Relationship between employee involvement and lean manufacturing and its effect on performance in a rigid continuous process industry

Relationship between employee involvement and lean manufacturing and its effect on performance in a rigid continuous process industry DOI: 10.1080/00207543.2014.975852 Juan A. Marin-Garciaa* & Tomas Bonaviab Received: 1 Aug 2013 Accepted: 30 Sep 2014 Published online: 04 Nov 2014 This research aims to empirically test the effect of employee involvement on lean manufacturing (LM), and the effect of LM on production outcomes. Employee involvement is operationalised through four related variables: empowerment, training, contingent remuneration and communication. The effects are tested by recording management perceptions in a different industrial sector from those usually studied in previous research ceramic manufacturers, a highly competitive and internationally successful sector. We obtained data from 101 ceramic tile plants (64% of response rate) in the Valencia region of Spain. This approach is developed using a statistical method called partial least squares. All paths are significant except for contingent remuneration; specifically, relationships were found between empowerment, training, communication and LM, and between LM and performance.This paper has been written with financial support from the Project "Path Dependence and decision-making for selecting LM tools and practices" (PAID-06-12-SP20120717) of the Universitat Politecnica de Valencia.Marín García, JA.; Bonavía Martín, T. (2015). Relationship between employee involvement and lean manufacturing and its effect on performance in a rigid continuous process industry. International Journal of Production Research. 53(11):3260-3275. https://doi.org/10.1080/00207543.2014.975852S32603275531

EuroGuiDerm Guideline on the systemic treatment of Psoriasis vulgaris – : Part 1: treatment and monitoring recommendations

Peer reviewe

EuroGuiDerm Guideline on the systemic treatment of Psoriasis vulgaris - Part 2 : specific clinical and comorbid situations

This evidence- and consensus-based guideline on the treatment of psoriasis vulgaris was developed following the EuroGuiDerm Guideline and Consensus Statement Development Manual. The second part of the guideline provides guidance for specific clinical and comorbid situations such as treating psoriasis vulgaris patient with concomitant psoriatic arthritis, concomitant inflammatory bowel disease, a history of malignancies or a history of depression or suicidal ideation. It further holds recommendations for concomitant diabetes, viral hepatitis, disease affecting the heart or the kidneys as well as concomitant neurological disease. Advice on how to screen for tuberculosis and recommendations on how to manage patients with a positive tuberculosis test result are given. It further covers treatment for pregnant women or patients with a wish for a child in the near future. Information on vaccination, immunogenicity and systemic treatment during the COVID-19 pandemic is also provided.Peer reviewe

A global database of dissolved organic matter (DOM) concentration measurements in coastal waters (CoastDOM v1)

Measurements of dissolved organic carbon (DOC), nitrogen (DON), and phosphorus (DOP) con-centrations are used to characterize the dissolved organic matter (DOM) pool and are important components ofbiogeochemical cycling in the coastal ocean. Here, we present the first edition of a global database (CoastDOMv1; available at https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.964012, L\uf8nborg et al., 2023) compiling previously pub-lished and unpublished measurements of DOC, DON, and DOP in coastal waters. These data are complementedby hydrographic data such as temperature and salinity and, to the extent possible, other biogeochemical variables(e.g. chlorophyll a, inorganic nutrients) and the inorganic carbon system (e.g. dissolved inorganic carbon andtotal alkalinity). Overall, CoastDOM v1 includes observations of concentrations from all continents. However,most data were collected in the Northern Hemisphere, with a clear gap in DOM measurements from the SouthernHemisphere. The data included were collected from 1978 to 2022 and consist of 62 338 data points for DOC,20 356 for DON, and 13 533 for DOP. The number of measurements decreases progressively in the sequenceDOC > DON > DOP, reflecting both differences in the maturity of the analytical methods and the greater focuson carbon cycling by the aquatic science community. The global database shows that the average DOC concen-tration in coastal waters (average \ub1 standard deviation (SD): 182 \ub1 314 μmol C L−1; median: 103 μmol C L−1) is13-fold higher than the average coastal DON concentration (13.6 \ub1 30.4 μmol N L−1; median: 8.0 μmol N L−1),which is itself 39-fold higher than the average coastal DOP concentration (0.34 \ub1 1.11 μmol P L−1; median:0.18 μmol P L−1). This dataset will be useful for identifying global spatial and temporal patterns in DOM and willhelp facilitate the reuse of DOC, DON, and DOP data in studies aimed at better characterizing local biogeochem-ical processes; closing nutrient budgets; estimating carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorous pools; and establishing abaseline for modelling future changes in coastal waters

TREatment of ATopic eczema (TREAT) Registry Taskforce: protocol for a European safety study of dupilumab and other systemic therapies in patients with atopic eczema.

