Quality improvement in practice—part 1: creating learning systems

Applying quality improvement methods to solve complex quality issues involves people deeply. People discover solutions, test and adapt ideas, thereby giving them autonomy and control over the system in which they work. Focusing quality improvement on what matters most for staff and service users creates the opportunity to bring a deeper sense of meaning and connection to purpose, both of which are integral to joy in work. When applying quality improvement at scale within large organisations or systems, bringing teams together in learning systems can provide a critical structure to build skills, collaborate and learn from one another. This article describes the core elements of learning systems designed to support quality improvement and joy in work, illustrated through two examples. The framework can be applied at different levels of a system, including the individual, the team and the organisation, or even to a large improvement effort across organisational boundaries. The next article in this series will discuss the application of the joy in work framework to healthcare settings.

Testing the Technology of Pulsed Laser Welding of Thin-Walled Shell Structures of Steel 12Х18Н10Т on the BULAT LRS 300 Installation

The work was carried out by combining the efforts of the staff of the Department of Welding and metallurgical technologies and Technopark of the Federal State Budget Educational Institution of Higher Education Komsomolsk-on-Amur State University. The article considers the results of laser welding introduction into the technological process of the critical structure production on the example of parts (housing and fastening element) of the PeA12 piezoelectric accelerometer. The laser welding modes for circular seams of thin-walled shell structures have been developed. Welding equipment has been designed and manufactured. Mechanical and tightness tests were carried out, which showed positive results that meet the technical requirements for the accelerometer welded joints.

Neurogenesis-mediated forgetting of complex paired-associates memories

The hippocampus is a critical structure involved in many forms of learning and memory. It is also one of the only regions in the adult mammalian brain that continues to generate new neurons throughout adulthood. This process of adult neurogenesis may increase the plasticity of the hippocampus which could be beneficial for learning but has also been demonstrated to decrease the stability of previously acquired memories. Here we test whether increased production of new neurons following the formation of a gradually acquired paired-associates task will result in forgetting of this type of memory. We trained mice in a touchscreen-based object/location task and then increased neurogenesis using voluntary exercise. Our results indicate that mice with increased neurogenesis show poor recall of the previously established memory. When subsequently exposed to a reversal task we also show that mice with increased neurogenesis require fewer correction trials to acquire the new task contingencies. This suggests that prior forgetting reduces perseveration on the now outdated memory. Together our results add to a growing body of literature which indicates the important role of adult neurogenesis in destabilizing previously acquired memories to allow for flexible encoding of new memories.

A Multi-Use Case Scientific Sensor Node

<p>Nanometrics' Pegasus digitizer is the basis for a scientific grade node and is the latest development in many years of designing and building reliable seismic instruments for the scientific and monitoring community. Coupled in a grab-and-go quick deploy package with a variety of sensors enables responses to many types of events and environmental measurements. These types of systems are not only for hazards, such as earthquakes and volcanoes, but can form the basis of better tools used for critical structure and microzonation studies using ambient noise.  Pegasus takes advantage of a complete ecosystem of software, making planning, deploying and data harvesting very simple and straightforward as well as providing a dataset that includes automatically generated metadata in the form of StationXML and standard miniSEED data files.  Pegasus design criteria was based on optimal SWaP (Size, Weight and Power) and makes it unique in short to long duration deployments without swapping of units in the field, while its broad sensor compatibility enables many types of measurements and is completely compatible with the advantages of Nanometrics smart sensors.</p>

Higher rank K-theoretic Donaldson-Thomas Theory of points

We exploit the critical structure on the Quot scheme $\text {Quot}_{{{\mathbb {A}}}^3}({\mathscr {O}}^{\oplus r}\!,n)$ , in particular the associated symmetric obstruction theory, in order to study rank r K-theoretic Donaldson-Thomas (DT) invariants of the local Calabi-Yau $3$ -fold ${{\mathbb {A}}}^3$ . We compute the associated partition function as a plethystic exponential, proving a conjecture proposed in string theory by Awata-Kanno and Benini-Bonelli-Poggi-Tanzini. A crucial step in the proof is the fact, nontrival if $r>1$ , that the invariants do not depend on the equivariant parameters of the framing torus $({{\mathbb {C}}}^\ast )^r$ . Reducing from K-theoretic to cohomological invariants, we compute the corresponding DT invariants, proving a conjecture of Szabo. Reducing further to enumerative DT invariants, we solve the higher rank DT theory of a pair $(X,F)$ , where F is an equivariant exceptional locally free sheaf on a projective toric $3$ -fold X. As a further refinement of the K-theoretic DT invariants, we formulate a mathematical definition of the chiral elliptic genus studied in physics. This allows us to define elliptic DT invariants of ${{\mathbb {A}}}^3$ in arbitrary rank, which we use to tackle a conjecture of Benini-Bonelli-Poggi-Tanzini.

