1,312 research outputs found

    Perspectives of Healthcare Practitioners: An Exploration of Interprofessional Communication Using Electronic Medical Records

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    Contemporary state-of-the-art healthcare facilities are incorporating technology into their building design to improve communication and patient care. However, technological innovations may also have unintended consequences. This study seeks to better understand how technology influences interprofessional communication within a hospital setting based in the United States. Nine focus groups were conducted including a range of healthcare professions. The focus groups explored practitioners’ experiences working on two floors of a newly designed hospital and included questions about the ways in which technology shaped communication with other healthcare professionals. All focus groups were recorded, transcribed, and coded to identify themes. Participant responses focused on the electronic medical record, and while some benefits of the electronic medical record were discussed, participants indicated use of the electronic medical record has resulted in a reduction of in-person communication. Different charting approaches resulted in barriers to communication between specialties and reduced confidence that other practitioners had received one’s notes. Limitations in technology—including limited computer availability, documentation complexity, and sluggish sign-in processes—also were identified as barriers to effective and timely communication between practitioners. Given the ways in which technology shapes interprofessional communication, future research should explore how to create standardised electronic medical record use across professions at the optimal level to support communication and patient care

    NGS metabarcoding proves successful for quantitative assessment of symbiont abundance: the case of feather mites on birds

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    Proctophyllodes stylifer and Pteronyssoides parinus) under five proportions (16:1, 16:4, 16:16, 16:64, and 16:256 mites) against a mock community composed by Proctophyllodes clavatus and Proctophyllodes sylviae. In all mixtures, we retrieved sequence reads from all species. We found a strong linear relationship between 454 reads and the real proportion of individuals in the mixture for both focal species. The slope for Pr. stylifer was close to one (0.904), and the intercept close to zero (−0.007), thus showing an almost perfect correspondence between real and estimated proportions. The slope for Pt. parinus was 0.351 and the intercept 0.307, showing that while the estimated proportion increased linearly relative to real proportions of individuals in the samples, proportions were overestimated at low real proportions and underestimated at larger ones. Additionally, pyrosequencing replicates from each DNA extraction were highly repeatable (R = 0.920 and 0.972, respectively), showing that the quantification method is highly consistent given a DNA extract. Our study suggests that NGS is a promising tool for abundance estimation of feather mites’ communities in birds.Peer reviewe

    Applying fuzzy logic to assess the biogeographical risk of dengue in South America

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    Background Over the last decade, reports about dengue cases have increase worldwide, which is particularly worrisome in South America due to the historic record of dengue outbreaks from the seventeenth century until the first half of the twentieth century. Dengue is a viral disease that involves insect vectors, namely Aedes aegypti and Ae. albopictus, which implies that, to prevent and combat outbreaks, it is necessary to understand the set of ecological and biogeographical factors affecting both the vector species and the virus. Methods We contribute with a methodology based on fuzzy logic that is helpful to disentangle the main factors that determine favorable environmental conditions for vectors and diseases. Using favorability functions as fuzzy logic modelling technique and the fuzzy intersection, union and inclusion as fuzzy operators, we were able to specify the territories at biogeographical risk of dengue outbreaks in South America. Results Our results indicate that the distribution of Ae. aegypti mostly encompasses the biogeographical framework of dengue in South America, which suggests that this species is the principal vector responsible for the geographical extent of dengue cases in the continent. Nevertheless, the intersection between the favorability for dengue cases and the union of the favorability for any of the vector species provided a comprehensive map of the biogeographical risk for dengue. Conclusions Fuzzy logic is an appropriate conceptual and operational tool to tackle the nuances of the vector-illness biogeographical interaction. The application of fuzzy logic may be useful in decision-making by the public health authorities to prevent, control and mitigate vector-borne diseases

    Applying fuzzy logic to assess the biogeographical risk of dengue in South America

