scholarly journals In VitroSusceptibility ofMycobacterium tuberculosisto Amikacin, Kanamycin, and Capreomycin

2018 ◽  
Vol 62 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
J. A. Dijkstra ◽  
T. van der Laan ◽  
O. W. Akkerman ◽  
M. S. Bolhuis ◽  
W. C. M. de Lange ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Daily Practice ◽  
Multidrug Resistant ◽  
Rank Test ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Concentration Method ◽  
Resistant Tuberculosis ◽  
Signed Rank ◽  
Signed Rank Test ◽  
A Prospective Study ◽  
The Impact

ABSTRACTAmikacin, kanamycin, and capreomycin are among the most important second-line drugs for multidrug-resistant tuberculosis. Although amikacin and kanamycin are administered at the same dose and show the same pharmacokinetics, they have different WHO breakpoints, suggesting that the two drugs have different MICs. The aim of this study was to investigate possible differences in MICs between the aminoglycosides and capreomycin. Using the direct concentration method, a range of concentrations of amikacin, kanamycin, and capreomycin (0.25, 0.50, 1.0, 2.0, 4.0, 8.0, 16.0, 32.0, and 64.0 mg/liter) were tested against 57 clinicalMycobacterium tuberculosisstrains. The 7H10 agar plates were examined for mycobacterial growth after 14 days. At 2 mg/liter, 48 strains (84%) were inhibited by amikacin and only 5 strains (9%) were inhibited by kanamycin (P< 0.05, Wilcoxon signed-rank test). The median MICs of amikacin, kanamycin, and capreomycin were 2, 4, and 8 mg/liter, respectively. No difference in amikacin, kanamycin, and capreomycin MIC distributions was observed between multidrug-resistant strains and fully susceptible strains. The results indicate that amikacin is more active than kanamycin and capreomycin againstM. tuberculosiswith the absolute concentration method. Determination of the impact of this difference on clinical outcomes in daily practice requires a prospective study, including pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic evaluations.

scholarly journals Improving indicators of tuberculosis program cascades by leveraging HIV program strategies

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 191-195
Author(s):  
S. C. Meribe ◽  
E. Harausz ◽  
I. Lawal ◽  
A. Ogundeji ◽  
C. Mbanefo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Standard Of Care ◽  
Rank Test ◽  
Military Hospitals ◽  
Us Army ◽  
Signed Rank ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Army Medical Research ◽  
Signed Rank Test ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Number Of Individuals

Background: To improve rates of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) case detection and treatment, the Nigerian Ministry of Defense Health Implementation Program and the US Army Medical Research Directorate-Africa/Nigeria introduced a HIV standard of care (SOC) package. Given the integration of tuberculosis (TB) and HIV programs and evolving policies, we evaluated the impact of this strategy on TB program indicators.Methods: Routine, de-identified program data from 27 Nigerian military hospitals were analyzed. Using Wilcoxon signed-rank test, bivariate analyses were performed to compare data from 12 months before and after implementation of the SOC package.Results: Our data showed improvements post-implementation as follows: the number of individuals receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART) screened for TB increased from 14 530 to 29 467 (P < 0.001); the number of individuals with presumptive TB identified increased from 803 to 1800 (P < 0.001); the number of ART clients bacteriologically tested for TB increased from 746 to 1717 (P < 0.001); and the number of ART clients treated for TB increased from 152 to 282 (P < 0.001). Newly registered or relapsed TB cases increased from 436 to 906 (P < 0.001), the number of TB cases with known HIV status increased from 437 to 837 (P < 0.001), the number of TB-HIV co-infected cases increased from 182 to 301 (P = 0.006), and the number of TB-HIV co-infected clients who started ART increased from 101 to 176 (P = 0.003).Conclusion: The implementation of the updated HIV SOC package led to the improvement in key TB diagnosis and treatment indicators. When emulated, this could help improve the performance of other TB programs in countries other than Nigeria.

scholarly journals Objective Behavioral Measures in Children before, during, and after the COVID-19 Lockdown in Israel

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (16) ◽  
pp. 8732
Author(s):  
Einat Shneor ◽  
Ravid Doron ◽  
Jonathan Levine ◽  
Deena Rachel Zimmerman ◽  
Julia S. Benoit ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Light Exposure ◽  
Vigorous Physical Activity ◽  
Rank Test ◽  
Long Term Effects ◽  
Wake Time ◽  
Signed Rank ◽  
Social Restriction ◽  
Signed Rank Test ◽  
The Impact

