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The purpose of this study was to refine the items on a scale measuring interprofessional collaborative competency that was developed by the authors in an earlier pilot study. A questionnaire-based study was conducted with a sample of 2133 health professionals using the reformulated questionnaire. Construct validity was tested by comparing the survey results with a covariance structure analysis and the domains of interprofessional collaboration competencies presented in previous studies. A second survey was conducted 2 weeks later with a sample of 571 nursing professionals, using the same survey form to test its reliability. We constructed a model comprising 29 observed variables and six latent variables (the Chiba Interprofessional Competency Scale: CICS29), and obtained the following values for the model’s goodness of fit: GFI = 0.925, AGFI = 0.908, CFI = 0.950, RMSEA = 0.049. With regard to reliability, we obtained scores ranging from 0.65 to 0.77 for the intraclass correlation coefficients of the six domains. Compared with the interprofessional collaboration scales indicated in previous studies, the CICS29 was found to have subsumed the key concepts that should be configured as interprofessional collaboration competencies. The CICS29 appeared to have satisfactory levels of reliability and validity and is recommended as a scale for measuring competencies of interprofessional practice. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

For a nilpotent linear transformationf:V → Vof Jordan type λ, letS(T) be the set off-stable subspacesWofVassociated with an LR (Littlewood–Richardson) tableauT. We show that (i)S(T) is a disjoint union of locally closed sets parametrized by LR-fillings ofT, each of which is birationally isomorphic to an affine space, and that (ii) a~conjecture of Shimomura on semistandardd-tableaux in a rectangular diagram is true. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The objective of this study was to develop and test a competency scale, which measures the competency of interprofessional collaborative practice of health professionals. A total of 32 health professionals were interviewed, and then an item pool of 255 items was created to measure the competency of interprofessional collaboration. A questionnaire study was conducted with 1552 health professionals from four different hospitals located in the Kanto region of Japan. The questionnaires were distributed and collected by gatekeepers in each section. The valid response rate was 62.6%. There were a total of 65 questionnaire items measuring the competency of interprofessional collaboration. Each item was assessed by the number of valid responses, distribution of scores, item-total correlation analysis and good-poor analysis. Construct validity was assessed using factor analysis and the relationships among the total scores of each factor with interprofessional education experience during education before and after graduating. Moreover, Cronbach's alpha coefficient was calculated to assess reliability. Finally, 30 items were excluded, and a scale for interprofessional collaborative competency comprising 35 items and 6 factors was developed. From the perspective of construct validity and internal consistency, the scale in its pilot form shows some promising aspects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We found that eosinophil cationic protein (ECP) stimulated the growth of mouse Balb/c 3T3 fibroblasts. ECP-treated 3T3 cells were more flattened and exhibited enhanced stress fiber formation. The enhancement of cytoskeleton after addition of recombinant ECP appeared stable and was able to inhibit disassembly of actin filaments that was induced by fibroblast growth factor-2. The ROCK inhibitor, Y-27632, abrogated this enhancement on stress fiber formation that was induced by ECP indicating the involvement of Rho/ROCK signaling pathway. The effect of ECP was assessed on the differentiation of primary cardiomyocytes derived from rat neonatal heart since the development of actin filaments is significantly related with organization of stress fibers. As the result, both beating rate and the expression of cardiac muscle specific markers such as atrial natriuretic factor were enhanced in the presence of ECP. Thus ECP may also function as a cardiomyocyte differentiation factor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The arrangement of molecules at crystal defects in organic crystals was examined with a high-resolution electron microscope, and the results from two examples are discussed from the viewpoint of the molecular interaction around the fault. The stacking fault found in a charge transfer complex of K[sup +]TCNQF[sub 4]- (TCNQF[sub 4] ≡ tetrafluoro-tetracyanoquinodimethane) is interpreted to be a defect produced by the deficiency of one molecular plane along the (001) or (010) plane. An edge dislocation found in a quaterrylene thin crystal is made by two excess half-planes along the a axis without forming stacking faults. At the core of the dislocation, some unpaired molecules are located to fill the spaces produced by the edge dislocation, although the molecules in the perfect crystal are packed in the sandwich herringbone-type arrangement (paired molecules). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]