different rescue therapies used for AVR as well as graft survival functions were also analyzed.Results: Survival analysis for grafts with AVR revealed 60%, 53%, 30 %, 0% graft survival at 1, 2, 5, 10 yrs respectively after Tx. A statistically significant difference was found in comparison to patients who only experienced acute cellular rejection (90%, 84%, 71%, 46% graft survival at 1, 2, 5, 10 years post- KTx respectively) or patients who passed without rejection in their post-transplantation follow up (95%, 91.3%, 83.3%, 65.5% graft survival at 1, 2, 5, 10 yrs respectively). No statistically significant difference on the overall graft survival between the different modalities of therapy was noted. Steroid pulses + plasma exchange were given for 14 patients with AVR, whereas ATG, MAB ± plasma exchange were added to steroid resistant cases (25 patients). Logistic regression analysis of these data showed that prior blood transfusion, donor-recipient consanguinity, retransplantation are the most significant variables related to occurrence of AVR after kidney transplantation. At last follow up, 14 patients 35.9%) were living with functioning grafts, 16 patients (41%) were living on dialysis, 5 patients died with functioning grafts (12.8%) and 4 patients (10.25%) died with failed grafts.In conclusion: AVR remains a major obstacle for renal transplantation as it markedly impaired graft survival and responded poorly to therapy. Prior blood transfusion decreased the incidence of AVR whereas retransplantation and unrelated donation account significantly to the occurrence of AVR after renal Tx

A prospective, randomized therapeutic trial for schistosomal specific nephropathy

A prospective, randomized therapeutic trial for schistosomal specific nephropathy. In this work 26 patients with schistosomal specific nephropathy were randomly distributed among three groups. Group I cases were given anti-schistosomal drugs (oxamniquine and praziquantel), group II cases were given anti-schistosomal drugs plus prednisolone, and group III cases were given anti-schistosomal drugs plus cyclosporine. The schistosomal specificity of kidney lesions was assessed by detecting the schistosomal specific antigens (CAA and CCA) and antibodies deposited in the renal glomeruli of these patients. Patients who had another etiologic cause which may explain their kidney disease were not admitted to this study. After initiation of the treatment, patients were followed up every other week in the outpatient clinic for 12 months. Follow-up showed complete remission of proteinuria in two cases in group II (duration of remission was 4 and 8 months) and in one case in group III (duration of remission was 6 months) but in none in group I. Partial remission was observed in one case in group I, in three cases in group II and in one case in group HI. During the observation period, improvement in kidney function was observed in two cases in group II but deterioration in kidney function was observed in one case in group I and in one other case in group III. We conclude that in patients with schistosomal nephropathy, none of the tried therapeutic regimens produce regression of the disease if given to patients with established disease

Stay-at-home myopia among school children during the COVID-19 pandemic

Background: Uncorrected myopia represents a major cause of visual disability in children, especially in low-income and middle-income countries. However, there is still debate about the effect of e-learning and “stay-at-home” guidelines on the refractive status of school children, especially in the absence of long-term follow-up data. This study aimed to assess the impact of stay-at-home enforcement during the COVID-19 pandemic on myopia development or progression in students in the Suez Canal Area, Egypt. Methods: This longitudinal observational study included 1650 students. All students aged 8–15 years with visual complaints, who had attended routine annual vision checks since 2018, were enrolled and assessed annually for myopia development and progression until 2021. Cycloplegic and noncycloplegic refraction, axial length (AL), corneal curvature, and uncorrected and best-corrected distance visual acuity were measured. The participants were administered a questionnaire that focused mainly on collecting information on their visual habits. Results: Our study included 3,300 eyes of 1,650 school students with myopia during the 4-year study period from 2018 to 2021. The mean cycloplegic spherical equivalents (CSE) were - 1.02, - 1.52, - 2.00, and - 3.50 diopters (D) in 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021, respectively. This myopic shift in CSE over time was significant (P < 0.001). The average keratometric reading (Avg K) increased significantly during the follow-up period (P < 0.001). The Avg K measurements were 42.32, 42.62, 43.02, and 44.19 D in 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021, respectively. The changes in Avg K were significant (P < 0.001). The mean AL measurements were 22.53, 22.59, 22.69, and 22.71 mm in 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021, respectively. Although statistically significant (P < 0.001), changes in AL were clinically insignificant throughout the study period. The mean durations spent on electronic devices at home were 2.12, 2.46, 3.10, and 6.00 hours in 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021, respectively. The changes over time were significant (P < 0.001). Conclusions: During the COVID-19 pandemic, studying at home accelerated the degree of refraction toward myopia in school children in Egypt. Further studies are needed to assess the academic performance of students with progressive myopia

