317 research outputs found
Night MattersâWhy the Interdisciplinary Field of âNight Studiesâ Is Needed
The night has historically been neglected in both disciplinary and interdisciplinary research. To some extent, this is not surprising, given the diurnal bias of human researchers and the difficulty of performing work at night. The night is, however, a critical element of biological, chemical, physical, and social systems on Earth. Moreover, research into social issues such as inequality, demographic changes, and the transition to a sustainable economy will be compromised if the night is not considered. Recent years, however, have seen a surge in research into the night. We argue that ânight studiesâ is on the cusp of coming into its own as an interdisciplinary field, and that when it does, the field will consider questions that disciplinary researchers have not yet thought to ask
Trends in genotypic HIV-1 antiretroviral resistance between 2006 and 2012 in South African patients receiving first- and second-line antiretroviral treatment regimens
The original publication is available at http://www.plosone.org/Publication of this article was funded by the Stellenbosch University Open Access Fund.BibliographyObjectives: South Africaâs national antiretroviral (ARV) treatment program expanded in 2010 to include the nucleoside reverse transcriptase (RT) inhibitors (NRTI) tenofovir (TDF) for adults and abacavir (ABC) for children. We investigated the associated changes in genotypic drug resistance patterns in patients with first-line ARV treatment failure since the introduction of these drugs, and protease inhibitor (PI) resistance patterns in patients who received ritonavir-boosted lopinavir (LPV/r)-containing therapy.
Methods: We analysed ARV treatment histories and HIV-1 RT and protease mutations in plasma samples submitted to the Tygerberg Academic Hospital National Health Service Laboratory.
Results: Between 2006 and 2012, 1,667 plasma samples from 1,416 ARV-treated patients, including 588 children and infants, were submitted for genotypic resistance testing. Compared with 720 recipients of a d4T or AZT-containing first-line regimen, the 153 recipients of a TDF-containing first-line regimen were more likely to have the RT mutations K65R (46% vs 4.0%; p<0.001), Y115F (10% vs. 0.6%; p<0.001), L74VI (8.5% vs. 1.8%; p<0.001), and K70EGQ (7.8% vs. 0.4%) and recipients of an ABC-containing first-line regimen were more likely to have K65R (17% vs 4.0%; p<0.001), Y115F (30% vs 0.6%; p<0.001), and L74VI (56% vs 1.8%; p<0.001). Among the 490 LPV/r recipients, 55 (11%) had â„1 LPV-resistance mutations including 45 (9.6%) with intermediate or high-level LPV resistance. Low (20 patients) and intermediate (3 patients) darunavir (DRV) cross resistance was present in 23 (4.6%) patients.
Conclusions: Among patients experiencing virological failure on a first-line regimen containing two NRTI plus one NNRTI, the use of TDF in adults and ABC in children was associated with an increase in four major non- thymidine analogue mutations. In a minority of patients, LPV/r-use was associated with intermediate or high-level LPV resistance with predominantly low-level DRV cross-resistance.Stellenbosch University Open Access FundPublishers' Versio
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Beyond the performance gap: reclaiming building appraisal through archival research
Current debates about building performance evaluation often emphasise the âperformance gapâ between how buildings perform in practice and how performance was envisaged during the design stage. While such debates continue to be dominated by energy considerations, increasing attention is directed towards the subjective experiences of building users in terms of thermal comfort and wellbeing. The latter trends are undoubtedly to be welcomed, but buildings continue to be conceptualised as fixed physical objects rather than entities that are enacted in practice. With the aim of challenging current assumptions, research is described which sought to reclaim the concept of building appraisal as practised by the pioneering architectural practice DEGW. The concept of building appraisal differs from current notions of building performance evaluation in that the point of departure was not the supposedly fixed entity of the building, but the essential fluidity of the occupying organisation and their aspirations in terms of space. Empirical data is derived from archival sources and through extensive interaction with the DEGW diaspora, many of whom remain active at the leading edge of international practice. It is concluded that the continued fixation with the âperformance gapâ reinforces long-since discredited assumptions of environmental determinism
