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Research has shown that genetics and epigenetics regulate mating behavior across multiple species. Previous studies have generally focused on the signaling pathways involved and spatial distribution of the associated receptors. However a thorough quantitative characterization of the receptors involved may offer deeper insight into mating behavioral patterns. Here oxytocin, arginine-vasopressin 1a, dopamine 1, and dopamine 2 receptors were investigated across 76 vertebrate species. The receptor sequences were characterized by polarity-based randomness, amino acid frequency-based Shannon entropy and Shannon sequence variability, intrinsic protein disorder, binding affinity, stability and pathogenicity of homology-based SNPs, structural and physicochemical features. Hierarchical clustering of species was derived based on structural and physicochemical features of the four receptor sequences separately, which eventually led to proximal relationships among 29 species. Humans were found to be significantly distant phylogenetically from the prairie voles, a representative of monogamous species based on coital behavior. Furthermore, the mouse (polygamous), the prairie deer mouse (polygamous), and the prairie vole (monogamous) although being proximally related (based on quantitative genomics of receptors), differed in their coital behavioral pattern, mostly, due to behavioral epigenetic regulations. This study adds a perspective that receptor genomics does not directly translate to behavioral patterns.

Luminescent metal nanoclusters (NCs) have been established as next-generation fluorophores. Their biocompatible and non-toxic nature, along with excellent chemical- and photo-stability, enables them to find applications in multi-disciplinary areas. However, preparing NCs which are stable is always challenging, primarily owing to their small size and propensity to self-aggregate. In this review, we highlight a holistic approach as to how ligands and templates can monitor the stability of NCs, tune their spectroscopic signatures, and alter their applications. The role of small molecules of a large ligand in the preparation of NCs and their associated limitations are also discussed. We have summarized how these NCs can be utilized in sensing several metal ions, pH, viscosity and temperature of many systems which have biological relevance. Additionally, these luminescent metal NCs find usage in cell-imaging, discriminating between cancerous and non-cancerous cell lines and also targeting specific organelles within the cellular environment.

We present surface reconstruction-induced C-C coupling leads to conversion of CO2 to Ethylene. Wurtzite phase of CuGaS2. undergoes in-situ surface reconstruction leads to the formation of a thin CuO layer over the pristine catalyst which facilitates selective conversion of CO2 to ethylene (C2H4). Upon illumination, the catalyst efficiently converts CO2 to C2H4 with 75.1% selectivity (92.7% selectivity in terms of Relectron) and 20.6 µmol g-1 h-1 evolution rate. Subsequent spectroscopic and microscopic studies supported by theoretical analysis found the operando generated Cu2+ with the assistance of existing Cu+anchored the generated *CO, facilitating the C-C coupling. This study demonstrates the strain-induced in-situ surface reconstruction leading to heterojunction formation accounting for fine-tuning of the oxidation state of Cu that modulate CO2 reduction reaction pathway to selective formation of ethylene, which opens a new footstep to achieve CO2 to C2+ hydrocarbons.

We report a sustainable and eco-friendly approach for selective

We propose a typology suggesting varying extent of servitization for manufacturing firms in different industries that could help them improve their firm performance. We suggest that contemporary ma...

