Why Trade Associations Matter: Exploring Function, Meaning, and Influence

We explore the organizational characteristics of trade associations (TAs) and suggest theoretical approaches for undertaking research into or involving TAs in management and organization studies. Through emphasizing the role of TAs within and between industries and at the interface of business and society, we consider how TAs generate meaning and influence

Vibrations of cable-suspended rehabilitation robots

Rehabilitation robots help the treatment of diseases by performing cyclic exercises for a long period of time. These exercises must perform movements of the patient's limbs; thus, the robots are required to be flexible and safe. Among rehabilitation robots, cable robots are widely used due to their unique properties, such as being lightweight and the possibility of being equipped with magnetic hooks to improve both safety and ease of use. However, the elasticity and flexibility of cables result in vibrations of the payload and hooks. In this paper, the forced vibrations due to rehabilitation exercises are studied. Since the previous studies of the authors showed a weak coupling between longitudinal and transverse vibrations, a two-cable planar model for the study of transverse vibrations is developed. The model makes it possible to study the forced transverse vibrations due to both cable motion and robot motion. Stiffness and damping of the patient's arm are considered. Results show that the cable system exhibits a simple linear behavior when excited by robot motion and a non-linear behavior when excited by cable motion

Severe leptospirosis in tropical Australia: Optimising intensive care unit management to reduce mortality

Background Severe leptospirosis can have a case-fatality rate of over 50%, even with intensive care unit (ICU) support. Multiple strategies–including protective ventilation and early renal replacement therapy (RRT)–have been recommended to improve outcomes. However, management guidelines vary widely around the world and there is no consensus on the optimal approach. Methodology/Principal findings All cases of leptospirosis admitted to the ICU of Cairns Hospital in tropical Australia between 1998 and 2018 were retrospectively reviewed. The patients’ demographics, presentation, management and clinical course were examined. The 55 patients’ median (interquartile range (IQR)) age was 47 (32–62) years and their median (IQR) APACHE III score was 67 (48–105). All 55 received appropriate antibiotic therapy, 45 (82%) within the first 6 hours. Acute kidney injury was present in 48/55 (87%), 18/55 (33%) required RRT, although this was usually not administered until traditional criteria for initiation were met. Moderate to severe acute respiratory distress syndrome developed in 37/55 (67%), 32/55 (58%) had pulmonary haemorrhage, and mechanical ventilation was required in 27/55 (49%). Vasopres-sor support was necessary in 34/55 (62%). Corticosteroids were prescribed in 20/55 (36%). The median (IQR) fluid balance in the initial three days of ICU care was +1493 (175–3567) ml. Only 2/55 (4%) died, both were elderly men with multiple comorbidities. Conclusion In patients with severe leptospirosis in tropical Australia, prompt ICU support that includes early antibiotics, protective ventilation strategies, conservative fluid resuscitation, traditional thresholds for RRT initiation and corticosteroid therapy is associated with a very low case-fatality rate. Prospective studies are required to establish the relative contributions of each of these interventions to optimal patient outcomes

Study of relationship between age and body mass index on knee osteoarthritis in advanced aged females in a divisional city of Bangladesh

Background: Knee osteoarthritis is a notable issue in senior citizens and is a burning problem worldwide. There are so many risk factors related to knee osteoarthritis but women's sex, age, and obesity are significant. The aim and objective of this study were to estimate the prevalence of knee osteoarthritis among women in the age group of 46 to 65 years and the effect of age and body mass index (BMI) on knee osteoarthritis.Methods: Cross-sectional study was conducted at outpatient department (OPD) in Mymensingh Medical College Hospital, a tertiary level hospital, among females of Mymensingh, a divisional city of Bangladesh in the age group of 46 to 65 years. Purposive sampling technique used to select study subjects. A total of 100 females participated in this study in one month (July 2019-August 2019).Results: 100 participants were enlisted in the study, in the age group of 46 to 55 years 39 (39%) and 56 to 65 years 61 (61%). Total 65 (65%) participants were affected with knee osteoarthritis. Among them, 19 (29.2%) participants were in the age group of 46-55 years and 46 (70.8%) participants were in the age group of 55-65 years, thus in the advanced age group, knee osteoarthritis is remarkably more. Participants affected with knee osteoarthritis with BMI ≥25 were significantly more affected 45 (69.2%) compared with participants with normal BMI 20 (30.2%).Conclusions: Knee osteoarthritis is significantly associated with advanced age and obesity. Advanced age and overweight were strongly associated with osteoarthritis in our population. Therefore, weight reduction and preventive measures can decrease the burden and will help in minimizing morbidity associated with OA

Expression of type I collagen mRNA in glomeruli of rats with passive Heymann nephritis

