Organizational effectiveness : a study of the concept with empirical reference to a general nurse training system.

The concept of organizational effectiveness is of vital importance to accountants because it forms the ultimate criterion for the design of accounting information systems for control. It also has close conceptual links with the concept of corporate accountability. Depending on how an accountant defines effective organizational behaviour he/she will seek to design management information systems that implement and achieve this perspective. Depending on how and in whose interests a corporation is seen to be working towards accountants will design appropriate corporate reports. This thesis examines the concept in detail and argues that theories of effectiveness have" generally been developed on what Habermas calls a technical level of interest. Little research attention has been paid to developing concepts of effectiveness on the hermeneutical and critical levels of interest. Critique, however, is felt to be vital for the moral and intellectual development of social theory and social science, of which accounting is constitutive. Indeed, Habermas argues that the function of theoretical and practical discourse is to help lead to an ideal situation of rational consensus and of free speech which is unconstrained by sources of domination. Based on this epistemological stance, the thesis develops a technically-interested theory of O.E. This and the research inSights it produces are evaluated and an integrated, critical theory of O.E. is proposed. This is then used to generate additional information from the same empirical base~ a process which shows the inadequacy of developing only technical theories of effectiveness. Finally, the implications of such an integrated theory of O.E. for accounting are examined and new research directions are suggested. The structure of the thesis itself has attempted to be an analogue of critique~ beginning with a technical theory of O.E., evaluating this and proposing an enriched, integrated alternative. It has also attempted to be a thesis in the social science, emphasizing the holism of social knowledge

Global Genome Comparative Analysis Reveals Insights of Resistome and Life-Style Adaptation of Pseudomonas putida

Most Pseudomonas putida strains are environmental microorganisms exhibiting a wide range of metabolic capability but certain strains have been reported as rare opportunistic pathogens and some emerged as multidrug resistant P. putida. This study aimed to assess the drug resistance profile of, via whole genome analysis, P. putida strain T2-2 isolated from oral cavity. At the same time, we also compared the nonenvironmental strain with environmentally isolated P. putida. In silico comparative genome analysis with available reference strains of P. putida shows that T2-2 has lesser gene counts on carbohydrate and aromatic compounds metabolisms, which suggested its little versatility. The detection of its edd gene also suggested T2-2’s catabolism of glucose via ED pathway instead of EMP pathway. On the other hand, its drug resistance profile was observed via in silico gene prediction and most of the genes found were in agreement with drug-susceptibility testing in laboratory by automated VITEK 2. In addition, the finding of putative genes of multidrug resistance efflux pump and ATP-binding cassette transporters in this strain suggests a multidrug resistant phenotype. In summary, it is believed that multiple metabolic characteristics and drug resistance in P. putida strain T2-2 helped in its survival in human oral cavity

Complete genome sequence of Planococcus donghaensis JH1T, a pectin-degrading bacterium

The type strain Planococcus donghaensis JH1T is a psychrotolerant and halotolerant bacterium with starch-degrading ability. Here, we determine the carbon utilization profile of P. donghaensis JH1T and report the first complete genome of the strain. This study revealed the strain’s ability to utilize pectin and d-galacturonic acid, and identified genes responsible for degradation of the polysaccharides. The genomic information provided may serve as a fundamental resource for full exploration of the biotechnological potential of P. donghaensis JH1T

Acute decompensated heart failure in a non cardiology tertiary referral centre, Sarawak General Hospital (SGH‑HF)

Abstract Background: Data on clinical characteristics of acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF) in Malaysia especially in East Malaysia is lacking. Methods: This is a prospective observational study in Sarawak General Hospital, Medical Department, from October 2017 to September 2018. Patients with primary admission diagnosis of ADHF were recruited and followed up for 90 days. Data on patient’s characteristics, precipitating factors, medications and short-term clinical outcomes were recorded. Results: Majority of the patients were classified in lower socioeconomic group and the mean age was 59 years old. Hypertension, diabetes mellitus and dyslipidaemia were the common underlying comorbidities. Heart failure with ischemic aetiology was the commonest ADHF admission precipitating factor. 48.6% of patients were having preserved ejection fraction HF and the median NT-ProBNP level was 4230 pg/mL. Prescription rate of the evidencebased heart failure medication was low. The in-patient mortality and the average length of hospital stay were 7.5% and 5 days respectively. 43% of patients required either ICU care or advanced cardiopulmonary support. The 30-day, 90-day mortality and readmission rate were 13.1%, 11.2%, 16.8% and 14% respectively. Conclusion: Comparing with the HF data from West and Asia Pacific, the short-term mortality and readmission rate were high among the ADHF patients in our study cohort. Maladaptation to evidence-based HF prescription and the higher prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors in younger patients were among the possible issues to be addressed to improve the HF outcome in regions with similar socioeconomic background. Keywords: Acute decompensated heart failure, Epidemiology, Sarawak, Southeast Asia, Malaysi

Clinical Outcome Predictor using Killip Scoring in Acute Decompensated Heart Failure (ADHF): A Non-Cardiac Centre Pilot Experience

