External Interruptions Research Articles

Effects of mental demands during dispensing on perceived medication safety and employee well-being: A study of workload in pediatric hospital pharmacies

Background Pharmacy workload is a modifiable work system factor believed to affect both medication safety outcomes and employee outcomes, such as job satisfaction. Objectives This study sought to measure the effect of workload on safety and employee outcomes in 2 pediatric hospitals and to do so using a novel approach to pharmacy workload measurement. Methods Rather than measuring prescription volume or other similar indicators, this study measured the type and intensity of mental demands experienced during the medication dispensing tasks. The effects of external (interruptions, divided attention, and rushing) and internal (concentration and effort) task demands on perceived medication error likelihood, adverse drug event likelihood, job dissatisfaction, and burnout were statistically estimated using multiple linear and logistic regression. Results Pharmacists and pharmacy technicians reported high levels of external and internal mental demands during dispensing. The study supported the hypothesis that external demands (interruptions, divided attention, and rushing) negatively impacted medication safety and employee well-being outcomes. However, as hypothesized, increasing levels of internal demands (concentration and effort) were not associated with greater perceived likelihood of error, adverse drug events, or burnout and even had a positive effect on job satisfaction. Conclusions Replicating a prior study in nursing, this study shows that new conceptualizations and measures of workload can generate important new findings about both detrimental and beneficial effects of workload on patient safety and employee well-being. This study discusses what those findings imply for policy, management, and design concerning automation, cognition, and staffing.

Harnessing time: empowering staff in the workplace

PurposeThis paper aims to describe a staff development activity introduced at a small regional library in Victoria, Australia to assist staff to take more control of their work time. The self‐directed professional activity (SDPA) allows staff to nominate an activity that would benefit them professionally and then provides the support and infrastructure so they can focus on one task for a sustained period of time, free from external distractions.Design/methodology/approachThis single case study describes the experiences of 11 library staff undertaking the SDPA four times over a two year period, 2006‐2008. The perspective of participants was recorded and analysed using a focus group discussion, personal written reflections and written responses to open ended survey questions.FindingsThe activity achieved its initial aim of providing staff with greater control over their professional time. Staff appreciated having a dedicated time to plan and complete a specified task, which they nominated as a priority, without external interruptions. Difficulties encountered by staff included defining a task or activity that could be completed in one afternoon and resisting the temptation to check e‐mail and answer telephone calls.Research limitations/implicationsThe sample size is very small, focusing on one specific work environment, which makes it difficult to generalise about the applicability of this model to other organisations.Practical implicationsThe experiences described in this case study illustrate that allowing staff to set their own priorities and minimising external interruptions can assist staff to feel more in control of their time at work.Originality/valueThe paper shows that elements of this approach could be incorporated into any workplace, although it appears to be of greater benefit to workers who must multi‐task in open office environments or to those who must juggle competing priorities.

IMPLEMENTASI MIKROKONTROLER SEBAGAI PENCACAH FREKUENSI BERBASIS PENGUKURAN PERIODE ISYARAT MASUKAN

One of the main components from frequency counter is a processor. This processor must have ability to conduct counting and arithmetical calculation. To get competitive price, in this research a microcontroller is applied as a processor. This paper presents design of frequency counter based on microcontroller AT89S51 which has two independent timers. The input frequency counter is conducted by using facilities inside microcontroller e.g. T0 and external interruption. Counter method used in this research is by measuring input signal period. This method is proven effectively to count frequency especially low frequency. As the result, the frequency counter has successfully measured frequency from 0.1 until 10 kHz with maximum error 1%. This device is possible to be the next frequency counter with competitive price.

