An Investigation into Green Office Buildings' Occupants' Self-Assessed Productivity Levels

Global warming is becoming a topic on everyone's mind as the world turns towards a sustainable way of living. In the property industry, people are looking for ways to encourage investors to move towards sustainable development. This requires some convincing as the increased costs of green buildings need to be justified, specifically looking at the financial returns for the investor. Green buildings are said to increase productivity of its occupants but the difficulty in quantitatively measuring productivity has proven to be a stumbling block in this process. Various green buildings were identified, and their occupants interviewed to provide some answers on the impact of green certification in office buildings, specifically in Cape Town. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with occupants who worked in a building both prior to, as well as during the implementation of green initiatives. Difficulties in this measurement were noted and discussed throughout. It was decided as a result of the available responses, and the guidance from the literature, that perceived productivity could be used as an acceptable form of productivity. It was therefore also necessary to include a section in the interview on personal stresses that the respondent may be experiencing that might also impact productivity. Findings showed that whilst respondents were positive about the green environment and had seen an increase in productivity, a few were unsure about whether these were linked, especially when other factors such as change in management had occurred. The overall feeling of respondents was better and healthier in the greener building, and all reported favourably on most green initiatives. Future research on measurement tools can be investigated with a larger sample being interviewed. It will also be helpful to have further information into the respondents' backgrounds, position in the company and general feeling within the organization that may have an effect on productivity. The more knowledge the respondents have on the office, the larger the collection of reliable data. A greater range of green-starred buildings should be included as well as more than one respondent per building, to increase the sample for comparison

Extending the TAM2 Model: Card Swiping and Academic Librarians

Presentation discusses use of Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and its extended modified TAM2 Model to examine pre- and post-implementation factors in adopting card swiping for libraries

Introducing research initiatives into healthcare: What do doctors think?

Background: Current national and international policies emphasize the need to develop research initiatives within our health care system. Institutional biobanking represents a modern, large-scale research initiative that is reliant upon the support of several aspects of the health care organization. This research project aims to explore doctors' views on the concept of institutional biobanking and to gain insight into the factors which impact the development of research initiatives within healthcare systems. Methods: Qualitative research study using semi-structured interviews. The research was conducted across two public teaching hospitals in Sydney, Australia where institutional biobanking was being introduced. Twenty-five participants were interviewed, of whom 21 were medical practitioners at the specialist trainee level or above in a specialty directly related to biobanking; four were key stakeholders responsible for the design and implementation of the biobanking initiative. Results: All participants strongly supported the concept of institutional biobanking. Participants highlighted the discordance between the doctors who work to establish the biobank (the contributors) and the researchers who use it (the consumers). Participants identified several barriers that limit the success of research initiatives in the hospital setting including: the 'resistance to change' culture; the difficulties in engaging health professionals in research initiatives; and the lack of incentives offered to doctors for their contribution. Doctors positively valued the opportunity to advise the implementation team, and felt that the initiative could benefit from their knowledge and expertise. Conclusion: Successful integration of research initiatives into hospitals requires early collaboration between the implementing team and the health care professionals to produce a plan that is sensitive to the needs of the health professionals and tailored to the hospital setting. Research initiatives must consider incentives that encourage doctors to adopt operational responsibility for hospital research initiatives

A qualitative interview study comparing and contrasting resident and staff perspectives of engaging in meaningful activity in a UK care home