Background: Physicians in tertiary centers face a constant challenge in selecting patient with ADHF to be admitted from district healthcare centre, especially with limited resources. Appropriate risk stratification of patients with ADHF would improve the efficiency of our healthcare delivery system. Objective: We aim to find potential relationship between Killip clinical scoring with clinical outcome of ADHF, including in-patient mortality and requirement of advanced cardiorespiratory support. Methods: 35 consecutive cases with a discharge diagnosis of ADHF and admission creatinine clearance of more than 30 were randomly reviewed. Cases were analyzed retrospectively for their Killip score, in-patient mortality, requirement of advance cardiorespiratory care or ICU admission. Results: There were 21 male patients (60%) and 14 female patients. Mean age was 61±19 years old. Mean duration of ward-stay was 6±4 days. Comorbidities were 14 (40%) with history of coronary artery diseases and 17 (49%) with diabetes mellitus. 15 patients (43%) were on at least a single type of guideline directed medication for heart failure. The cohort was almost evenly distributed between those with a Killip score of 2 and above 2. A Killip score of 3 and above was found to have good positive predictive value (87%) for advanced cardio-respiratory care and negative predictive value of 78%. No in-patient death was observed for the group with Killip 2 while 5 deaths were recorded in the group scoring more than 2. A Killip score of 3 had excellent (100%) negative predictive value for in-patient mortality but poor positive predictive value (33%). Significant relationship (p<0.001) was observed for Killip scoring on both outcomes. Conclusion: Killip scoring may be useful for on-call physician to decide the need on tertiary care among patient with ADHF and mortality outcome. However, more prospective studies and patients should be recruited to validate the study

Robust estimation of bacterial cell count from optical density

Optical density (OD) is widely used to estimate the density of cells in liquid culture, but cannot be compared between instruments without a standardized calibration protocol and is challenging to relate to actual cell count. We address this with an interlaboratory study comparing three simple, low-cost, and highly accessible OD calibration protocols across 244 laboratories, applied to eight strains of constitutive GFP-expressing E. coli. Based on our results, we recommend calibrating OD to estimated cell count using serial dilution of silica microspheres, which produces highly precise calibration (95.5% of residuals &lt;1.2-fold), is easily assessed for quality control, also assesses instrument effective linear range, and can be combined with fluorescence calibration to obtain units of Molecules of Equivalent Fluorescein (MEFL) per cell, allowing direct comparison and data fusion with flow cytometry measurements: in our study, fluorescence per cell measurements showed only a 1.07-fold mean difference between plate reader and flow cytometry data

Targeted gene sanger sequencing should remain the first-tier genetic test for children suspected to have the five common X-linked inborn errors of immunity

DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT : The original contributions presented in the study are included in the article/Supplementary Material. Further inquiries can be directed to the corresponding author.To address inborn errors of immunity (IEI) which were underdiagnosed in resource-limited regions, our centre developed and offered free genetic testing for the most common IEI by Sanger sequencing (SS) since 2001. With the establishment of The Asian Primary Immunodeficiency (APID) Network in 2009, the awareness and definitive diagnosis of IEI were further improved with collaboration among centres caring for IEI patients from East and Southeast Asia. We also started to use whole exome sequencing (WES) for undiagnosed cases and further extended our collaboration with centres from South Asia and Africa. With the increased use of Next Generation Sequencing (NGS), we have shifted our diagnostic practice from SS to WES. However, SS was still one of the key diagnostic tools for IEI for the past two decades. Our centre has performed 2,024 IEI SS genetic tests, with in-house protocol designed specifically for 84 genes, in 1,376 patients with 744 identified to have disease-causing mutations (54.1%). The high diagnostic rate after just one round of targeted gene SS for each of the 5 common IEI (X-linked agammaglobulinemia (XLA) 77.4%, Wiskott–Aldrich syndrome (WAS) 69.2%, X-linked chronic granulomatous disease (XCGD) 59.5%, X-linked severe combined immunodeficiency (XSCID) 51.1%, and X-linked hyper-IgM syndrome (HIGM1) 58.1%) demonstrated targeted gene SS should remain the first-tier genetic test for the 5 common X-linked IEI.The Hong Kong Society for Relief of Disabled Children and Jeffrey Modell Foundation.http://www.frontiersin.org/Immunologyam2023Paediatrics and Child Healt

Ultralight vector dark matter search using data from the KAGRA O3GK run

Among the various candidates for dark matter (DM), ultralight vector DM can be probed by laser interferometric gravitational wave detectors through the measurement of oscillating length changes in the arm cavities. In this context, KAGRA has a unique feature due to differing compositions of its mirrors, enhancing the signal of vector DM in the length change in the auxiliary channels. Here we present the result of a search for U(1)B−L gauge boson DM using the KAGRA data from auxiliary length channels during the first joint observation run together with GEO600. By applying our search pipeline, which takes into account the stochastic nature of ultralight DM, upper bounds on the coupling strength between the U(1)B−L gauge boson and ordinary matter are obtained for a range of DM masses. While our constraints are less stringent than those derived from previous experiments, this study demonstrates the applicability of our method to the lower-mass vector DM search, which is made difficult in this measurement by the short observation time compared to the auto-correlation time scale of DM