The Organizational Context, Job Embeddedness, And Effectiveness Of Managing Knowledge Work Teams

The relationships between organizational context, job embeddedness, and knowledge work team effectiveness are examined in this paper. We proposed a research model and tested the model empirically based on a sample of 144 enterprises from the Taiwanese Information Service Industry. The results show that open-mindedness and organizational commitment are positively related to job embeddedness. Job embeddedness also has strong relationship with knowledge work team effectiveness. However, the link between job autonomy and job embeddedness is not significant

Nonparetic Knee Extensor Strength Is the Determinant of Exercise Capacity of Community-Dwelling Stroke Survivors

Objective. To investigate the relationship among walking speed, exercise capacity, and leg strength in community dwelling stroke subjects and to evaluate which one was the leading determinant factor of them. Design. This is a descriptive, cross-sectional study. Thirty-five chronic stroke patients who were able to walk independently in their community were enrolled. Walking speed was evaluated by using the 12-meter walking test. A maximal exercise test was used to determine the stroke subjects’ exercise capacity. Knee extensor strength, measured as isokinetic torque, was assessed by isokinetic dynamometer. Results. The main walking speed of our subjects was 0.52 m/s. Peak oxygen uptake (VO2 peak) was 1.21±0.43 L/min. Knee extensor strength, no matter whether paretic or nonparetic side, was significantly correlated to 12-meter walking speed and exercise capacity. Linear regression also showed the strength of the affected knee extensor was the determinant of walking speed and that of the nonparetic knee extensor was the determinant of exercise capacity in community dwelling stroke subjects. Conclusions. Walking speed and peak oxygen uptake were markedly decreased after stroke. Knee extensor strength of nonparetic leg was the most important determinant of exercise capacity of the community-dwelling stroke subjects. Knee extensor strengthening should be emphasized to help stroke patient to achieve optimal community living

Developing the Effective Method of Spectral Harmonic Energy Ratio to Analyze the Arterial Pulse Spectrum

In this article, we analyze the arterial pulse in the spectral domain. A parameter, the spectral harmonic energy ratio (SHER), is developed to assess the features of the overly decreased spectral energy in the fourth to sixth harmonic for palpitation patients. Compared with normal subjects, the statistical results reveal that the mean value of SHER in the patient group (57.7 ± 27.9) is significantly higher than that of the normal group (39.7 ± 20.9) (P-value = .0066 < .01). This means that the total energy in the fourth to sixth harmonic of palpitation patients is significantly less than it is in normal subjects. In other words, the spectral distribution of the arterial pulse gradually decreases for normal subjects while it decreases abruptly in higher-order harmonics (the fourth, fifth and sixth harmonics) for palpitation patients. Hence, SHER is an effective method to distinguish the two groups in the spectral domain. Also, we can thus know that a “gradual decrease” might mean a “balanced” state, whereas an “abrupt decrease” might mean an “unbalanced” state in blood circulation and pulse diagnosis. By SHER, we can determine the ratio of energy distribution in different harmonic bands, and this method gives us a novel viewpoint from which to comprehend and quantify the spectral harmonic distribution of circulation information conveyed by the arterial pulse. These concepts can be further applied to improve the clinical diagnosis not only in Western medicine but also in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM)

TIME millimeter wave grating spectrometer

The Tomographic Ionized-carbon Mapping Experiment (TIME) utilizes grating spectrometers to achieve instantaneous wideband coverage with background-limited sensitivity. A unique approach is employed in which curved gratings are used in parallel plate waveguides to focus and diffract broadband light from feed horns toward detector arrays. TIME will measure singly ionized carbon fluctuations from 5 < z < 9 with an imaging spectrometer. 32 independent spectrometers are assembled into two stacks of 16, one per polarization. Each grating has 210 facets and provides a resolving power R of ~ 200 over the 186–324 GHz frequency range. The dispersed light is detected using 2-D arrays of transition edge sensor bolometers. The instrument is housed in a closed-cycle 4K–1K–300mK cryostat. The spectrometers and detectors are cooled using a dual-stage 250/300 mK refrigerator

Radial Pressure Pulse and Heart Rate Variability in Heat- and Cold-Stressed Humans

This study aims to explore the effects of heat and cold stress on the radial pressure pulse (RPP) and heart rate variability (HRV). The subjects immersed their left hand into 45°C and 7°C water for 2 minutes. Sixty healthy subjects (age 25 ± 4 yr; 29 men and 31 women) were enrolled in this study. All subjects underwent the supine temperature measurements of the bilateral forearms, brachial arterial blood pressure, HRV and RPP with a pulse analyzer in normothermic conditions, and thermal stresses. The power spectral low-frequency (LF) and high-frequency (HF) components of HRV decreased in the heat test and increased in the cold test. The heat stress significantly reduced radial augmentation index (AIr) (P < .05), but the cold stress significantly increased AIr (P < .01). The spectral energy of RPP did not show any statistical difference in 0 ~ 10 Hz region under both conditions, but in the region of 10 ~ 50 Hz, there was a significant increase (P < .01) in the heat test and a significant decrease in the cold test (P < .01). The changes in AIr induced by heat and cold stress were significantly negatively correlated with the spectral energy in the region of 10 ~ 50 Hz (SE10−50 Hz) but not in the region of 0 ~ 10 Hz (SE0−10 Hz). The results demonstrated that the SE10−50 Hz, which only possessed a small percentage in total pulse energy, presented more physiological characteristics than the SE0−10 Hz under the thermal stresses

A Novel Design of Grooved Fibers for Fiber-Optic Localized Plasmon Resonance Biosensors

