Slack resources and individual performance of clinicians: the mediating role of job satisfaction and empirical evidence from public hospitals in Beijing, China.

BACKGROUND: Clinicians in Chinese public hospitals face a complex and severe clinical practice environment, and the individual performance of clinicians is key to improving the output of the healthcare industry. This study aims to explore the mechanism of slack resources in improving individual performance of clinicians and the role of job satisfaction in this process, while the study framework is based on the widely applied Job-Demands Resources theory. METHODS: Based on the study framework composed of slack resources, individual performance, and job satisfaction, hypotheses have been put forward, and questionnaires have been distributed to representative clinicians in tertiary public hospitals. Finally, 318 valid data collected from clinicians have been obtained. To verify the hypotheses, multiple linear regression models have been established to explore the relationship between variables, and the three-stage regression models have been used to verify the presence of mediating role. RESULTS: All four hypotheses proposed in this study have been proved to be held. Clinicians' job satisfaction has played a mediating role in the impact of slack resources and its three dimensions on individual performance. Among them, there has been a complete mediating role for staff slack, while time and space dimensions have played a partial mediating role in the impact of slack resources on individual performance. CONCLUSIONS: In public hospitals in environments where behavior is subject to significant government interference, it is necessary and feasible to retain appropriate slack resources to improve individual performance. From the perspective of resources management in hospitals, it is necessary for public hospitals to implement a strategy of reserving an appropriate portion of time, staff and space in order to have the conditions to improve clinicians' satisfaction. The existence of slack resources in public hospitals can improve the job satisfaction of clinicians, and then improve the individual performance through the process.

Integrating electronic structure regulation and dynamic active sites construction on NixCd1-xS-Ni0 photocatalyst for efficient hydrogen evolution.

Regulating electronic structure and enriching active sites of photocatalysts are effective strategies to promote hydrogen evolution. Herein, a unique NixCd1-xS-Ni0 photocatalyst, including the surface nickel (Ni) doping and atomic Ni0 anchoring sites, is successfully prepared by Ni2+ ions exchange reaction (Ni2++ CdS â†’ NixCd1-xS) and in-situ photo-induction of Ni0(Ni2++NixCd1-xS→hνNixCd1-xS-Ni0), respectively. As to Ni doping, the Ni replaced cadmium (Cd) atoms introduce hybridized states around the Fermi level, modulating the electronic structure of adjacent S atoms and optimizing the photocatalytic activity of sulfur (S) atoms. Besides, photogenerated Ni0 atoms, anchored on unsaturated S atoms, act as charge transfer bridges to reduce Ni2+ ions in the solution to Ni clusters (NixCd1-xS-Ni0→ne-NixCd1-xS-Ni). Subsequently, the displacement reaction of Ni clusters with protons (H+) spontaneously proceeds to produce hydrogen (H2) in an acidic solution (NixCd1-xS-Ni→2H+H2↑+Ni2++NixCd1-xS-Ni0). The equilibrium of photo-deposition/dissolution of Ni clusters realizes the construction of dynamic active sites, providing sustainable reaction centers and enhancing surface redox kinetics. The NixCd1-xS-Ni0 exhibits a high hydrogen evolution rate of 428 mmol·h-1·g-1 with a quantum efficiency of 75.6 % at 420 nm. This work provides the optimal S electronic structure for photocatalytic H2 evolution and constructs dynamic Ni clusters for chemical replacement reaction. This work provides the optimal S electronic structure for photocatalytic H2 evolution and constructs dynamic Ni clusters for displacement reaction, opening a dual pathway for efficient water reduction.

Cobalt-plasma treatment enables structural reconstruction of a CoOx/BiVO4 composite for efficient photoelectrochemical water splitting.

Cobalt-plasma sparked by a pulsed laser was utilized for the first time to modify a BiVO4 photoanode, inducing surface structural reconstruction and CoOx/BiVO4 composite construction. Combining charge redistribution and cobalt, the center of hole accumulation and catalytic activity, the photoanode with optimized charge transfer capacity exhibits a 3 times improvement in photoelectrochemical water oxidation performance.

The Effect of Slack Resources on Innovation Performance and the Environmental Adaptability of Public Hospitals: The Empirical Evidence From Beijing of China.

