Effective Process (effective + process)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


EFFECTS OF PRETREATMENT WITH ROSEMARY (ROSMARINUS OFFICINALIS L.) IN THE PREVENTION OF LIPID OXIDATION IN SALTED TILAPIA FILLETS

JOURNAL OF FOOD QUALITY, Issue 5 2008
M. DA SILVA AFONSO
ABSTRACT To delay lipid oxidation during meat processing, synthetic antioxidants have been used in the food industry, but the consumers' concern over their toxicity increased interest in research with natural antioxidants. The aim of this work was to analyze the water activity (Aw), thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS), moisture and trichloroacetic acid-soluble nitrogen (TCASN) in brined tilapia fillets treated or pretreated with natural rosemary extract (Rosmarinus officinalis) and stored for 240 days at ,18C. Higher Aw (0.900 ± 0.010) and moisture (70.13 ± 0.20) values were observed in the pretreated fillets. The TBARS values in the treatment (3.31 ± 0.79) and pretreatment (3.39 ± 0.53) were half the value of the control treatment (6.14 ± 1.21) at 240 days. Statistical differences were observed in TCASN values in 180 (0.112 ± 0.020) and 240 (0.132 ± 0.017) days, with the pretreatment showing a more protective effect in protein oxidation. In this study, rosemary proved to be protective during the frozen storage, especially when its extract was used as pretreatment, before the salting process. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS Fish consumption is highly elastic, because the annual average consumption of seafood per person in Brazil is only 6.8 kg. The federal government has set a goal to increase it to 12 kg by 2007. Salting is an older food preservation process still used today, and is extremely important because, despite advances in food technology, increased monitoring and improved knowledge, it is emphasized as an easy, cheap and effective process that does not require refrigeration. Tilapia is a highly prolific fish, with a production volume that is increasingly higher each year in Brazil. Therefore, it calls for interesting research to allow an increased shelf life for this species. [source]


Electropolymerizable Terthiophene S,S -Dioxide-Fullerene Diels-Alder Adduct for Donor/Acceptor Double-Cable Polymers

MACROMOLECULAR RAPID COMMUNICATIONS, Issue 12 2007
Yolanda Vida
Abstract The preparation of a novel fullerene-thiophene derivative by Diels-Alder addition of terthiophene S,S -dioxide was demonstrated. Extrusion of SO2 from the adduct is an effective process that yields a stable cyclohexadiene-1,4-bisthiophene,C60 adduct in good isolable yield. The product has been accurately characterized and opens the way to synthesize new C60 derivatives "via" Diels-Alder methodology without the possibility of cycloreversion. Electrochemical and spectroscopic properties of this macromolecule were studied and supported by theoretical calculations to interpret its electronic structure. The first approach to the electropolymerization of this macromonomer produces donor-acceptor molecular wires providing a new and versatile way to fullerene-based double cable polymers. [source]


Silver-Loaded Cotton/Polyester Fabric Modified by Dielectric Barrier Discharge Treatment

PLASMA PROCESSES AND POLYMERS, Issue 1 2009
Mirjana Kosti
Abstract The preparation of antimicrobial silver-loaded cotton/polyester fabrics has been carried out by DBD surface activation followed by silver sorption from aqueous silver nitrate solution. A series of DBD fabric treatments was performed in order to determine the most suitable experimental conditions for the fabric surface activation. The capillarity, silver ion uptake, and copper number were used to assess the surface changes on the fabrics. An effective process has been developed to obtain antimicrobial silver-loaded Co/PES fabrics. The antimicrobial activity of the silver-loaded fabrics against different pathogens was evaluated in vitro. The quantity of bonded silver ions is enough to develop desirable antimicrobial activity in the Co/PES fabrics. [source]


Four Perspectives on Public Participation Process in Environmental Assessment and Decision Making: Combined Results from 10 Case Studies

POLICY STUDIES JOURNAL, Issue 4 2006
Thomas Webler
Knowing how people think about public participation processes and knowing what people want from these processes is essential to crafting a legitimate and effective process and delivering a program that is widely viewed as meaningful and successful. This article reports on research to investigate the nature of diversity among participants' perceptions of what is the most appropriate public participation process for environmental assessment and decision making in 10 different cases. Results show that there are clearly distinct perspectives on what an appropriate public participation process should be. We identified four perspectives: Science-Centered Stakeholder Consultation, Egalitarian Deliberation, Efficient Cooperation, and Informed Collaboration. The literature on public participation tends to presume that there are clear and universal criteria on how to "do" public participation correctly or that context is the critical factor. This study has revealed that even within a specific assessment or decision-making effort, there may be different perspectives about what is viewed as appropriate, which poses a challenge for both theorists and practitioners. Among the active participants in these 10 case studies, we found limited agreement and strong differences of opinions for what is a good process. Points of consensus across these cases are that good processes reach out to all stakeholders, share information openly and readily, engage people in meaningful interaction, and attempt to satisfy multiple interest positions. Differences appeared about how strongly to emphasize science and information, how much leadership and direction the process needs, what is the proper behavior of participants, how to tackle issues of power and trust, and what are the outcome-related goals of the process. These results challenge researchers and practitioners to consider the diversity of participant needs in addition to the broad context when conceptualizing or carrying out participatory processes. [source]


