ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Healthcare organizations with practitioners who exhibit proactive work behavior and career adaptability acquire a competitive advantage in the face of many adversities. Entrepreneurial leadership (EL) is a new leadership approach that has a huge impact on followers' behavior, although research into its theory and empirical evidence is still in its infancy. METHODS: A non-probability convenience sample methodology (n = 450) was utilized to choose study participants, who were equally dispersed among the two private hospitals in Alexandria. A cross-sectional study was carried out in all departments of the hospitals, which were chosen at random using a simple random procedure. Three validated scales were used in this study to measure the study variables and establish a structural equation model. RESULTS: The result of this study revealed that nurses perceived moderate mean scores of all variables; entrepreneurial leadership (140.84 ± 11.94), proactive work behavior (46.02 ± 5.85), and career adaptability (85.55 ± 10.35). In addition, the structured equation model revealed a goodness fit index and presents that entrepreneurial leadership significantly affects nurses' proactive work behavior with an estimated ß of 0.555, coefficient of regression C.R. of 4.006, at P value < 0.001. Also, it significantly affects career adaptability with an estimated ß of .834, a coefficient of regression C.R. of 3.491 at P value < 0.001. CONCLUSIONS: The developed structural equation model confirmed the significant impact of entrepreneurial leadership (EL) on nurses' proactive work behavior (PWB) and career adaptability (CA)". Therefore, this study offers important implications for nurse managers, staff nurses, hospital human resources management practice, and academics.
ABSTRACT
Fiber debonding and pullout are well-understood processes that occur during damage and failure events in composite materials. In this study, we show how these mechanisms, under controlled conditions, can be used to produce multifunctional textured surfaces. A two-step process consisting of (1) achieving longitudinal fiber alignment followed by (2) cutting, rearranging, and joining is used to produce the textured surfaces. This process employs common composite manufacturing techniques and uses no reactive chemicals or wet handling, making it suitable for scalability. This uniform textured surface is due to the fiber debonding and pullout occurring during the cutting process. Using well-established fracture mechanics principles for composite materials, we demonstrate how different material parameters such as fiber geometry, fiber and matrix stiffness and strength, and interface behavior can be used to achieve multifunctional textured surfaces. The resulting textured surfaces show very high friction coefficients on wet ice (9× improvement), indicating their promising potential as materials for ice traction/tribology. Furthermore, the texturing enhances the surface's hydrophobicity as indicated by an increase in the contact angle of water by 30%. The substantial improvements to surface tribology and hydrophobicity make fiber debonding and pullout an effective, simple, and scalable method of producing multifunctional textured surfaces.
ABSTRACT
Penetration enhancing potential of tulsi and turpentine oil on transdermal delivery of flurbiprofen, a potent non-steroidal anti-inflammatory agent, was investigated. The transdermal permeation rate of flurbiprofen across the rat abdominal skin from binary solvent mixture composition of propylene glycol (PG):isopropyl alcohol (IPA) (30:70%, v/v) was 98.88 microg/cm(2)/h, significantly higher than other binary solvent mixtures. The corresponding steady state plasma concentration, 0.71 microg/ml, was much lower than required steady state plasma concentration of 3-5 microg/ml. Hence influence of tulsi and turpentine oil in the optimized binary solvent mixture along with the increased drug load on the flurbiprofen permeation was evaluated. The magnitude of the flux enhancement factor with turpentine oil and tulsi oil was 2.4 and 2.0 respectively at 5% (v/v) concentration beyond which there was no significant increase in the flux. Addition of 2% (w/v) hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC), as a thickening agent, resulted in desired consistency for the fabrication of patch with insignificant effect on permeation rate of flurbiprofen. The reservoir type of transdermal patch formulation, fabricated by encapsulating the flurbiprofen reservoir solution within a shallow compartment moulded from polyester backing film and microporous ethyl vinyl acetate membrane, did not modulate the skin permeation of flurbiprofen through rat skin in case of turpentine formulations whereas flux of formulations with tulsi oil was significantly altered. The influence of penetration enhancer and solvents on the anatomical structure of the rat skin was studied. Enhancement properties exhibited by turpentine oil and tulsi oil in optimized binary solvent mixture were superior as compared to solvent treated and normal control groups with negligible skin irritation. The fabricated transdermal patches were found to be stable. The bioavailability of flurbiprofen with reference to orally administered flurbiprofen in albino rats was found to increase by 2.97, 3.80 and 5.56 times with transdermal patch formulation without enhancer, tulsi and turpentine oil formulations, respectively. The results were confirmed by pharmacodynamic studies in rat edema inflammation model.
