Knowledge Management – Advancements and Future Research Needs – Results from the Global Knowledge Research Network study

Over the last two decades the role of knowledge in organizations has attracted considerable attention from organizational practice and academia (Beamish & Armistead, 2001; Blackler, Reed, & Whitaker, 1993; Grant, 1996; Jasimuddin, 2006; Nonaka, 1994). A broad research community has emerged around with about 40 peer-reviewed journals (Serenko & Bontis, 2013a, 2013b; Serenko, Bontis, Booker, Sadeddin, & Hardie, 2010) which has attracted scholars from fields such as management, information management and library sciences, psychology and organizational studies, sociology and computer sciences as well as engineering and philosophy (Baskerville & Dulipovici, 2006; Gu, 2004; Lee & Chen, 2012; Martin, 2008; Venzin, Von Krogh, & Roos, 1998; Wallace, Van Fleet, & Downs, 2011). The assessment of the KM field ranges from suggestions that KM is in a state of "pre-science" with different paradigms and disagreement about fundamentals in the field (Hazlett, McAdam, & Gallagher, 2005) while others see a ‘healthy arena with a strong foundation in multiple theories and clear direction for future work (Baskerville & Dulipovici, 2006)

Pitfalls in efficacy testing – how important is the validation of neutralization of chlorhexidine digluconate?

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Effective neutralization of active agents is essential to obtain valid efficacy results, especially when non-volatile active agents like chlorhexidine digluconate (CHG) are tested. The aim of this study was to determine an effective and non-toxic neutralizing mixture for a propan-1-ol solution containing 2% CHG.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Experiments were carried out according to ASTM E 1054-02. The neutralization capacity was tested separately with five challenge microorganisms in suspension, and with a rayon swab carrier. Either 0.5 mL of the antiseptic solution (suspension test) or a saturated swab with the antiseptic solution (carrier test) was added to tryptic soy broth containing neutralizing agents. After the samples were mixed, aliquots were spread immediately and after 3 h of storage at 2 – 8°C onto tryptic soy agar containing a neutralizing mixture.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The neutralizer was, however, not consistently effective in the suspension test. Immediate spread yielded a valid neutralization with <it>Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis </it>and <it>Corynebacterium jeikeium </it>but not with <it>Micrococcus luteus </it>(p < 0.001) and <it>Candida albicans </it>(p < 0.001). A 3-h storage period of the neutralized active agents in suspension resulted in significant carry-over activity of CHG in addition against <it>Staphylococcus epidermidis </it>(p < 0.001) and <it>Corynebacterium jeikeium </it>(p = 0.044). In the carrier test, the neutralizing mixture was found to be effective and non toxic to all challenge microorganisms when spread immediately. However, after 3 h storage of the neutralized active agents significant carry-over activity of CHG against <it>Micrococcus luteus </it>(p = 0.004; Tukey HSD) was observed.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Without effective neutralization in the sampling fluid, non-volatile active ingredients will continue to reduce the number of surviving microorganisms after antiseptic treatment even if the sampling fluid is kept cold straight after testing. This can result in false-positive antiseptic efficacy data. Attention should be paid during the neutralization validation process to the amount of antiseptic solution, the storage time and to the choice of appropriate and sensitive microorganisms.</p

Engineers are using social media for work purposes

Given the nowadays often distributed nature of product development and the tendency of engineers to rely on their colleagues and people they can easily reach, social media may offer solutions to support information seeking and efficient and effective knowledge sharing. This paper explores the use of social media in the Danish engineering industry. Results from over 130 survey participants show that 88% report to actually use social media for work purposes. The most addressed purposes are to search for information, knowledge and solutions, together with networking

Wissensmanagementbarometer-Studie

Im Auftrag des Bundesministeriums für Wirtschaft und Technologie wurde im Rahmen der Wissensmanagement-Barometer-Studie 2006 von der wissenschaftlichen Begleitforschung WINK ein internationaler Vergleich des IT-gestützten Wissensmanagements durchgeführt. Befragt wurden 42 ExpertInnen aus Wissenschaft, Wirtschaft, Verbänden, Politik, Beratung und Fachzeitschriften in den teilnehmenden Ländern Deutschland, Litauen, Hong Kong, Großbritannien, Dänemark, Frankreich und USA. Ziel des Wissensmanagement-Barometers war es, eine Pilotstudie (?) für länderspezifische Trendaussagen zu den technologischen Unterstützungstools des Wissensmanagements zu erhalten. Darüber hinaus soll ein erster Vergleich aufzeigen, wo die einzelnen Länder im Vergleich bei der Nutzung von IT-Tools im Bereich des Wissensmanagements stehen. Die Fokussierung lag dabei auf einer jeweils nationalen Trendbeschreibung des Einsatzes von IT-Tools des Wissensmanagements aus Sicht von ausgewählten ExpertInnen. Die Befragung ist nicht repräsentativ sondern explorativ angelegt. Die Einschätzungen zu den gestellten Fragen erwiesen sich (auch in den rechnerischen Dimensionen) in den sieben untersuchten Ländern als auffallend homogen

