An Exploratory Study Investigating Data Quality in the Healthcare Industry: What are the Implicatons for Daya Warehousing?

Maintaining quality data and information challenges today’s organizations, and is essential to good decisionmaking and competitive advantage. The purpose of this study is to understand the dimensions of data quality and to learn how managers perceive them. The 20 dimensions of data quality posited by Wang and Strong were used in this study. The relative importance of those dimensions by healthcare industry managers was assessed. Study findings indicate that all 20 of Wang and Strong’s data quality descriptive dimensions are important to the healthcare industry. Additionally, data from this exploratory research seems to suggest that there may not be a “one size fits all” model for data quality

A probable giant planet imaged in the Beta Pictoris disk

Since the discovery of its dusty disk in 1984, Beta Pictoris has become the prototype of young early-type planetary systems, and there are now various indications that a massive Jovian planet is orbiting the star at ~ 10 AU. However, no planets have been detected around this star so far. Our goal was to investigate the close environment of Beta Pic, searching for planetary companion(s). Deep adaptive-optics L'-band images of Beta Pic were recorded using the NaCo instrument at the Very Large Telescope. A faint point-like signal is detected at a projected distance of ~ 8 AU from the star, within the North-East side of the dust disk. Various tests were made to rule out with a good confidence level possible instrumental or atmospheric artifacts. The probability of a foreground or background contaminant is extremely low, based in addition on the analysis of previous deep Hubble Space Telescope images. The object L'=11.2 apparent magnitude would indicate a typical temperature of ~1500 K and a mass of ~ 8 Jovian masses. If confirmed, it could explain the main morphological and dynamical peculiarities of the Beta Pic system. The present detection is unique among A-stars by the proximity of the resolved planet to its parent star. Its closeness and location inside the Beta Pic disk suggest a formation process by core accretion or disk instabilities rather than a binary-like formation process.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, 1 table. A&A Letters, in pres

Restoration of mitochondrial integrity, telomere length, and sensitivity to oxidation by in vitro culture of Fuchs’ endothelial corneal dystrophy cells

PURPOSE. Fuchs’ endothelial corneal dystrophy (FECD), a degenerative disease of the corneal endothelium that leads to vision loss, is a leading cause of corneal transplantation. The cause of this disease is still unknown, but the implication of oxidative stress is strongly suggested. In this study, we analyzed the impact of FECD on mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) integrity and telomere length, both of which are affected by the oxidative status of the cell. METHODS. We compared the levels of total mtDNA, mtDNA common deletion (4977 bp), and relative telomere length in the corneal endothelial cells of fresh Descemet’s membraneendothelium explants and cultured cells from healthy and late stage FECD subjects. Oxidantantioxidant gene expression and sensitivity to ultraviolet A (UVA)- and H2O2-induced cell death were assessed in cultured cells. RESULTS. Our results revealed increased mtDNA levels and telomere shortening in FECD explants. We also found that cell culture restores a normal phenotype in terms of mtDNA levels, telomere length, oxidant-antioxidant gene expression balance, and sensitivity to oxidative stress-induced cell death in the FECD cells compared with the healthy cells. CONCLUSIONS. Taken together, these results bring new evidence of the implication of oxidative stress in FECD. They also show that FECD does not evenly affect the integrity of corneal endothelial cells and that cell culture can rehabilitate the molecular phenotypes related to oxidative stress by selecting the more functional FECD cells

NASSAM: a server to search for and annotate tertiary interactions and motifs in three-dimensional structures of complex RNA molecules

Similarities in the 3D patterns of RNA base interactions or arrangements can provide insights into their functions and roles in stabilization of the RNA 3D structure. Nucleic Acids Search for Substructures and Motifs (NASSAM) is a graph theoretical program that can search for 3D patterns of base arrangements by representing the bases as pseudo-atoms. The geometric relationship of the pseudo-atoms to each other as a pattern can be represented as a labeled graph where the pseudo-atoms are the graph's nodes while the edges are the inter-pseudo-atomic distances. The input files for NASSAM are PDB formatted 3D coordinates. This web server can be used to identify matches of base arrangement patterns in a query structure to annotated patterns that have been reported in the literature or that have possible functional and structural stabilization implications. The NASSAM program is freely accessible without any login requirement at http://mfrlab.org/grafss/nassam/

Is there a giant Kelvin-Helmholtz instability in the sloshing cold front of the Perseus cluster?

