A Baldrige Portfolio: Does Quality Outperform The Market?

This paper investigates the claim, by the Department of Commerce, that a portfolio of Baldrige National Quality Award winners outperforms the market.  They find that there is a 92 percent return for Baldrige winners as compared to a 33 percent return on the S&P 500 index.  Their results are published and used to promote “quality” in Department of Commerce press releases.  Our findings do not support their claim that investors can handsomely outperform the market by investing in a Baldrige portfolio.  We find that their study is sensitive to risk measurement and that extending the time horizon alone eliminates any advantage.  Our examination of long-run stock price performance of Baldrige firms also does not support their claim of outperforming the market

Inhibition of Ataxia Telangiectasia Mutated Kinase Activity Enhances TRAIL-Mediated Apoptosis in Human Melanoma Cells

The aim of the present study was to elucidate the effects of ataxia telangiectasia mutated (ATM) kinase on the regulation of the extrinsic tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) receptor 2/DR5-mediated death pathway in human melanoma cells. We revealed that total ATM protein levels were high in some human melanoma lines compared with normal cells. The basal levels of active form ATM phospho-Ser1981 were also detectable in many melanoma lines and could be further up-regulated by γ-irradiation. Pretreatment of several melanoma lines just before γ-irradiation with the inhibitor of ATM kinase KU-55933 suppressed p53 and nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) activation but notably increased radiation-induced DR5 surface expression, down-regulated cFLIP (caspase-8 inhibitor) levels, and substantially enhanced exogenous TRAIL-induced apoptosis. Furthermore, γ-irradiation in the presence of KU-55933 rendered TRAIL-resistant HHMSX melanoma cells susceptible to TRAIL-mediated apoptosis. In addition, suppression of ATM expression by the specific short hairpin RNA also resulted in down-regulation of cFLIP levels, up-regulation of surface DR5 expression, and TRAIL-mediated apoptosis in melanoma cells. Besides p53 and NF-κB, crucial regulators of DR5 expression, transcription factor STAT3 is known to negatively regulate DR5 expression. Suppression of Ser727 and Tyr705 phosphorylation of STAT3 by KU-55933 reduced STAT3 transacting activity accompanied by elevation in DR5 expression. Dominant-negative STAT3β also efficiently up-regulated the DR5 surface expression and down-regulated cFLIP levels in melanoma cells in culture and in vivo. Taken together, our data show the existence of an ATM-dependent STAT3-mediated antiapoptotic pathway, which on suppression sensitizes human melanoma cells to TRAIL-mediated apoptosis

Applying Information Technology to Patient Safety Reporting System

After a nursing staff of North Town Woman & Children\u27s Hospital made an error injection and caused one infant dead and six injured in 2002, the Taiwan government pays more attention to patient safety. Firstly, the Department of Health (DOH) established the Patient Safety Committee in February, 2003 to promote several patients’ safety activities and education training. Secondly, the committee is actively planning a nationwide reporting system of patient safety to summarize the common causes of medical errors. Most hospitals (about 70%) have not utilized information technology to construct a patient safety reporting system. The conventional reporting mechanism is to fill a paper form and circulate through out the organization. Therefore, in order to make the greater efficiency and effectiveness on a reporting system, this research develops a Patient Safety Reporting System (PSRS) used inside the hospital to solve the disadvantages of conventional reporting mechanism and enhance patient safety and medical quality. The prototyping method was used to develop the PSRS to assure the communication between users and system designers about the actual system to be implemented. The results show that the PSRS has higher satisfaction than that of the traditional paper method. The PSRS not only save on time and man power for reporting but also improve the anonymity and security of reporting process. These advantages have a positive effect on staffs’ willingness of reporting. The experience of developing this system could be used as reference for other hospitals to develop their own PSR

Keeping Off the Weight with DCs

Long studied as modulators of insulin sensitivity, adipose tissue immune cells have recently been implicated in regulating fat mass and weight gain. In this issue of Immunity, Reisner and colleagues (2015) report that ablation of perforin-expressing dendritic cells induces T cell expansion, worsening autoimmunity and surprisingly increasing adiposity

Propofol activation of the Nrf2 pathway is associated with amelioration of acute lung injury in a rat liver transplantation model