BACKGROUND: A long-term prospective observational safety study is essential to characterize fully the safety profile of systemic immunomodulating therapies for patients with atopic eczema. The TREatment of ATopic eczema (TREAT) Registry Taskforce offers a large platform to conduct such research using national registries that collect the same data using a predefined core dataset. OBJECTIVES: To present a protocol for a safety study comparing dupilumab with other systemic immunomodulating therapies in children and adults with moderate-to-severe atopic eczema, to assess the long-term safety risk of these therapies in a routine clinical care setting. METHODS: We describe a registry-embedded international observational prospective cohort study. Adult and paediatric patients who start treatment with dupilumab or another systemic immunomodulating agent for their atopic eczema will be included. The primary end point is the incidence of malignancies (excluding nonmelanoma skin cancer) compared between the treatment groups. Secondary end points include other serious adverse events and adverse events of special interest, such as eye disorders and eosinophilia. CONCLUSIONS: This protocol delineates a safety study for dupilumab in adult and paediatric patients with atopic eczema, using a standardized methodological approach across several national registries. The protocol could also be used for other novel systemic immunomodulating therapies, and could provide licensing and reimbursement authorities, pharmaceutical companies and clinicians with safety evidence from a routine clinical care setting. What's already known about this topic? There is a need for long-term data on the safety of systemic immunomodulating therapies in patients with atopic eczema. Regulatory bodies, such as the European Medicines Agency, increasingly stipulate the collection of such data as part of the licensing agreement for new treatments, to assess the new agent's long-term safety profile against established therapies. Large numbers of patients with a long duration of follow-up are necessary in order to detect rare events like malignancies. What does this study add? The TREAT Registry Taskforce offers a platform to conduct such research with a network of multiple national atopic eczema research registries. We present a protocol for an investigator-initiated multicentre safety study comparing dupilumab with other systemic immunomodulating therapies in adults and subsequently adolescents and children with moderate-to-severe atopic eczema. This protocol can be used as a framework for similar studies for other novel systemic immunomodulating therapies across both adult and paediatric populations

Toxic epidermal necrolysis and Stevens-Johnson syndrome

Toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN) and Stevens Johnson Syndrome (SJS) are severe adverse cutaneous drug reactions that predominantly involve the skin and mucous membranes. Both are rare, with TEN and SJS affecting approximately 1or 2/1,000,000 annually, and are considered medical emergencies as they are potentially fatal. They are characterized by mucocutaneous tenderness and typically hemorrhagic erosions, erythema and more or less severe epidermal detachment presenting as blisters and areas of denuded skin. Currently, TEN and SJS are considered to be two ends of a spectrum of severe epidermolytic adverse cutaneous drug reactions, differing only by their extent of skin detachment. Drugs are assumed or identified as the main cause of SJS/TEN in most cases, but Mycoplasma pneumoniae and Herpes simplex virus infections are well documented causes alongside rare cases in which the aetiology remains unknown. Several drugs are at "high" risk of inducing TEN/SJS including: Allopurinol, Trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole and other sulfonamide-antibiotics, aminopenicillins, cephalosporins, quinolones, carbamazepine, phenytoin, phenobarbital and NSAID's of the oxicam-type. Genetic susceptibility to SJS and TEN is likely as exemplified by the strong association observed in Han Chinese between a genetic marker, the human leukocyte antigen HLA-B*1502, and SJS induced by carbamazepine. Diagnosis relies mainly on clinical signs together with the histological analysis of a skin biopsy showing typical full-thickness epidermal necrolysis due to extensive keratinocyte apoptosis. Differential diagnosis includes linear IgA dermatosis and paraneoplastic pemphigus, pemphigus vulgaris and bullous pemphigoid, acute generalized exanthematous pustulosis (AGEP), disseminated fixed bullous drug eruption and staphyloccocal scalded skin syndrome (SSSS). Due to the high risk of mortality, management of patients with SJS/TEN requires rapid diagnosis, evaluation of the prognosis using SCORTEN, identification and interruption of the culprit drug, specialized supportive care ideally in an intensive care unit, and consideration of immunomodulating agents such as high-dose intravenous immunoglobulin therapy. SJS and TEN are severe and life-threatening. The average reported mortality rate of SJS is 1-5%, and of TEN is 25-35%; it can be even higher in elderly patients and those with a large surface area of epidermal detachment. More than 50% of patients surviving TEN suffer from long-term sequelae of the disease