Subjectivity, Revolution, Invention

The turn to religion in theory--and I think particularly here of the recent work by Agamben, Badiou, and Zizek on St. Paul--is potentially a great boon to literary studies. Theology matters in a way that it hasn't in a long time in philosophical debates in North America and Europe. Scholars are thinking topics of contemporary importance (subjectivity, authority, aesthetics, ethics, religion and the secular) through theological categories. Part of the reason for this rekindled interest is that theological categories provide unique lines of critique against key concepts within the liberal political and philosophical traditions. Here I will briefly summarize three such concepts. The Question of Subjectivity The new attention given to Paul focuses on his role as an innovator in the theory of a universal subjectivity--this is summed up for Badiou in Paul's announcement that now there is neither Greek nor Jew. Breaking out of all constraints of time and culture--Jesus, and especially Paul, are able to grasp and proclaim the accessibility to all of an unimpeded fidelity to a truth-event. It is not clear to me that Badiou avoids the larger problem of the liberal narrative of freedom of the self, which is the refusal to admit any real and definite limit to the self's boundaries. But his attention to Paul on the question of subjectivity opens the possibility of a theological critique of liberal individualism. Talal Asad has pointed out that this liberal doctrine of the absolute freedom of the self is always articulated within the political framework of the modern nation-state, which reserves ultimate power over the self because it can put the citizen to death if it is deemed necessary to state security. Theology begins to speak to this contradiction in its insistence that subjectivity originates in the submission of the self to benevolent authority--which is precisely authority that refuses to aggrandize itself but uses power charitably. This opens a salient critique, from the perspective of theology, of the fundamental structures of political power in the modern nation-state. The Question of Radical Change Historical materialism, following Benjamin, has returned to the notion of the messianic to revive the discourse of revolution in a post-communist context, but the underlying theory of transformation still relies on the psychoanalytic hope that the subject can figure itself out by extrapolating itself from confusion, error, deception (as in Santner's psychotheology). Again, moving the argument to the terrain of theology opens the possibility of a more radical response. On the level of subjectivity, the theological term that addresses this concern is conversion. Radical change, revolution, evental interpellation--these things happen when the subject encounters the Same Old Thing in a new way and everything, including personal perception of the world, is transformed. In conversion, the self comes into freedom not by removing every stricture to its limitless expansion--but by walking in the path that has been walked countless times before. Theology (in its relation to what Foucault was at the end of his life calling spirituality) breaks decisively from philosophy here because its understanding of radical change is grounded in a return to the traditional or the familiar. This is a change instigated by a response to an external interruption, not a self-motivated figuring out. Rene Girard understands the novel as traditional in this sense. The Question of Literary Production I work on seventeenth- and eighteenth-century American texts that often get critical short-shrift because they are seen to be too derivative. Perhaps sometimes they are. But, as literary critics--and despite the opening up of the literary canon--we have yet to fully emerge from the eighteenth-century cult of original genius, which is a foundational ideal to the secular modern nation-state. Invention was central to this development because (in the replacement of an entire religious tradition, which could no longer support the neutral state) a new tradition had to be constructed in order to supply the missing cultural sources for the nation. …

Linux real-time framework for fusion devices

A new framework for the development and execution of real-time codes is currently being developed and commissioned at JET. The foundations of the system are Linux, the Real Time Application Interface (RTAI) and a wise exploitation of the new i386 multi-core processors technology. The driving motivation was the need to find a real-time operating system for the i386 platform able to satisfy JET Vertical Stabilisation Enhancement project requirements: 50 μs cycle time. Even if the initial choice was the VxWorks operating system, it was decided to explore an open source alternative, mostly because of the costs involved in the commercial product. The work started with the definition of a precise set of requirements and milestones to achieve: Linux distribution and kernel versions to be used for the real-time operating system; complete characterization of the Linux/RTAI real-time capabilities; exploitation of the multi-core technology; implementation of all the required and missing features; commissioning of the system. Latency and jitter measurements were compared for Linux and RTAI in both user and kernel-space. The best results were attained using the RTAI kernel solution where the time to reschedule a real-time task after an external interrupt is of 2.35 ± 0.35 μs. In order to run the real-time codes in the kernel-space, a solution to provide user-space functionalities to the kernel modules had to be designed. This novel work provided the most common functions from the standard C library and transparent interaction with files and sockets to the kernel real-time modules. Kernel C++ support was also tested, further developed and integrated in the framework. The work has produced very convincing results so far: complete isolation of the processors assigned to real-time from the Linux non real-time activities, high level of stability over several days of benchmarking operations and values well below 3 μs for task rescheduling after external interrupt. From being the alternative option, RTAI has been finally chosen as the platform for the project. A first stable version of the framework has been integrated on the JET system and is already being commissioned. It will be soon be used on the Vertical Stabilisation Enhancement for the Plasma Control Upgrade (PCU) project at JET.

