Emergency department status boards: user-evolved artefacts for inter- and intra-group coordination

Large, easily viewed status boards are commonly used in some healthcare settings such as emergency departments, operating theaters, intensive care units, and inpatient wards. Because these artefacts were developed by front-line users, and have little to no supervisory or regulatory control, they offer valuable insights into the theories of work and hazard held by those users. Although the status boards case were locally developed over many years for within-group coordination, they have also become useful for between-group coordination across organizational boundaries. In this paper, we compare and contrast the use of such status boards in two disparate settings: a US emergency department, and a UK pediatric ward, and note striking similarities in their form and usage, despite the large differences in setting.     

Geographic Variation in Alkaloid Production in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Conium maculatum</Emphasis> Populations Experiencing Differential Herbivory by <Emphasis Type="Italic">Agonopterix alstroemeriana</Emphasis>

Conium maculatum, a Eurasian weed naturalized in North America, contains high concentrations of piperidine alkaloids that act as chemical defenses against herbivores. C. maculatum was largely free from herbivory in the United States, until approximately 30 yr ago, when it was reassociated via accidental introduction with a monophagous European herbivore, the oecophorid caterpillar Agonopterix alstroemeriana. At present, A. alstroemeriana is found in a continuum of reassociation time and intensities with C. maculatum across the continent; in the Pacific Northwest, A. alstroemeriana can cause severe damage, resulting in some cases in complete defoliation. Studies in biological control and invasion biology have yet to determine whether plants reassociated with a significant herbivore from the area of indigeneity increase their chemical defense investment in areas of introduction. In this study, we compared three locations in the United States (New York, Washington, and Illinois) where C. maculatum experiences different levels of herbivory by A. alstroemeriana to determine the association between the intensity of the interaction, as measured by damage, and chemical defense production. Total alkaloid production in C. maculatum was positively correlated with A. alstroemeriana herbivory levels: plants from New York and Washington, with higher herbivory levels, invested two and four times more N to alkaloid synthesis than did plants from Illinois. Individual plants with lower concentrations of alkaloids from a single location in Illinois experienced more damage by A. alstroemeriana, indicative of a preference on the part of the insect for plants with less chemical defense. These results suggest that A. alstroemeriana may act either as a selective agent or inducing agent for C. maculatum and increase its toxicity in its introduced range.     

Underground adaptations: case studies from health care

Clinical work is accomplished by complex, highly distributed, joint cognitive systems, and involves high levels of uncertainty and ambiguity. Hospital emergency departments (EDs) in particular must adapt to uncertainty, ambiguity and change on a variety of different temporal scales. Many of these adaptations are unofficial, in part because they cannot be specified in advance and because the official models of healthcare work do not include or acknowledge them. This paper presents two case studies of reactive adaptation within the ED setting and uses these to explore their implications for cognitive engineering and design.     

Phenolics of Vaccinium berries and other fruit crops

The concentrations and profiles of phenolics of selected fruit crops common in the Western diet, including several Vaccinium species, were examined to better understand how these crops may be useful sources of phenolic phytochemicals. Vaccinium fruit had a high phenolic concentration compared to non‐Vaccinium fruit. Some Vaccinium fruit were particularly rich in certain phenolic subgroups, especially anthocyanins and pro‐anthocyanidins. Among the pro‐anthocyanidin oligomers measured using fluorometric and mass spectroscopic detection, the trimers and tetramers were most abundant, while pro‐anthocyanidins with a degree of polymerization greater than 8 were least abundant. As biomedical studies determine which phenolic structures are associated with particular bioactivities, information on the phenolic concentration and profile of selected species will be useful in developing specific uses for fruit crops in human health. Methods were compared to assess the usefulness of simpler versus more sophisticated means of phenolic analysis. The phenolic components of fruit extracts were purified approximately 20‐fold, and not qualitatively altered, by C18 solid‐phase extraction. However, fruit extracts obtained from C18 solid‐phase extraction differed in their relative abundance of phenolic components. Colorimetric and HPLC‐DAD measures of phenolic concentration were correlated (R² = 0.79), as was pro‐anthocyanidin concentration detected fluorometrically and by mass spectrometry (R² = 0.44). Copyright © 2007 Crown in the right of Canada and Society of Chemical Industry     

