Discontinuous Process Research Articles

Attributes of the Organizational Change and Its Influence on Attitudes Toward Organizational Change and Well-Being at Work: A Longitudinal Study

This study investigates the role of attributes of organizational change and attitudes toward change as antecedents of well-being at work and how these antecedents vary over the course of an organizational change. Drawing on cognitive theories (a) organization change planning, (b) perceived risk level, and (c) attitudes toward organizational change are examined as antecedents. Attitudes toward change have also been tested as mediators in the relationship between change attributes and well-being. Hypotheses are tested in a three-wave study of 505, 390, and 348 respondents in each wave, involving employees from a Brazilian public organization undergoing a strategic reorientation toward continuous improvement. Attitudes toward change had stable positive effects in each wave, conducted 12, 24, and 48 months after the change was initiated. This study corroborates the findings that uncertainty and risk contribute to the formation of negative cognitions and feelings throughout the process of organizational change but do not necessarily result in discomfort in relation to the work and the organization. The effects of both planning for the change and the perceived risk level were not moderated by time. The results of this study do not support the idea of gradual shifts and discontinuous information processing in employee’s cognitive models. On the contrary, it is possible to conclude that perceptions have been confirmed over time. Implications for managing employee reactions and well-being in different phases of change are discussed.

New process for synthesizing chitosan from snail shells

Chitosan is widely known for its unique properties such as nontoxicity, biodegradability, antimicrobial and antifungal properties. It has been used widely in medicine, beverage purification, wastewater treatment, food, and allied industries. The most prevailing method for producing chitosan involve deproteinization, demineralization, decolorization and de-acetylation of chitin. Frequently, during the intermittent intervals of these processes (deproteinization, and demineralization), the products are washed to neutrality, dried before the next phase (discontinuous processes). In this work, we introduce a time and energy saving economic process of demineralization of the deprotenized snail shells through elimination of the drying stage. The yield, moisture content and degree of deacetylation of chitosan produced from the two processes were examined. The chitosan produced from the two processes had similar surface structure and matching FTIR bands. The higher chitosan yield of this energy saving process makes it more economic.

Evaluation of a Pharmacist-Managed Antidiabetic Deprescribing Program in an Integrated Health Care System.

In the elderly, use of medications may increase the propensity for adverse drug events due to alterations in pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic profiles from normal aging processes. Deprescribing is the planned and supervised process of dose reduction or discontinuation of medications that may lead to harm or are no longer beneficial. While there are studies detailing strategies to deprescribe medications such as benzodiazepines and antipsychotics in nursing homes or for patients with dementia, there is a lack of guidance to safely deprescribe chronic medications, such as antidiabetics, for older patients in the community setting. To evaluate the risk of hypoglycemia and other outcomes of pharmacist-managed deprescribing on selected antidiabetic medications under the guidance of a standardized program compared with usual care within an integrated health care system. This was a retrospective propensity score-matched cohort study. The pharmacist-managed deprescribing group included patients who were enrolled in the deprescribing program between July 1, 2016, and June 30, 2017. The usual care group included eligible patients who did not receive the deprescribing intervention and were matched to the deprescribing group using propensity score matching (PSM). Baseline demographics and clinical variables were used for matching. Patients were followed for 6 months or the end of membership or death, whichever occurred first. Primary outcome was the risk of hypoglycemia. Secondary outcomes included risk of hyperglycemia, proportion of patients at goal (A1c), change in A1c, change in monthly antidiabetic drug cost, and all-cause mortality. Outcomes were analyzed using descriptive statistics and multivariant regression or Cox proportional hazard models when appropriate. After PSM, 685 patients in the deprescribing group and 2,055 patients in the usual care group were similar in age, gender, weight, and comorbidity burden (mean [SD] age 82.4 [5.4] years, 48% female, mean [SD] weight 81.7 [19.2] kg, mean [SD] Charlson Comorbidity Index score 3.2 [1.6]). Compared with the usual care group, the deprescribing group had a lower risk of hypoglycemia (1.5% vs. 3.1%, P < 0.02; adjusted odds ratio 0.42, P < 0.01). As for the secondary outcomes, the deprescribing group had a greater change (SD) in A1c (0.3 [0.6] vs. 0.2 [0.7] P < 0.01) and lower all-cause mortality (2.3% vs 5.6%, P < 0.01; adjusted hazard ratio 0.35, P < 0.01). There were no differences observed in the risk of hyperglycemia, proportion of patients at goal A1c < 7%, and change in monthly antidiabetic drug costs between the 2 groups. There are currently no studies to our knowledge that evaluate the outcomes of a pharmacist-managed deprescribing program targeting antidiabetic medications. The results of our study showed that deprescribing of selected antidiabetics reduced the risk of hypoglycemia and may have mortality benefit in elderly patients with well-controlled type 2 diabetes, who are taking medications that can cause hypoglycemia. Further and longer studies are needed to validate these benefits. No outside funding was provided to support this research study. The authors of this study have no actual or potential conflicts of interest to report. Parts of this study were presented in a nonreviewed resident poster at the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy Managed Care and Specialty Pharmacy Annual Meeting; April 23-26, 2018; Boston, MA.