Minimal interruption of cardiopulmonary resuscitation for a single shock as mandated by automated external defibrillations does not compromise outcomes in a porcine model of cardiac arrest and resuscitation

Current automated external defibrillations require interruptions in chest compressions to avoid artifacts during electrocardiographic analyses and to minimize the risk of accidental delivery of an electric shock to the rescuer. The earlier three-shock algorithm, with prolonged interruptions of chest compressions, compromised outcomes and increased severity of postresuscitation myocardial dysfunction. In the present study, we investigated the effect of timing of minimal automated external defibrillation-mandated interruptions of chest compressions on cardiopulmonary resuscitation outcomes, using a single-shock algorithm. We hypothesized that an 8-sec interruption of chest compressions for a single shock, as mandated by automated external defibrillations, would not impair initial resuscitation and outcomes of cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Randomized prospective animal study. University affiliated research laboratory. Domestic pigs. In 24 domestic male pigs weighing 41 +/- 2 kg, ventricular fibrillation was induced by left anterior descending coronary artery occlusion and untreated for 7 min. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation, including chest compressions and ventilation with oxygen, was then performed for an interval of 2 min before attempted defibrillation. Animals were randomized into three groups: A) interruption immediately before defibrillation; B) interruption after 1 min of cardiopulmonary resuscitation; or C) no interruption. Chest compressions were delivered with the aid of a mechanical chest compressor at a rate of 100 compressions/min and compression/ventilation ratio of 30:2. Defibrillation was attempted with a single biphasic 150-J shock. Each animal was successfully resuscitated and survived for >72 hr. No differences in the number of shocks before return of spontaneous circulation, frequency of recurrent ventricular fibrillation, duration of cardiopulmonary resuscitation, and severity of postresuscitation myocardial dysfunction were observed. In this experimental model of cardiac arrest and cardiopulmonary resuscitation, minimal automated external defibrillation-mandated interruption of chest compressions for a single-shock algorithm did not have adverse effects on postresuscitation myocardial or neurologic function. All animals, whether subjected to cardiopulmonary resuscitation interruptions or not, survived.

Automatic Verification of External Interrupt Behaviors for Microprocessor Design

Interrupt behaviors, particularly the external ones, are difficult to verify in a microprocessor. Because the external interrupt arrival time and the microprocessor response time must be precise, verification requires sophisticated hardware and software design. This paper proposes a computer-aided design tool, called processor exception verification tool (PEVT), to verify the external interrupt behaviors of microprocessors, including individual, multiple, and nested interrupts. An architecture description language extension, called Exception Description Language (EXPDL), is developed for the designer to capture the external interrupt behaviors for the microprocessor under verification. PEVT is responsible for generating the verification cases, consisting of both the hardware and software modules, which are then used to trigger the expected behaviors. A monitor is also generated from the EXPDL description to verify these cases. PEVT has been applied to the verification of an academic implementation of the ARM7 microprocessor core and a public domain scalable processor architecture (SPARC) microprocessor core. The ARM7 has had a system-on-a-chip test chip and software porting including multimedia applications (MP3/JPEG/ ...) and a real time operating system muC-OSII. PEVT successfully identified several sophisticated remaining bugs with 527 lines of EXPDL description and took only 4 204 961 cycles of register transfer language simulation with execution time of 4.5 h in a SUN Blade2000 workstation. The experiment shows that PEVT could generate highly focused verification cases, less than 98 cycles per case on the average, which identify potential bugs with much less simulation cycles at the early verification stage, compared with traditional manual-based approaches.

Non-constrained Blood Pressure Monitoring Using ECG and PPG for Personal Healthcare

Blood pressure (BP) is one of the important vital signs that need to be monitored for personal healthcare. Arterial blood pressure (BP) was estimated from pulse transit time (PTT) and PPG waveform. PTT is a time interval between an R-wave of electrocardiography (ECG) and a photoplethysmography (PPG) signal. This method does not require an aircuff and only a minimal inconvenience of attaching electrodes and LED/photo detector sensors on a subject. PTT computed between the ECG R-wave and the maximum first derivative PPG was strongly correlated with systolic blood pressure (SBP) (R = -0.712) compared with other PTT values, and the diastolic time proved to be appropriate for estimation diastolic blood pressure (DBP) (R = -0.764). The percent errors of SBP using the individual regression line (4-11%) were lower than those using the regression line obtained from all five subjects (9-14%). On the other hand, the DBP estimation did not show much difference between the individual regression (4-10%) and total regression line (6-10%). Our developed device had a total size of 7 x 13.5 cm and was operated by single 3-V battery. Biosignals can be measured for 72 h continuously without external interruptions. Through a serial network communication, an external personal computer can monitor measured waveforms in real time. Our proposed method can be used for non-constrained, thus continuous BP monitoring for the purpose of personal healthcare.