Behavioral responses of the parsnip webworm to host plant volatiles

Sixth instars of the parsnip webworm, Depressaria pastinacella, orient by olfaction to bud, male flowers, and female flowers of their primary host plant, Pastinaca sativa. Because octyl acetate and octyl butyrate are characteristic of tissues consumed by the sixth instar, we investigated the influence of these esters on webworm feeding behavior and chemo-orientation. Although octyl acetate and octyl butyrate are feeding deterrents, and octyl butyrate is an olfactory repellent, octyl acetate serves as an olfactory attractant. In olfactometers, webworms do not show a preference when given a choice between octyl acetate and host plant tissues. These findings suggest that octyl acetate is a sufficient cue for olfactory orientation. Such behavior may explain differences in the relative abundance of these esters observed among populations of wild parsnip under differential selection pressure from these insects.     

Predicting change in depression following renal transplantation: Effect of patient coping preferences.

Improvement in patient quality of life is a central goal of renal transplantation. This study examined the hypothesis that change in depression following transplantation would vary as a function of patient coping preferences. Sixty patients were assessed with the Krantz Health Opinion Survey and the Beck Depression Inventory while on the waiting list for a cadaveric renal transplant. Patients were reassessed approximately 12 months later. Among the 33 patients receiving a transplant during the follow-up period, those with a high preference for health-related information exhibited a substantial reduction in depression. In contrast, patients low in preference for information showed a slight increase in depression. Among the 27 patients who were not transplanted during the follow-up period, preference for information had no effect on depression. Patient differences in preference for behavioral involvement did not exert a significant effect on depression. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effect of a behavioral self-regulation intervention on patient adherence in hemodialysis.

The present study examined the efficacy of a behavioral intervention designed to increase adherence to fluid-intake restrictions among hemodialysis patients. Twenty intervention-group patients were compared with 20 matched control patients on an indicator of fluid-intake adherence at 3 time points. The Group X Time interaction was significant, indicating that patients in the 2 groups exhibited a differential pattern of change in fluid-intake adherence across the follow-up period. The intervention and control groups did not differ significantly in terms of adherence at the initial postintervention period but did differ at the 8-week follow-up. The observed group differences were, in part, due to a trend toward increasingly better adherence in the intervention group and poorer adherence in the control group across the follow-up period. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The role of family relationship quality and testosterone levels in adolescents' peer experiences: A biosocial analysis.

Grounded in a biosocial model, this study examines the interaction between adolescents' testosterone levels and qualities of the parent-adolescent and sibling-adolescent relationship in adolescents' peer experiences and contributes to empirical research on the role of biological factors and family socialization processes in adolescents' peer competence and involvement. Participants included 331 adolescents (M=14.68 years of age, SD=1.53) and their mothers and fathers in 173 families. During home visits, data were collected from family members regarding adolescents' family relationships, peer relationships, and psychosocial adjustment; daily time-use data were gathered during a series of 7 nightly phone interviews; and testosterone levels were assessed through saliva samples. Hierarchical regression results revealed that when boys had close relationships with mothers and sisters, testosterone was positively associated with their peer competence and involvement. Discussion focuses on the value of exploring biosocial interactions and highlights the particular importance of boys' relationships with opposite-sex family members in efforts to understand their peer experiences. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Early hormonal influences on childhood sex-typed activity and playmate preferences: Implications for the development of sexual orientation.

Early hormones have been hypothesized to influence both sexual orientation and related childhood sex-typed behaviors. This study examined hormonal influences on activity and playmate preferences in children with congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) aged 2.5–12 yrs (24 girls, 19 boys) and their relatives (16 girls, 25 boys). CAH girls preferred boys' toys and activities. They also had greater preference for boy playmates than controls, but this was largely attributable to 4 girls. CAH boys did not differ significantly from controls. Activity and playmate preferences were not related. It was concluded that early androgen has a major effect on childhood activity preferences but only a weak influence on playmate preferences; sex segregation does not arise from sex-typed activity preferences; activity and playmate preferences may be differently predictive of sexual orientation; and hormonal influences on sexual orientation are likely to be complex. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)