The provision of meaningful activities in care homes is essential for maintaining residents' mental and physical health, yet many do not get adequate opportunities to participate. This qualitative study explored resident and staff perceptions of engaging in meaningful activities in a residential care home for older people (aged over 65 years) in South London, UK. Nine residents and eleven staff members were recruited and their experiences explored through semi-structured interviews. Data were analysed thematically, and three themes emerged. (1) Appreciation of activity: both staff and residents were aware of the benefits of activity to physical and mental health, yet there was a lack of provision within the home. (2) Residents' desire for engagement: residents perceived themselves as active individuals who had previously enjoyed activities, and had goals that they wanted to achieve. This was in contrast to views of care staff, who perceived residents as inactive, lacking in motivation and sedentary due to intrinsic factors such as their age. (3) Impact of care home culture and physical space: staff and residents perceived different barriers to activity; staff reported they were often expected to take on multiple roles within the home leading to a lack of time to engage residents in activities, whilst residents perceived that the layout and design of the home hindered provision. It was concluded that comparing and contrasting views of residents and staff could assist residential homes to reach greater levels of shared understanding of activity provision and highlight particular areas to target for increasing activity engagement

Ranchers Diverse in Their Drought Management Strategies

Farm Management, Livestock Production/Industries,

Paternal Uniparental Isodisomy of Chromosome 11p15.5 within the Pancreas Causes Isolated Hyperinsulinemic Hypoglycemia

Background: Loss of function mutations in the genes encoding the pancreatic β-cell ATP-sensitive potassium (KATP) channel are identified in approximately 80% of patients with diazoxide unresponsive hyperinsulinemic hypoglycemia (HH). For a small number of patients HH can occur as part of a multisystem disease such as Beckwith–Wiedemann syndrome (BWS). In approximately 20% of patients, BWS results from chromosome 11 paternal uniparental disomy (UPD), which causes dysregulation of imprinted growth regulation genes at 11p15.5. There is a considerable range in the clinical features and phenotypic severity associated with BWS which is likely to be due to somatic mosaicism. The cause of HH in these patients is not known. Research Design and Methods: We undertook microsatellite analysis of 12 markers spanning chromosome 11p in two patients with severe HH and diffuse disease requiring a pancreatectomy. In both patients mutations in the KATP channel genes had not been identified. Results: We identified segmental paternal UPD in DNA extracted from pancreatic tissue in both patients. UPD was not observed in DNA extracted from the patient’s leukocytes or buccal samples. In both cases the UPD encompassed the differentially methylated region at chromosome 11p15.5. Despite this neither patient had any further features of BWS. Conclusion: Paternal UPD of the chromosome 11p15.5 differentially methylated region limited to the pancreatic tissue may represent a novel cause of isolated diazoxide unresponsive HH. Loss of heterozygosity studies should therefore be considered in all patients with severe HH who have undergone pancreatic surgery when KATP channel mutation(s) have not been identified

Fasciola hepatica Cathepsin L Zymogens:Immuno-Proteomic Evidence for Highly Immunogenic Zymogen-Specific Conformational Epitopes to Support Diagnostics Development

[Image: see text] Fasciola hepatica, the common liver fluke and causative agent of zoonotic fasciolosis, impacts on food security with global economic losses of over $3.2 BN per annum through deterioration of animal health, productivity losses, and livestock death and is also re-emerging as a foodborne human disease. Cathepsin proteases present a major vaccine and diagnostic target of the F. hepatica excretory/secretory (ES) proteome, but utilization in diagnostics of the highly antigenic zymogen stage of these proteins is surprisingly yet to be fully exploited. Following an immuno-proteomic investigation of recombinant and native procathepsins ((r)FhpCL1), including mass spectrometric analyses (DOI: 10.6019/PXD030293), and using counterpart polyclonal antibodies to a recombinant mutant procathepsin L (anti-rFhΔpCL1), we have confirmed recombinant and native cathepsin L zymogens contain conserved, highly antigenic epitopes that are conformationally dependent. Furthermore, using diagnostic platforms, including pilot serum and fecal antigen capture enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) tests, the diagnostic capacities of cathepsin L zymogens were assessed and validated, offering promising efficacy as markers of infection and for monitoring treatment efficacy

Development and pilot-testing of a colorectal cancer screening decision aid for individuals with varying health literacy levels