Flow behavior and formability of hot-rolled Mg-8Gd-3Y alloy under double-pass isothermal compression

Multi-pass hot rolling can help overcome the poor formability of high-strength Mg-Gd-Y alloys at ambient and intermedium temperature. It is essential to explore deformation characteristics of the alloys under such discontinuous thermomechanical processing. In the current work, double-pass isothermal compression tests were carried out to study the flow behavior and formability of a hot-rolled Mg-8Gd-3Y alloy at the temperature range of 350–450 °C with a strain rate range of 0.001–0.1 s−1. Two kinds of hardening behavior characterized by higher second-pass peak stress than the first-pass unloading stress are discovered. One is caused by precipitation that occurs during holding at a temperature range of 350–400 °C under a strain rate of 0.1 s−1. The other is grain-growth-induced hardening and takes place at 450 °C with a strain rate range of 0.01–0.1 s−1. Based on the dynamic material model, three-dimensional power dissipation and instability maps were established, corroborating improved formability under double-pass isothermal compression. The results clarify that employing inter-pass holding during hot working can widen the suitable processing window and reduce deformation bands.

Residual stresses prediction in machining: Hybrid FEM enhanced by assessment of plastic flow

Manufactured components are submitted to thermo-mechanical loads that can blemish their surface integrity and change the inherent residual stress distribution. The discontinuous machining process is relevant to the integrity conception because of their potential application at the end of the manufacturing chain. In order to consolidate a method to predict the residual stress state with a reduced CPU effort, this paper addresses the prediction of residual stress fields resulting from the milling process. The approach is using the hybrid FEM approach combined with the analysis of the plastic flow. The results obtained point out to the validity of the combination of the hybrid method and the visualization of the equivalent stress and equivalent strain rates. Moreover, a direct correspondence between the references and experimental dataset was observed, even when the input data for the model is associated with macro-loads obtained by piezoelectric platform measurements. The determination of the stress state as residual stress in mainly associated to the mesh convergence and the time to equilibrate the plastic flow. A conclusion is drawn regarding the viability of applying the same combination for other manufacturing processes.