Studies using questionnaires report that COVID-19 restrictions resulted in children spending significantly less time outdoors. This study used objective measures to assess the impact of pandemic-related restrictions on children’s behavior. A total of 19 healthy 8–12-year-old boys were observed before and during social restriction periods. Of these, 11 boys were reassessed after restrictions were lifted. For each session, Actiwatches were dispensed for measures of time outdoors, activity, and sleep. Changes overall and by school status were assessed using signed-rank test and Wilcoxon rank sum tests. During restrictions, children spent significantly less time outdoors (p = 0.001), were less active (p = 0.001), and spent less time engaged in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (p = 0.004). Sleep duration was not significantly different between sessions (p > 0.99), but bedtime and wake time shifted to a later time during restrictions (p < 0.05 for both). Time outdoors and activity returned close to pre-pandemic levels after restrictions were lifted (p > 0.05 for both). Children’s behaviors significantly changed during the COVID-19 pandemic. The reduction in outdoor light exposure is of importance due to the role of light in the etiology of myopia and vitamin D production. The reduction in physical activity may have negative health effects in terms of obesity and depression, although further research is required to ascertain the long-term effects.

Preference of Bangladesh university students for searching the library catalogue

2016 ◽  
Vol 34 (4) ◽  
pp. 683-695 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shamima Yesmin ◽  
S.M. Zabed Ahmed
Keyword(s):  
University Students ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Demographic Data ◽  
Individual Characteristics ◽  
Public Access ◽  
Rank Test ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Signed Rank ◽  
Signed Rank Test ◽  
Library Catalogue

Purpose The aim of this paper was to compare university students’ preferences for searching the library catalogue via the library’s Koha online public access catalogue (OPAC) or its discovery tool VuFind. Design/methodology/approach A total of 175 students responded to a questionnaire-based survey through which their demographic data, duration (years) of computer use and their self-reported levels of computer skills were obtained. Students were asked what interfaces they use for catalogue searching and to rate their opinion on the relevant interfaces on a seven-point Likert scale. Mann–Whitney and Kruskal–Wallis tests were conducted to statistically compare the differences between students’ demographic/individual characteristics and their ratings on the respective interfaces. For those students who used both systems, differences between their Likert ratings were assessed using a one-tailed Wilcoxon signed rank test. Findings The results showed that there were no significant differences among students in terms of their ratings on either the OPAC or VuFind interfaces. Wilcoxon signed ranks test indicated that significantly more students thought that VuFind was more usable than the Koha OPAC. Originality/value This is a pioneering study of the current use of the OPAC and discovery tools by university students and their preferences for searching catalogue information through these systems. It is hoped that the findings of this study will encourage researchers to conduct task-based usability studies with various cataloguing tools and this could yield new and improved interaction designs for library catalogue searching.

scholarly journals Assessing a Novel Method to Reduce Anesthesia Machine Contamination: A Prospective, Observational Trial

2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chuck J. Biddle ◽  
Beverly George-Gay ◽  
Praveen Prasanna ◽  
Emily M. Hill ◽  
Thomas C. Davis ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Low Cost ◽  
Bacterial Species ◽  
Intervention Group ◽  
Anesthesia Machine ◽  
Rank Test ◽  
Anesthetic Care ◽  
Signed Rank ◽  
Signed Rank Test ◽  
Anesthesia Machines ◽  
The Impact

Background. Anesthesia machines are known reservoirs of bacterial species, potentially contributing to healthcare associated infections (HAIs). An inexpensive, disposable, nonpermeable, transparent anesthesia machine wrap (AMW) may reduce microbial contamination of the anesthesia machine. This study quantified the density and diversity of bacterial species found on anesthesia machines after terminal cleaning and between cases during actual anesthesia care to assess the impact of the AMW. We hypothesized reduced bioburden with the use of the AMW. Methods. In a prospective, experimental research design, the AMW was used in 11 surgical cases (intervention group) and not used in 11 control surgical cases. Cases were consecutively assigned to general surgical operating rooms. Seven frequently touched and difficult to disinfect “hot spots” were cultured on each machine preceding and following each case. The density and diversity of cultured colony forming units (CFUs) between the covered and uncovered machines were compared using Wilcoxon signed-rank test and Student’s t-tests. Results. There was a statistically significant reduction in CFU density and diversity when the AMW was employed. Conclusion. The protective effect of the AMW during regular anesthetic care provides a reliable and low-cost method to minimize the transmission of pathogens across patients and potentially reduces HAIs.