The role of small molecules in the preparation of metal nanomaterials generates considerable interest in the fields from materials science to interdisciplinary sciences. In this study, a small amino acid, l-tyrosine (Tyr), has been used as a ligand precursor for the preparation of silver nanomaterials (AgNMs) comprising a dual system: smaller silver nanoclusters (responsible exclusively for the photophysical properties) and larger silver nanoparticles (responsible exclusively for the antimicrobial properties). The luminescent properties of this AgNM system substantiate the role played by Tyr as a capping and a reducing agent outside the protein environment. An interesting feature of this report is the promising antimicrobial properties of the AgNMs against Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Candida albicans, Escherichia coli, and Bacillus cereus cell lines. The importance of this work is that this investigation demonstrates the combating ability of our AgNM system against pathogenic strains (C. albicans and B. cereus) as well. Moreover, the mechanistic aspects of the antimicrobial activity of the AgNMs were elucidated using various methods, such as propidium iodide staining, monitoring reactive oxygen species generation, leakage of proteins, DNA cleavage, etc. We propose that AgNM-mediated cytotoxicity in S. cerevisiae stems from the generation of singlet oxygen (1O2) species that create oxidative stress, disrupting the cell membrane and thereby resulting in leakage of proteins from the cells. This study can pave the way toward elucidating the role of a small molecule, Tyr, in the formation of NMs and describes the use of new NMs in potential antimicrobial applications.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to show the value of open-ended narrative patient reviews on social media for elucidating aspects of hospital patient satisfaction. Design/methodology/approach Mixed methods analyses using qualitative (manual content analyses using grounded theory and algorithmic analyses using the Natural Language Toolkit) followed by quantitative analyses (negative binomial regression). Findings Health-care team communication, health-care team action orientation and patient hospital room environment are positively related to patient hospital satisfaction. Patients form their hospital satisfaction perceptions based on the three facets of their hospital stay experience. Research limitations/implications In the spirit of continuous quality improvement, periodically analyzing patient social media comments could help health-care teams understand the patient satisfaction inhibitors that they need to avoid to offer patient-centric care. Practical implications By periodically analyzing patient social media comments hospital leaders can quickly identify the gaps in their health service delivery and plug them, which could ultimately give the hospital a competitive advantage. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is one of the first studies to apply mixed methods to patient hospital review comments given freely on social media to critically understand what drives patient hospital satisfaction ratings.

Taste is one of the essential senses in providing the organism a faithful representation of the external world. Taste perception is responsible for basic food and drink appraisal and bestows the organism with valuable discriminatory power. Umami and sweet are “good” tastes that promote consumption of nutritive food, whereas bitter and sour are “bad” tastes that alert the organism to toxins and low pH, promoting rejection of foods containing harmful substances. Not every animal has the same sense of taste as humans. Variation in the taste receptor genes contributes to inter and intra organism differences of taste (sweet/bitter) sensation and preferences. Therefore a deeper understanding was needed to comprehend taste perception by various vertebrates and accordingly elucidate a possible proximity among them. In this study, a total 20 Type-1 (sweet) and 189 Type-2 (bitter) taste receptor complete-amino acid sequences were taken from the 20 vertebrate organisms (18 mammalian, 1 aves, and 1 amphibian). Among 10 primates, 8 including humans were very close based on genomics of taste receptors and rodent organisms viz. the rat and mouse were away from them. This investigation throws light on the similitude and dissimilitude of perception of sweet and bitter taste among 20 different organisms, steered by quantitative analysis of their genomic data. Furthermore, it enlightened that ligand binding affinity of sweet/bitter taste molecules in the taste receptors of any proximal pair of organisms would be similar.

Taste is one of the essential senses in providing the organism a faithful representation of the external world. Taste perception is responsible for basic food and drink appraisal and bestows the organism with valuable discriminatory power. Umami and sweet are "good" tastes that promote consumption of nutritive food, whereas bitter and sour are "bad" tastes that alert the organism to toxins and low pH, promoting rejection of foods containing harmful substances. Not every animal has the same sense of taste as humans. Variation in the taste receptor genes contributes to inter and intra organism differences of taste (sweet/bitter) sensation and preferences. Therefore a deeper understanding was needed to comprehend taste perception by various vertebrates and accordingly elucidate a possible proximity among them. In this study, a total 20 Type-1 (sweet) and 189 Type-2 (bitter) taste receptor complete-amino acid sequences were taken from the 20 vertebrate organisms (18 mammalian, 1 Aves, and 1 amphibian). Among 10 primates, 8 including humans were very close based on genomics of taste receptors and rodent organisms viz. the rat and mouse were away from them. This investigation throws light on the similitude and dissimilitude of perception of sweet and bitter taste among 20 different organisms, steered by quantitative analysis of their genomic data. Furthermore, it enlightened that ligand binding affinity of sweet/bitter taste molecules in the taste receptors of any proximal pair of organisms would be similar.

