Healthcare organizations are essentially associated with highly knowledge-intensive property, and hospital professionals are key to providing high-quality care to patients. KM-enabled performance for ...hospital professionals is the major concern of senior management. The literature has generally argued for a process-based approach for KM-enabled performance in which process capabilities mediate the link between knowledge resources and performance. According to the knowledge-based view, KM-enabled performance should be rooted in the identification of knowledge resources, including knowledge assets and capabilities. Further, the concept of dynamic capabilities defines an interaction feature between knowledge assets and capabilities. Next, KM-enabled performance is generally defined to include both financial and patient performance. Based on the dynamic capability view and the mediating role of process capability, this research thus proposes a novel research model for exploring KM-enabled performance for hospital professionals, which this includes three major components: interaction between hospital knowledge assets and capabilities, hospital process capabilities, and hospital performance. The empirical results indicate that the model of KM-enabled performance is well fitted with these components, and hospital professionals are closely associated with KM-enabled performance in providing high-quality care. PUBLICATION ABSTRACT
Groundwater resources are under increasing threat from growing demand, wasteful use, and contamination. Here, conceptual and mathematical models are provided that will help decision-making on the ...management and remediation of groundwater resources.
The majority of eukaryotic genomes contain a large fraction of repetitive sequences that primarily originate from transpositional bursts of transposable elements (TEs). Repbase serves as a database ...for eukaryotic repetitive sequences and has now become the largest collection of eukaryotic TEs. During the development of Repbase, many new superfamilies/lineages of TEs, which include Helitron, Polinton, Ginger and SINEU, were reported. The unique composition of protein domains and DNA motifs in TEs sometimes indicates novel mechanisms of transposition, replication, anti-suppression or proliferation. In this review, our current understanding regarding the diversity of eukaryotic TEs in sequence, protein domain composition and structural hallmarks is introduced and summarized, based on the classification system implemented in Repbase. Autonomous eukaryotic TEs can be divided into two groups: Class I TEs, also called retrotransposons, and Class II TEs, or DNA transposons. Long terminal repeat (LTR) retrotransposons, including endogenous retroviruses, non-LTR retrotransposons, tyrosine recombinase retrotransposons and Penelope-like elements, are well accepted groups of autonomous retrotransposons. They share reverse transcriptase for replication but are distinct in the catalytic components responsible for integration into the host genome. Similarly, at least three transposition machineries have been reported in eukaryotic DNA transposons: DDD/E transposase, tyrosine recombinase and HUH endonuclease combined with helicase. Among these, TEs with DDD/E transposase are dominant and are classified into 21 superfamilies in Repbase. Non-autonomous TEs are either simple derivatives generated by internal deletion, or are composed of several units that originated independently.
Shipping and Logistics Management serves to consolidate the knowledge its authors have acquired from being educators and observers of the shipping industry. Against the background of a global ...business environment, it explains how the shipping market functions, examining the strategic and operational issues that affect entrepreneurs in this industry. The authors discuss global trends and strategies in the shipping business, looking at the role of logistics service providers and at how the use of information technology can help shipping operations. Shipping and Logistics Management also aims to answer several important questions in the shipping industry, including: what are the shipping cost structures?, what are the patterns of sea transport? and how do companies in the shipping industry operate? An invaluable source of information for researchers and advanced, or graduate, students, Shipping and Logistics Management is also a useful reference for shipping practitioners and consultants. TOC:International Trade and Shipping.- Freight Rate Mechanism.- Bulk Shipping Market.- Container Shipping Market.- Business Strategy in Shipping.- Growth of Firms.- Fleet Mix Decision.- Line Shipping Network.- Container Transport Chain.- Intermodal Transport System.- Managing Empty Containers.- Container Transport Security.- Port Operations.- Managing Container Terminals.- Agile Port.- Port Development.
The purpose of this review is to provide guidelines for the use of oral appliances (OAs) for the treatment of snoring and obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) in Australia. A review of the scientific ...literature up to June 2012 regarding the clinical use of OAs in the treatment of snoring and OSA was undertaken by a dental and medical sleep specialists team consisting of respiratory sleep physicians, an otolaryngologist, orthodontist, oral and maxillofacial surgeon and an oral medicine specialist. The recommendations are based on the most recent evidence from studies obtained from peer reviewed literature. Oral appliances can be an effective therapeutic option for the treatment of snoring and OSA across a broad range of disease severity. However, the response to therapy is variable. While a significant proportion of subjects have a near complete control of the apnoea and snoring when using an OA, a significant proportion do not respond, and others show a partial response. Measurements of baseline and treatment success should ideally be undertaken. A coordinated team approach between medical practitioner and dentist should be fostered to enhance treatment outcomes. Ongoing patient follow‐up to monitor treatment efficacy, OA comfort and side effects are cardinal to long‐term treatment success and OA compliance.
Prior studies that have examined consumer behavior have focused more on purchasing intention than selling intention. Sellers hold certain personal values or economic views when selling their ...second-hand products on auction sites, and so do barter site exchangers, but the latter have values that differ from the former. In this study, we investigate how second-hand owners (sellers or exchangers) determine whether to place an item on an auction or barter site. Based on the Engel-Kollat-Blackwell model, we used a validated questionnaire to explore several internal and external factors. We found that four factors—perceived product condition, reference group, online word of mouth, and reference price— supported both the intention to use auction sites and their actual use, while we found two factors—personal value and reference group—supported barter site use. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging to further observe how utilitarian and hedonic personal values have different effects on sellers’ brain activities and decision-making behaviors regarding site choice.
Aims: Proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) inhibitor is a powerful low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C)-lowering therapy, but this drug is expensive. This study aimed to ...describe the real-world treatment conditions in patients initiating PCSK9 inhibitor in Taiwan. Methods: This was a multicenter, retrospective, and observational study. The clinical characteristics, baseline lipid-lowering therapy, and changes in the lipid profile of patients receiving PCSK9 inhibitor treatment were obtained from 11 major teaching hospitals in Taiwan. Results: A total of 296 patients (age 57+-13 years, male 73%) who received PCSK9 inhibitor treatments (73.3% alirocumab and 26.7% evolocumab) from 2017 to 2021 were included. Among the patients, 62.8% had history of coronary artery disease, and 27.7% had myocardial infarction. High intensity statin (HIS) monotherapy or HIS + ezetimibe treatment was used in 32.5% when initiating PCSK9 inhibitor treatment. Among alirocumab users, 21.2% received 75 mg every 3 to 4 weeks, whereas among evolocumab users, 8.9% received 140 mg every 3 to 4 weeks. Almost all the non-standard-dosing PCSK9 inhibitors were paid by the patients themselves but were not reimbursed by the Taiwan National Health Insurance. Overall, the LDL-C levels at baseline and 12 weeks after treatment were 147.4+-67.4 and 69.7+-58.2 mg/dL (p<0.01), corresponding to a 49.6%+-31.8% LDL-C reduction. Conclusions: In the real-world practice in Taiwan, the LDL-C reduction efficacy of PCSK9 inhibitors was slightly lower than that reported in the clinical trials. The use of non-standard-dosing PCSK9 inhibitors was not uncommon in Taiwan.
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