Heat generation of aqueously dispersed CoFe 2O 4 nanoparticles as heating agents for magnetically activated drug delivery and hyperthermia

Self-heating from magnetic nanoparticles under AC magnetic field can be used either for hyperthermia or to trigger the release of an anti-cancer drug, using thermo-responsive polymers. The heat generated by applying an AC magnetic field depends on the properties of magnetic nanoparticles (composition, size, crystal structure) as well as the frequency and amplitude of the magnetic field. Before these systems can be efficiently applied for in vitro or in vivo studies, a thorough analysis of the magnetically induced heating is required. In this study, CoFe 2O 4 nanoparticles were synthesized, dispersed in water, and investigated as heating agents for magnetic thermo-drug delivery and hyperthermia. The temperature profiles and infrared (IR) camera images of heat generation of CoFe 2O 4 nanoparticles under various AC magnetic fields of 127–700 Oe at 195, 231, and 266 kHz were measured using an IR thermacam, excluding the external AC magnetic field interruption. The CoFe 2O 4 nanoparticles were successfully dispersed in water using an 11-mercaptoundecanoic acid ligand exchange method to exchange the solvent used for synthesis of hexane for water. During the heating experiments, each of CoFe 2O 4 nanoparticle solutions reached a steady state where the temperature rose between 0.1 and 42.9 °C above ambient conditions when a magnetic field of 127–634 Oe was applied at 231 or 266 kHz. The heat generation was found to be dependent on the intensity of AC magnetic field and applied frequency. Therefore, the desired heating for magnetically triggered drug delivery or hyperthermia could be achieved in water-dispersed CoFe 2O 4 nanoparticles by adjusting the AC magnetic field and frequency.

Telecommunications interruption and disconnection apparatus and methods

Embodiments of interruption-sound devices for producing an interruption sound signal in a telecommunications transmission signal comprising a signal generator circuit and a processor circuit, in accordance with the present invention. The interruption sound signals are input into the appropriate location of the telecommunications device such that the interruptee perceives characteristic sounds such as those encountered when a mobile phone is about to drop a call. As a result, the interruptee will place blame for call disconnection on the mobile-phone technology and not on the interruptor. The interruption-sound device is suitable for incorporated into an external interruption module, a landline phone, and a mobile phone.

소형화 및 저전력소모를 구현한 실시간 생체신호 측정기 개발

A compact biosignal monitoring device was developed. Electrodes for electrocardiogram (ECG) and a LED and silicon detector for photoplethysmogram (PPG) were used. A lead II type was arranged for ECG measurement and reflected light was measured at the finger tip for PPG. A single chip microprocessor (model ADuC812, Analog Device) controlled a measurement protocol and processed measured signals. PPG and ECG had a sampling rate of 300 Hz with 8-bit resolution. The maximum power consumption was 100 mW. The microprocessor computed pulse transit time (PTT) between the R-wave of ECG and the peak of PPG. To increase the resolution of PTT, analog peak detectors obtained the peaks of ECG and PPG whose interval was calculated using an internal clock cycle of 921.6 kHz. The device was designed to be operated by 3-volt battery. Biosignals can be measured for <TEX>$2{\sim}3$</TEX> days continuously without the external interruptions and data is stored to an on-board memory. Our system was successfully tested with human subjects.

Designing home availability services

We have explored the challenges of designing domestic services to help family and friends determine mutually agreeable times to call one another. In a prior study, we identified activities in the home that predict availability to an external interruption. In our follow-up study, we used a cooperative design activity to see which, if any, of these home activities the family member is willing to share when engaged in mealtime or leisure routine. The data people are willing to reveal is more detailed for mealtime, than leisure activities. Furthermore, the shared availability service needs to be accessible throughout the home, in either compact, portable form or integrated with other services in various room locations. Accuracy and reliability of the shared information, along with device independent caller identification are also essential design requirements. While not unique to the home, the desire to personalize and present a socially acceptable availability status is extremely important.