This paper adopts an explanatory sequential mixed method design to explore the impact of decentralized (vs. centralized) leadership on cross-functional teams' resource exchanges at a long-term care facility in Canada. In the quantitative phase, social network analyses were used to examine the direct and moderated effects (via leader–follower relationship quality; LMX) of the presence of formal decentralized leaders on: (1) knowledge sharing, and (2) work hindrance networks within cross-functional healthcare teams. In the qualitative phase, team members were interviewed regarding the impact of their decentralized leaders. Collectively, the findings suggest that the presence of a decentralized leader may enhance knowledge sharing and safeguard against work hindrance behaviors in cross-functional healthcare teams. However, these effects are contingent on the situation (e.g., LMX quality and status-based hierarchies). Implications for research and healthcare practice are discussed.

Gold nanoclusters (AuNCs) synthesized within a protein (Human Serum Albumin, HSA) template exhibited intense red luminescence accompanied by a quantum yield >10% and remarkable photo and cluster-core stability for a prolonged period (more than a year). These photoluminescent nanoclusters (NCs) were resistant to chemical and thermal perturbations but break down selectively and highly sensitively in the presence of mercury, Hg(ii), ions. The AuNCs were efficient in quantifying Hg(ii) ions in solution as well as bound to the hormone insulin. By exploiting the auto-fluorescence of these AuNCs, we demonstrated that our AuNCs were able to sense Hg(ii) ions at single-molecule sensitivity using Fluorescence Correlation Spectroscopy (FCS), highlighting a detection limit in the sub-nanomolar regime. The translational diffusion time of the AuNCs decreased significantly upon the interaction with Hg(ii) ions and resulted in the formation of smaller sized clusters. A cell viability study reveals the non-toxic nature of these nano-probes, which thus can be used for cell imaging. Interestingly, a cell line-based study reveals that the fluorescence intensity of AuNCs could be detected in cancerous MDA-MB-231 cells but not in non-cancerous breast-derived MCF10A cells. Further, time lapse fixed cell imaging by confocal microscopy revealed that the fluorescence of AuNCs could be quenched by Hg(ii) ions inside the MDA-MB-231 cells. Thus the objective of our study is to appraise the sensitive in vivo as well as in vitro detection of Hg(ii) ions using AuNCs as a probe.

For smooth and effective governance of corporate organizations and to achieve a sustainable development in the corporate fraternity, organizations require finance both for financing the fixed capital as well as for working capital. Finance is such an important aspect of business that enterprises cannot sustain without its interference and as such right from its incorporation till it’s winding up finance occupies a pivotal position. It is not only for the small and big enterprises which requires finance but also the entire economic structure of the country keeps reliance on it. As corporate sector contributes towards Indian economy about 53 % of Gross Domestic Product, the role of security market under the cloak of Security Exchange Board of India plays an important role in contributing to the Indian Economy. Security market also known as the stock market is a platform where a company can raise its fund or share-capital through the means of various kinds of marketable and financial instruments carrying voting rights, interest and payment of dividend both at domestic and international level. For a sustainable corporate governance, a compliance framework has to be established which will help and support the risk management system during identifying the sources of corporate funding and the pools of fund both from domestic capital market and international markets. Corporates should first create an established framework which will help them to evaluate and assess their financial requirement to the extent of managing funds from various sources. It is true that a company issues securities to the investors through the mechanism of initial public offering and further public offering in primary market and in furtherance such securities are additionally traded in secondary market through the platform of recognized stock exchange which makes it crystal clear that there is no direct congruence or connection between the issuer company and the security holders. In this gap the role played by the intermediaries are pertinent for the operations relating to issuance and trading of securities and as such merchant banker is one of the key intermediary in capital market appointed by the issuer company for public issue management. The paper will focus on the role played by the merchant banker in primary market. It will also attempt to define how the merchant banker functions with due regard to public issue management, credit rating of shares and how it complies with the changing laws and regulations for an effective management of corporate transactions.

