Technology use, cooperation, and organizational learning in patient safety reporting

Title from PDF of title page (University of Missouri--Columbia, viewed on February 24, 2010).The entire thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file; a non-technical public abstract appears in the public.pdf file.Dissertation advisor: Dr. James Laffey.Vita.Ph.D. University of Missouri--Columbia 2008.Technology use, cooperation, and organizational learning are complex constructs that were often oversimplified and resulted in inconsistent findings in past studies. This study employed an innovative approach to building new knowledge about the use of technology in support of cooperative work and organizational learning in a health care setting. This study examined the use of the Patient Safety Network within the University of Missouri Health Care. The findings provide evidence that technology use and cooperation can be operationalized and examined in context and demonstrate how it can be done reliably. The results show the importance of understanding the participation of different roles within a CSCW context and of considering task characteristics. The degree of cooperation depended on how well the basic elements were met. The overall relationship between cooperation and organizational learning was found weak. Finally, the factors of technology use impact levels of cooperation and perceived organizational learning.Includes bibliographical reference

AOB Nitrosospira cluster 3a.2 (D11) dominates N2O emissions in fertilised agricultural soils.

CRediT authorship contribution statement Na Deng: Writing – review & editing, Methodology, Investigation, Data curation. Cecile Gubry-Rangin: Writing – review & editing, Methodology, Conceptualization. Xiao-Tong Song: Writing – review & editing, Methodology, Data curation. Xiao-Tang Ju: Writing – review & editing, Conceptualization. Si-Yi Liu: Methodology, Data curation. Ju-Pei Shen: Writing – review & editing, Data curation. Hong-jie Di: Writing – review & editing. Li-Li Han: Writing – review & editing, Methodology. Li-Mei Zhang: Writing – review & editing, Methodology, Data curation, Conceptualization.Peer reviewe

Observing parity-time symmetry in diffusive systems

Phase modulation has scarcely been mentioned in diffusive systems since the diffusion process does not carry momentum like waves. Recently, the non-Hermitian physics provides a new perspective for understanding diffusion and shows prospects in the phase regulation of heat flow, for example, the discovery of anti-parity-time (APT) symmetry in diffusive systems. The precise control of thermal phase however remains elusive hitherto and can hardly be realized in APT-symmetric thermal systems due to the existence of phase oscillation. Here we construct the counterpart of APT-symmetric diffusive systems, i.e., PT-symmetric diffusive systems, which can achieve complete suppression of thermal phase oscillation. We find the real coupling of diffusive fields can be readily established through a strong convective background, where the decay-rate detuning is enabled by thermal metamaterial design. Moreover, we observe phase transition of PT symmetry breaking in diffusive systems with the symmetry-determined amplitude distribution and phase regulation of coupled temperature fields. Our work uncovers the existence of PT-symmetry in dissipative energy exchanges and provides a unique approach for harnessing the mass transfer of particles, the wave propagation in strongly scattering systems as well as thermal conduction

Mineral particles stimulate innate immunity through neutrophil extracellular traps containing HMGB1.

Calcium phosphate-based mineralo-organic particles form spontaneously in the body and may represent precursors of ectopic calcification. We have shown earlier that these particles induce activation of caspase-1 and secretion of IL-1β by macrophages. However, whether the particles may produce other effects on immune cells is unclear. Here, we show that these particles induce the release of neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) in a size-dependent manner by human neutrophils. Intracellular production of reactive oxygen species is required for particle-induced NET release by neutrophils. NETs contain the high-mobility group protein B1 (HMGB1), a DNA-binding protein capable of inducing secretion of TNF-α by a monocyte/macrophage cell line and primary macrophages. HMGB1 functions as a ligand of Toll-like receptors 2 and 4 on macrophages, leading to activation of the MyD88 pathway and TNF-α production. Furthermore, HMGB1 is critical to activate the particle-induced pro-inflammatory cascade in the peritoneum of mice. These results indicate that mineral particles promote pro-inflammatory responses by engaging neutrophils and macrophages via signaling of danger signals through NETs

The Nexus of Sensory Loss, Cognitive Impairment, and Functional Decline in Older Adults: A Scoping Review

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The prevalence of cognitive impairment and sensory loss in hearing or vision increases with age. Based on the Information Processing Model, cognitive impairment coupled with sensory loss may exacerbate disability in late life. Yet this issue has not been systematically studied. The purpose of this scoping review was to examine the literature that studied the relationship between cognitive impairment, sensory loss, and activities of daily living in older adults. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: Two reviewers independently screened 1,410 studies identified from 5 electronic databases (Medline, EMBASE, PsycINFO, CINHAL, and Web of Science). The search was completed in June 2020. A study was eligible if it included measurements of cognitive function, vision or hearing, and activities of daily living. Additionally, the data analyses must address how cognitive impairment and sensory loss are related to the performance of activities of daily living. RESULTS: The final review included 15 studies. Findings show an additive effect of cognitive impairment and sensory loss on the activities of daily living. Cognitive impairment or vision loss independently relates to the decline in activities of daily living. Hearing loss relates to the decline only when the loss is severe, or if the daily task is hearing - specific. DISCUSSION AND IMPLICATIONS: Older adults with coexisting sensory loss and cognitive impairment have the highest risk or prevalence of disability, comparing to cognitive impairment or sensory loss alone. This finding highlights the importance of developing interventions to reduce the risk of disability for older adults experiencing multiple impairments