Integrated process for extraction and formulation in emulsions of active molecules from fresh passion fruits (Passiflora edulis Sims)

Intensified green processes were investigated to extract several classes of active molecules from fresh purple passion fruits, and to prepare emulsions directly by extrusion for the fruit comprehensive utilization. A thermo-mechanical treatment was carried out through a discontinuous process from the edible part and through a continuous process by twin-screw extrusion using the whole fruit. Only mechanical energy was applied to the materials to generate a liquid fraction (filtrate) and a solid residue. Lipid contents of the obtained filtrates ranged from 0.5 to 2.6 g/100 g close to the extractible lipophilic part. Polyphenols extraction was improved when using the whole fruit and with the addition of water in extrusion. In-situ emulsions with droplets sizes between 2 and 8 μm were obtained. Emulsions obtained after extrusion showed an enhanced stability. This way represents a green alternative method to solvent extractions applied to the different parts of the fruit, and leads to bio-based emulsions enriched in vegetable oil, natural antioxidants and emulsifiers, such as phospholipids, proteins, polysaccharides, pectins and polyphenols.

Attributes of the Organizational Change and Its Influence on Attitudes Toward Organizational Change and Well-Being at Work: A Longitudinal Study

This study investigates the role of attributes of organizational change, the attitudes toward change as an antecedent of well-being at work, and how these antecedents vary over the course of an organizational change. Organization change planning, perceived risk level, and attitudes toward organizational change are examined as antecedents. Attitudes toward change were tested as mediators in the relationship between change attributes and well-being. Hypotheses were tested in a three-wave study ( N = 505, N = 390, and N = 348 respondents, respectively) of employees from a public organization in Brazil undergoing a strategic reorientation. Attitudes toward change had stable positive effects in each wave, conducted 12, 24, and 48 months after the change was initiated. This study corroborates findings that uncertainty and risk contribute to the formation of negative cognitions and feelings throughout the process of organizational change but do not necessarily result in discomfort in relation to the work. The effects of planning the change and the perceived risk level of the change were not moderated by time. This study’s results do not support the ideas of gradual shifts and discontinuous information processing in cognitive models of employees. In contrast, it is possible to conclude that perceptions are confirmed over time. Implications for managing employee reactions and well-being in different phases of change are discussed.

Target detection method based on optical fiber fence

The intrusion alarm system of fiber optic fence perimeter realizes the early warning of intrusion by sensing the vibration of the defense area. How to detect the intrusion correctly, improve the system alarm accuracy and reduce the false alarm rate is the key problem to be explored. In view of the large amplitude of the jump of the intrusion signal and the discontinuous action process, and the disturbance generated by the environment is generally random and disorderly. In this paper, the method based on mean filtering and contrast detection is adopted to detect the intrusion signal. Through the actual data verification, this method can accurately realize the alarm of the intrusion signal and has strong robustness.

The role of intellectual capital in new product development: Can it become a liability?

ABSTRACTGiven the increasingly high cost of new product development (NPD), it is important for firms to terminate unsuccessful NPD projects as soon as possible. This article investigates the role of intellectual capital in the discontinuation of NPD projects. The three dimensions of intellectual capital (human, structural, and social capital) are posited to decrease the likelihood of discontinuation of NPD projects, while contextual factors such as the firm's discontinuation experience and the size of the drug development portfolio are expected to affect this relationship. The research model is tested using a unique data set of 1,168 drug discovery and development projects. The results suggest that NPD projects rich in all three dimensions of intellectual capital are less likely to be discontinued. The size of the firm's drug development portfolio, however, is found to mitigate these effects, while discontinuation experience enhances the relationship between intellectual capital and discontinuation duration. As only a fraction of new product development initiatives result in success, timely discontinuation of unsuccessful projects is critical for sustained performance of organizations. Our findings make an important contribution to this stream of work. By highlighting the role of intellectual capital in the discontinuation process, we offer an interesting twist to the literature that invariably assumes intellectual capital to be important for innovation.