Fluorescence dynamics of gold nanoclusters (Au9 and Au25 ) are studied in the complex and crowded environment of a triblock co-polymer (F127) hydrogel and inside cervical cancer cell, HeLa. In the hydrogel, spherical micelles of F127 remain immobilized with a hydrophobic core (PPO) and a hydrophilic corona (PEO) region. The fluorescence anisotropy decay suggests that the timescale of rotational relaxation in the hydrogel is similar to that in bulk water (viscosity ∼1 cP). From fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS) it is inferred that the local viscosity in the hydrogel is 12 cP for Au9 and 18 cP for Au23 . These results indicate that gold nanoclusters (AuNCs) localize in the corona region of the hydrogel. Evidently, frictions against rotation and translation are different inside the gel. It is suggested that rotation of the AuNCs senses the immediate water-like "void" region while translation motion involves in-and-out movement of the AuNCs at the periphery of the gel. Finally, the gold nanoclusters are used for cell imaging and estimation of intracellular viscosity of HeLa cells.

We report Thermal Lens measurements on the binary liquid mixtures of Methanol and Phenol with femtosecond pulse excitations. The photothermal response is found to be strongly dependent on relative concentrations and the constituents’ molecular properties.

Herein, we report a nickel-catalyzed sustainable, environment­-friendly, and economically affordable borrowing hydrogen approach (BHA) for synthesizing various α-alkylated ketones via dehydro­genative coupling of primary and secondary alcohols. Using a well-­defined, air-stable, inexpensive, and easy-to-prepare four-coordinate macrocyclic Ni(II)-catalyst [Ni(MeTAA)] of a tetra-aza macrocyclic ligand (tetramethyltetraaza[14]annulene (H2MeTAA)), a series of α-alkylated ketones were prepared in good yields. A few control reactions, including deuterium-labelling experiments, were performed to unveil the reaction mechanism.

To explore the underlying formation mechanism of luminescent metal nanoclusters (NCs) using a small moiety such as amino acids (outside the milieu of a protein environment) as templates, herein we report blue-emitting copper nanoclusters (CuNCs) using l-tyrosine (l-Tyr) as a capping agent as well as a reducing agent. We also demonstrate the effect of an in situ fibrillation of Tyr on the luminescence and structural properties of NCs. Fluorescence studies along with microscopic imaging revealed the rapid formation of a dityrosine (di-Tyr) moiety in an alkaline medium followed by an aggregated "Tamarix dioica leaf"-like fibrillar pattern along with CuNCs. Our present investigation delineates the role played by π-π interactions in the formation of the fibrillar structures. We substantiated the fundamentals of using a small molecule of a large ligand that can serve as a template and also show how these NCs once formed destroy the fibrils of di-Tyr as a function of time.

We performed a dual beam Z-Scan experiment to examine the thermal lensing effects in CBNP nanofluids. The photothermal characteristics and heat dissipation dynamics were observed for these nanofluids at different levels of their linear absorption.

Effective outcome from dynamic live-cell-imaging requires utilization of a probe with high emission intensity and low photobleaching. It would be preferable to achieve such properties at a low power of the applied laser to avoid any probable damage to biological cells or tissue. Most of the used small-molecule fluorophores have been reported to show significant photobleaching in a time-dependent manner and require high laser power to gain significant intensity for bioimaging. Carbon nanoparticles have recently been successfully used for cell imaging with low bleaching characteristics but require high laser power and lack optical nonlinearity at low power levels. Here, we report the preparation, characterization, and application of a Nanoscale Carbon (NC) which, on being surface decorated with crescent-shaped poly-lysine (PLNC), provides two-photon fluorescence (TPF) and low bleaching properties. PLNC was found to stain the cytoplasm of C2C12 muscle cells in the first four-hours of incubation with high TPF in the infrared range and can be useful for deep tissue imaging with further improvements.

