Tight Junction-Related Barrier Contributes to the Electrophysiological Asymmetry across Vocal Fold Epithelium

Electrophysiological homeostasis is indispensable to vocal fold hydration. We investigate tight junction (TJ)-associated components, occludin and ZO-1, and permeability with or without the challenge of a permeability-augmenting agent, histamine. Freshly excised ovine larynges are obtained from a local abattoir. TJ markers are explored via reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Paracellular permeabilities are measured in an Ussing system. The gene expression of both TJ markers is detected in native ovine vocal fold epithelium. Luminal histamine treatment significantly decreases transepithelial resistance (TER) (N = 72, p<0.01) and increases penetration of protein tracer (N = 35, p<0.001), respectively, in a time-, and dose-dependent fashion. The present study demonstrates that histamine compromises TJ-related paracellular barrier across vocal fold epithelium. The detection of TJ markers indicates the existence of typical TJ components in non-keratinized, stratified vocal fold epithelium. The responsiveness of paracellular permeabilities to histamine would highlight the functional significance of this TJ-equivalent system to the electrophysiological homeostasis, which, in turn, regulates the vocal fold superficial hydration

Multi-level analysis of electronic health record adoption by health care professionals: A study protocol

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The electronic health record (EHR) is an important application of information and communication technologies to the healthcare sector. EHR implementation is expected to produce benefits for patients, professionals, organisations, and the population as a whole. These benefits cannot be achieved without the adoption of EHR by healthcare professionals. Nevertheless, the influence of individual and organisational factors in determining EHR adoption is still unclear. This study aims to assess the unique contribution of individual and organisational factors on EHR adoption in healthcare settings, as well as possible interrelations between these factors.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A prospective study will be conducted. A stratified random sampling method will be used to select 50 healthcare organisations in the Quebec City Health Region (Canada). At the individual level, a sample of 15 to 30 health professionals will be chosen within each organisation depending on its size. A semi-structured questionnaire will be administered to two key informants in each organisation to collect organisational data. A composite adoption score of EHR adoption will be developed based on a Delphi process and will be used as the outcome variable. Twelve to eighteen months after the first contact, depending on the pace of EHR implementation, key informants and clinicians will be contacted once again to monitor the evolution of EHR adoption. A multilevel regression model will be applied to identify the organisational and individual determinants of EHR adoption in clinical settings. Alternative analytical models would be applied if necessary.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The study will assess the contribution of organisational and individual factors, as well as their interactions, to the implementation of EHR in clinical settings.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>These results will be very relevant for decision makers and managers who are facing the challenge of implementing EHR in the healthcare system. In addition, this research constitutes a major contribution to the field of knowledge transfer and implementation science.</p

Legitimacy, Visibility, and the Antecedents of Corporate Social Performance: An Investigation of the Instrumental Perspective

Using institutional theory as the foundation, this study examines the role of organizational visibility from a variety of sources (i.e., slack visibility, industry visibility, and visibility to multiple stakeholders) in influencing corporate social performance (CSP). The conceptual framework offers important insights regarding the instrumental motives of managers in performing CSP initiatives. Based on a sample of 124 S&P 500 firms, the authors found that it is a firm’s visibility to stakeholders, rather than its economic performance, that has the larger impact on managers’ decisions regarding how much CSP their firms exhibit. The results show that more profitable firms may not be motivated to engage actively in CSP unless they are under greater scrutiny by various firm stakeholders. The authors also found that organizational slack (estimated as cost of capital) is positively associated with a Social CSP dimension but negatively associated with a Strategic CSP dimension. This research contributes to the current CSP literature by demonstrating that motivations in addition to normative or ethical ones may be at play in the decisions firms make regarding their CSP.Yeshttps://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/manuscript-submission-guideline

Examining Anti-viral Immune Responses in Vaccination and Infection

A randomized, placebo-controlled vectored vaccine trial using chimpanzee adenovirus 3 (ChAd3) and modified vaccinia Ankara (MVA) was not effective in preventing chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) and only elicited anti-HCV T cell responses in 78% of vaccinees, compared to 100% of vaccinees in a previous trial of healthy participants. We investigated several hypotheses to explain this difference. No immunologic evidence of HCV exposure in the absence of viremia was found at trial end, suggesting that subclinical exposures to HCV do not occur frequently. Median cross-reactive anti-ChAd3 neutralizing antibody titers at baseline in trial participants were not significantly different from reference populations but there was a significant correlation between baseline titer and T cell response after vaccination. T cell responses in participants with undetectable ChAd3 neutralizing antibody titers were also significantly lower than in previous trials, suggesting global attenuation. An analysis of baseline plasma revealed no discordance in circulating plasma cytokines or chemokines in vaccine responders versus non-responders, but high-dimensional flow cytometry identified significantly increased baseline neutrophil counts and neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio in trial participants versus healthy controls. Increased granulocyte count has previously been shown to correlate with non-response to hepatitis B vaccination in healthy volunteers. Future studies will aim to understand if the baseline immune state of people who inject drugs relates to vaccine efficacy. Numerous studies of the immune response in critically ill COVID-19 patients have highlighted aberrant responses and pro-inflammatory markers in circulation. Among the dysregulated pro-inflammatory cytokines are the inflammasome cytokines interleukin (IL)-18 and IL-1β. We report that the SARS-CoV-2 viral accessory protein ORF3a triggers NF-B activation, assembly of the NLRP3 inflammasome, and production of mature IL-18 and IL-1β, indicating its role in the activation of a major feature of the immune response in severe COVID-19. Further, we report that circulating variants of ORF3a differentially activate NLRP3. While neither the Q57H nor the G172V amino acid substitutions change inflammasome activation from wildtype sequence, T223I and S171L lead to increased or decreased production of IL-18 respectively. Monitoring the spread of SARS-CoV-2 lineages containing highly inflammatory ORF3a substitutions is necessary given their potential to increase disease severity

Building Relationships Around Tasks: Psychological Contracts in Faculty-Doctoral Student Collaborations

Psychological contracts theory is applied to the study of faculty-doctoral student collaborations. Through a survey of 170 doctoral students, four types of psychological contracts are investigated. The quality of collaboration and frequency of meetings are found to differ significantly across these contract types. In addition, quality of collaboration and meeting frequency varied significantly across collaborations using different research methods (e.g, laboratory work, theory building) and disciplinary paradigms (i.e., high and low consensus). A comparison sample of 46 faculty from the same departments supported several trends observed in the doctoral student data