An exploratory analysis of the role of social supports in psychiatric medication discontinuation: results related to family involvement

ABSTRACTObjective: Individuals in psychiatric treatment frequently choose to stop taking psychiatric medications, but little is known about the role of social supports in this process.Methods: This service user-led study of 194 adults who sought to completely discontinue prescribed psychiatric medications explores the role of various groups that may be a source of social support. Respondents who attempted to discontinue medication completed a web survey. We conducted bivariate and multivariate analyses to explore the relationship of social support to discontinuation.Results: Of all social support groups, only family was significantly associated with medication discontinuation. Respondents who rated family as helpful in the discontinuation process were less likely to completely discontinue than those who rated family as unhelpful or who reported no family involvement. Additionally, we observed a statistically significant but nonlinear relationship where respondents who rated their families as either “very supportive” or “very unsupportive” of the decision to discontinue were less likely to meet their original discontinuation goal than those with more neutral ratings.Discussion: The results of this study suggest families have an important and complex role in medication decision-making. Efforts to improve the quality of social networks should include family, as should future research.

Therapy discontinuation processes in a gynecologic oncology population.

11611 Background: The decision to discontinue anti-cancer therapies in oncology patients is a complex one and may occur in several unique ways. We sought to understand the processes of therapy discontinuation in a gynecologic oncology population and to discern possible changes in the distribution of these processes after implementation of a palliative care (PC) quality improvement project. Methods: Women with incurable gynecologic malignancies seen in the outpatient setting at an academic center were identified with the recommendation for ‘goals of care’ discussion within 3 visits following identification. Processes of discontinuing chemotherapy for this population were assessed and categorized into 1 of 4 categories: definitive outpatient decision, definitive inpatient decision, interruption by hospitalization, treatment holiday, and “no decision.” Retrospective chart review identified a similar cohort of women prior to the implementation of our PC intervention. Univariate analyses were conducted to determine associations between characteristics and binary outcome of definitive outpatient decision versus all other decision processes. Results: 90/102 (88%) pre-intervention subjects and 83/157 (53%) post-intervention subjects had died at time of analysis. Of the total deceased cohort, 59/173 (34%) made a definitive decision to stop therapy in the outpatient setting. After implementation of the PC initiative, there was a trend towards fewer women identified as having made “no decision” (18.1% vs 30%). Those who made a definitive outpatient decision were less likely to die within 30 days of hospitalization than those who did not (OR 0.16 [95% CI 0.07,0.390], p &lt; 0.0001). Conclusions: Discontinuation of therapy is a nuanced concept in gynecologic oncology patients that can be stratified into several processes. While our data demonstrates a possible increase in active decision-making with the PC initiative, a majority of patients near the end of life still did not make definitive therapy cessation decisions. This reveals an urgent need for the development of initiatives to enhance patient engagement and shared decision making for women near the end of life.

Development of a Continuous Flow Process for a Matteson Reaction: From Lab Scale to Full-Scale Production of a Pharmaceutical Intermediate

Within this paper, we present the design, development, and scale-up of a process for a continuous Matteson reaction to produce a key intermediate toward the β-lactamase inhibitor vaborbactam. This includes the successful implementation of the continuous concept at a multiton production scale for the API at Patheon, part of Thermo Fisher Scientific. The first-generation continuous flow production with its discontinuous downstream processing was further developed to a fully continuous production through installation of a continuous loop reactor. This enabled increased productivity and energy efficiency, eliminated volume and time bottlenecks, and reduced waste.

CULTIVATION OF THE MICROALGAE CHLORELLA PYRENOIDOSA USING THE PROCESSES OF BIOTECHNOLOGY

The results obtained here, show that the use of Chlorella pyrenoidosa microalgae and biotechnology, using the discontinuous process, presented satisfactory results. With this, the study of the microalga Chlorella sp. has proved to be important because it has a wealth of proteins, carbohydrates, amino acids, fatty acids, carotenoids, vitamins and minerals in its constitution, which may represent commercial importance. This research revealed the best results for obtaining a lipoprotein-rich biomass, taking into account three different culture media, calculations of cell concentration, cell productivity, to the content (%) of protein, lipid, carbohydrate and ash present in the microalgal biomass.