Commitment to change: Exploring its role in changing physician behavior through continuing education

THE JOURNAL OF CONTINUING EDUCATION IN THE HEALTH PROFESSIONS, Issue 4 2004
Dr. Jacqueline G. Wakefield MD
Abstract Statements of commitment to change are advocated both to promote physician change and to assess interventions designed to promote change. Although commitment to change is only one part of a complex process of change, recent progress has established a solid theoretical and research base to support this approach. Studies have demonstrated that it can be used effectively with many different types of educational activities and that statements of "plans to change" practice can predict actual changes. The importance of follow-up as part of the commitment to change model is becoming clearer, although questions remain about the most effective process is accomplishment this and the optimal timing. Further research is needed to establish the effectiveness of the commitment-to-change approach itself, as well as to better understand the functions (and thus the forms) of the different components of the commitment-to-change model. [source]


Building the capacity for evidence-based clinical nursing leadership: the role of executive co-coaching and group clinical supervision for quality patient services

JOURNAL OF NURSING MANAGEMENT, Issue 2 2007
BA (Hons), JO ALLEYNE DProf
Aim, The general aims of this article were to facilitate primary care nurses (District Nurse Team Leaders) to link management and leadership theories with clinical practice and to improve the quality of the service provided to their patients. The specific aim was to identify, create and evaluate effective processes for collaborative working so that the nurses' capacity for clinical decision-making could be improved. Background, This article, part of a doctoral study on Clinical Leadership in Nursing, has wider application in the workplace of the future where professional standards based on collaboration will be more critical in a world of work that will be increasingly complex and uncertain. This article heralds the type of research and development activities that the nursing and midwifery professions should give premier attention to, particularly given the recent developments within the National Health Service in the United Kingdom. The implications of: Agenda for Change, the Knowledge and Skills Framework, ,Our Health, Our Care, Our Say' and the recent proposals from the article Modernising Nursing Career, to name but a few, are the key influences impacting on and demanding new ways of clinical supervision for nurses and midwives to improve the quality of patient management and services. Method, The overall approach was based on an action research using a collaborative enquiry within a case study. This was facilitated by a process of executive co-coaching for focused group clinical supervision sessions involving six district nurses as co-researchers and two professional doctoral candidates as the main researchers. The enquiry conducted over a period of two and a half years used evidence-based management and leadership interventions to assist the participants to develop ,actionable knowledge'. Group clinical supervision was not practised in this study as a form of ,therapy' but as a focus for the development of actionable knowledge, knowledge needed for effective clinical management and leadership in the workplace. Findings, ,,Management and leadership interventions and approaches have significantly influenced the participants' capacity to improve the quality of services provided to their patients. ,,Using various techniques, tools, methods and frameworks presented at the sessions increased participants' confidence to perform. ,,A structured approach like the Clinical Nursing Leadership Learning and Action Process (CLINLAP) model makes implementing change more practical and manageable within a turbulent care environment. The process of Stakeholder Mapping and Management made getting agreement to do things differently much easier. Generally it is clear that many nurses and midwives, according to the participants, have to carry out management and leadership activities in their day-to-day practice. The traditional boundary between the private, the public and the voluntary sector management is increasingly becoming blurred. Conclusion, It is conclusive that the district nurses on this innovative programme demonstrated how they were making sense of patterns from the past, planning for the future and facilitating the clinical nursing leadership processes today to improve quality patient services tomorrow. Their improved capacity to manage change and lead people was demonstrated, for example, through their questioning attitudes about the dominance of general practitioners. They did this, for example, by initiating and leading case conferences with the multi-disciplinary teams. It became evident from this study that to use group clinical supervision with an executive co-coaching approach for the implementation and to sustain quality service demand that ,good nursing' is accepted as being synonymous with ,good management'. This is the future of ,new nursing'. [source]


The St. George Homebirth Program: An evaluation of the first 100 booked women

AUSTRALIAN AND NEW ZEALAND JOURNAL OF OBSTETRICS AND GYNAECOLOGY, Issue 6 2009
Jane McMURTRIE
Background:, The St. George Homebirth Program was the first publicly funded homebirth model of care set up in New South Wales. This program provides access to selected women at low obstetric risk the option of having their babies at home. There are only four other publicly funded homebirth programs operating in Australia. Aims:, To report the outcomes of the first 100 women booked at the St. George Homebirth Program. Methods:, A prospective descriptive study was undertaken. Data were collected on the first 100 women who gave birth between November 2005 and March 2009. Two databases were accessed and missing data were followed up by review of the relevant charts. Results:, Of the first 100 booked women, 63 achieved a homebirth, 30 were transferred to hospital or independent midwifery care in the antenatal period and seven were transferred intrapartum. Two women were transferred to hospital in the early postnatal period, one for a postpartum haemorrhage and one for hypotension. One baby suffered mild respiratory distress, was treated in the emergency department and was discharged home within four hours. Conclusion:, The St. George Hospital homebirth program has provided reassuring outcomes for the first 100 women it has cared for over the past four years. Wider availability of this service could be achieved provided there is the appropriate close collaboration between providers and effective processes for consultation, referral and transfer. The outcomes of women and babies in publicly funded homebirth programs deserve further study, and the development of a national prospective database of all planned homebirths would contribute to this knowledge. [source]