Knowledge management : Individuals' perceptions of barriers for knowledge management

Syftet är att undersöka individers upplevelser av barriärer mot kunskapsdelning inom organisationer som använder extern arbetskraft i jämförelse med organisationer som ej använder extern arbetskraft. I denna uppsats har en hermeneutisk ansats använts för att studera individers upplevelser av barriärer mot kunskapsdelning. Respondenterna som deltagit i studien var från fyra olika organisationer där två av organisationerna använde sig av extern arbetskraft medan två endast använde sig av ordinarie personal. Vi utförde både intervjuer och enkätundersökningar på organisationer med extern personal och organisationer med bara ordinarie personal. Resultatet från vår studie visar att de upplevda barriärerna mot kunskapsdelning i vissa lägen skiljer sig åt mellan ordinarie- och extern personal. Det har rått konsensus bland de studerade organisationerna om att tidsbrist är den främsta barriären mot kunskapsdelning mellan ordinarie personal och extern personal, vilket har visat sig främst bero på den externa personalens korta anställning. Även bland ordinarie personal är det främst tidsbrist som upplevs som den främsta barriären mot kunskapsdelning. Vidare har vår studie visat att extern personal upplevs bringa konkurrens för de ordinarie anställda då de upplever ett hot och fruktar sin anställningstrygghet. Detta leder dessvärre till en minskad grad av kunskapsdelning och vår studie har vidare visat att detsamma inte upplevs bland ordinarie personal då de upplever en större anställningstrygghet

Knowledge management : Individuals' perceptions of barriers for knowledge management

Syftet är att undersöka individers upplevelser av barriärer mot kunskapsdelning inom organisationer som använder extern arbetskraft i jämförelse med organisationer som ej använder extern arbetskraft. I denna uppsats har en hermeneutisk ansats använts för att studera individers upplevelser av barriärer mot kunskapsdelning. Respondenterna som deltagit i studien var från fyra olika organisationer där två av organisationerna använde sig av extern arbetskraft medan två endast använde sig av ordinarie personal. Vi utförde både intervjuer och enkätundersökningar på organisationer med extern personal och organisationer med bara ordinarie personal. Resultatet från vår studie visar att de upplevda barriärerna mot kunskapsdelning i vissa lägen skiljer sig åt mellan ordinarie- och extern personal. Det har rått konsensus bland de studerade organisationerna om att tidsbrist är den främsta barriären mot kunskapsdelning mellan ordinarie personal och extern personal, vilket har visat sig främst bero på den externa personalens korta anställning. Även bland ordinarie personal är det främst tidsbrist som upplevs som den främsta barriären mot kunskapsdelning. Vidare har vår studie visat att extern personal upplevs bringa konkurrens för de ordinarie anställda då de upplever ett hot och fruktar sin anställningstrygghet. Detta leder dessvärre till en minskad grad av kunskapsdelning och vår studie har vidare visat att detsamma inte upplevs bland ordinarie personal då de upplever en större anställningstrygghet

Advancing Understanding of Lake Metabolism using Modular Compositional Learning

<p>Water quality in lakes can be understood through the lens of metabolism, the balance of primary production and respiration. The challenge of understanding lake metabolism at regional to continental scales is due in part to sparse data availability and a lack of knowledge regarding factors controlling processes at broad scales. To address issues with the scalability of contemporary lake metabolism models, we are leveraging Ecology Knowledge-guided Machine Learning (Eco-KGML). Within the Eco-KGML paradigm, the Modular Compositional Learning (MCL) framework enables the segmentation of a model into smaller modules that can be either process-based or machine learning. Different combinations of modules can be tested to create the most effective predictor of a target variable, which in the case of our metabolism model is water quality. MCL metabolism models can be trained on well-studied systems, then applied to lakes with sparse data. While our MCL metabolism model is still in early development, examples of MCL for simulating lake physics have shown better prediction skill than purely process-based or purely machine learning models. The integration of machine learning into ecological modeling is a novel concept that is made possible only by the ecological insights and unique data collected by the North Temperate Lakes Long-Term Ecological Research (NTL-LTER) program and the National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON).</p&gt

SARS-CoV-2 induces a durable and antigen specific humoral immunity after asymptomatic to mild COVID-19 infection