Impact of ISO 9001 certification on firms financial operating performance

2015 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 78-89 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eli Kofi Aba ◽  
M. Affan Badar ◽  
Michael Allen Hayden
Keyword(s):  
Matched Control ◽  
Operating Performance ◽  
Iso 9001 ◽  
Rank Test ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Operating Income ◽  
Signed Rank Test ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Better Than

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of ISO 9001 certification on US firms’ financial operating performance for a period of five years including one-year prior to certification, year of certification, and three fiscal years after certification. Design/methodology/approach – The paper is based on an examination of a sample of 397 firms that had received ISO 9001 certification from 1991 to 2002. Certified-firm, non-certified-firm, and matched-control-firm operating performances were examined over the same period based on the ratio of pre-tax operating income to total assets (EBITA/TA). Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used to test for significant differences in operating performance among the certified, non-certified, and matched-control firms. Findings – The paper concludes that there was significant improvement performance from prior year to year of certification. The certified firms performed better than the non-certified firms. The certified firms also performed better than the matched-control firms. Research limitations/implications – Based on the research approach and the findings, the paper recommends the use of newer ISO data; any additional certifications; and further research into the lack of significant operating values by the certified firms in the post-certification years. Practical implications – The paper shows that ISO 9001 certification is statistically related to operating performance. Certified firms have better operating performance. The positive significance in decile operating performance from prior year to certification year is an important finding for the implementation of ISO 9001. Originality/value – The paper satisfies the need to study when ISO 9001 certification impacts firms’ financial operating performance.

scholarly journals The Effect of Courageous Learning on the Clinical Practice Ability of Midwifery Students During the Covid-19 Pandemic

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dewi Nurlaela Sari
Keyword(s):  
Online Learning ◽  
Clinical Practice ◽  
Clinical Skills ◽  
Health Sector ◽  
Rank Test ◽  
P Value ◽  
Normality Test ◽  
Signed Rank ◽  
Signed Rank Test ◽  
The Impact

Online learning is one of the learning efforts developed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Online learning is felt to be effectiveat all levels of education. However, this is not the case with vocational education, especially in the health sector. Onlinelearning can also have an impact on the competencies that students must achieve because there is no direct interactionbetween students, lecturers, props/phantoms and place settings that can support the implementation of clinical skills. Thepurpose of this study was to determine the effect of online learning on the Practice Ability of Midwifery Students during theCovid-19 Pandemic . The type of research method used is pre eksperimental . Sampling was done by using purposivesampling totaling 30 respondents . The instrument used to measure students ' clinical practice skills is a checklist forchildbirth assistance, the statistical test carried out is through the normality test stages using Shapiro Wilk with the resultsof the data not being normally distributed so that an analysis test is carried out using the Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test. Theresults of the study obtained a p-value of 0.000 < from the alpha value (0.05). It can be concluded that there is asignificant influence between students ' ability to perform midwifery care related to the impact of online learning duringmidwifery clinical practice . It is hoped that the results of this study can be used as the basis for policies regarding thedevelopment of online learning methods that can support the achievement of competencies, especially clinical skills.

Assessing the importance of transformational leadership competencies and supply chain learning to green innovation: construction practitioners’ perspectives

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hai Pham ◽  
Tho Pham ◽  
Chau Ngoc Dang
Keyword(s):  
Transformational Leadership ◽  
Supply Chain ◽  
Leadership Competencies ◽  
Project Managers ◽  
Rank Test ◽  
Green Innovation ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Signed Rank ◽  
Signed Rank Test ◽  
Chain Level

Purpose This study aims to assess the importance of transformational leadership competencies, as well as supply chain learning, to green innovation in construction at the supply chain level. Design/methodology/approach A questionnaire survey is conducted to collect data from construction firms in Vietnam. Many statistical analysis methods – including the Shapiro-Wilk test, one-sample Wilcoxon signed-rank test and Kruskal-Wallis test – are performed to achieve the research objectives. Findings The results indicate that the importance of most transformational leadership competencies is similarly perceived among different role groups (i.e. directors/deputy directors, project managers, consultants, quantity surveyors and designers). Research limitations/implications This study enriches the understanding of leadership research in construction at the supply chain level and also develops a theoretical framework for theory testing research, where the relationships of transformational leadership competencies and supply chain learning with green innovation are highlighted. Originality/value Research on leadership in the green supply chain context is still limited, especially in the construction industry. Thus, this study is conducted to fill this gap of research.