Expression of type I collagen mRNA in glomeruli of rats with passive Heymann nephritis. In passive Heymann nephritis (PHN) glomeruli exhibit marked basement membrane expansion around subepithelial immune deposits but they fail to show any change in mRNA levels of type IV collagen, laminin or fibronectin by Northern and slot-blot analysis, or in the amount or distribution of type IV collagen or laminin by immunohistology for up to 12 weeks after disease onset. On the other hand, in situ hybridization (ISH) revealed the appearance of positive cells exhibiting mRNA for the α1 chain of rat type I collagen two to three weeks after the onset of PHN in all glomeruli of all rats. Positive cells persisted for at least eight weeks. In many glomeruli, the location of the clusters of silver grains suggested that they were in visceral epithelial cells. In controls injected with normal sheep IgG, and in early PHN (<11 days after sheep anti-Fx1A), glomeruli were negative but cells in the renal capsule and adventitia of vessels showed strong ISH and served as positive controls. RNAse pre-treatment and the “sense” probe gave appropriately negative results. RNA from PHN glomeruli contained an α1 type I collagen transcript of the same size as that from rat fibroblasts. These results show that the evolution of glomerular basement membrane expansion in rat membranous nephropathy coincides with the induction of a matrix gene that is not normally expressed in glomerular cells. Further, they suggest that the intercalation of ectopically-expressed matrix molecules may contribute to the production of a disorganized basement membrane

A novel multivariate STeady-state index during general ANesthesia (STAN)

The assessment of the adequacy of general anesthesia for surgery, namely the nociception/anti-nociception balance, has received wide attention from the scientific community. Monitoring systems based on the frontal EEG/EMG, or autonomic state reactions (e.g. heart rate and blood pressure) have been developed aiming to objectively assess this balance. In this study a new multivariate indicator of patients' steady-state during anesthesia (STAN) is proposed, based on wavelet analysis of signals linked to noxious activation. A clinical protocol was designed to analyze precise noxious stimuli (laryngoscopy/intubation, tetanic, and incision), under three different analgesic doses; patients were randomized to receive either remifentanil 2.0, 3.0 or 4.0 ng/ml. ECG, PPG, BP, BIS, EMG and [Formula: see text] were continuously recorded. ECG, PPG and BP were processed to extract beat-to-beat information, and [Formula: see text] curve used to estimate the respiration rate. A combined steady-state index based on wavelet analysis of these variables, was applied and compared between the three study groups and stimuli (Wilcoxon signed ranks, Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney tests). Following institutional approval and signing the informed consent thirty four patients were enrolled in this study (3 excluded due to signal loss during data collection). The BIS index of the EEG, frontal EMG, heart rate, BP, and PPG wave amplitude changed in response to different noxious stimuli. Laryngoscopy/intubation was the stimulus with the more pronounced response [Formula: see text]. These variables were used in the construction of the combined index STAN; STAN responded adequately to noxious stimuli, with a more pronounced response to laryngoscopy/intubation (18.5-43.1 %, [Formula: see text]), and the attenuation provided by the analgesic, detecting steady-state periods in the different physiological signals analyzed (approximately 50 % of the total study time). A new multivariate approach for the assessment of the patient steady-state during general anesthesia was developed. The proposed wavelet based multivariate index responds adequately to different noxious stimuli, and attenuation provided by the analgesic in a dose-dependent manner for each stimulus analyzed in this study.The first author was supported by a scholarship from the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT SFRH/BD/35879/2007). The authors would also like to acknowledge the support of UISPA—System Integration and Process Automation Unit—Part of the LAETA (Associated Laboratory of Energy, Transports and Aeronautics) a I&D Unit of the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), Portugal. FCT support under project PEst-OE/EME/LA0022/2013.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Guide to Best Practice in Seascape Assessment

Seascape is a crucial element in any maritime nation’s sense of identity and culture. It has played an important part in the history and development of Ireland and Wales. The coast and the sea is a primary holiday and leisure location and is a significant asset in a nation’s recreational resource. The coast and related seascape is a finite resource under almost continual pressure for development. In both Ireland and Wales we are currently experiencing a period of exceptional change around our coasts. The response to sea level rise is generating more proposals for coastal defence works. We have seen the development of new ports and the upgrading of existing facilities, and proposals for aquaculture schemes have become more prevalent around some coasts. Energy strategies are giving rise to wind turbine projects off both coasts. We have also become more aware of how valuable and important our seascapes are to the character and identity of much of our countryside, towns and cities. With all of these development pressures related to the coast and the sea, a systematic approach to issues raised is now timely and essential to ensure that the decision making process has the tools to deal with the upcoming changes. For these reasons development that affects our coasts and seascapes require particular attention and care. Such consideration can best be given in a structure based upon a thorough understanding of the character and values attributable to the relevant seascapes. This guide attempts to provide a methodology to deal with the issues involved.Funder: European Unio

Comparative studies on the structure of an upland African stream ecosystem

Upland stream systems have been extensively investigated in Europe, North America and Australasia and many of the central ideas concerning their function are based on these systems. One central paradigm, the river continuum concept is ultimately derived from those North American streams whose catchments remain forested with native vegetation. Streams of the tropics may or may not fit the model. They have been little studied. The Amani Nature Reserve in the East Usambara Mountains of north-eastern Tanzania offers an opportunity to bring these naturally forested systems to the attention of the ecological community. This article describes a comparison made between two lengths of the River Dodwe in this area. The work was carried out by a group of postgraduate students from eighteen European and African countries with advice from five staff members, as part of a course organised by the Tropical Biology Association. Rigorous efforts were made to standardise techniques, in a situation where equipment and laboratory facilities were very basic, through a management structure and deliberate allocation of work to specialists in each area.The article offers a summary of invertebrate communities found in the stream and its biomass. Crabs seem to be the key organism in both sections of the streams