THE PSYCHOTHERAPIST'S MISCARRIAGE AND PREGNANCY AS AN OBSTACLE TO CONTAINMENT

This paper explores the coincidence of two substantial difficulties: where gross external interruptions to the psychotherapy (caused by the psychotherapist's miscarriage and subsequent pregnancy) paralleled circumstances of violence and abandonment in the patient's childhood and adulthood. When two such difficulties coincide and are added to by time constraints, the question of what can be salvaged from the treatment arises. Two risks are discussed: that of withdrawing into a purely supportive, potentially collusive mode of treatment and, second, the risk of challenging the patient's denial (of damage to the therapist as well as evidence of any other damage) in a manically reparative, intrusive, way that is more to do with the therapist's wishes to avoid her guilt at letting the patient down.

A set of microprocessor‐based procedures for an industrial engineering course

AbstractNowadays, microprocessors have become an essential tool in a widely set of industrial applications. Because of this, Engineering students, especially Industrial Engineering ones, should be properly taught in its use by implementing sufficiently interesting procedures. The authors consider that these procedures should allow students to manage most of the features that a standard microprocessor offers, such as I/O ports, timer counters, serial communication, or external interruptions. In this way, this article describes a wide and reasonable‐priced set of microprocessor‐based procedures that forces Industrial Engineering students to be familiarized with the described features. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Comput Appl Eng Educ 12: 145–151, 2004; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com); DOI 10.1002/cae.20015

The effect of intra- and interspecific aggression on patch residence time in Negev Desert gerbils: a competing risk analysis

We observed patch-use behavior by two gerbil species in a field setting and investigated how aggression and intrinsic decision-making interact to influence patch residence times. Results were interpreted by using a competing risk analysis model, which uniquely enabled us to estimate the intrinsic patch-leaving decisions independently of external interruptions of foraging bouts by aggression. The experiment was conducted in two 1-ha field enclosures completely surrounded by rodent-proof fences and included allopatric (only Gerbillus andersoni allenbyi) and sympatric (G. a. allenbyi and G. pyramidum) treatments. We predicted that increased food patch quality (i.e., habitat quality) should decrease intrinsic patch-leaving rates and increase rates of aggressive interactions involving the forager feeding in the patch (i.e., the occupant individual). We also anticipated that increasing population density should result in an increase in the rate of aggressive interactions involving the occupant individual. Our results supported the first two predictions, indicating a trade-off between foraging and aggression. However, the third prediction was realized only for G. a. allenbyi in allopatry. Furthermore, in allopatry, occupant G. a. allenbyi individuals with high competitive ranks were involved in aggressive interactions at lower rates than those with low competitive ranks. However, in sympatry, patch-use behavior of occupant G. a. allenbyi individuals was mainly influenced by aggressive behavior of G. pyramidum, which did not respond to their competitive rank. Thus, it should pay less for G. a. allenbyi to be aggressive in sympatric populations. The observed reduction in intraspecific aggression among individual G. a. allenbyi in the presence of G. pyramidum supports this assertion. We suggest that this reduction likely weakens the negative effect of intra- and interspecific density on the per capita growth rate of G. a. allenbyi. Because this would change the slope of the isocline of G. a. allenbyi, it could be an important mechanism promoting coexistence when habitat selection is constrained. Copyright 2003.

Differential sensitivity to calcium and osmotic pressure of fast and slow ATP currents at sympathetic varicosities in mouse vas deferens

Secretion of noradrenaline from large dense-core vesicles in chromaffin cells involves both rapid and slow components of exocytosis which are differentially sensitive to changes in external calcium, osmotic pressure and interruption of the interacting SNARE proteins. Electrical signs of secretion of ATP from sympathetic nerve terminals of mouse vas deferens, the excitatory junctional currents (EJCs), also indicate both rapid and slow mechanisms of exocytosis, which might also show such differential sensitivity. We report here that the large and fast EJCs are highly sensitive to changes in extracellular calcium ions whereas the small and slow EJCs are not. Furthermore, the frequency of fast EJCs is accelerated by hypotonic solutions whereas the slow EJCs are accelerated by hypertonic solution. Fast EJCs, but not slow EJCs, are blocked by peptide fragments of α-SNAP and syntaxin whereas slow EJCs are not. These observations point to two classes of exocytosis from sympathetic nerve terminals that parallel those of exocytosis from chromaffin cells.