Background: The development level of public hospitals has a direct impact on people's health. The reform of the medical industry in China has been gradually underway in recent years, while hospitals face a complex and uncertain environment. This study aims to explore the mechanism of resources slack in buffering environmental uncertainty and promoting innovation in public hospitals. Methods: Based on previous literature related to environmental adaptability, resources slack, and innovation performance, this study has conducted a literature review and has established a study framework. A questionnaire survey has been conducted among clinicians in representative tertiary public hospitals in Beijing. A total of 318 valid data have been eventually obtained, while regression models have been used to analyze the data. Results: Innovation performance has played a mediating role in the impact of both resources slack and its three dimensions on environmental adaptability of public hospitals. Among them, there has been a complete mediating effect for time slack, while there has been a partial mediating effect for staff and space dimensions. Conclusion: This study found that resources slack in public hospitals can improve environmental adaptability by affecting innovation performance. It is necessary for public hospitals to reserve resources slack to ensure that there is sufficient condition for innovation in the face of uncertain changes.

Engineering surface segregation of perovskite oxide through wet exsolution for CO catalytic oxidation.

Cation segregation occurring near the surface or interfaces of solid catalysts plays an important role in catalytic reactions. Unfortunately, the native surface of perovskite oxides is dominated by passivated A-site segregation, which severely hampers the catalytic activity and durability of the system. To address this issue, herein, we present a wet exsolution method to reconstruct surface segregation in perovskite cobalt oxide. Under reduction etching treatment of glycol solution, inert surface Sr segregation was transformed into active Co3O4 segregation. By varying the reaction time, we achieved differing coverage of the active Co3O4 segregation on the La0.5Sr0.5CoO3-δ (LSCO) perovskite oxide surface. This study reveals that CO oxidation activity exhibits a volcano-shaped dependence on the coverage of Co3O4 segregation at the surface of a perovskite cobalt oxide. Furthermore, we find that a suitable coverage of Co3O4 segregation can dramatically improve the catalytic activity of the perovskite catalyst by enhancing interface interactions. Co K-edge, Co L-edge, and O K-edge X-ray absorption spectra confirm that the synergistic effect optimizes the covalence of the metal-oxygen bond at the surface and interface. This work not only contributes to the design and development of perovskite-type catalysts, but also provides important insight into the relationship between surface segregation and catalytic activity.

Rapid large-scale synthesis of ultrathin NiFe-layered double hydroxide nanosheets with tunable structures as robust oxygen evolution electrocatalysts.

Transition metal layered double hydroxides (LDHs) with ultrathin two-dimensional (2D) structures, especially NiFe-based LDH nanosheets, have been extensively developed as advanced oxygen evolution reaction (OER) electrocatalysts for water splitting. Nevertheless, traditional synthetic approaches for these promising catalysts usually involve tedious pretreatment procedures and a subsequent time-consuming exfoliation process, and the obtained products possess a wide dispersion of thickness and limited production yield. Here, a sequence of ultrathin NiFe-LDH nanosheets with tunable components were prepared on a large scale via a rapid room-temperature method under ambient conditions, and were further used as a desired material model for studying the influence of Ni/Fe ratio modulation on the OER performance. Due to the synergetic effect of more exposed active sites, efficient electron transport and optimized OER kinetics, the resulting LDH samples manifest outstanding electrocatalytic performance toward water oxidation.

Promotion of the water oxidation activity of iridium oxide by a nitrogen coordination strategy.

The water oxidation reaction is the pivotal half-reaction for photo-/electro-catalytic water splitting. Fabrication of high-efficiency and robust water oxidation is essential to realize wide-scale artificial photosynthesis. Here, we report an efficient strategy to improve the water oxidation activity of iridium oxide by a nitrogen-coordination method. Due to the coordination effect, the iridium oxide can be well dispersed to generate ultra-small nanoparticles and the intrinsic activity can be improved for the water oxidation reaction. This study suggests that high-performance water oxidation catalysts can be constructed based on a nitrogen-coordination strategy.

In situ sulfidation for controllable hetero-interface engineering of α-Ni(OH)2-Ni3S4 hybrid structures realizing robust electrocatalytic methanol oxidation.

A series of α-Ni(OH)2-Ni3S4 hybrid structures are prepared as advanced electrocatalysts for the methanol oxidation reaction (MOR) via a feasible in situ sulfidation approach. The α-Ni(OH)2-Ni3S4 hetero-interfaces endow the hybrid structures with reduced γ-NiOOH formation energy and methanol adsorption energy, and thus a significantly enhanced electrocatalytic activity for the MOR.