Embedding building performance evaluation in UK architectural practice and beyond
Despite repeated efforts to foreground Post-occupancy evaluation (POE) in many countries, few have any policy or legislation in place to mandate this process. Large scale voluntary efforts have also failed to provide successful templates through which to mainstream broader Building performance Evaluation (BPE) activity within which POE sits. This paper reviews various programmes and initiatives in the UK which have attempted to embed first POE, then BPE over the last twenty years within a global context, using a practice-based approach based on the authorâs experience of working in the field over this period. Key findings are: a failure of government to systemically follow through on BPE initiatives, stakeholders operating independently of eachother, a lack of institutional engagement in the education sector as a key driver for BPE, and the potential for interdisciplinary models to embrace all members of the design team as well as the client. The paper then examines the means by which BPE has been successfully embedded into practice directly, through deep organisational learning and knowledge exchange activities. Recommendations for these models to be replicated through professional institutions, other learning organisations and regulatory frameworks in the UK are put forward in the Conclusion as a way forward
Developing, validating and testing a Ward Environment Assessment Tool: WEAT
Aims
To develop, validate and test a ward environment assessment tool (WEAT) for post-occupancy evaluation
of hospital wards from the perspectives of ward nurses, using Person-Environment fit theory.
Background
It is argued that as the needs and expectations of various user groups of healthcare facilities would vary,
so would the tools to measure the suitability of the architectural design features of these healing
environments for different groups of users. However, a review of relevant literature revealed that there is
a dearth of assessment tools to appraise the adequacy of healthcare facilities for nursing staff.
Methods
Extant literature was reviewed to construct WEAT. Twenty ward nurses were interviewed to obtain user
perspectives on the ward environment. Post-occupancy evaluation of three hospital wards was undertaken
to validate and test WEAT.
Results
WEAT: A new post-occupancy evaluation tool was created.
Conclusions
WEAT measures the impacts of ward environment on nurses in four personal constructs; namely physical,
cognitive, sensory and universal.
Implications for Nursing Management
WEAT is an innovative management decision-making tool for ward managers, who may use its results to
argue for workspace redesign with facilities managers, explore job readjustments with occupational health
nurses, and review job description with human resource managers
Shared decision making in designing new healthcare environmentsâtime to begin improving quality
Transition From Intravenous to Subcutaneous Insulin: Effectiveness and safety of a standardized protocol and predictors of outcome in patients with acute coronary syndrome
Prognostic implications of type and density of tumour-infiltrating lymphocytes in gastric cancer
The study aims to determine whether type and density of tumour-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) can predict the clinical course in gastric cancer. Gastric carcinomas (n=220) were immunostained for CD3, CD8, CD20, and CD45RO and evaluated for clinicopathologic characteristics. Number of TILs that immunostained positively for each marker were counted using NIH ImageJ software. Tumours were grouped into low- and high-density groups for each marker (CD3, CD8, CD45RO). The densities of CD3+, CD8+, and CD45RO+ TILs were found to be independent predictors of lymph node metastasis by multivariate analysis with odds ratios (95% CI) of 0.425 (0.204â0.885), 0.325 (0.150â0.707), and 0.402 (0.190â0.850), respectively. KaplanâMeier survival analysis revealed that patients in the high-density groups for CD3, CD8, and C45RO had a significantly longer survival time than the patients in the corresponding low-density groups, respectively. In multivariate survival analysis, the densities of CD3+, CD8+, and CD45RO+ TILs remained independent prognostic factors with hazard ratios (95% CI) of 0.549 (0.317â0.951), 0.574 (0.347â0.949), and 0.507 (0.298â0.862), respectively. In conclusion, density of TILs was found to be independently predictive of regional lymph node metastasis and patient survival in gastric cancer
Processo de Projeto Integrado e desempenho ambiental de edificaçÔes: os casos do SAP Labs Brazil e da Ampliação do CENPES Petrobras
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