Search

Abstract Background Employees’ decision to speak up or to stay silent can have implications for health care providers, employees and people who need care. As a result, a shift is needed from blindly following guidelines to implementing a sustainable proactive organizational culture in which employees, especially nurses, can evaluate their work environment and take advantage of growth opportunities. The aim of this review is to analyse the characteristics of employee voice opportunities in the health care context, particularly for nurses. Methods The search was conducted in April 2023 in the following databases: MEDLINE via PubMed, CINHAL via EBSCO, Scopus via Elsevier, Wiley/Web of Science and Cochrane Library. The search results were imported into the COVIDENCE program and screened by two researchers separately. We used the following search components: health care organization, opportunities, and employee voice. The review followed the PRISMA-ScR guidelines. We identified 951 studies in five databases and via citation tracking. After we removed 102 duplicates and screening 839 titles and abstracts, 23 full texts were assessed. According to our inclusion and exclusion criteria, we included 9 studies. Results Three main characteristics of employee voice opportunities that need to be considered to enable nurses to have a voice in the organization were identified. These main categories are individual factors, organizational culture, and available voice channels. It is not possible to rank them in order of importance; they are interrelated. Conclusions To conclude, employee voice is a process. In order for utilize employee voice opportunities, individual employee factors, organizational culture and its embedded context must be considered. Individual internal and external motivation, which is influenced by socio-cultural aspects and work hierarchies, must also be considered for successful use of opportunities.

Domestic hot water heaters are considered to be easily integrated as flexible loads for demand response. While literature grows on reproducible simulation and lab tests, real-world implementation in field tests considering state estimation and demand prediction-based model predictive control approaches is rare. This work reports the findings of a field test with 16 autonomous smart domestic hot water heaters. The heaters were equipped with a retrofittable sensor/actuator setup and a real-time price-driven model predictive control unit, which covers state estimation, demand prediction, and optimization of switching times. With the introduction of generic performance indicators (specific costs and thermal efficiency), the results achieved in the field are compared by simulations to standard control modes (instantaneous heating, hysteresis, night-only switching). To evaluate how model predictive control performance depends on the user demand prediction and state estimation accuracy, simulations assuming perfect predictions and state estimations are conducted based on the data measured in the field. Results prove the feasible benefit of RTP-based model predictive control in the field compared to a hysteresis-based standard control regarding cost reduction and efficiency increase but show a strong dependency on the degree of utilization.

Abstract Inhibition of bacterial cell wall synthesis by antibiotics such as β-lactams is thought to cause explosive lysis through loss of cell wall integrity. However, recent studies on a wide range of bacteria have suggested that these antibiotics also perturb central carbon metabolism, contributing to death via oxidative damage. Here, we genetically dissect this connection in Bacillus subtilis perturbed for cell wall synthesis, and identify key enzymatic steps in upstream and downstream pathways that stimulate the generation of reactive oxygen species through cellular respiration. Our results also reveal the critical role of iron homeostasis for the oxidative damage-mediated lethal effects. We show that protection of cells from oxygen radicals via a recently discovered siderophore-like compound uncouples changes in cell morphology normally associated with cell death, from lysis as usually judged by a phase pale microscopic appearance. Phase paling appears to be closely associated with lipid peroxidation.

Background Distal transradial access (dTRA) is an alternative to conventional forearm transradial access (fTRA) for coronary angiography (CAG). Differences in healing of the radial artery (RA) in the forearm have not been evaluated between these 2 access strategies. We sought to compare the mean difference in forearm RA intimal‐medial thickening (IMT) in patients randomized to dTRA versus fTRA. Methods and Results In this single‐center randomized clinical trial, 64 patients undergoing nonemergent CAG were randomized (1:1) to dTRA versus fTRA. Ultra–high‐resolution (55‐MHz) vascular ultrasound of the forearm and distal RA was performed pre‐CAG and at 90 days. The primary end point was the mean change in forearm RA IMT. Secondary end points included procedural characteristics, vascular injury, RA occlusion, and ipsilateral hand pain and function. Baseline demographics and clinical characteristics, mean forearm RA IMT, and procedural specifics were similar between the dTRA and fTRA cohorts. There was no difference in mean change in forearm RA IMT between the 2 cohorts (0.07 versus 0.07 mm; P=0.37). No RA occlusions or signs of major vascular injury were observed at 90 days. Ipsilateral hand pain and function (Borg pain scale score: 12 versus 11; P=0.24; Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulders, and Hand scale score: 6 versus 8; P=0.46) were comparable. Conclusions Following CAG, dTRA was associated with no differences in mean change of forearm RA IMT, hand pain, and function versus fTRA for CAG. Further investigation is warranted to elucidate mechanisms and predictors of RA healing and identify effective strategies to preserving RA integrity for repeated procedures. Registration URL: https://www.clinicaltrials.gov; Unique identifier: NCT04801901.

