Motives and strategies of CEOs for stimulating sharing and application of knowledge in the care and support for people with intellectual disabilities

Purpose: Within intellectual disability care organizations (IDCOs), it is vital that professionals share and apply knowledge to improve the quality of care for their service users. Given that chief executive officers (CEOs) play a pivotal role in enabling these processes, this paper aims to investigate both the underlying motives and strategies behind CEOs' organizational knowledge leadership and their contribution to improving these knowledge processes. Design/methodology/approach: In this exploratory qualitative study, 11 CEOs from IDCOs in the Netherlands who are actively involved in knowledge management within their organizations were interviewed. An inductive thematic analysis was conducted. Findings: CEOs’ motives for stimulating knowledge processes among professionals in IDCOs arise from the internal (e.g. the CEOs themselves) and external (e.g. policy) contexts. This study also identified four strategies adopted by CEOs to stimulate sharing and application of knowledge: providing organizational conditions for effective knowledge processes; focused attention on talent development; acknowledgment and deployment of knowledge holders; and knowledge-driven participation in collaborative partnerships. These strategies are used in combination and have been shown to reinforce one another Practical implications: An overview of strategies for stimulating knowledge processes is now available. Originality/value: The results display the leadership of CEOs in knowledge strategies. Insights into their perceptions and values are provided while elaborating on their motives to take this role

Contextual factors related to the execution of knowledge strategies in intellectual disabilities organizations

The sharing and application of knowledge in intellectual disabilities care are vital and challenging. Therefore, organizations providing care and support for people with intellectual disabilities use strategies to stimulate these processes. To optimize these strategies, we investigated the contextual factors that influence their execution. We conducted individual, in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 11 CEOs of organizations providing care for people with intellectual disabilities in the Netherlands. A thematic data analysis was conducted in which a deductive approach was followed by a bottom-up clustering. We thus identified factors related to both the internal and the external context. The internal context involves persons within the organization and the organizational structures. The external context involves the organization's socio-political environment and collaborative partnerships. We concluded that the execution of strategies to improve the sharing and application of knowledge is influenced by contextual factors which appear to be interconnected. These contextual factors point to the key role played by care professionals

MAPEAMENTO AMBIENTAL DAS ZONAS VULNERÁVEIS À CONTAMINAÇÃO DO AQUÍFERO GUARANI NO MUNICÍPIO DE FAXINAL DO SOTURNO - RS, BRASIL

The increasing demand for natural resources, for agricultural use and urban development, could advance towards areas with possible risk of groundwater contamination, because they are not well planned and/or inadequate environmental studies appropriate to a particular condition of use. This situation is related to the natural vulnerability that evaluates soil type, geology, slope and permanent preservation area; identified as environmental conflicts, due to inappropriate activities, in areas with potential risk of groundwater contamination. Thus, the objectives of this study were to conduct a survey of potentially contaminating activities and to relate their areas of influence with the map of natural vulnerability, which defines the interrelationship among soil maps, geology, slope the municipality of Faxinal do Soturno – RS, Brazil to check possible improper soil use. For this purpose, data were collected from wells and a potentiometric surface map was generated from the static level of wells, which allowed the estimation of groundwater flow. In the municipality, potential activities, including cemeteries, hospitals, fuel station, brick kilns and sawmills with potential risk of contamination were identified. With available technical procedures, potentially contaminating activities were identified in areas of medium and high vulnerability, which characterizes the possible risk of contaminating the groundwater.http://dx.doi.org/10.5902/2179460X17176A demanda crescente dos recursos naturais, para o uso agropecuário e para o próprio desenvolvimento urbano, pode estar avançando para áreas de possível contaminação das águas subterrâneas, por não serem planejados e/ou realizados estudos ambientais prévios adequados à determinada condição de uso. Esta situação, relacionada com a vulnerabilidade natural que avalia: tipos de solo, geologia, declividade e área de preservação permanente; identificam-se como conflitos ambientais, devido à realização de atividades inadequadas, em zonas de potencial risco à contaminação das águas subterrâneas. Assim, o presente estudo tem como objetivo, realizar um levantamento das atividades potencialmente contaminantes e, interagir suas áreas de influência com o mapa de vulnerabilidade natural, este definido pela inter-relação de mapas de solo, geologia e pela declividade do município de Faxinal do Soturno – RS, a fim de verificar os possíveis usos inadequados do solo. Para esse propósito, realizou-se o levantamento dos dados dos poços tubulares da localidade, resultando no Mapa de sua superfície potenciométrica, a partir do nível estático dos poços, o que possibilitou estimar o fluxo das águas subterrâneas. Em campo, identificaram-se atividades de potencial risco de contaminação, como: cemitérios, olarias, serrarias, um hospital e um posto de combustível. Após a avaliação de todos os procedimentos técnicos, foram identificadas atividades potencialmente contaminantes em áreas de média e alta vulnerabilidade, o que caracteriza o possível risco de contaminação das águas subterrâneas no município em questão

Whole-Inactivated Influenza Virus Is a Potent Adjuvant for Influenza Peptides Containing CD8+ T Cell Epitopes

Influenza peptide antigens coding for conserved T cell epitopes have the capacity to induce cross-protective influenza-specific immunity. Short peptide antigens used as a vaccine, however, often show poor immunogenicity. In this study, we demonstrate that whole-inactivated influenza virus (WIV) acts as an adjuvant for influenza peptide antigens, as shown by the induction of peptide-specific CD8+ T cells in HLA-A2.1 transgenic mice upon vaccination with the influenza-M1-derived GILGFVFTL peptide (GIL), formulated with WIV. By screening various concentrations of GIL and WIV, we found that both components contributed to the GIL-specific T cell response. Whereas co-localization of the peptide antigen and WIV adjuvant was found to be important, neither physical association between peptide and WIV nor fusogenic activity of WIV were relevant for the adjuvant effect of WIV. We furthermore show that WIV may adjuvate T cell responses to a variety of peptides, using pools of either conserved wild-type influenza peptides or chemically altered peptide ligands. This study shows the potential of WIV as an adjuvant for influenza peptides. The simple formulation process and the solid safety record of WIV make this an attractive adjuvant for T cell peptides, and may also be used for non-influenza antigens

Time-lapse 3D imaging by positron emission tomography of Cu mobilized in a soil column by the herbicide MCPA

Phenoxyalkanoic acids like the 4-chloro-2-methylphenoxyacetic acid (MCPA) are the second highest used xenobiotic herbicides worldwide after glyphosate because of their apparently favorable environmental properties. Experimental batch equilibration data suggested a reduced Cu adsorption efficiency with the soil mineral goethite below pH 6 in presence of MCPA. This has been verified by advanced surface complexation adsorption modelling involving dissolved Cu-MCPA complexation constants. Positron emission tomography is a non-invasive molecular imaging method for timeresolved three-dimensional information commonly applied on non-retarded tracers in soil core scale experiments. Mineral surface reactive tracers like Cu-64 are too immobile for the relatively short observation times available with this advanced imaging technique. However, Cu-64 radiolabeled Cu-MCPA complex migration could be observed in as long as 10-cm artificial soil test columns where breakthrough occurred within a few days. For the first time, time-lapse movies of Cu migration in the opaque soil columns were recorded using this novel reactive transport process tomography approach

Real-world evidence of brexucabtagene autoleucel for the treatment of relapsed or refractory mantle cell lymphoma

Altres ajuts: Beca PERIS 2018-2020 de la Generalitat de Catalunya (BDNS357800