2,414 research outputs found
Systematic review: identifying patients with chronic hepatitis C in need of early treatment and intensive monitoring – predictors and predictive models of disease progression
Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/108647/1/apt12921.pd
Promoting employee safety performance in the Chinese construction industry
In the construction industry, safety leadership has been widely recognised as an indispensable factor that affects organisational safety performance. However, in China specifically, research on safety leadership in the construction domain is not adequately developed. This paper examines the role of organisational leadership in promoting safety performance, as moderated by safety climate. The study adopts quantitative research method through questionnaire survey with 106 construction professionals leading or participating in safety management work in the Chinese construction sectors. The results show that exerting certain leadership strategies that encourage construction stakeholders to comply with safety practices will improve safety performance. At a moment when the whole industry is suffering from momentous safety challenges, transformation is required; these findings are intended to guide construction managers in their commitment to programme safety management. The study reinforces the interaction between upper layer and lower layer employees thereby improving the safety performance via improvements in the safety climate. In addition to being rooted in the full-range leadership model, this paper considered the impo rtant (and often ignored) characteristics of Chinese culture. The study recommends the early involvement of contractors in the design process and considers site hazards when making design decisions
Ganciclovir Antiviral Therapy in Advanced Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis: An Open Pilot Study
Hypothesis. Repeated epithelial cell injury secondary to viruses such as Epstein Barr and subsequent dysfunctional repair may be central to the pathogenesis of IPF. In this observational study, we evaluated whether a combination of standard and anti-viral therapy might have an impact on disease progression.
Methods. Advanced IPF patients who failed standard therapy and had serological evidence of previous EBV, received ganciclovir (iv) at 5 mg/kg twice daily. Forced vital capacity (FVC), shuttle walk test, DTPA scan and prednisolone dose were measured before and 8 weeks post-treatment.
Results. Fourteen patients were included. After ganciclovir, eight patients showed improvement in FVC and six deteriorated. The median reduction of prednisolone dose was 7.5 mg (44%). Nine patients were classified “responders” of whom four showed an improvement in all four criteria, while three of the five “non-responders” showed no response in any of the criteria. Responders showed reduction in prednisolone dosage (P = .02) and improved DTPA clearance (P = .001).
Conclusion. This audit outcome suggests that 2-week course of ganciclovir (iv) may attenuate disease progression in a subgroup of advanced IPF patients. These observations do not suggest that anti-viral treatment is a substitute for the standard care, however, suggests the need to explore the efficacy of ganciclovir as adjunctive therapy in IPF
Nonequilibrium Atom-Dielectric Forces Mediated by a Quantum Field
In this paper we give a first principles microphysics derivation of the
nonequilibrium forces between an atom, treated as a three dimensional harmonic
oscillator, and a bulk dielectric medium modeled as a continuous lattice of
oscillators coupled to a reservoir. We assume no direct interaction between the
atom and the medium but there exist mutual influences transmitted via a common
electromagnetic field. By employing concepts and techniques of open quantum
systems we introduce coarse-graining to the physical variables - the medium,
the quantum field and the atom's internal degrees of freedom, in that order -
to extract their averaged effects from the lowest tier progressively to the top
tier. The first tier of coarse-graining provides the averaged effect of the
medium upon the field, quantified by a complex permittivity (in the frequency
domain) describing the response of the dielectric to the field in addition to
its back action on the field through a stochastic forcing term. The last tier
of coarse- graining over the atom's internal degrees of freedom results in an
equation of motion for the atom's center of mass from which we can derive the
force on the atom. Our nonequilibrium formulation provides a fully dynamical
description of the atom's motion including back action effects from all other
relevant variables concerned. In the long-time limit we recover the known
results for the atom-dielectric force when the combined system is in
equilibrium or in a nonequilibrium stationary state.Comment: 24 pages, 2 figure
Living IoT: A Flying Wireless Platform on Live Insects
Sensor networks with devices capable of moving could enable applications
ranging from precision irrigation to environmental sensing. Using mechanical
drones to move sensors, however, severely limits operation time since flight
time is limited by the energy density of current battery technology. We explore
an alternative, biology-based solution: integrate sensing, computing and
communication functionalities onto live flying insects to create a mobile IoT
platform.
Such an approach takes advantage of these tiny, highly efficient biological
insects which are ubiquitous in many outdoor ecosystems, to essentially provide
mobility for free. Doing so however requires addressing key technical
challenges of power, size, weight and self-localization in order for the
insects to perform location-dependent sensing operations as they carry our IoT
payload through the environment. We develop and deploy our platform on
bumblebees which includes backscatter communication, low-power
self-localization hardware, sensors, and a power source. We show that our
platform is capable of sensing, backscattering data at 1 kbps when the insects
are back at the hive, and localizing itself up to distances of 80 m from the
access points, all within a total weight budget of 102 mg.Comment: Co-primary authors: Vikram Iyer, Rajalakshmi Nandakumar, Anran Wang,
In Proceedings of Mobicom. ACM, New York, NY, USA, 15 pages, 201
Are neuromodulation interventions associated with changes in the gut microbiota?:A systematic review
Semiclassical theory of electron drag in strong magnetic fields
We present a semiclassical theory for electron drag between two parallel
two-dimensional electron systems in a strong magnetic field, which provides a
transparent picture of the most salient qualitative features of anomalous drag
phenomena observed in recent experiments, especially the striking sign reversal
of drag at mismatched densities. The sign of the drag is determined by the
curvature of the effective dispersion relation obeyed by the drift motion of
the electrons in a smooth disorder potential. Localization plays a role in
explaining activated low temperature behavior, but is not crucial for anomalous
drag per se.Comment: 10 page
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Embedded Agency in Institutional Theory: Problem or Paradox
In “Beyond Constraining and Enabling: Toward New Microfoundations in Institutional Theory” Professor Cardinale (2018) seeks to expose and correct “shortcomings” (p.133) in institutional theory’s conceptualization of structure, agency and their relationship. To this end, he theorizes the “different mechanism[s] through which actors are embedded in structure” (p.134). We agree that institutional theory’s microfoundations merit theoretical attention and development. However, we question the premise that the issue of agency in institutional theory is adequately, or even plausibly, formulated as one of “embeddedness”. We also challenge the relevance of Professor Cardinale’s engagement of Husserl to help solve what we argue to be a phantom problem central to his theory
Frequency and Outcomes of Abnormal Imaging in Patients With Cirrhosis Enrolled in a Hepatocellular Carcinoma Surveillance Program
Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/148235/1/lt25398_am.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/148235/2/lt25398.pd
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