A Measure to Detect Sleep Onset Using Statistical Analysis of Spike Rhythmicity

2015 ◽  
pp. 1567-1578
Author(s):  
B.R. Purnima ◽  
N. Sriraam ◽  
U. Krishnaswamy ◽  
K. Radhika
Keyword(s):  
Statistical Analysis ◽  
Sleep Onset ◽  
Rank Test ◽  
P Value ◽  
Sleep State ◽  
Statistical Measures ◽  
Plot Analysis ◽  
Signed Rank ◽  
Signed Rank Test ◽  
The Impact

Electroencephalogram (EEG) signals derived from polysomnography recordings play an important role in assessing the physiological and behavioral changes during onset of sleep. This paper suggests a spike rhythmicity based feature for discriminating the wake and sleep state. The polysomnography recordings are segmented into 1 second EEG patterns to ensure stationarity of the signal and four windowing scheme overlaps (0%, 50%, 60% and 75%) of EEG pattern are introduced to study the influence of the pre-processing procedure. The application of spike rhythmicity feature helps to estimate the number of spikes from the given pattern with a threshold of 25%.Then non parametric statistical analysis using Wilcoxon signed rank test is introduced to evaluate the impact of statistical measures such as mean, standard deviation, p-value and box-plot analysis under various conditions .The statistical test shows significant difference between wake and sleep with p<0.005 for the applied feature, thus demonstrating the efficiency of simple thresholding in distinguishing sleep and wake stage .

The expectation-performance gap in generic skills in accounting graduates

2014 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 56-72 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nadana Abayadeera ◽  
Kim Watty
Keyword(s):  
Sri Lanka ◽  
Career Success ◽  
Study Data ◽  
Rank Test ◽  
Performance Gap ◽  
Generic Skills ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Signed Rank ◽  
Signed Rank Test ◽  
Accounting Graduates

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the generic skills that are important for the career success of accounting graduates in Sri Lanka from the perspectives of university educators and employers. Design/methodology/approach – Bui and Porter's (2010) expectation-performance gap framework was modified to match with the context of the current study. Data collected via questionnaire survey was analysed for non-parametric tests: the Wilcoxon signed-rank test and the Mann-Whitney test, using SPSS version 20, and quantified the expectation-performance gap and its components. Findings – The major finding of this research is that the main cause for the expectation-performance gap, as identified in the analysis of the constraint gap is university educators’ low confidence in teaching the required generic skills for career success of graduates. However, university educators are aware of the employer expectations of graduate accountants in terms of generic skills. Employers indicated that many of the generic skills are not achieved by the accounting graduates. Practical implications – Findings of this study reflect the importance of expanding the accounting curricula by embedding and assessing generic skill development activities. In addition, it is vital to develop the capacities of university educators in terms of teaching and assessing generic skills in accounting degree programmes. Originality/value – This study contributes to the literature as one of few studies that investigate the generic skills development of accounting graduates in Asia, particularly in Sri Lanka.

scholarly journals How much of skin improvement over time in systemic sclerosis is due to normal ageing? A prospective study with shear-wave elastography.

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tania Santiago ◽  
Mariana Santiago ◽  
Margarida Coutinho ◽  
Maria Joao Salvador ◽  
JAP Da Silva
Keyword(s):  
Shear Wave ◽  
Shear Wave Elastography ◽  
Rank Test ◽  
Signed Rank ◽  
Signed Rank Test ◽  
Normal Ageing ◽  
A Prospective Study ◽  
First Time ◽  
Over Time

Abstract Objective To assess changes in skin stiffness in SSc patients using SWE during a five-year follow-up. Methods Skin stiffness [i.e. shear-wave velocity values (SWV) in m/s] was assessed by SWE ultrasound (using virtual touch image quantification) at the 17 sites of the mRSS, in each participant, at baseline and follow-up. mRSS was performed at both time points. Differences between groups were analysed using the related-samples Wilcoxon Signed Rank test and the Mann–Whitney U test. Results We included 21 patients [85.7% females; mean age 56.3 (10.4) years at baseline, 57.1% with limited SSc] and, 15 healthy controls [73.3% females; mean age 53.6 (14.1) years)]. The median follow-up was 4.9 (0.4) years. Skin stiffness decreased significantly at all Rodnan sites (p≤0.001), (except in the fingers), in SSc patients, over time. The same phenomenon occurred in controls, but to a lesser degree, in terms of percentage change. The percentage reduction in skin stiffness varied in the different Rodnan sites and in different phases of the disease. In addition, SWV values also decreased significantly in 15/16 skin sites with local normal Rodnan at baseline, whereas local Rodnan skin score only changed significantly in the upperarm (p=0.046) and forearm (p=0.026). Conclusion This study provides first-time evidence suggesting that skin SWV values are more sensitive to change over time than mRSS, and reduce significantly over time in SSc and normal controls.

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