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    Comunicación oralOver the last decade, reports about dengue cases have increase worldwide, which is particularly worrisome in South America due to the historic record of dengue outbreaks from the seventeenth century until the first half of the twentieth century. Dengue is a viral disease that involves insect vectors, namely Aedes aegypti and Ae. albopictus, which implies that, to prevent and combat outbreaks, it is necessary to understand the set of ecological and biogeographical factors affecting both the vector species and the virus. We here contribute with a methodology based on fuzzy logic that is helpful to disentangle the main factors that determine favorable environmental conditions for vectors and diseases. Using favorability functions as fuzzy logic modelling technique and the fuzzy intersection, union and inclusion as fuzzy operators, we were able to specify the territories at biogeographical risk of dengue outbreaks in South America. Our results indicate that the distribution of Ae. aegypti mostly encompasses the biogeographic framework of dengue in South America, which suggests that this species is the principal vector responsible for the geographic extent of dengue cases in the continent. Nevertheless, the intersection between the favorability for dengue cases and the union of the favorability for any of the vector species provided a comprehensive map of the biogeographical risk for dengue. In the current South America epidemiological framework, understanding the vector-illness biogeographic interaction may be useful in decision-making by the public health authorities to prevent, control and mitigate such diseases.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

    Spatial Control of Rabies on Heterogeneous Landscapes

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    Rabies control in terrestrial wildlife reservoirs relies heavily on an oral rabies vaccine (ORV). In addition to direct ORV delivery to protect wildlife in natural habitats, vaccine corridors have been constructed to control the spread; these corridors are often developed around natural barriers, such as rivers, to enhance the effectiveness of vaccine deployment. However, the question of how to optimally deploy ORV around a river (or other natural barrier) to best exploit the barrier for rabies control has not been addressed using mathematical models. Given an advancing epidemic wave, should the vaccine be distributed on both sides of barrier, behind the barrier, or in front of it? Here, we introduce a new mathematical model for the dynamics of raccoon rabies on a spatially heterogeneous landscape that is both simple and realistic. We demonstrate that the vaccine should always be deployed behind a barrier to minimize the recurrence of subsequent epidemics. Although the oral rabies vaccine is sufficient to induce herd immunity inside the vaccinated area, it simultaneously creates a demographic refuge. When that refuge is in front of a natural barrier, seasonal dispersal from the vaccine corridor into an endemic region sustains epidemic oscillations of raccoon rabies. When the vaccine barrier creates a refuge behind the river, the low permeability of the barrier to host movement limits dispersal of the host population from the protected populations into the rabies endemic area and limits subsequent rabies epidemics

    NOVEL NANOSTRUCTURES GROWN BY ELECTROPHORETIC DEPOSITION USING SI SUBSTRATES WITH LOW RESISTIVITY

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    During the last years, the activity and interest in the science and technology of nanostructures have increased exponentially. The use of nanoparticles, nanowires and other nanostructures in the manufacture of different (such as photovoltaic, electronic, optoelectronic, photonic, biomedical) devices is becoming increasingly important as a result of the benefits provided by the nanoscale. In particular, the nanostructures of transparent conductive oxides (TCO\u27s) and wide bandgap semiconductors (such as ZnO), stand out in opto and microelectronics mainly because they are nanometric building blocks that may enable the fabrication of, respectively, electrical interconnections with relative simplicity and active optoelectronic elements in transparent circuits. Please click Additional Files below to see the full abstract

    Expert knowledge versus sampling in species distribution modelling

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    Los registros puntuales de fauna, afectados por el dinamismo en el tiempo que configura la naturaleza, son incapaces de representar la distribución real y completa de una especie. Los expertos infieren las distribuciones de las especies acorde al conocimiento sobre la relación entre éstas y su entorno, aunque su conocimiento está sujeto a la forma difusa y subjetiva en la que la mente humana construye el pensamiento. La función de favorabilidad (FF) permitió la comparación entre ajustar los modelos a partir de los registros puntuales de campo o de los lugares ocupados por una especie según los expertos. Medimos éstos resultados para especies de anfibios: 1) amenazadas, 2) ubicuas y 3) ni amenazadas/ni ubicuas. Se generó una cartografía unificada desde ambas fuentes de conocimiento para todas las especies analizadas. Esta modelización basada en el pensamiento difuso, más acorde a la naturaleza, permitió la comparación de la información sobre la distribución de los anfibios de Uruguay, desde los registros de campo y desde el conocimiento de expertos. El resultado ayudó a predecir los territorios más favorables para encontrarlos. Las especies generalistas (ubicuas), se explicaron mejor por los modelos desde los registros observados, a pesar de su naturaleza incompleta, mientras las especies amenazadas lo fueron por el conocimiento del experto. Estos hallazgos resaltan la importancia de incluir tanto observaciones de campo, como el conocimiento de expertos, en la planificación de la conservación.Agencia Nacional de Investigación e Innovación (ANII); Comisión Académica de Posgrado (CAP) Universidad de la República, Uruguay; Plan Andaluz de Investigación, Desarrollo e Innovación (PAIDI) RNM-262, Junta de Andalucía; Universidad de Málaga (UMA). Funding for open access charge: Universidad de Málaga / CBU