Role of Head Nurses in Managing the Safety of High Alert Medications in Critical Care Units

high-alert medication is a medication that bears a heightened risk of causing significant patient harm when used in error .Head nurses are responsible for managing and improving the safety of high alert medications within the critical care unit.  Nurses receive directions and cooperation with their head nurses to achieve this target. A total of 236 nurses were willing to participate in the descriptive cross-sectional study. The first aim of this study was to develop a new questionnaire to describe the role of head nurses towards the nurses during practices of the safety of high alert medications. A secondary aim was to identify the factors influencing these roles. The key results of this study were the establishment of the questionnaire to describe the head nurse role in managing the safety of high alert medications as a reliable and valid tool that can be used to assess nurses’ perception in this respect. Head nurses role in this study was generally mild. Evaluation role was lesser than management, patient care and supervision and development roles. These results can be attributed to a combination of factors, some related to an organizational system and the other to managerial factors. Keywords: head nurses, role, high alert, medication

Improvement of Expansive Soil by Using Micro Silica Fume

Expansive soil shows frequent volume changes with the changes in the moisture content, causing severe problems to the civil engineering structures. Consequently, the measurements of swelling properties including free swell index and swelling pressure are extremely important. Several attempts are being made all over the world to control the swell-shrink behavior of expansive soils. Many researches have investigated how to overcome the problems of such soils by means of using different additives such as cement, lime, steel fibers, stone dust and fly ash. This study is directed towards the improvement of expansive soil with a new, inexpensive and environmentally friendly additive. In this study, the effect of using micro silica fume to stabilize the soil was investigated through a laboratory study. Test results showed that, the micro silica fume can considerably decrease the free swell index value by 69% at 25% micro silica fume content. Also, the swelling pressure is reduced from 410 kN/m2 to nearly 330 kN/m2 and 302 kN/m2 at micro silica fume content of 5% and 25%, respectively. This demonstrates the effectiveness of the proposed addition in the expansive soils improvement. This improvement technique can be used in different civil engineering construction projects including slope stabilization and road embankments

Post-transplant anemia in pediatric patients and its impact on patient and graft survival: single center experience

Introduction: Post-transplantation anemia (PTA)occurs frequently, with prevalence rates between 20and 60% depending on the criteria used for defininganemia.Aim of the work: We aimed to assess the prevalenceof anemia after 6 months of transplantation inpediatric renal transplant patients under differentprotocols of immunosuppression, and to determinethe impact of anemia upon long-term patient andgraft survival.Patients and methods: Based on the data of 108renal transplants performed in our center, patientswere categorized after 6 months according to theirhemoglobin (Hb) levels into two groups. The firstgroup with Hb more than 11gm/dl (group I, 29cases) and the second group with Hb lessthan11gm/dl (group II, 79cases). We compared thetwo groups regarding post transplant complications(rejection episodes, hypertension, diabetes mellitus,infections, hepatic dysfunction, and patient andgraft survival.Results: we found no significant difference betweenthe two groups regarding rejection episodes.However, the percentage of cases with chronicallograft nephropathy was significantly higher in the anemic group. The survivors with functioning graftswere significantly higher in cases with normal Hb.Moreover, living cases with graft failure weresignificantly higher in anemic group. Graft survivalrate was better in the non anemic group. However,no difference in patient survival was detected. Also,we found no difference between the two groupsregarding post-transplant complications.Conclusions: From this study, we can conclude thatthe prevalence of post-transplant anemia is highpediatric renal transplant patients especially thosereceiving CNI and MMF, and it was associated withpoorer graft outcome but no effect on patientsurvival

X-ray Molecular Structure of ({[(1E)-3-(1H-Imidazol-1-yl)-1- phenylpropylidene]amino} oxy)(3,4,5-trimethoxyphenyl)- methanone: A Potential Anti-Candida Agent

Purpose: To elucidate the solid-state conformation as well as the imine double bond configuration of a potential anti-Candida agent ({[(1E)-3-(1H-imidazol-1-yl) 1-phenylpropylidene]amino}oxy)(3,4,5- trimethoxyphenyl)methanone.Methods: Acetophenone was used as a starting material to prepare the target oximino ester in a fourstep reaction sequence. Nuclear magnetic resonance (1H-NMR and 13C-NMR) and mass spectrometry were used to confirm the chemical structure of the synthesized compounds. Thereafter, x-ray crystallography was performed on single crystals of the target compound. The solid-state conformation of the target molecule and the (E)-configuration of its imine double bond were determined via the investigation of its single crystal x-ray molecular structure.Results: The titled compound crystallized in the triclinic space group P-1 with a = 11.0719 (7) Å, b = 14.6602 (9) Å, c = 14.8530 (9) Å, α = 67.205 (4)°, β = 80.388 (5)º, γ = 70.100 (5)°, V = 2088.2 (2) Å3, and Z = 4. Individual molecules were packed in the crystal by three weak non-classical intermolecular hydrogen interactions, including C9A—H9AA•••O3A, C9B—H9BA•••O3B, C18B—H18C•••O2A and C20B—H20B•••O4B.Conclusion: The results of the single crystal x-ray molecular structure of the titled anti-Candida agent unequivocally confirmed its (E)-configuration.Keywords: Molecular structure, X-ray crystallography, Synthesis, Azole, Anti-Candid