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to investigate whether propofol pretreatment can protect against liver transplantation-induced acute lung injury (ALI) and to explore whether Nrf2 pathway is involved in the protections provided by propofol pretreatment. METHOD: Adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into five groups based on the random number table. Lung pathology was observed by optical microscopy. Lung water content was assessed by wet/dry ratio, and PaO2 was detected by blood gas analysis. The contents of H2O2, MDA, and SOD activity were determined by ELISA method, and the expression of HO-1, NQO1, Keap1, and nuclear Nrf2 was assayed by western blotting. RESULTS: Compared with saline-treated model group, both propofol and N-acetylcysteine pretreatment can reduce the acute lung injury caused by orthotopic autologous liver transplantation (OALT), decrease the lung injury scores, lung water content, and H2O2 and MDA levels, and improve the arterial PaO2 and SOD activity. Furthermore, propofol (but not N-acetylcysteine) pretreatment especially in high dose inhibited the expression of Keap1 and induced translocation of Nrf2 into the nucleus to further upregulate the expression of HO-1 and NQO1 downstream. CONCLUSION: Pretreatment with propofol is associated with attenuation of OALT-induced ALI, and the Nrf2 pathway is involved in the antioxidative processes.published_or_final_versio

Suppression of the Proinflammatory Response of Metastatic Melanoma Cells Increases TRAIL-Induced Apoptosis

Melanoma is the most lethal form of human skin cancer. However, only limited chemotherapy is currently available for the metastatic stage of the disease. Since chemotherapy, radiation and sodium arsenite treatment operate mainly through induction of the intrinsic mitochondrial pathway, a strongly decreased mitochondrial function in metastatic melanoma cells, could be responsible for low efficacy of the conventional therapy of melanoma. Another feature of metastatic melanoma cells is their proinflammatory phenotype, linked to endogenous expression of the inflammatory cytokines, such as TNFα IL6 and IL8, their receptors, and constitutive NF-κB- and STAT3-dependent gene expression, including cyclooxygenase-2 (PTGS2/COX2). In the present study, we treated melanoma cells with immunological (monoclonal antibody against TNFα or IL6), pharmacological (small molecular inhibitors of IKKβ–NF-κB and JAK2–STAT3) or genetic (specific RNAi for COX-2) agents that suppressed the inflammatory response in combination with induction of apoptosis via TRAIL. As a result of these combined treatments, exogenous TRAIL via interactions with TRAIL-R2/R1 strongly increased levels of apoptosis in resistant melanoma cells. The present study provides new understanding of the regulation of TRAIL-mediated apoptosis in melanoma and will serve as the foundation for the potential development of a novel approach for a therapy of resistant melanomas

Biological effects of naturally occurring and man-made fibres: in vitro cytotoxicity and mutagenesis in mammalian cells

Cytotoxicity and mutagenicity of tremolite, erionite and the man-made ceramic (RCF-1) fibre were studied using the human– hamster hybrid A L cells. Results from these fibres were compared with those of UICC Rhodesian chrysotile fibres. The A L cell mutation assay, based on the S1 gene marker located on human chromosome 11, the only human chromosome contained in the hybrid cell, has been shown to be more sensitive than conventional assays in detecting deletion mutations. Tremolite, erionite and RCF-1 fibres were significantly less cytotoxic to A L cells than chrysotile. Mutagenesis studies at the HPRT locus revealed no significant mutant yield with any of these fibres. In contrast, both erionite and tremolite induced dose-dependent S1− mutations in fibre-exposed cells, with the former inducing a significantly higher mutant yield than the latter fibre type. On the other hand, RCF-1 fibres were largely non-mutagenic. At equitoxic doses (cell survival at ∼ 0.7), erionite was found to be the most potent mutagen among the three fibres tested and at a level comparable to that of chrysotile fibres. These results indicate that RCF-1 fibres are non-genotoxic under the conditions used in the studies and suggest that the high mesothelioma incidence previously observed in hamster may either be a result of selective sensitivity of hamster pleura to fibre-induced chronic irritation or as a result of prolonged fibre treatment. Furthermore, the relatively high mutagenic potential for erionite is consistent with its documented carcinogenicity. © 1999 Cancer Research Campaig

Measurement of the Characteristics of TIDs Using Small and Regional Networks of GPS Receivers during the Campaign of 17–30 July of 2008

This scientific report presents the results of a dedicated experiment that was conducted within the framework of the Low-latitude ionospheric Sensor Network (LISN) observatory to measure the characteristics of medium-scale (hundreds of km) Traveling Ionospheric Disturbances (TIDs) as they transit through the low-latitude ionosphere. A small array of 3 GPS receivers separated by 4-5 km placed in a triangular configuration was installed near Huancayo in Peru possessing several characteristics of a radio-interferometer. During the campaign days, 17–30 July 2008, TIDs were observed daily. On July 20, 2008 between 22 and 24 UT several TIDs moved across the small array of GPS receivers with a velocity near 130 m/s, were directed northward and had wavelengths close to 450 km. Other GPS receivers that were operating hundreds of km away from Huancayo show also similar TEC traces and provide a phase velocity equal to 150 m/s. This value was measured using the GPS at Piura, Cuzco and Huancayo. Based on this positive result, we conclude that small and/or regional arrays of GPS receivers can be used at low latitudes to study the role that gravity waves may have on seeding plasma bubbles