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• Few studies examine nursing home readiness for standardized infection reporting. • This study examined facilitators and challenges that influence NHSN enrollment. • Self-perceived capabilities were associated with shorter time to NHSN enrollment. • Most implementation challenges related to insufficient staff time and resources. • Nursing homes valued externally-facilitated implementation during NHSN enrollment. Standardized measurement of health care-associated infections is essential to improving nursing home (NH) resident safety, however voluntary enrollment of NHs in Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) requires several steps. We sought to prospectively identify NH structural, process or staff characteristics that affect enrollment and data submission among a cohort of NHs receiving facilitated implementation. The evaluation employed a mixed methods approach. The meta-theoretical Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research was used to analyze reported facilitators and challenges. Primary and secondary outcomes were time to NHSN enrollment and data submission, respectively. Of 36 participating NHs, 27 (75%) completed NHSN enrollment and 21 (58%) submitted 1 or more months of infection data during the 8-month study period. Mean days to complete enrollment was 82 (standard deviation [SD] = 24, range = 51-139) and days to first data submission was 112 (SD = 45, range = 71-245). Characteristics of NH staff liaisons associated with shorter time to enrollment included infection prevention and control knowledge, personal confidence, and responsibility for infection prevention and control activities. Facility characteristics were not associated with outcomes. Time to NHSN enrollment and submission related more to characteristics of the person leading the process than to characteristics of the NH. External partnerships that provide real-time support and resources are important assets in promoting successful NH participation in NHSN. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Graphical abstract Number of papers used nanosized aluminium oxides (NAOs) as adsorbents to remove pollutants. Sources: Google Scholar, Web of Science and Scopus; Period: 1997–2018. Highlights • Recent application of nanosized aluminium oxides (NAOs) in treating industrial wastewater. • NAOs can remove metal ions, metalloids/anions, dyes, humic substances and phenolic pollutants efficiently. • NAOs, in particular, alumina and boehmite are mostly used for pollutants removal. • Most previous investigations are laboratory scale, limited guidance for process scale-up. Abstract Nanosized aluminium oxides (NAOs) are an important class of minerals widely found in soil, sediment, aquifer, and aquatic environments. Over the decades, these minerals have been explored as sorbents for the removal of wastewater contaminated with metal ions, anions, organic dyes, humic substances, phenolic compounds, pesticides, and pharmaceuticals from contaminated wastewater. This review summarizes the reported research of NAOs as sorbents and provides details on their sorption capacities including maximum removal capacity under various experimental conditions. Information on the composition, synthesis, characterization and experimental parameters together with sorption mechanisms is provided. A compilation of such information is not currently available and so this review should enable workers in the area to make more informed choices on suitable sorbents for large-scale environmental samples and be able to develop more efficient processes for environmental pollutant clean-up. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using Bernstein polynomials, we derive moment-based bounding approximations on the expected value of a utility function. We show that optimizing these bounds yields a solution, which is mean–variance (MV) or MV-skewness–kurtosis (MVSK) efficient depending on how many moments are included in the approximation. Practitioners actively managing portfolios may find the approximations useful in their pursuit of designing new trading strategies via asset allocation models based on different utility functions. • Provide two-moment and four-moment Bernstein approximations of expected utility. • Define notion of efficient portfolios using four moments of portfolio return. • Give conditions on utilities so proxy optimization models yield efficient portfolios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tablets make up approximately one third of all drug dosage forms which makes tablet manufacture a common process in the pharmaceutical industry. The unified compaction curve [1] is a model developed initially to look at the impact of the roller compaction conditions on the tablet strength. The tensile strength of the tablets made from formulations containing at least 50% microcrystalline cellulose produced at roller compaction pressures were measured and the profiles were collapsed into a single master “unified compaction curve” (UCC). This allowed for the tablet strength to be predicted from the roller compaction condition and formulations and target the required tablet strength criterion set by standards or specifications [1] . The unified compaction curve was applied to investigate the effects of the wet granulation conditions in a 5L Key granulator on the tablet tensile strength. The study was based on a placebo formulation comprising of 50wt% microcrystalline cellulose, 50wt% lactose and a 5w/v% PVP (K90) binder solution. The effects of the liquid level (20-50wt%), wet massing time (0-10 minutes), binder flow rate (130 g/min and 280 g/min) and impeller speed (150, 285 and 600 rpm) on the tablet strength were explored. Scale-down experiments to a 1L mixer bowl were also conducted. Tablets were produced on a single station carver press with controlled force. A series of compaction profiles were created to represent the relationship between the tablet tensile strength, compaction pressure and the granulation condition. By fitting the unified compaction curve model to the data using a shifting intercept approach, the profiles exploring each granulation condition collapsed onto a single master