The Role of the Rodent Lateral Orbitofrontal Cortex in Simple Pavlovian Cue-Outcome Learning Depends on Training Experience

The orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) is a critical structure in the flexible control of value-based behaviors. OFC dysfunction is typically only detected when task or environmental contingencies change, against a backdrop of apparently intact initial acquisition and behavior. While intact acquisition following OFC lesions in simple Pavlovian cue-outcome conditioning is often predicted by models of OFC function, this predicted null effect has not been thoroughly investigated. Here, we test the effects of lesions and temporary muscimol inactivation of the rodent lateral OFC on the acquisition of a simple single cue-outcome relationship. Surprisingly, pretraining lesions significantly enhanced acquisition after overtraining, whereas post-training lesions and inactivation significantly impaired acquisition. This impaired acquisition to the cue reflects a disruption of behavioral control and not learning since the cue could also act as an effective blocking stimulus in an associative blocking procedure. These findings suggest that even simple cue-outcome representations acquired in the absence of OFC function are impoverished. Therefore, while OFC function is often associated with flexible behavioral control in complex environments, it is also involved in very simple Pavlovian acquisition where complex cue-outcome relationships are irrelevant to task performance.

Study of Impact of over Tourism on Local society at Pilgrimage Destination with reference to Mathura and Vrindavan

The widespread of visitor to a particular destination has led to a situation or problem, referred as over tourism, but now it’s the foremost common phrase for describing the negative impacts of tourism. Locals particularly destinations, have felt the impact of expanding outsiders which they need been compelled to manage the pressure altogether directions like environment, economic furthermore because the culture. Hence, the aim of the study is to clarify the results of overcrowding on the area people in pilgrimage destination. The target of this study is to see the challenges or opportunities faced by area people with relevancy over tourism. This research is distributed at two important pilgrimage sites of western Uttar Pradesh Mathura and Vrindavan. This paper provides a critical structure of issues faced by the locals and a few of the suggestion to beat the situations.

The role of the rodent lateral orbitofrontal cortex in simple Pavlovian cue-outcome learning depends on training experience

The orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) is a critical structure in the flexible control of value-based behaviours. OFC dysfunction is typically only detected when task or environmental contingencies change, against a backdrop of apparently intact initial acquisition and behaviour. While intact acquisition following OFC lesions in simple Pavlovian cue-outcome conditioning is often predicted by models of OFC function, this predicted null effect has not been thoroughly investigated. Here we test the effects of lesions and temporary muscimol inactivation of the rodent lateral OFC on the acquisition of a simple single cue-outcome relationship. Surprisingly, pre-training lesions significantly enhanced acquisition after over-training whereas post-training lesions and inactivation significantly impaired acquisition. This impaired acquisition to the cue reflects a disruption of behavioural control and not learning since the cue could also act as an effective blocking stimulus in an associative blocking procedure. These findings suggest that even simple cue-outcome representations acquired in the absence of OFC function are impoverished. Therefore, while OFC function is often associated with flexible behavioural control in complex environments, it is also involved in very simple Pavlovian acquisition where complex cue-outcome relationships are irrelevant to task performance.

Cyclic Oligosaccharides as Active Drugs, an Updated Review

There have been many reviews of the cyclic oligosaccharide cyclodextrin (CD) and CD-based materials used for drug delivery, but the capacity of CDs to complex different agents and their own intrinsic properties suggest they might also be considered for use as active drugs, not only as carriers. The aim of this review is to summarize the direct use of CDs as drugs, without using its complexing potential with other substances. The direct application of another oligosaccharide called cyclic nigerosyl-1,6-nigerose (CNN) is also described. The review is divided into lipid-related diseases, aggregation diseases, antiviral and antiparasitic activities, anti-anesthetic agent, function in diet, removal of organic toxins, CDs and collagen, cell differentiation, and finally, their use in contact lenses in which no drug other than CDs are involved. In the case of CNN, its application as a dietary supplement and immunological modulator is explained. Finally, a critical structure–activity explanation is provided.