Current SARS-CoV-2 serological assays generate discrepant results, and the longitudinal characteristics of antibodies targeting various antigens after asymptomatic to mild COVID-19 are yet to be established. This longitudinal cohort study including 1965 healthcare workers, of which 381 participants exhibited antibodies against the SARS-CoV-2 spike antigen at study inclusion, reveal that these antibodies remain detectable in most participants, 96%, at least four months post infection, despite having had no or mild symptoms. Virus neutralization capacity was confirmed by microneutralization assay in 91% of study participants at least four months post infection. Contrary to antibodies targeting the spike protein, antibodies against the nucleocapsid protein were only detected in 80% of previously anti-nucleocapsid IgG positive healthcare workers. Both anti-spike and anti-nucleocapsid IgG levels were significantly higher in previously hospitalized COVID-19 patients four months post infection than in healthcare workers four months post infection (p = 2*10(-23) and 2*10(-13) respectively). Although the magnitude of humoral response was associated with disease severity, our findings support a durable and functional humoral response after SARS-CoV-2 infection even after no or mild symptoms. We further demonstrate differences in antibody kinetics depending on the antigen, arguing against the use of the nucleocapsid protein as target antigen in population-based SARS-CoV-2 serological surveys

Robust humoral and cellular immune responses and low risk for reinfection at least 8 months following asymptomatic to mild COVID-19

Background: Emerging data support detectable immune responses for months after severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection and vaccination, but it is not yet established to what degree and for how long protection against reinfection lasts. Methods: We investigated SARS-CoV-2-specific humoral and cellular immune responses more than 8 months post-asymptomatic, mild and severe infection in a cohort of 1884 healthcare workers (HCW) and 51 hospitalized COVID-19 patients. Possible protection against SARS-CoV-2 reinfection was analyzed by a weekly 3-month polymerase chain reaction (PCR) screening of 252 HCW that had seroconverted 7 months prior to start of screening and 48 HCW that had remained seronegative at multiple time points. Results: All COVID-19 patients and 96% (355/370) of HCW who were anti-spike IgG positive at inclusion remained anti-spike IgG positive at the 8-month follow-up. Circulating SARS-CoV-2-specific memory T cell responses were detected in 88% (45/51) of COVID-19 patients and in 63% (233/370) of seropositive HCW. The cumulative incidence of PCR-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection was 1% (3/252) among anti-spike IgG positive HCW (0.13 cases per 100 weeks at risk) compared to 23% (11/48) among anti-spike IgG negative HCW (2.78 cases per 100 weeks at risk), resulting in a protective effect of 95.2% (95% CI 81.9%-99.1%). Conclusions: The vast majority of anti-spike IgG positive individuals remain anti-spike IgG positive for at least 8 months regardless of initial COVID-19 disease severity. The presence of anti-spike IgG antibodies is associated with a substantially reduced risk of reinfection up to 9 months following asymptomatic to mild COVID-19

Systematic evaluation of SARS-CoV-2 antigens enables a highly specific and sensitive multiplex serological COVID-19 assay

Objective: The COVID-19 pandemic poses an immense need for accurate, sensitive and high-throughput clinical tests, and serological assays are needed for both overarching epidemiological studies and evaluating vaccines. Here, we present the development and validation of a high-throughput multiplex bead-based serological assay. Methods: More than 100 representations of SARS-CoV-2 proteins were included for initial evaluation, including antigens produced in bacterial and mammalian hosts as well as synthetic peptides. The five best-performing antigens, three representing the spike glycoprotein and two representing the nucleocapsid protein, were further evaluated for detection of IgG antibodies in samples from 331 COVID-19 patients and convalescents, and in 2090 negative controls sampled before 2020. Results: Three antigens were finally selected, represented by a soluble trimeric form and the S1-domain of the spike glycoprotein as well as by the C-terminal domain of the nucleocapsid. The sensitivity for these three antigens individually was found to be 99.7%, 99.1% and 99.7%, and the specificity was found to be 98.1%, 98.7% and 95.7%. The best assay performance was although achieved when utilising two antigens in combination, enabling a sensitivity of up to 99.7% combined with a specificity of 100%. Requiring any two of the three antigens resulted in a sensitivity of 99.7% and a specificity of 99.4%. Conclusion: These observations demonstrate that a serological test based on a combination of several SARS-CoV-2 antigens enables a highly specific and sensitive multiplex serological COVID-19 assay

Analysis of Outcomes in Ischemic vs Nonischemic Cardiomyopathy in Patients With Atrial Fibrillation A Report From the GARFIELD-AF Registry

IMPORTANCE Congestive heart failure (CHF) is commonly associated with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation (AF), and their combination may affect treatment strategies and outcomes