11 research outputs found
A Model of Continuous Improvement Programme Management
The aim of this study is to identify key management decisions that enable the sustainment of a continuous improvement (CI) initiative. To accomplish this aim, we examine the procedures and practices used by two manufacturing companies for the management of their CI initiatives; one that is successfully sustaining the effectiveness of its CI initiative and another failing to do the same. This research makes two contributions to the conceptual understanding of CI programme management. First, we identify five CI programme management factors that enable the sustainment of a CI initiative. Second, the five factors are incorporated into a new CI programme management model. The model details a ‘bottom-up’ procedure for the generation of manufacturing performance improvement ideas and the management of their implementation
Nest Making and Oxytocin Comparably Promote Wound Healing in Isolation Reared Rats
Background: Environmental enrichment (EE) fosters attachment behavior through its effect on brain oxytocin levels in the hippocampus and other brain regions, which in turn modulate the hypothalamic-pituitary axis (HPA). Social isolation and other stressors negatively impact physical healing through their effect on the HPA. Therefore, we reasoned that: 1) provision of a rat EE (nest building with Nestlets®) would improve wound healing in rats undergoing stress due to isolation rearing and 2) that oxytocin would have a similar beneficial effect on wound healing. Methodology/Principal Findings: In the first two experiments, we provided isolation reared rats with either EE or oxytocin and compared their wound healing to group reared rats and isolation reared rats that did not receive Nestlets or oxytocin. In the third experiment, we examined the effect of Nestlets on open field locomotion and immediate early gene (IEG) expression. We found that isolation reared rats treated with Nestlets a) healed significantly better than without Nestlets, 2) healed at a similar rate to rats treated with oxytocin, 3) had decreased hyperactivity in the open field test, and 4) had normalized IEG expression in brain hippocampus. Conclusions/Significance: This study shows that when an EE strategy or oxytocin is given to isolation reared rats, the peripheral stress response, as measured by burn injury healing, is decreased. The findings indicate an association between the effect of nest making on wound healing and administration of the pro-bonding hormone oxytocin. Further elucidation of this animal model should lead to improved understanding of how EE strategies can ameliorate poor wound healing and other symptoms that result from isolation stress
Anthracyclines as Tumor Cell Differentiating Agents: Effects on the Regulation of Erythroid Gene Expression
Effects of experimental housing conditions on recovery of laboratory mice
The beneficial effects of environment and social support during disease recovery in humans are widely accepted. Because laboratory mice are social animals and are highly motivated to interact with each other and with their environment, it is very likely that environmental and social factors are also beneficial to their recovery from experimental interventions or spontaneous diseases. The beneficial effects of enriched environments have been particularly well analyzed in the field of brain disorders, but several studies suggest that positive social contact and a complex and familiar environment may also support recovery from injury, from invasive procedures such as surgery or from spontaneously occurring diseases. The author reviews relevant publications on the effects of environment and social housing on recovery from disease or surgery in laboratory mice and other rodents. She concludes that in addition to promoting animal welfare, provision of optimal experimental housing conditions might also contribute to the clinical relevance of preclinical animal models by more closely simulating the environmental and social characteristics of disease recovery in humans