Describing interruptions, multi-tasking and task-switching in the community pharmacy: A qualitative study in England

Background: There is growing evidence base around interruptions and distractions in the community pharmacy setting. There is also evidence to suggest these practices may be associated with dispensing errors. Up to date, qualitative research on this subject is limited. Objective: To explore interruptions and distractions in the community setting; utilising an ethnographic approach to be able to provide a detailed description of the circumstances surrounding such practices. Setting: Community pharmacies in England, July to October 2011. Method: An ethnographic approach was taken. Non participant, unstructured observations were utilised to make records of pharmacists’ every activities. Case studies were formed by combining field notes with detailed information on pharmacists and their respective pharmacy businesses. Content analysis was undertaken both manually and electronically, utilising NVivo 10. Results: Response rate was 12% (n=11). Over fifteen days, a total of 123 hours and 58 minutes of observations were recorded in 11 separate pharmacies of 11 individual pharmacists. The sample was evenly split by gender (female n=6; male n=5) and pharmacy ownership (independent n=5; multiple n=6). Employment statuses included employee pharmacists (n=6), owners (n=4) and a locum (n=1). Average period of registration as a pharmacist was 19 years (range 5-39 years). Average prescriptions busyness of pharmacies ranged from 2,600 – 24,000 items dispensed per month. Two key themes were: “Interruptions and task-switching” and “distractions and multi-tasking.” All observed pharmacists’ work was dominated by interruptions, task-switches, distractions and multi-tasking, often to manage a barrage of conflicting demands. These practices were observed to be part of a deep-rooted culture in the community setting. Directional work maps illustrated the extent and direction of task switching employed by pharmacists. Conclusions: In this study pharmacists’ working practices were permeated by interruptions and multi-tasking. These practices are inefficient and potentially reduce patient safety in terms of dispensing accuracy

Virginia-Highland Historic District

Prepared by the spring 2009 Preservation Planning class. The design guidelines were developed to promote preservation and rehabilitation of historic buildings and new construction. Presented within are recommendations for appropriate building materials and design. The guidelines are mean to serve as a tool to property owners and commission members during the design review process.https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/history_heritagepreservation/1042/thumbnail.jp

Far-infrared observations of IRC + 10216

Broad-band photometric observations of IRC + 10216 in five wavelength intervals from 50 to 1000 μ are reported. The observed radiation is interpreted as thermal emission from dust in the extended molecular cloud heated by the compact 2-20 μ source as the core of the cloud. The shape of the 50-1000 μ spectrum suggests that the emissivity of the dust particles varies approximately as λ^(-1) over this spectral interval. The mass of dust inferred from the far-infrared emission is comparable with the mass of heavy molecules in the cloud

Single-Family Residential Development in DeKalb County 1945-1970

The Case studies class of spring of 2010 compiled this resource material. This study focused on suburban residential developments in DeKalb County, Georgia between the end of World War II and 1970 in order to better understand the transformation of the area after the Second World War. The resource includes data on national residential trends, architectural and landscape designs, as well as information on metropolitan Atlanta. The resource was created to support the effort to preserve local neighborhoods, buildings, and landmarks by providing the historic context in which they were created.https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/history_heritagepreservation/1038/thumbnail.jp

Atmospheric Boundary Layer Classification With Doppler Lidar

We present a method using Doppler lidar data for identifying the main sources of turbulent mixing within the atmospheric boundary layer. The method identifies the presence of turbulence and then assigns a turbulent source by combining several lidar quantities: attenuated backscatter coefficient, vertical velocity skewness, dissipation rate of turbulent kinetic energy, and vector wind shear. Both buoyancy-driven and shear-driven situations are identified, and the method operates in both clear-sky and cloud-topped conditions, with some reservations in precipitation. To capture the full seasonal cycle, the classification method was applied to more than 1year of data from two sites, Hyytiala, Finland, and Julich, Germany. Analysis showed seasonal variation in the diurnal cycle at both sites; a clear diurnal cycle was observed in spring, summer, and autumn seasons, but due to their respective latitudes, a weaker cycle in winter at Julich, and almost non-existent at Hyytiala. Additionally, there are significant contributions from sources other than convective mixing, with cloud-driven mixing being observed even within the first 500m above ground. Also evident is the considerable amount of nocturnal mixing within the lowest 500m at both sites, especially during the winter. The presence of a low-level jet was often detected when sources of nocturnal mixing were diagnosed as wind shear. The classification scheme and the climatology extracted from the classification provide insight into the processes responsible for mixing within the atmospheric boundary layer, how variable in space and time these can be, and how they vary with location. Key PointsPeer reviewe

Rho-associated kinase (ROCK) function is essential for cell cycle progression, senescence and tumorigenesis

Rho-associated kinases 1 and 2 (ROCK1/2) are Rho-GTPase effectors that control key aspects of the actin cytoskeleton, but their role in proliferation and cancer initiation or progression is not known. Here, we provide evidence that ROCK1 and ROCK2 act redundantly to maintain actomyosin contractility and cell proliferation and that their loss leads to cell-cycle arrest and cellular senescence. This phenotype arises from down-regulation of the essential cell-cycle proteins CyclinA, CKS1 and CDK1. Accordingly, while the loss of either Rock1 or Rock2 had no negative impact on tumorigenesis in mouse models of non-small cell lung cancer and melanoma, loss of both blocked tumor formation, as no tumors arise in which both Rock1 and Rock2 have been genetically deleted. Our results reveal an indispensable role for ROCK, yet redundant role for isoforms 1 and 2, in cell cycle progression and tumorigenesis, possibly through the maintenance of cellular contractility

Strategies for carbohydrate model building, refinement and validation

Sugars are the most stereochemically intricate family of biomolecules and present substantial challenges to anyone trying to understand their nomenclature, reactions or branched structures. Current crystallographic programs provide an abstraction layer allowing inexpert structural biologists to build complete protein or nucleic acid model components automatically either from scratch or with little manual intervention. This is, however, still not generally true for sugars. The need for carbohydrate-specific building and validation tools has been highlighted a number of times in the past, concomitantly with the introduction of a new generation of experimental methods that have been ramping up the production of protein-sugar complexes and glycoproteins for the past decade. While some incipient advances have been made to address these demands, correctly modelling and refining carbohydrates remains a challenge. This article will address many of the typical difficulties that a structural biologist may face when dealing with carbohydrates, with an emphasis on problem solving in the resolution range where X-ray crystallography and cryo-electron microscopy are expected to overlap in the next decade