Homicides with Partial Limbic Seizures: Is Chemical Seizure Kindling the Culprit?

Recreational intermittent, subthreshold amounts of alcohol and/or drugs might evoke chemical kindling of nonconvulsive, simple partial seizures in the limbic system, with secondary, brief, prefrontal lobe dysfunctioning; preserved core consciousness; and memory for the bizarre, out-of-character, motiveless, unplanned homicidal acts performed during a fleeting psychosis. Such acts persisted for 2 to l0 minutes despite forceful external interruption in three single, white male loners. In contrast, five nonusers, with otherwise similar symptomatology, aborted their homicidal attacks on external interruption, in a previously proposed syndrome with only experiential kindling with memory revival of past hurts in limbic psychotic trigger reaction. Thus, this article hypothesizes that either chemical kindling alone or as a superimposition on experiential kindling might occur in the form of unusual persistence or enhancement of partial seizures.

Aerodynamic measurements of patients with Parkinson's disease.

Patients with Parkinson's disease commonly complain of voice dysfunction. Most of these complaints can be attributed to the known muscular control disorders that occur with Parkinson's disease. However, the manifestations of Parkinson's disease muscular dysfunction on parameters of phonation such as airflow, laryngeal resistance, and subglottal pressure necessary to sustain phonation have not been reported. The purpose of this study was to examine the aerodynamic characteristics of flow, laryngeal resistance, and phonation pressure threshold in a heterogeneous population of patients with Parkinson's disease who had varying voice complaints and to compare the data to similar studies for human subjects who have no voice complaints. The studies used a noninvasive method of detecting flow and acoustic signal from the lips, oral cavity and nose during phonation and used an external flow interruption technique to estimate subglottal pressure and phonation threshold pressure. About one third of the patients could not produce phonation at regular and loud intensities that were comfortable for normal subjects. The mean subglottal pressure (SGP) of patients with Parkinson disease who could produce 3 levels of intensity comparable to normal subjects was significantly higher than the mean SGPs for normal subjects for the same intensities of vocal production. The mean flow rates measured from patients with Parkinson's disease at the same 3 intensities of phonation was not significantly greater than in normal subjects. This indicated that the mean laryngeal resistance calculated for patients with Parkinson's disease was notably and significantly greater than mean laryngeal resistance calculated for normal subjects at the same intensity levels. The mean vocal efficiency (VE) for normal subjects was not significantly different than the mean VE for patients with Parkinson's disease, because greater pressure was used to generate similar flow and acoustic energy. These findings correlate with the perception of patients with Parkinson's disease that they are working harder to produce phonation. The observation of notably greater laryngeal resistance and phonation threshold pressure in patients with Parkinson's disease suggests that further studies of the glottic aperture in patients with Parkinson' disease may be useful for understanding how this common motor disorder disturbs phonation.

Effects of external and internal interruptions on boredom at work: two studies

It is proposed that attentional difficulties are central to the experience of boredom. Events which disrupt attention during task performance may contribute to feelings of boredom with the task. Two sources of disruption are explored: external interruptions from the physical environment, and internal interruptions in the form of non-task-related thoughts about current concerns. Study 1 found that external interruptions reduced boredom on a simple task which required little attention, but contrary to expectations, had no impact on reactions to a simple task that did require attention or on reactions to a complex task. Study 2 manipulated internal interruptions via a role-playing methodology, and found that observers attributed greater boredom and less satisfaction to performers who were more frequently interrupted by non-task-related thoughts while at work, especially when these thoughts were about non-urgent concerns. The concepts of internal and external interruptions may be quite useful in understanding variations in the day-to-day experience of work, and in the relationship of non-work to work spheres of life. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Effects of external and internal interruptions on boredom at work: two studies

Effects of external and internal interruptions on boredom at work: two studies