Commonality among Fluoroquinolone-Resistant Sequence Type ST131 Extraintestinal Escherichia coli Isolates from Humans and Companion Animals in Australia ᰔ †

Escherichia coli sequence type 131 (ST131), an emergent multidrug-resistant extraintestinal pathogen, has spread epidemically among humans and was recently isolated from companion animals. To assess for humancompanion animal commonality among ST131 isolates, 214 fluoroquinolone-resistant extraintestinal E. coli isolates (205 from humans, 9 from companion animals) from diagnostic laboratories in Australia, provisionally identified as ST131 by PCR, selectively underwent PCR-based O typing and bla CTX-M-15 detection. A subset then underwent multilocus sequence typing (MLST), pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) analysis, extended virulence genotyping, antimicrobial susceptibility testing, and fluoroquinolone resistance genotyping. All isolates were O25b positive, except for two O16 isolates and one O157 isolate, which (along with six O25b-positive isolates) were confirmed by MLST to be ST131. Only 12% of isolates (25 human, 1 canine) exhibited bla CTX-M-15 . PFGE analysis of 20 randomly selected human and all 9 companion animal isolates showed multiple instances of &gt;94% profile similarity across host species; 12 isolates (6 human, 6 companion animal) represented pulsotype 968, the most prevalent ST131 pulsotype in North America (representing 23% of a large ST131 reference collection). Virulence gene and antimicrobial resistance profiles differed minimally, without host species specificity. The analyzed ST131 isolates also exhibited a conserved, host species-independent pattern of chromosomal fluoroquinolone resistance mutations. However, eight (89%) companion animal isolates, versus two (10%) human isolates, possessed the plasmid-borne qnrB gene (P &lt; 0.001). This extensive across-species strain commonality, plus the similarities between Australian and non-Australian ST131 isolates, suggest that ST131 isolates are exchanged between humans and companion animals both within Australia and intercontinentally

Reinterpretation of LHC Results for New Physics: Status and recommendations after Run 2

We report on the status of efforts to improve the reinterpretation of searches and measurements at the LHC in terms of models for new physics, in the context of the LHC Reinterpretation Forum. We detail current experimental offerings in direct searches for new particles, measurements, technical implementations and Open Data, and provide a set of recommendations for further improving the presentation of LHC results in order to better enable reinterpretation in the future. We also provide a brief description of existing software reinterpretation frameworks and recent global analyses of new physics that make use of the current data

Prediction of complete remission and survival in acute myeloid leukemia using supervised machine learning

Achievement of complete remission signifies a crucial milestone in the therapy of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) while refractory disease is associated with dismal outcomes. Hence, accurately identifying patients at risk is essential to tailor treatment concepts individually to disease biology. We used nine machine learning (ML) models to predict complete remission and 2-year overall survival in a large multicenter cohort of 1,383 AML patients who received intensive induction therapy. Clinical, laboratory, cytogenetic and molecular genetic data were incorporated and our results were validated on an external multicenter cohort. Our ML models autonomously selected predictive features including established markers of favorable or adverse risk as well as identifying markers of so-far controversial relevance. De novo AML, extramedullary AML, double-mutated CEBPA, mutations of CEBPA-bZIP, NPM1, FLT3-ITD, ASXL1, RUNX1, SF3B1, IKZF1, TP53, and U2AF1, t(8;21), inv(16)/t(16;16), del(5)/del(5q), del(17)/del(17p), normal or complex karyotypes, age and hemoglobin concentration at initial diagnosis were statistically significant markers predictive of complete remission, while t(8;21), del(5)/del(5q), inv(16)/t(16;16), del(17)/del(17p), double-mutated CEBPA, CEBPA-bZIP, NPM1, FLT3-ITD, DNMT3A, SF3B1, U2AF1, and TP53 mutations, age, white blood cell count, peripheral blast count, serum lactate dehydrogenase level and hemoglobin concentration at initial diagnosis as well as extramedullary manifestations were predictive for 2-year overall survival. For prediction of complete remission and 2-year overall survival areas under the receiver operating characteristic curves ranged between 0.77–0.86 and between 0.63–0.74, respectively in our test set, and between 0.71–0.80 and 0.65–0.75 in the external validation cohort. We demonstrated the feasibility of ML for risk stratification in AML as a model disease for hematologic neoplasms, using a scalable and reusable ML framework. Our study illustrates the clinical applicability of ML as a decision support system in hematology

Beiträge zum 28. Darmstädter Geotechnik-Kolloquium am 09. März 2022

Themenschwerpunkte: 1. Modell- und Feldversuche 2. Digitalisierung und künstliche Intelligenz in der Geotechnik 3. Nationale und internationale Großprojekte 4. Normung und Rechtliche