Carbon inserted defect-rich MoS2-X nanosheets@CdSnanospheres for efficient photocatalytic hydrogen evolution under visible light irradiation.

Carbon -MoS2-x@CdS (C-MoS2-x@CdS) core-shell nanostructures with controlled surface sulfur (S) vacancies were prepared via a glucose assisted hydrothermal growth method. The glucose acted as a reducing agent of C-MoS2-X to partially reduce Mo4+ ions to Mo3+ and served as a carbon source to insert the amorphous carbon into the layered MoS2-X simultaneously. The presence of Mo3+ result in the surface S-vacancies, which can provide more additional active sites and enhance the photocatalytic performance. Moreover, the inserted carbon in layered MoS2-X enhanced the electron mobility and decreased the resistance electron transfer. Density functional theory (DFT) calculation confirmed that the surface S-vacancies and the amorphous carbon increase the projected density of states at the conduct band edge, which could enhance the photo-absorption and photo-responsibility. The result is consistent with the photocatalytic H2 production experiment. C2-10%MoS2-x@CdS presented a high H2 evolution rate of 61,494 µmol h-1 g-1 under visible light irrigation (λ ≥ 420 nm), which is 1.98 times and 158 times higher than that of sample without S-vacancies (10%MoS2@CdS) and pure CdS, respectively.

Design and synthesis of metal hydroxide three-dimensional inorganic cationic frameworks.

Three-dimensional (3D) cationic frameworks are rare but crucial host materials with vast industrial applications. However, the controlled synthesis of 3D inorganic cationic framework (ICF) materials still remains a challenge. Here, we develop a new strategy to construct 3D inorganic cationic frameworks by octahedral metal-hydroxide (M(OH)6) unit induced reconstruction of layered rare-earth hydroxides. Based on this strategy, a large family (>187 members) of 3D-ICF with a general formula: RE12(OH)18((RE1-x-y,MxM'y)(OH)6)4·ACl6 (RE = Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb, Lu, Y; M = Al, Cr; M' = Mg, Al, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn; A = Na, K) were achieved. This newly constructed strategy would greatly promote the development of 3D inorganic cationic materials. Furthermore, the discovery of this new family of cationic frameworks would pave the way for the potential application of cationic materials in different sorts of fields.

Hydrothermal preparation of perovskite structures DyCrO3 and HoCrO3.

Perovskite structured rare-earth chromites are one of the most promising families of functional materials in solid oxide fuel cells, multiferroic materials, and sensors. Here, we report a mild hydrothermal method to synthesize DyCrO3 and HoCrO3 monodispersed single crystals. The synthesis conditions, crystal structure, Raman spectra and temperature- and field-dependent magnetic properties were studied. The two samples are indexed to the Pbnm space group. The shapes of the crystals are plates with a narrow particle size distribution in the range of 4-5 µm. Raman spectra of the samples show typical vibration modes of CrO6 clusters and stretching modes of RE3+. Temperature dependent magnetization shows a weak antiferromagnetism to paramagnetism transition at ca. 100 K for the two samples.

Low temperature hydrothermal synthesis, structure and magnetic properties of RECrO3 (RE = La, Pr, Nd, Sm).

Perovskite structured rare-earth chromites (RECrO3) are an interesting family of functional materials due to their wide application in numerous areas. Various methods have been used to synthesize this family of materials; however, such methods usually need a high temperature crystallization process above 800 °C, and only produce polycrystalline ceramics. Herein, a series of RECrO3 single crystal samples with uniform particle sizes were prepared via a mild hydrothermal method with temperatures as low as 240-260 °C, and the synthesis conditions were studied in detail. Samples of LaCrO3, PrCrO3, and NdCrO3 were indexed to the Pnma space group, whereas SmCrO3 was indexed to Pbnm. The shapes of the crystals changed from cubic to plate as a result of the crystal lattice distortions induced by the reduction in the size of the A-site rare-earth cation. Raman spectra of the samples showed characteristic vibration modes of CrO6 clusters. Temperature dependent magnetization studies showed a transition from antiferromagnetism to paramagnetism in all the samples. Higher maximum and residual magnetization was achieved in all the hydrothermally prepared samples compared with those prepared by other methods.

Capacitive Behavior of Single Gallium Oxide Nanobelt.