PurposeTo empirically verify whether patient hospital satisfaction ratings on social media such as Yelp provide similar information as the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) surveys.Design/methodology/approachOLS and ordinal regressions performed on secondary data obtained from Yelp.com and 2016 Hospital Compare database disclosed by CMS.FindingsResults show that the patient hospital satisfaction ratings from Yelp can predict the patient experience of care domain scores obtained through the annual HCAHPS surveys and are also positively and significantly correlated to the overall hospital quality performance scores given by CMS.Research limitations/implicationsStudy suggests that social media patient review information could be used to supplement the information obtained from HCAHPS surveys, thereby providing hospitals more accurate information about their patient experiences.Practical implicationsHospital leaders need not wait an entire year to receive their HCHAPS scores to know about the issues related to their patient experience that need improvement and can periodically refer to free Yelp patient review scores on Yelp.com to obtain similar information.Originality/valueTo the best of knowledge, this research is the first to empirically demonstrate that patient reviews freely obtained from social media sites like Yelp can provide similar information as obtained from HCAHPS surveys and can thus be used to supplement HCAHPS.

Herein we report the effect of different nucleobase pair compositions on the association-induced fluorescence enhancement property of Thioflavin T (ThT), upon binding with 20 base pair long double-stranded DNA (dsDNA). Analysis of binding and decay constants along with the association (

The present study is related to entropy analysis during magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) boundary layer flow of a viscous incompressible electrically conducting fluid past a stretching cylinder with convective heating in the presence of a transverse magnetic field. The governing boundary layer equations in cylindrical form are simplified by means of appropriate similarity transformations. Numerical solutions with high precision are obtained using Runge-Kutta fourth order scheme with eminent shooting technique. The effects of the pertinent parameters on the fluid velocity, temperature, entropy generation number, Bejan number as well as the shear stress at the surface of the cylinder are discussed graphically and quantitatively. It is examined that due to the presence of magnetic field, entropy generation can be controlled and reduced. Bejan number is plotted to present a comparative analysis of entropy generation due to heat transfer and fluid friction. It is found that Bejan number is an increasing function of Biot number.

Time-resolved thermal lens (TL) technique is used to measure the heat transfer in pure methanol and its binary mixtures with hexane. We used dual-beam mode mismatched pump-probe scheme where a femtosecond laser beam of 1560 nm was used as a pump beam, and its frequency-doubled 780 nm beam was used as probe beam. TL Signal decreases with increasing concentration of hexane in the binary mixture. On higher concentration of Hexane in binary mixture then we have found convective heat transfer mode was absent. At 40%-60% methanol hexane mixture, we observed a sudden curious jump in TL signal.

Mode Mismatched Pump-Probe spectroscopic method was employed to examine the thermally induced nonlinear optical properties of methanol and its binary mixtures. The heat transfer mechanism in methanol and its binary mixtures with carbon tetrachloride (CCl 4 ) at different concentrations of methanol is investigated. Methanol has the highest Thermal Lens (TL) signal, and CCl 4 does not have any TL signal at all. However, the presence of CCl 4 modulates the TL signal of the binary mixture. The time-domain shift in TL signal is observed for different concentrations of methanol, which indicates the unusual molecular behavior in the binary mixture.

In this study, interactions of synthesized copper nanoclusters (CuNCs) with a model transport protein, human serum albumin (HSA), have been systematically investigated by using various spectroscopic approaches. The interactions give rise to the formation of "protein-corona" like assemblies and the luminescence properties (both steady-state and time-resolved) are enhanced due to gradual adsorption of the protein on the surface of the NCs. The associated thermodynamics and binding parameters have been estimated resorting to luminescent experimental techniques as well as isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) studies, indicating that every NC is surrounded by (4±1) protein molecules. The adsorption of HSA on the surface of the NCs has been characterized by dynamic light scattering (DLS) and time-resolved anisotropy measurements. Finally, fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS) data substantiate the emergence of new "protein-corona" like assemblies resulting in slower translational diffusion motions and concomitant rise of the hydrodynamic diameters.