    Modeling A Reciprocating Compressor Using A Two-Way Coupled Fluid And Solid Solver With Automatic Grid Generation And Adaptive Mesh Refinement

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    Computational fluid dynamics has been increasingly used in the design and analysis of reciprocating compressors over the last several years. One of the major challenges in the use of such tools is the creation of the numerical grid on which the modeled equations are solved. Since these compressors typically consist of many interconnected and moving parts, manual creation of the grid can be labor-intensive. Furthermore, it is necessary that the choice of grid yields a sufficiently resolved solution, so that the numerical error is significantly less than the modeling error. In this work, a small displacement refrigeration compressor is modeled using a numerical grid created with an automatic meshing approach. The grid is then automatically adapted to the flow based on the local flow field variables at each time step. This cut-cell based grid matches the supplied fluid volume exactly and permits general motion of all bounding surfaces. An explicit two-way coupled approach is used to account for the fluid-structure interaction between the deforming reed valves and the flow. The fluid is solved using a finite-volume approach, whereas the solid is solved using a finite-element model. The model is validated in comparison to measured mass flow rate, pressure, temperature, and valve lift for two different operation conditions and two different working fluids, namely R-404a and R-449a. The numerical accuracy of the calculations is demonstrated through an automated grid convergence study, and the effect of the grid and time-step resolution on the pressure pulsations and valve lift is shown. While computations on a relatively coarse grid yield power, mass flow rate, and pressure oscillation frequency comparable to measurements, a finer mesh is required inside the cylinder and in the discharge muffler to predict adequately the amplitude of the pressure fluctuations

    Influence of substrate morphology on ZnO nanostructures grown by electrophoretic deposition

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    The potential of nanotechnology depends heavily on the ability to manipulate atoms and nanoparticles with the greatest versatility possible during the manufacturing process of nanostructures. The use of low dimensional structures is a key technological factor in the creation of new functional and sensing devices which benefit from their large surface area to volume ratio. Nevertheless, many properties of nanomaterials depend not only on their size but also on their growth processes. Therefore, it is imperative the quest for a proper understanding and control of the relation between growth processes, structure, morphology, and resulting properties. Among the semiconductor materials, ZnO is considered important and promising. Reasons for this include low-cost, simple and controllable synthesis of a wide diversity of nanostructures, and the interesting potential applications in photonics, and chemical and biological sensing offered by them. In a previous work [1], we reported the self-assembled growth (without a sacrificial template) of ZnO nanowires on Si substrate with Au nanoclusters. The nanowires growth was performed at room temperature by electrophoretic deposition (EPD) from a ZnO nanoparticles colloidal suspension. Since experimental results show that the morphologies and qualities obtained are strongly dependent upon substrate morphology, in the current work we investigate the influence of size, shape and separation between Au nanoclusters on the properties of ZnO nanostructures grown by EPD. The substrates used are commercial Si wafers and Si wafers with amorphous SiO2 layers (grown by thermal oxidation), where a Au nanolayer is deposited by sputtering and annealed at different conditions to produce distinct morphological nanometer-sized Au clusters. The obtained ZnO nanostructures are characterized by scanning and transmission electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction and photoluminescence spectroscopy. The influence of the morphology of the substrate and process parameters on the quality and morphology of the nanostructures produced is discussed in detail. [1] C. Sandoval, O. Marin, S. Real, D. Comedi, M. Tirado. Electrophoretic deposition of ZnO nanostructures: Au nanoclusters on Si substrates induce self-assembled nanowire growth. Materials Science Engineering B, 187, 21-25 (2014)
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