IDENTIFICATION OF THE LIPIDS OF THE MICROALGAE CHLORELLA PYRENOIDOSA, AFTER OBTAINING THIS THROUGH USE OF BIOTECHNOLOGY

Through the cultivation of the microalgae Chlorella pyrenoidosa was used the discontinuous biotechnological process, which was obtained a microalgal biomass (dry). This was directed to the supercritical processing apparatus, in which after use it was obtained an extract. This was analyzed to verify the types (varieties) of fatty acids in a gas chromatograph and also, it was coupled to mass spectrometry. It was noted that to perform the analysis in these two devices there was a complementarity between the results of types of fatty acids.

Dietary Uptake Patterns Affect Bioaccumulation and Biomagnification of Hydrophobic Organic Compounds in Fish

Biomagnification of hydrophobic organic compounds (HOCs) increases the eco-environmental risks they pose. Here, we gained mechanistic insights into biomagnification of deuterated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs- d10) in zebrafish with carefully controlled water (ng L-1) by a passive dosing method and dietary exposures using pre-exposed Daphnia magna and fish food. A new bioaccumulation kinetic model for fish was established to take into account discrete dietary uptake, while the frequently used model regards dietary uptake as a continuous process. We found that when freely dissolved concentrations of the PAHs- d10 were constant in water, the intake amount of the PAHs- d10 played an important role in affecting their steady-state concentrations in zebrafish, and there was a peak concentration in zebrafish after each dietary uptake. Moreover, considering the randomness of predation, the Monte Carlo simulation results showed that the probabilities of biomagnification of the PAHs- d10 in zebrafish increased with their dietary uptake amount and frequency. This study indicates that in addition to the well-known lipid-water partitioning, the bioaccumulation of HOCs in fish is also a discontinuous kinetic process caused by the fluctuation of HOC concentration in the gastrointestinal tract as a result of the discrete food ingestion. The discontinuity and randomness of dietary uptake can partly explain the differences among aquatic ecosystems with respect to biomagnification for species at similar trophic levels and provides new insight for future analysis of experimental and field bioaccumulation data for fish.

Modelling Rock Failure with a Novel Continuous to Discontinuous Method

The original discontinuous deformation and displacement (DDD) method is greatly refined using the statistical damage theory and contact mechanics. Next, a novel coupled method is proposed to model the continuous to discontinuous failure process of rocks. By hybridizing the finite element method (FEM) and discontinuous deformation analysis (DDA) method, the proposed method inherits the advantages of both and is able to provide a complete and unified description of rock deformation, crack initiation and propagation, and rock body translation, rotation and interaction. Moreover, to improve the deformation results and refine the stress distribution within the model blocks, finite elements are introduced into the blocks. The ability of an intact block to fracture is included as well, i.e., the deformable blocks that contain several finite elements may split into smaller blocks if the strength criteria are satisfied continuously. The boundaries of damaged elements represent newly formed joints, and sliding and opening may occur along these joints, i.e., mechanical interaction is allowed between adjacent blocks. The correctness and validity of the proposed method are verified through a series of benchmark tests. The simulated results are consistent with the analytical solutions, previous studies and experimental observations. Overall, the coupled method is an effective and reliable approach for modelling the entire rock failure process with satisfactory accuracy and shows considerable potential in geotechnical engineering.

Boosted Edge Detection Algorithm for Unstructured Environment in Document Using Optimized Text Region Detection

Document images are more popular in today’s world and being made available over the internet for Information retrieval. The document images becomes a difficult task compared with digital texts and edge detection is an important task in the document image retrieval, edge detection indicates to the process of finding sharp discontinuation of characters in the document images. The single edge detection methods causing the weak gradient and edge missing problems adopts the method of combining global with local edge detection to extract edge. The global edge detection obtains the whole edges and uses to improve adaptive smooth filter algorithm based on canny operator. These combinations increase the detection efficiency and reduce the computational time. In addition, the proposed algorithm has been tested through real-time document retrieval system to detect the edges in unstructured environment and generate 2D maps. These maps contain the starting and destination points in addition to current positions of the objects. This proposed work enhancing the searching ability of the document to move towards the optimal solution and to verify the capability in terms of detection efficiency.