BackgroundSpecific challenges in the health care sector, such as hierarchical structures, shortages of nursing staff, and high turnover of nursing staff, can be addressed by a change process of organizational culture into shared governance. Data from business organizations show that the use of digital voice channels provides employee voice. This approach makes concrete the opportunity for employees to raise their voices by answering surveys and making comments in an anonymous forum, which subsequently positively influences staff turnover and sick leave. Since there is no clear understanding of how a digital voice channel can be used in long-term care to address employee voice, a research gap has been identified. ObjectiveThe purpose of ADVICE (Understanding Employee Voice Behavior; the acronym for this study) is to understand how the use of a digital voice channel performs in long-term care (residential long-term care and home care facilities). The aim of this study is to understand how the digital voice channel can support staff in making their voices heard and to see what managers need to use the voice channel to change the work environment. MethodsAn embedded multiple-case study will be used to explore the experiences of 2 health care providers who have already implemented a digital voice channel. ADVICE is organized into two main phases: (1) a scoping review and (2) an embedded multiple-case study. For this purpose, focus group interviews with employees, discursive-dialogical interviews with managers, meeting protocols, and data from the digital voice channel will be analyzed. First, all units of analysis from every embedded unit will be separately analyzed and then comprehensively analyzed to obtain a case vignette from every embedded unit (within-analysis). In the second stage, the analyzed data from the embedded units will be compared with each other in a comparative analysis (cross-analysis). ResultsThe results will provide insight into how digital voice channels can be used in long-term care to address employee voice. We expect to find how the digital voice channel can empower nurses to speak up and, consequently, create a better work environment. Data collection began in August 2023, and from a current perspective, the first results are expected in summer 2024. ConclusionsIn summary, the results may help to better understand the use of a digital voice channel in the health care sector and its transformative potential for leadership. At the organizational level, research can help to improve the attractiveness of the workplace by understanding how to give employees a voice. International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID)PRR1-10.2196/48601

ABSTRACT Bacterial chromosome segregation is facilitated by the ParABS system. The ParB protein binds centromere-like parS sequences and forms nucleoprotein complexes. These nucleoprotein complexes are segregated by the dynamic ATPase ParA. In mycobacteria, ParA also interacts with the polar growth determinant DivIVA (Wag31). This interaction was earlier shown not only to facilitate the segregation of ParB complexes but also to affect cell extension. Here, we identify an additional partner of ParA in Mycobacterium smegmatis, named PapM. Using E. coli-based analysis, we show that PapM likewise interacts with DivIVA and that the tripartite interaction of ParA-PapM-DivIVA is phosphorylation dependent: ParA binding to DivIVA is diminished, while PapM binding is promoted upon phosphorylation of DivIVA. The presence of PapM enhances the dissociation of ParA from the DivIVA complex upon its phosphorylation. Studies of M. smegmatis mutant strains reveal that altered PapM levels influence chromosome segregation and cell length. The elimination of PapM affects ParA dynamics. Furthermore, ParA and, to a lesser extent, PapM modulate the subcellular distribution of DivIVA. Altogether, our studies show that the tripartite interplay between ParA-DivIVA and PapM controls the switch between cell division and cell elongation and, in this way, affects the mycobacterial cell cycle. IMPORTANCE The genus of Mycobacterium includes important clinical pathogens (M. tuberculosis). Bacteria of this genus share the unusual features of their cell cycle such as asymmetric polar cell elongation and long generation time. Markedly, control of the mycobacterial cell cycle still remains not fully understood. The main cell growth determinant in mycobacteria is the essential protein DivIVA, which is also involved in cell division. DivIVA activity is controlled by phosphorylation, but the mechanism and significance of this process are unknown. Here, we show how the previously established protein interaction partner of DivIVA in mycobacteria, the segregation protein ParA, affects the DivIVA subcellular distribution. We also demonstrate the role of a newly identified M. smegmatis DivIVA and ParA interaction partner, a protein named PapM, and we establish how their interactions are modulated by phosphorylation. Demonstrating that the tripartite interplay affects the mycobacterial cell cycle contributes to the general understanding of mycobacterial growth regulation.

