•Experimental and numerical study of the hydrodynamics of wave-focusing.•The wave-induced flow through a submerged disk with a tubular opening is measured with a PIV laser.•The linear potential ...theory is used for calculations.•Experimental data and numerical predictions compared well with one another.•The study validates aspects of an envisioned wave energy converter.
This study is on the vertical wave-induced velocity through an opening in a fixed, submerged and impervious horizontal disk, that is positioned near the free surface. Piercing this body is a tubular section, having an opening flush with the top surface and extending completely through the body. Experiments are conducted in a wave flume, where monochromatic waves propagate over the submerged surface of a free-standing disk model. Wave elevation is recorded using a capacitive-type wave gauge. The oscillating wave-induced flow through the submerged surface is measured by a particle image velocimetry (PIV) laser. Numerically, the flow within the opening of the submerged surface is modeled by use of the Green function method within the confines of linear potential theory. Both the experimental and numerical results of this phenomenon are compared. The outcome is pertinent to the development of a new wave energy converter.
Self-efficacy's influence on individual job performance has been well documented in laboratory studies. However, there have been very few rigorous field studies of self-efficacy's relationship with ...objectively measured individual job performance in organizational settings. This research history might account for the low take-up of self-efficacy within the business literature as well as within business itself. When it comes to studies of employee engagement, the same lack of rigorous individual studies applies, although several organizational-level studies link employee engagement to organizational performance, while its claimed benefits have been widely discussed in the business literature. Finally, the degree to which employee engagement and self-efficacy have independent and additive effects on individual-level job performance remains unknown. In order to address these issues, a longitudinal field study was undertaken within an Australian financial services firm. Using survey data linked to objectively measured job performance, we found the additive effects of self-efficacy and employee engagement explained 12% of appointments made and 39% of products sold over and above that explained by past performance. This finding suggests human resource management (HRM) practitioners should address both self-efficacy and employee engagement in order to boost job performance while encouraging HRM scholars to incorporate both measures when conducting job performance studies.
State fish and wildlife agencies in the United States are confronted with the realities of a rapidly changing society. With declines in historical sources of revenue and the growth of diverse voices ...with values that differ from those emphasized by traditional policies and user groups, agencies are faced with diminishing relevancy and are encountering institutional challenges that inhibit their ability to serve the broader public. Here, in collaboration with a group of fish and wildlife agency leaders from 11 states, conservation professionals, and academics, we employ qualitative methods and concepts from systems theory to develop an integrative model of a state wildlife agency. We use this model to identify leverage points to induce transformational change toward an ideal future state: one driven by a system of shared values toward wildlife and a mission to improve quality of life for all people. Our findings point to the importance of developing interventions that will lead to changes in agency culture, systems of governance, and policy and action, and enhance the accessibility of natural resources and opportunities for diverse publics to engage with and benefit from fish and wildlife. We offer recommendations for state wildlife agencies to engage in adaptive organizational change and for university programs to support agency needs.
Beyond Hope and Fear Badham, Richard J.; Carter, W. Richard; Matula, Linda J. ...
The Journal of applied behavioral science,
03/2016, Letnik:
52, Številka:
1
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Organizational theatre interventions have become established as a pervasive and influential arts-based method of dialogic organizational development, yet their effects are controversial and ...contested. While they have been praised for their potential as a tool of empowerment, they have also been criticized for their possible use as a more or less insidious form of control. This article explores and evaluates such claims and counterclaims, supported by an in-depth longitudinal quasi-experimental field study of customer service staff in a regional Australian bank. The results of the field study not only indicate that organizational theatre interventions may increase both empowerment and control but also suggest that the outcomes may be more lightweight than supporters have hoped and critics have feared. The article outlines the implications of these findings for future research and practice.
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Control status may be a useful tool to assess response to treatment at each clinical visit in COPD. Control status has demonstrated to have long-term predictive value for ...exacerbations, but there is no information about the short-term predictive value of the lack of control and changes in control status over time.