This study examines hospital brand communities to improve the understanding of what patients value and how they view the opinions and experiences of other community members. Results from the empirical analysis of brand communities of 364 hospitals involving over 22,000 patient reviews on Yelp.com show that the brand community influences patient decision making in a number of ways. While determining the usefulness of reviews, online hospital review readers consider a combination of factors like affective language, the communication, environmental conditions, and quality of care provided in the hospital, and to a lesser extent the responsiveness of the provider.

Although there are various measures of healthcare quality, such as those used by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), an inclusive perspective that considers the patient, the hospital's external and internal relationships, and the nodal organizations is missing. Medical practitioner comments from the authors' interactions, coupled with the findings from their literature review, have motivated the authors to suggest that healthcare quality should be measured using a triadic approach. In this study, the authors offer an overarching conceptual framework for measuring quality in the U.S. healthcare system that utilizes a triadic approach integrating various aspects of quality at three different levels of measurement. At the micro-level, the focus is on patients–admitted and treated–and their perceptions of a hospital's service as well as outcomes. The authors suggest measures related to the healthcare teamwork quality at the meso-level. At the macro- level, in which the organization i...

Non-contact localized laser heating-based thermal lensing has emerged as a technique for probing the heat transport in liquids. A mode-mismatched dual-beam pump–probe spectroscopic technique was employed to investigate the photothermal response and modes of heat dissipation in methanol and binary mixtures of methanol with polar (water, methanol (MeOH)) and nonpolar (CCl4) solvents. We recorded the time-resolved thermal lens (TL) signal of a probe beam at 780 nm after heat deposition by a 1560 nm pump beam. For pure solvents, the TL signal was found to be approximately one order of magnitude larger for methanol than for water, DMSO, or CCl4, implying that the energy deposition is larger for methanol than for any of the other solvents. Subsequently, binary mixtures were studied where the TL signal increased with an increase in the volume fraction of methanol. All TL signals are shown to have a physical interpretation in terms of heat conduction and convection. In the case of methanol–water, the observed trend can be rationalized in terms of a strong intermolecular interaction. Convective heat transfer is shown to dominate the overall heat transfer in pure methanol and in binary mixtures for all volume fractions where MeOH is in excess of 50%. No convection is observed for very dilute mixtures with a small amount of methanol; in this case, heat conduction is sufficient to reach equilibration. Interestingly, for binary mixtures of methanol with DMSO or water, a decreasing trend is observed in the concentration range between 90% and 100% volume fraction of methanol. We observe also that the TL signal is modified in case of intermolecular interactions forming large clusters of methanol with the cosolvent. In such cases, heat diffusion is affected. Thus, TL can be seen as a sensitive probe for intermolecular interactions as well.

In this work, we propose a new analysis of the time resolved emission spectra of a photo-acid, HA, pyranine (8-hydroxypyrene-1,3,6-trisulphonic acid, HPTS) based on time resolved area normalized emission spectra (TRANES). Presence of an isoemissive point in TRANES confirms the presence of two emissive species (HA and A- ) inside the system in bulk water and inside a co-polymer hydrogel [F127, (PEO)100 -(PPO)70 -(PEO)100 ]. We show that following electronic excitation, the local pH around HPTS, is much lower than the bulk pH presumably because of ejection of proton from the photo-acid in the excited state. With increase in time, the local pH increases and reaches the bulk value. We further, demonstrate that the excited state pKa of HPTS may be estimated from the emission intensities of HA and A- at long time. The time constant for time evolution of pH is ∼630 ps in water, ∼1300 ps in F127 gel and ∼4700 ps in CTAB micelle. The location and local viscosity sensed by the probe is ascertained using fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS) and fluorescence anisotropy decay. The different values of the local viscosity reported by these two methods are reconciled.