Deep observations of nearby galaxy clusters with Chandra have revealed concave ‘bay’ structures in a number of systems (Perseus, Centaurus and Abell 1795), which have similar X-ray and radio properties. These bays have all the properties of cold fronts, where the temperature rises and density falls sharply, but are concave rather than convex. By comparing to simulations of gas sloshing, we find that the bay in the Perseus cluster bears a striking resemblance in its size, location and thermal structure, to a giant (≈50 kpc) roll resulting from Kelvin–Helmholtz instabilities. If true, the morphology of this structure can be compared to simulations to put constraints on the initial average ratio of the thermal and magnetic pressure, β = pth/pB, throughout the overall cluster before the sloshing occurs, for which we find β = 200 to best match the observations. Simulations with a stronger magnetic field (β = 100) are disfavoured, as in these the large Kelvin–Helmholtz rolls do not form, while in simulations with a lower magnetic field (β = 500), the level of instabilities is much larger than is observed. We find that the bay structures in Centaurus and Abell 1795 may also be explained by such features of gas sloshing

Rôle des compétences interpersonnelles sur la détresse des enquêteurs en exploitation sexuelle d’enfants : réflexion théorique = [Role of interpersonal skills on investigators' distress in the sexual exploitation of children: Theoretical reflection.]

Résumé La nature potentiellement traumatisante du travail des enquêteurs en exploitation sexuelle et physique d’enfants (EESPE) les rend vulnérables à développer des symptômes de détresse psychologique. La plupart des études ont mis l’accent sur l’importance du soutien et de l’utilisation de stratégies d’adaptation positives pour favoriser le bien-être des enquêteurs. Or, certaines compétences interpersonnelles pourraient aussi jouer un rôle protecteur en contextes émotionnellement chargés, comme il a été démontré auprès d’autres types d’intervenants exposés au stress et à des clientèles vulnérables. Parmi ces compétences, la mentalisation, soit la capacité à comprendre ses états mentaux et ceux des autres au sein des relations, pourrait s’avérer centrale pour ces intervenants étant donné ses effets bénéfiques sur le bien-être psychologique. Considérant que les enquêteurs sont constamment en contact avec des récits ou images potentiellement traumatiques, qu’ils interagissent de façon continue avec des individus en détresse et qu’ils sont exposés à différents stresseurs, la mentalisation pourrait les aider à mieux gérer la charge émotionnelle reliée à leur contexte de travail. Cet article propose donc un regard sur les stresseurs spécifiques au travail des EESPE, les impacts sur la détresse psychologique et les facteurs de protection de leur bien-être psychologique. Un modèle théorique sera présenté, proposant la mentalisation comme étant une compétence interpersonnelle pouvant jouer un rôle dans le bien-être des EESPE. Les implications potentielles de la mentalisation pour la formation et la pratique professionnelles seront discutées. Abstract The potentially traumatizing nature of the work of researchers into sexual and physical exploitation of children (RSPEC) makes them vulnerable to developing symptoms of psychological distress. Most studies have emphasized the importance of support measures and the use of positive adaptation strategies to promote researcher welfare. Certain interpersonal skills may also play a protective role in an emotionally charged context, as has been demonstrated among other types of intervenors, who are exposed to stress and vulnerable patients. Among these skills, mentalization, the ability to understand one’s own mental state and that of others with whom they are relating, could be crucial for these intervenors, given the beneficial effects on psychological well-being. Considering that these researchers are in constant contact with potentially traumatic stories and images, that they continually interact with distressed people, and that they are exposed to different stressors, mentalization could help them to better manage their working contexts. This article proposes an investigation of the stressors that are specific to RSPEC work, their impact on psychological distress and protective factors for psychological welfare. A theoretical model will be presented identifying mentalization as an interpersonal skill that could play a role in RSPEC welfare. Potential implications of mentalization for training and professional practice will be discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved

Adaptive Optics for Astronomy

Adaptive Optics is a prime example of how progress in observational astronomy can be driven by technological developments. At many observatories it is now considered to be part of a standard instrumentation suite, enabling ground-based telescopes to reach the diffraction limit and thus providing spatial resolution superior to that achievable from space with current or planned satellites. In this review we consider adaptive optics from the astrophysical perspective. We show that adaptive optics has led to important advances in our understanding of a multitude of astrophysical processes, and describe how the requirements from science applications are now driving the development of the next generation of novel adaptive optics techniques.Comment: to appear in ARA&A vol 50, 201