Prospective, international, multicenter study aimed at describing the short-term (6 months) prognostic value of control status in patients with COPD. Patients with COPD were classified as controlled/uncontrolled at baseline and at 3,6-month follow-up visits using previously validated criteria of control. Moderate and severe exacerbation rates were compared between controlled and uncontrolled visits and between patients persistently controlled, uncontrolled and those changing control status over follow-up.
A total of 267 patients were analyzed: 80 (29.8%) were persistently controlled, 43 (16%) persistently uncontrolled and 144 (53.7%) changed control status during follow-up. Persistently controlled patients were more frequently men, with lower (not increased) body mass index and higher FEV1(%). During the 6 months following an uncontrolled patient visit the odds ratio (OR) for presenting a moderate exacerbation was 3.41 (95% confidence interval (CI) 2.47–4.69) and OR=4.25 (95%CI 2.48–7.27) for hospitalization compared with a controlled patient visit.
Evaluation of control status at each clinical visit provides relevant prognostic information about the risk of exacerbation in the next 6 months. Lack of control is a warning signal that should prompt investigation and action in order to achieve control status.
El estado de control de la enfermedad puede ser una herramienta útil para evaluar la respuesta al tratamiento de la EPOC en cada asistencia a consulta. El estado de control de la enfermedad ha demostrado tener valor predictivo a largo plazo para las exacerbaciones, pero no existe información sobre el valor predictivo a corto plazo de la falta de control de la EPOC y los cambios en dicho control a lo largo del tiempo.
Estudio prospectivo, internacional, multicéntrico enfocado en describir el valor pronóstico a corto plazo (6 meses) del estado de control de la enfermedad en pacientes con EPOC. Los pacientes con EPOC se clasificaron como con enfermedad controlada/sin controlar al inicio del estudio y en las 3 visitas de seguimiento separadas 6 meses, utilizando criterios de control previamente validados. Se compararon las tasas de exacerbación moderada y grave entre visitas en las que la enfermedad estaba controlada y aquellas en las que no y entre pacientes con control persistente de la enfermedad, pacientes sin control de la enfermedad y aquellos cuyo estado de control cambió durante el seguimiento.
Se analizó a un total de 267 pacientes: 80 (29,8%) presentaron control persistente de la enfermedad, 43 (16%) permanecieron con enfermedad no controlada de manera persistente y 144 (53,7%) presentaron un cambio en el estado de control de su EPOC durante el seguimiento. Los pacientes con control persistente de su enfermedad fueron con mayor frecuencia hombres, con un índice de masa corporal más bajo (no elevado) y un FEV1 (%) más alto. Durante los 6 meses posteriores a una visita en la que la enfermedad del paciente no estaba controlada, la odds ratio (OR) para presentar una exacerbación moderada fue de 3,41 (intervalo de confianza IC del 95%: 2,47 a 4,69) y la OR=4,25 (IC del 95%: 2,48 a 7,27) para la hospitalización, en comparación con una visita en la que la EPOC estaba controlada.
La evaluación del estado de control de la EPOC en cada asistencia a consulta proporciona información pronóstica relevante sobre el riesgo de exacerbación en los próximos 6 meses. La falta de control es una señal de alarma que debe motivar la investigación y la acción para lograr el control de la enfermedad.
A modification of the “rate theory” approach to point defect balance modeling is considered in which the production term is written to explicitly capture the discrete occurrence of distinct ...displacement damage cascades. The constant production rate density is replaced with a pulsed source that operates for very short periods at randomly selected points in time and space to produce new defects. In addition, dislocation sinks are modeled as discrete regions with perfect crystal in between instead of being uniformly distributed in space. Simulations reveal that under conditions of high sink strength, fast diffusion, and lower production rate (cascade frequency) defect populations liberated in any given cascade can be completely eliminated by absorption and recombination well before any new defects are introduced into the same region of space. Populations from distinct cascades may not have the opportunity to intermingle and overlap with each other to approach the bulk average values predicted by standard theory driven by a constant, average production term. Due to the large difference between vacancy and interstitial diffusivities, absorption of defects at microstructural sinks can occur in rapid pulses of interstitials followed by a much delayed influx of vacancies over a longer period. This is in stark contrast to the typical picture of a reasonably constant, perhaps slightly biased flow of one species of defect over the other. Expansion of the model to two spatial dimensions allowed for more explicit treatment of dislocation microstructure through informed dislocation arrangement and the use of proper boundary conditions at the edge of the dislocation core.