Structure, activity, and dynamics of a plasma protein, human serum albumin (HSA), inside a crowded environment of F127 gel are studied by circular dichroism (CD), fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS), and picosecond time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy. For this purpose, the protein is covalently labeled by a maleimide dye, 7-(diethylamino)-3-(4-maleimidylphenyl)-4-methyl-coumarin (CPM). The circular dichroism (CD) spectra suggest that the protein is more structured in the gel reflecting about the biological activities of the protein. FCS results demonstrate that compared to that in bulk water (buffer solution), translational diffusion is about 59 times slower inside the F127 gel. This indicates higher translational friction (viscosity) sensed by the probe (CPM). On the contrary, rotational relaxation (and hence, rotational friction) is more or less similar in F127 gel and in bulk water. FCS results further indicate that the time scales of conformational relaxation of the protein are substantially slow inside the crowded environment of F127 gel. The fast component of conformational relaxation is retarded by ∼55 times, and the slow component by ∼20 times. Fluorescence maximum of CPM bound to HSA show a ∼5 nm red shift, implying that the microenvironment of the probe, CPM, is more polar inside the gel. Solvation dynamics of CPM-labeled HSA inside the gel (⟨τs⟩ ∼ 300 ps) is faster compared to that for the protein in bulk water (⟨τs⟩ ∼ 600 ps).

Understanding what drives quality in the delivery of healthcare services is critical to improve the patient care experience. In a hospital, the integration of technology platforms and effective teamwork promote quality care, but this outcome requires that hospital leadership prioritizes technology integration and commits resources to sustain effective healthcare delivery teams. Some of these concepts have been investigated with a limited focus or in very narrow research contexts. Because these concepts do not interact in isolation, an empirical study that examines the relationships between them simultaneously is important to explore the links between hospital quality leadership (QL), technology integration (TI), healthcare team effectiveness (HTE) and patient care quality (PCQ). An online survey of 300 middle and senior-level U.S. hospital executives and quality heads completed during a four-month period is used to test the research hypotheses drawn primarily from quality management, information processing, and team effectiveness theories. The results suggest that hospital leaders should emphasize the integration of all technology systems in their hospitals and continuously encourage their healthcare teams to work effectively thereby improving the quality of patient care delivered. Based on the post-hoc results, we suggest that hospital quality leaders should recognize the difference in magnitude of the effects of HTE and TI on the four PCQ facets.

Intrinsically Disordered Proteins (IDPs) switch between diverse structures which prevents them from crystallization. FCS of the IDP beta casein (β-CN), labeled with Alexa488, suggests that in buffer the structure fluctuates between a highly extended state (radius 34.5 ± 7 nm) and a highly collapsed state (radius 1 nm). To understand their behavior in a highly crowded environment, like the cell, β-CN was studied inside a pluronic copolymer (F127) where a 2-times higher rotational and 10–16 times higher translational friction were observed. Fluorescence emissions of Tryptophan indicate that the protein is localized at corona region exposing to the void region of the gel.

The meaning of health service quality differs across cultural and institutional contexts. This poses a problem for different stakeholders—patients, healthcare providers, and hospital leaders—when i...

We present a multilevel conceptual framework of expatriate knowledge utilization. Drawing from the resource-based view and multilevel approaches to expatriate utilization, we describe how individual expatriate characteristics (task-related and intercultural competencies, and motivation to transfer knowledge) and international adjustment, as well as subsidiary characteristics (absorptive capacity and knowledge sustainability) influence knowledge transfer effectiveness. We also draw from outward knowledge transfer and expatriate learning perspectives to address the cyclical nature of the process. As such, we include the effect of expatriate learning not only in continued knowledge flows to the subsidiary, but also in knowledge flows to the home division. We offer several implications for research on practice, including the notion that knowledge transfer to the subsidiary should continue upon repatriation, and that outward knowledge transfer can begin before repatriation. The framework reiterates that expatriates are valuable human capital and a source of sustained competitive advantage to the MNE.