curve which predicts the tablet strength as a function of the liquid level, wet massing time or the binder flow rate. Increasing the liquid level and/or wet massing time caused a reduction in the tablet hardness when compressed at the same compaction force, and the reduction is postulated to be proportional to the effective compaction forces experienced during granulation, P WGC . The P WGC data further collapses onto a single master curve which is solely a function of the total number of impeller revolutions. Further characterization of the granules produced at these conditions showed that the UCC intercept parameter, P WGC was inversely proportional to the granule porosity, linking the granule microstructure directly and quantitatively to the tablet strength during compaction. This is a significant finding that will allow formulators to optimize tablet hardness via a simple adjustment to the granulation conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Economic model predictive control (EMPC) has recently gained popularity for managing energy consumption in buildings that are exposed to non-constant electricity prices, such as time-of-use prices or real-time prices. These electricity prices are employed directly in the objective function of the EMPC problem. This paper considers how electricity prices can be designed in order to achieve a specific objective, which in this case is minimizing peak electricity demand. A primal-dual formulation of the EMPC problem is presented that is used to determine optimal prices that minimize peak demand. The method is demonstrated on a simulated community of 900 residential homes to create a pricing structure that minimizes the peak demand of the community of homes. The pricing structure shows that homes should be given a 1-h peak demand duration, and that the peak prices given to the homes should be spread unevenly across 6 h of the afternoon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Growing evidence reveals the importance of improving safety culture in efforts to eliminate health care-associated infections. This multisite, cross-sectional survey examined the association between professional role and health care experience on infection prevention safety culture at 5 hospitals. The findings suggest that frontline health care technicians are less directly engaged in improvement efforts and safety education than other staff and that infection prevention safety culture varies more by hospital than by staff position and experience. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This analysis presents a conservation planning framework for decisions under uncertainty and applies it to the Arctic Coastal Plain of Alaska. Uncertainty arises from variable distributional shifts of species’ ranges due to climate change. The planning framework consists of a two-stage optimization model that selects a nominal conservation area network in the first stage and evaluates its performance under the climate scenarios in the second stage. The model is applied to eleven at-risk species in Alaska including the threatened Spectacled Eider and Steller’s Eider sea ducks and the polar bear. The 109th United States Congress and 2008 federal budget proposed opening for oil and gas development the “1002 Area” of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, which intersects the Plain. This analysis finds that, if Arctic Alaska experiences 1.5°C of warming by 2040 (as predicted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s A2 scenario), then potential habitat will decrease significantly for eight of these at-risk species, including the polar bear. This analysis also shows that there is synergism between oil and gas development and climate change. For instance, climate change accompanied by no development of the 1002 Area results in an increase of potential habitat for Steller’s Eider. However, if development accompanies climate change, then there is a 20% decrease in that area. Further, this analysis quantifies the tradeoff between development and maintenance of suitable habitat for at-risk species. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

• Cr(VI) adsorption has been studied using manganese oxides and boehmite. • Langmuir equation could correlate Cr(VI) adsorption data nicely. • Birnessite showed maximum adsorption at pH 2 while others showed a maximum in the pH range of 5.8–8.2. • Cr(VI) adsorption involved more than one type of reaction. • Formation of both outer and inner-sphere Cr(VI) complexes depending on pH. The concentration of chromium (VI) in the soil is an important environmental concern due to its mobility and acute toxicity. Due to its toxicity, removal of this species is very important. The mobility of Cr(VI) is highly governed by its adsorption onto the mineral surfaces. Manganese oxides are naturally-occurring scavengers and have a significant influence on the distribution, and transport of chromate species. Thus, to understand the fate of chromate species and its removal process, it is important to study chromium (VI) adsorption. In this study, birnessite (δ-MnO 2), pyrolusite (β-MnO 2), hausmannite (Mn 3 O 4), manganite (γ-MnOOH), boehmite (γ-AlOOH), and Mn-Al binary oxide was used as adsorbents to adsorb Cr(VI) over a range of solution pH and initial Cr(VI) concentrations. A combined approach using the Langmuir and Freundlich models, proton stoichiometry and surface complexation model (SCM) have been used to describe the probable Cr(VI) adsorption process. Birnessite was the most potent adsorbent at low pH. The Langmuir model could describe the equilibrium isotherm data well, suggesting a uniform surface nature. Proton stoichiometry indicated that Cr(VI) adsorption involved more than one type of reaction. The findings confirm that Cr(VI) species bind to functional groups by the inner- and outer-sphere chromate complexes, with the extent of binding dependent on solution pH. The study presented herein can be applied to soils with a variety of surface properties, pH, and Cr (VI) concentrations. The study further advances our understanding of the interaction between Cr(VI) and minerals at the solid-water interface. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]