Characterisation of peroxidation products arising from culinary oils exposed to continuous and discontinuous thermal degradation processes.

High-resolution NMR analysis has been used, for the first time, to identify, putatively, two new secondary aldehydic lipid oxidation products in culinary oils. The impact of heating and cooling times on the thermal stability, fatty acid composition and lipid oxidation product (LOP) concentrations have been analysed for continuous and discontinuous heating periods (180 °C). The susceptibility of the selected oils to thermal oxidation for the different heating episodes has been evaluated via the detection and determination of LOPs, particularly cytotoxic and genotoxic aldehydes. The identities and quantities of these LOPs evolved throughout a 2.0 hour period. Results acquired indicated that sunflower oil was more resistant to discontinuous oxidation than rapeseed and olive oils, however overall discontinuous heating resulted in more LOPs.

Fabrication and Characterization of Core–Shell Density-Graded 316L Stainless Steel Porous Structure

In the present work, cylindrical shape 316 L cellular structure with different densities in its core and outer layer (shell) is fabricated by using carbamide as a space holder, via powder metallurgy route and layer-by-layer technique. The arrangement of the created pore is the same as face-centered cubic atomic structure, and different densities are created in two regions by using carbamide particles having two different sizes in the range of 1.7-2 and 2-2.4 mm. The effect of creating a structure with higher porosity (64.5%) in the core and lower porosity (53.8%) in the shell and vice versa and also change in the ratio of the core to the cylinder cross-sectional areas, on the mechanical properties and compaction load bearing of the fabricated foam samples were investigated. In leaching process of the carbamide particles, as an important step of porous structure’s fabrication, it is shown that discontinuous leaching process is more favorable than continuous, by which it would be possible to remove more carbamide particles (around 20%) at the same time. Furthermore, the deformation of the density-graded foam shows the parallel mechanism in the core and shell sections, and the contribution of each part depends on its density and thickness. The energy absorption behavior of the fabricated specimens is evaluated optimally in terms of the energy absorption value associated with the ideal adsorption behavior. The maximum ideal energy absorption efficiency for the samples with more porosity in the shell was approximately equal to 0.91, while for the sample includes the lower amount of porosity in the shell, this value was in the range of 0.85 and 0.89.

ITRAQ-Based Quantitative Proteomic Analysis of a Toxigenic Dinoflagellate Alexandrium catenella at Different Stages of Toxin Biosynthesis during the Cell Cycle.

Paralytic shellfish toxins (PSTs) are a group of potent neurotoxic alkaloids that are produced mainly by marine dinoflagellates. PST biosynthesis in dinoflagellates is a discontinuous process that is coupled to the cell cycle. However, little is known about the molecular mechanism underlying this association. Here, we compared global protein expression profiles of a toxigenic dinoflagellate, Alexandrium catenella, collected at four different stages of toxin biosynthesis during the cell cycle, using an isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantification (iTRAQ)-based quantitative proteomic approach. The results showed that toxin biosynthesis occurred mainly in the G1 phase, especially the late G1 phase. In total, 7232 proteins were confidently identified, and 210 proteins exhibited differential expression among the four stages. Proteins involved in protein translation and photosynthetic pigment biosynthesis were significantly upregulated during toxin biosynthesis, indicating close associations among the three processes. Nine toxin-related proteins were detected, and two core toxin biosynthesis proteins, namely, sxtA and sxtI, were identified for the first time in dinoflagellates. Among these proteins, sxtI and ompR were significantly downregulated when toxin biosynthesis stopped, indicating that they played important roles in the regulation of PST biosynthesis. Our study provides new insights into toxin biosynthesis in marine dinoflagellates: nitrogen balance among different biological processes regulates toxin biosynthesis, and that glutamate might play a key modulatory role.