Bio-molecular recognition is detected by the unique optical properties of self-assembled gold nanoparticles on the unclad portions of an optical fiber whose surfaces have been modified with a receptor. To enhance the performance of the sensing platform, the sensing element is integrated with a microfluidic chip to reduce sample and reagent volume, to shorten response time and analysis time, as well as to increase sensitivity. The main purpose of the present study is to design grooves on the optical fiber for the FO-LPR microfluidic chip and investigate the effect of the groove geometry on the biochemical binding kinetics through simulations. The optical fiber is designed and termed as U-type or D-type based on the shape of the grooves. The numerical results indicate that the design of the D-type fiber exhibits efficient performance on biochemical binding. The grooves designed on the optical fiber also induce chaotic advection to enhance the mixing in the microchannel. The mixing patterns indicate that D-type grooves enhance the mixing more effectively than U-type grooves. D-type fiber with six grooves is the optimum design according to the numerical results. The experimental results show that the D-type fiber could sustain larger elongation than the U-type fiber. Furthermore, this study successfully demonstrates the feasibility of fabricating the grooved optical fibers by the femtosecond laser, and making a transmission-based FO-LPR probe for chemical sensing. The sensor resolution of the sensor implementing the D-type fiber modified by gold nanoparticles was 4.1 × 10−7 RIU, which is much more sensitive than that of U-type optical fiber (1.8 × 10−3 RIU)

Modernização e ressignificação: as contradições na formação do espaço urbano oeirense (1900-1945).

A presente dissertação visa a analisar a produção do espaço urbano oeirense e suas eventuais contradições compreendendo o período de 1900 a 1945, atentando para a ideia de crise atribuída à perda do status de capital e à introdução de alguns signos do moderno, tomados pelas elites como forma de ressignificação da cidade. Portanto, neste propósito, constitui-se um projeto de modernização urbana ilusória e de exclusão, pois apenas o núcleo central urbano foi merecedor dessa ação. Enquanto isso, o subúrbio estava fora de qualquer tentativa de melhoramento, embora fantasmagoricamente o discurso de modernização para todos fosse divulgado de modo homogêneo entre o grupo político e os letrados locais. Buscamos ainda identificar o ressentimento presente no imaginário local e suas formas reativas, como também as relações do cotidiano dos citadinos. No entanto, esta política de reforma urbana, além de ser destinadas a obras que priorizavam a cultura moderna e o embelezamento urbano, imprimiu um conjunto de normas e condutas, inclusive higiênicas aos moradores da área central. Muitas das quais pretendiam afastar sujeiras e doenças epidêmicas, mas, nesse meio tempo, as zonas suburbana e rural eram consumidas por doenças como a febre tifoide e a malária, sem nenhuma intervenção pública no sentido de preveni-las. Por fim, nesta pesquisa, apoiamo-nos em diversas fontes, sendo elas documentais, fotográficas, orais e bibliográficas. Buscamos encontrar nelas as evidências do passado local, que nos possibilitaram compreender o cotidiano da sociedade oeirense.This dissertation aims to examine the first attempts to modernize in Oeiras-PI, the time frame of 1900-1945, including the idea of seeking crisis attributed to this city by the intellectuals and the local political elite after the transfer of capital to these featuring the "decadent", generalizing the effect of the political crisis and some material loss. Which in turn, not elapsed in its entirety by the loss of capital status, but by their own economic conditions of the state and the municipality, however, not noted by this group insisted that the tirade of "crisis." It also aims to understand the transformations in everyday life oeirense from some achievements, such as theater, traveling cinema, newspaper production, and strengthening the local economy caused by the extraction of latex maniçoba in the early years of the twentieth century. Only after 1930 the political and intellectual discourse points to the advent of local progress, which now has the following material and symbolic transformations: a) urban sanitation; b) construction of the town hall, with modern architecture to the city standards; c) Installation of electric light; d) construction of the airfield with weekly landing; e) film and square. The arrival of these elements of modernity in a society characterized by parochial habits causes changes in sociability and sensitivities both within the elite and among the popular. The sources used in this work are based on surveys of official documents, oral, pictures, newspapers and local literature

Evolution of carbapenem resistance in Acinetobacter baumannii: An 18-year longitudinal study from a medical center in northern Taiwan

BackgroundCarbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii has emerged as an important cause of nosocomial infections with high morbidity and mortality. The carbapenemases, especially class D carbapenem-hydrolyzing oxacillinases (CHDLs), play an important role, but the relationship between their prevalence trend and carbapenem resistance remains unclear.Materials and methodsBetween 1995 and 2012, we collected 667 isolates of A. baumannii from a single medical center in northern Taiwan. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) was used to determine clonality. Antimicrobial susceptibility was determined. Carbapenemase genes and associated genetic structures were detected by polymerase chain reaction.ResultsIsolates were heterogeneous on PFGE. Susceptibility to carbapenem decreased steadily over the study period from 88.1% (2001–2003) to <25% (2010–2012), whereas the isolates remained susceptible to colistin (nearly 100%) and partially susceptible to tigecycline (80%). Starting in 2001, isolates carrying the ISAba1-blaOXA-51-like allele were consistently identified. Isolates containing the transposons Tn2006 or Tn2008 first appeared in 2007 with increasing carriage rates from 17.5% (2007–2009) to 50.0% (2010–2012). The IS1008-ΔISAba3-blaOXA-58-like, blaOXA-72 and metallo-β-lactamase genes were detected only sporadically. Isolates carrying CHDL genes were resistant to multiple drugs, including carbapenem, but remained susceptible to colistin (100.0%).ConclusionIncreased carbapenem resistance in A. baumannii may be caused by the increased prevalence of isolates containing the ISAba1-blaOXA-51-like allele and the transposons Tn2006 and Tn2008