Objective: Making an informed decision about colorectal cancer screening requires health literacy. Our aim was to develop and pilot-test a computer-based decision aid to support informed decision making about whether or not to participate in colorectal cancer screening for individuals with varying health literacy levels in the Netherlands. Methods: First, we designed and adapted the decision aid prototype among 25 individuals with low (n = 10) and adequate (n = 15) health literacy. Second, we used a before/after study to assess changes in knowledge, attitude, intention, decisional conflict, deliberation, anxiety and risk perception in an online survey among 81 individuals eligible for colorectal cancer screening with low (n = 35) and adequate (n = 46) health literacy. Results: The decision aid was acceptable, comprehensible, reduced decisional conflict, increased deliberation and improved knowledge about colorectal cancer screening, but not about colorectal cancer, among individuals with adequate and low health literacy. Usability was slightly higher for participants with adequate health literacy compared to those with low health literacy. Conclusion: The decision aid is promising in supporting informed decision making about colorectal cancer screening, also among individuals with lower health literacy. Practice implications: Further refinement of interactive features, such as videos, animations and the values clarification exercise, is needed to increase the usability of the decision aid

The effect of numerical model error on data assimilation

Strong constraint 4D-Variational data assimilation (4D-Var) is a method used to create an initialisation for a numerical model, that best replicates subsequent observations of the system it aims to recreate. The method does not take into account the presence of errors in the model, using the model equations as a strong constraint. This paper gives a rigorous and quantitative analysis of the errors introduced into the initialisation through the use of finite difference schemes to numerically solve the model equations. The 1D linear advection equation together with circulant boundary conditions, are chosen as the model equations of interest as they are representative of the advective processes relevant to numerical weather prediction, where 4D-Var is widely used. We consider the deterministic error introduced by finite difference approximations in the form of numerical dissipation and numerical dispersion and identify the relationship between these properties and the error in the 4D-Var initialisation. In particular, we find that a solely numerically dispersive scheme has the potential to introduce destructive interference resulting in the loss of some wavenumber components in the initialisation. Bounds for the error in the initialisation due to finite difference approximations are determined with and without observation errors. The bounds are found to depend on the smoothness of the true initial condition we wish to recover and the numerically dissipative and dispersive properties of the scheme. Numerical results are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the bounds. These lead to the conclusion that there exists a critical number of discretisation points when considering full sets of observations, where the effects of both the considered numerical model error and observational errors on the initialisation are minimised. The numerically dissipative and dispersive properties of the finite difference schemes also have the potential to alter the properties of the noise found in observations. Correlated noise structures may be introduced into the 4D-Var initialisation as a result. We determine when this occurs for observational errors in the form of additive white noise and find that the effect is reduced through the use of numerically non-dissipative finite difference schemes

Supporting and preparing patients for radiotherapy: Patients’ and radiation therapists’ perspectives on their one-to-one consultations

OBJECTIVE: Patients are often anxious and lack knowledge of radiotherapy prior to commencing treatment. Evidence-based interventions are required to reduce patient anxiety and increase patient preparation before treatment. This study is part of a larger project examining the effectiveness of an innovative preparatory intervention "RT Prepare," to reduce patient psychological distress prior to treatment for breast cancer. This study aimed to explore patients' and RTs' perceptions about the "RT Prepare" intervention and was conducted to assist with refinement of the intervention for future implementation. METHODS: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with patients and radiation therapists (RTs) to elicit their perspectives on the "RT Prepare" intervention. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data. RESULTS: Telephone interviews were conducted with 21 patients who had received the intervention and 15 RTs who had delivered the intervention. Patients and RTs described the intervention positively and highlighted that it was beneficial for preparing patients for treatment planning and treatment. The overarching themes were communication skills; preparation; information provision and dedicated space and time. CONCLUSION: RT Prepare was well received by patients and RTs. Practice implications Based on the results of this study and our quantitative findings, implementation of the intervention would be beneficial for both patients and RTs