About 20-26% of children and youth with a mental health disorder (depending on age and respondent) report receiving services from a community-based Child and Youth Mental Health (CYMH) agency. ...However, because agencies have an upper age limit of 18-years old, youth requiring ongoing mental health services must "transition" to adult-oriented care. General healthcare providers (e.g., family physicians) likely provide this care. The objective of this study was to compare the likelihood of receiving physician-based mental health services after age 18 between youth who had received community-based mental health services and a matched population sample.
A longitudinal matched cohort study was conducted in Ontario, Canada. A CYMH cohort that received mental health care at one of five CYMH agencies, aged 7-14 years at their first visit (N=2,822), was compared to age, sex, region-matched controls (N=8,466).
CYMH youth were twice as likely as the comparison sample to have a physician-based mental health visit (i.e., by a family physician, pediatrician, psychiatrists) after age 18; median time to first visit was 3.3 years. Having a physician mental health visit before age 18 was associated with a greater likelihood of experiencing the outcome than community-based CYMH services alone.
Most youth involved in community-based CYMH agencies will re-access services from physicians as adults. Youth receiving mental health services only within community agencies, and not from physicians, may be less likely to receive physician-based mental health services as adults. Collaboration between CYMH agencies and family physicians may be important for youth who require ongoing care into adulthood.
Transcatheter closure of interatrial septal defects is guided by transesophageal echocardiography (TEE), which requires general anesthesia in most cases. Using a new intracardiac echocardiographic ...(ICE) catheter may avoid endotracheal and esophageal intubation while using only local anesthesia. Forty-two patients underwent transcatheter interatrial septal defect closure; half of them underwent TEE guidance with general anesthesia and the other half underwent ICE guidance with local anesthesia. Device deployment success rate, adequate 2-dimensional and Doppler visualization of the defect and deployment steps, interatrial communication closure at 24 hours, and at 3 and 6 months, procedure time length, complications, fluoroscopic time, and length of hospitalization were compared between both methods. All interventions were completed successfully with no complications, except for 1 patient in the TEE group who had a minor oral trauma. Echocardiographic visualization of the septal defect and deployment was adequate by both methods. Catheterization laboratory time (92 ± 18 vs 50 ± 12 minutes, p <0.001) and interventional procedure length (47 ± 8 vs 35 ± 6 minutes, p <0.001) were shortened using ICE. There was no difference in the rate of closure after 6-month follow-up by either method. ICE guidance offers equivalent echocardiographic views compared with TEE and similar rates of closure. ICE is associated with decreased procedure length while eliminating the risks of endotracheal or esophageal intubation and general anesthesia.
Control status may be a useful tool to assess response to treatment at each clinical visit in COPD. Control status has demonstrated to have long-term predictive value for exacerbations, but there is ...no information about the short-term predictive value of the lack of control and changes in control status over time.
Prospective, international, multicenter study aimed at describing the short-term (6 months) prognostic value of control status in patients with COPD. Patients with COPD were classified as controlled/uncontrolled at baseline and at 3,6-month follow-up visits using previously validated criteria of control. Moderate and severe exacerbation rates were compared between controlled and uncontrolled visits and between patients persistently controlled, uncontrolled and those changing control status over follow-up.
A total of 267 patients were analyzed: 80 (29.8%) were persistently controlled, 43 (16%) persistently uncontrolled and 144 (53.7%) changed control status during follow-up. Persistently controlled patients were more frequently men, with lower (not increased) body mass index and higher FEV
(%). During the 6 months following an uncontrolled patient visit the odds ratio (OR) for presenting a moderate exacerbation was 3.41 (95% confidence interval (CI) 2.47-4.69) and OR=4.25 (95%CI 2.48-7.27) for hospitalization compared with a controlled patient visit.
Evaluation of control status at each clinical visit provides relevant prognostic information about the risk of exacerbation in the next 6 months. Lack of control is a warning signal that should prompt investigation and action in order to achieve control status.
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