Abstract A genomic and bioactivity informed analysis of the metabolome of the extremophile Amycolatopsis sp. DEM30355 has allowed for the discovery and isolation of the polyketide antibiotic tatiomicin. Identification of the biosynthetic gene cluster was confirmed by heterologous expression in Streptomyces coelicolor M1152. Structural elucidation, including absolute stereochemical assignment, was performed using complementary crystallographic, spectroscopic and computational methods. Tatiomicin shows antibiotic activity against Gram-positive bacteria, including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Cytological profiling experiments suggest a putative antibiotic mode-of-action, involving membrane depolarisation and chromosomal decondensation of the target bacteria.

Modernity reveals an intense preoccupation with the Intentions of the Sharia (maqāṣid al-sharīʿa) and reflections of premodern scholars on this legal concept. Within contemporary research in this field, the famous scholar Abū Ḥāmid al-Ghazālī (d. 505/1111), who is counted among the pioneers of premodern contributions to the maqāṣid, occupies a special position. In addition to his general treatment of the maqāṣid, one dictum of his in particular is often referred to in the modern literature on the maqāṣid. The quotation reads: “The maqāṣid are the qibla of the jurists”, which he mentioned in his book Kitāb Ḥaqīqat al-qawlayn and is indicative of the central position of the maqāṣid in al-Ghazālī’s (legal) thought. My investigation of the contemporary, primarily Arabic, literature on the maqāṣid which cites this popular dictum reveals that the quote is used for many reasons and in various contexts; however, a fuller engagement with the quote itself and in the context of al-Ghazālī’s thought, as well as in his book, takes place very rarely, if at all, and even then, it is cursory. In order to embed al-Ghazālī’s dictum in the wider frame of his thought, this article first presents his general maqāṣid-related thought and consequently expounds on it in the context of his book. To better understand the usage of the quote in modern scholarship, the current maqāṣid literature that refers to the dictum is analyzed and categorized, showing how authors deploy it and to what end.

We prove that the curl operator on closed oriented 3-manifolds, i.e., the square root of the Hodge Laplacian on its coexact spectrum, generically has 1-dimensional eigenspaces, even along 1-parameter families of \mathcal {C}^k Riemannian metrics, where k\geq 2. We show further that the Hodge Laplacian in dimension 3 has two possible sources for nonsimple eigenspaces along generic 1-parameter families of Riemannian metrics: either eigenvalues coming from positive and from negative eigenvalues of the curl operator cross, or an exact and a coexact eigenvalue cross. We provide examples for both of these phenomena. In order to prove our results, we generalize a method of Teytel [Comm. Pure Appl. Math. 52 (1999), pp. 917–934], allowing us to compute the meagre codimension of the set of Riemannian metrics for which the curl operator and the Hodge Laplacian have certain eigenvalue multiplicities. A consequence of our results is that while the simplicity of the spectrum of the Hodge Laplacian in dimension 3 is a meagre codimension 1 property with respect to the \mathcal {C}^k topology as proven by Enciso and Peralta-Salas in [Trans. Amer. Math. Soc. 364 (2012), pp. 4207–4224], it is not a meagre codimension 2 property. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal für Erbrecht & Vermögensnachfolge is the property of Verlag Oesterreich GmbH and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Growth of most rod-shaped bacteria is accompanied by the insertion of new peptidoglycan into the cylindrical cell wall. This insertion, which helps maintain and determine the shape of the cell, is guided by a protein machine called the rod complex or elongasome. Although most of the proteins in this complex are essential under normal growth conditions, cell viability can be rescued, for reasons that are not understood, by the presence of a high (mM) Mg2+ concentration. We screened for natural product compounds that could rescue the growth of mutants affected in rod-complex function. By screening > 2,000 extracts from a diverse collection of actinobacteria, we identified a compound, mirubactin C, related to the known iron siderophore mirubactin A, which rescued growth in the low micromolar range, and this activity was confirmed using synthetic mirubactin C. The compound also displayed toxicity at higher concentrations, and this effect appears related to iron homeostasis. However, several lines of evidence suggest that the mirubactin C rescuing activity is not due simply to iron sequestration. The results support an emerging view that the functions of bacterial siderophores extend well beyond simply iron binding and uptake.

Der Gesetzgeber der III. TN hat die römischrechtliche res integra-Lehre ins Irrtumsrecht des ABGB übernommen. Seither wird im Schrifttum unter dem Schlagwort, "Redintegration" das Problem erörtert, ob bzw. in welchen Konstellationen die Möglichkeit besteht, ein Rechtsgeschäft durch Ersatz des negativen Vertragsinteresses in den Zustand re integra zurückzuversetzen. Die Untersuchung beleuchtet diese Frage dogmengeschichtlich, und will zugleich einen Beitrag zur Klärung jener Fragen leisten, die der OGH in diesem Zusammenhang explizit offengelassen hat.