Anti-Neuroinflammatory Effects of the Calcium Channel Blocker Nicardipine on Microglial Cells: Implications for Neuroprotection

Background/Objective Nicardipine is a calcium channel blocker that has been widely used to control blood pressure in severe hypertension following events such as ischemic stroke, traumatic brain injury, and intracerebral hemorrhage. However, accumulating evidence suggests that inflammatory processes in the central nervous system that are mediated by microglial activation play important roles in neurodegeneration, and the effect of nicardipine on microglial activation remains unresolved. Methodology/Principal Findings In the present study, using murine BV-2 microglia, we demonstrated that nicardipine significantly inhibits microglia-related neuroinflammatory responses. Treatment with nicardipine inhibited microglial cell migration. Nicardipine also significantly inhibited LPS plus IFN-γ-induced release of nitric oxide (NO), and the expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2). Furthermore, nicardipine also inhibited microglial activation by peptidoglycan, the major component of the Gram-positive bacterium cell wall. Notably, nicardipine also showed significant anti-neuroinflammatory effects on microglial activation in mice in vivo. Conclusion/Significance The present study is the first to report a novel inhibitory role of nicardipine on neuroinflammation and provides a new candidate agent for the development of therapies for inflammation-related neurodegenerative diseases

Difference in imipenem, meropenem, sulbactam, and colistin nonsusceptibility trends among three phenotypically undifferentiated Acinetobacter baumannii complex in a medical center in Taiwan, 1997–2007

BackgroundTo determine whether the susceptibilities and the trends of nonsusceptibility of imipenem, meropenem, sulbactam, and colistin differed among Acinetobacter baumannii, Acinetobacter genomic species 3 (AGS 3), and Acinetobacter genomic species 13TU (AGS 13TU) over 11 years.MethodsA total of 1,039 nonduplicate blood isolates of A baumannii complex from bacteremic patients between 1997 and 2007 were collected at Taipei Veterans General Hospital and were identified to the species level using a multiplex polymerase chain reaction method and sequence analysis of 16S–23S intergenic spacer. The minimal inhibitory concentrations of antibiotics were determined by the agar dilution method.ResultsThe nonsusceptibility rates of carbepenems and sulbactam were highest in A baumannii, which also showed a trend toward increasing rate of carbapenems nonsusceptibility over the 11-year period of the study. AGS 13TU had the highest nonsusceptible rate to colistin, comparably increasing trend of carbapenem nonsusceptiblity as that of A baumannii, and is the only species with increasing sulbactam nonsusceptibility. AGS 3 had the lowest rate of nonsusceptibility to all four antimicrobial agents.ConclusionAlthough A baumannii had the highest nonsusceptibility rate to imipenem, meropenem, and sulbactam over the years, the higher rate of colistin nonsusceptibility and the emergence of nonsusceptibility of carbapenems and sulbactam in AGS 13TU suggested that this species might cause a great problem in the near future

Plasma fatty acids and the risk of metabolic syndrome in ethnic Chinese adults in Taiwan

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Evidence of predictive power of various fatty acids on the risk of metabolic syndrome was scanty. We evaluated the role of various fatty acids, including saturated fat, monounsaturated fat, transfat, n-6 fatty acid, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), for the risk of the metabolic syndrome in Taiwan.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A nested case-control study based on 1000 cases of metabolic syndrome and 1:1 matched control subjects. For saturated fat, monounsaturated fat and transfat, the higher the concentration the higher the risk for metabolic syndrome: participants in the highest quintile had a 2.22-fold (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.66 to 2.97) higher risk of metabolic syndrome. In addition, the participants in higher EPA quintiles were less likely to have the risk of metabolic syndrome (adjusted risk, 0.46 [0.34 to 0.61] for the fifth quintile). Participants in the highest risk group (low EPA and high transfat) had a 2.36-fold higher risk of metabolic syndrome (95% CI, 1.38 to 4.03), compared with those in the lowest risk group (high EPA and low transfat). For prediction power, the area under ROC curves increased from 0.926 in the baseline model to 0.928 after adding fatty acids. The net reclassification improvement for metabolic syndrome risk was substantial for saturated fat (2.1%, <it>P </it>= 0.05).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Plasma fatty acid components improved the prediction of the metabolic syndrome risk in Taiwan.</p