In this research, monocrystalline gallium oxide (Ga2O3) nanobelts were synthesized through oxidation of metal gallium at high temperature. An electronic device, based on an individual Ga2O3 nanobelt on Pt interdigital electrodes (IDEs), was fabricated to investigate the electrical characteristics of the Ga2O3 nanobelt in a dry atmosphere at room temperature. The current-voltage (I-V) and I/V-t characteristics show the capacitive behavior of the Ga2O3 nanobelt, indicating the existence of capacitive elements in the Pt/Ga2O3/Pt structure.

Evaluation of factors associated with pain experienced during mammary ductoscopy.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to evaluate patient characteristics and findings after mammary ductoscopy in an effort to reduce the pain experienced during the procedure. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We evaluated outpatients in whom mammary ductoscopy was performed under local or intraductal anesthesia without preference, and their clinical characteristics and findings were recorded. Average and maximum pain scores were determined after the examination for statistical analysis. RESULTS: The overall average pain score was 3.74 ± 1.353, and the maximum pain score was 6.40 ± 1.681. The type of anesthesia, total operation time, nipple retraction, and discharge status significantly correlated with the pain score. Intraductal anesthesia lowered the average pain score by 0.60, whereas a total procedure time greater than 12 min increased the average pain score by 0.956. The pain score decreased if patients had nipple retraction, and intraductal anesthesia proved suitable for patients with normal nipples. CONCLUSION: Intraductal anesthesia is suitable for most patients, and ductoscopy should not exceed 12 min to minimize the pain. Nipple retraction does not significantly increase pain, but local anesthesia should be used in patients with retracted nipples. Patient age, breastfeeding history, menstrual stage, and presence of intraductal tumors were not associated with the level of pain experienced.

Electrophysiological measurement at Erb's point during the early stage of Guillain-Barré syndrome.

This study aimed to find the electrophysiological significance of proximal nerve stimulation at Erb's point during the early stage of Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS). Twenty-one healthy volunteers and 13 patients within the first week of GBS were studied. Latency and amplitude at wrist, elbow and Erb's point, and F waves were calculated after compound muscle action potentials (CMAP) were obtained at the median and ulnar nerve. There were statistically significant differences between groups for CMAP latency and amplitude at Erb's point for the median (p=0.005 and 0.001, respectively) and ulnar nerves (p=0.007 and 0.007, respectively). Latency or amplitude of CMAP after Erb's point stimulation was abnormal in 77% of patients while F wave latency was abnormal in only 46% of patients. Conduction block was observed in 62% of patients. Abnormal parameters at Erb's point were the only abnormality in four patients at the first electrophysiological examination. We conclude that electrophysiological examination at Erb's point is a simple and non-invasive method that can be used in the early stage of GBS, especially for patients who exhibit normal F waves and nerve conduction studies at distal nerves.

Novel cigarlike TiO2 nanofibers: fabrication, improved mechanical, and electrochemical performances.

By coupling the self-assembly of polystyrene-block-poly(ethylene oxide) (PS-b-PEO) containing titanium precursors with the electrospinning technique, novel cigarlike nanofibers with an outer-shell and inner-continuous-pore structure and resultant fabrics were fabricated. Different from typical porous metal oxides, the prepared high-surface-area nonwoven fabrics show excellent mechanical properties. Not only are these fabrics self-supporting over a large area, but they can also be cut using scissors, which is important for large-scale applications. Furthermore, as electrode materials in Li-ion batteries, these fabrics exhibit much higher charge/discharge capacity and cycle stability compared with the commercially available nanosized TiO2 (P25). The improved mechanical and electrochemical performances are attributed to the presence of an outer-shell, inner-bicontinuous structures (including continuous TiO2 frame and continuous nanopores) and hierarchical pores from the cigarlike nanofibers.

One-pot redox syntheses of heteronanostructures of Ag nanoparticles on MoO3 nanofibers.

A new one-pot redox route has been developed for simultaneous syntheses of Ag nanoparticles on MoO(3) nanofibers. Four different synthetic reactions that have been integrated into the one-pot synthesis include the oxidation of [Na(H(2)O)(2)](0.25)MoO(3) bronze, the reduction of silver ions, and the in situ simultaneous growth of the self-organized Ag nanoparticles and the MoO(3) nanofibers. This new strategy can be generally applicable to grafting various metal nanoparticles on nanofibers for new catalysis-related applications.