The role of green and traditional supplier attributes on business performance

Supplier evaluation and selection are fundamental tasks since they are part of the production process and even initiate the supply chain (SC). Despite their importance in the production system, supplier evaluation and selection may be challenging activities to be performed if companies look at the wide range of available evaluation techniques and methodologies, which now seek to integrate both traditional and green attributes. In addition, companies may refuse to take into account green attributes during the supplier selection process, because they do not know their impact on commercial benefits. To overcome this limitation, this study examines the Mexican manufacturing sector and measures the impact of supplier traditional attributes and green attributes on business performance, namely production process benefits and commercial benefits. As data collection instrument, we administered a survey to 253 supplier evaluators and selectors; then, using the gathered data, we constructed a structural equation model. The model includes four variables to determine the impact of traditional and green attributes on business performance: green attributes, traditional attributes, production process benefits, and commercial benefits. The results indicate that all the latent variables have positive direct effects on one another. For instance, process benefits show the largest effects on commercial benefits, but the most significant effect is caused by traditional attributes on commercial benefits through green attributes and production process benefits. © 2017 by the authors

Impacto en los resultados de salud cardiovascular de la implantación del contrato de Dirección Clínica en atención primaria de Tarragona

ObjetivoLos objetivos del presente estudio son: a) determinar la mejora en la salud cardiovascular de una población tras la implantación del contrato de Dirección Clínica en los profesionales de los Equipos de Atención Primaria de Tarragona-Reus y Terres de l’Ebre (provincia de Tarragona), y b) identificar los factores predictivos que determinan una mejor salud cardiovascular tras la implantación del contrato de Dirección Clínica. La implantación del contrato de Dirección Clínica (basada en el liderazgo profesional, feedback de la información asistencial, control de los indicadores de riesgo cardiovascular basados en la evidencia científica concretadas en guías de práctica clínica) mejorará los resultados de salud cardiovascular de la población de referencia.DiseñoSe trata de un estudio antes-después y multicéntrico.EmplazamientoAtención primaria de salud.ParticipantesParticipan 30 centros de salud (totalidad de los centros de salud del ámbito de atención primaria del Institut Català de la Salut).Mediciones principalesCaracterísticas del centro. Variables de proceso: indicadores de buena práctica asistencial, cálculo del riesgo cardiovascular, aplicación de la guía de práctica clínica (hipertensión arterial, diabetes, dislipemia, tabaquismo y factores de riesgo cardiovascular), estándares de calidad de la prescripción farmacológica. Variables de resultados: cifras de riesgo cardiovascular, número de visitas en atención continuada, urgencias hospitalarias e ingresos por angina, infarto agudo de miocardio y accidente cerebrovascular, y cribados poblacionales de factores de riesgo.DiscusiónEste estudio es útil, ya que la dirección clinica pretende ser un motor para que los profesionales lideren la gestión asistencial y, mediante el control de indicadores y la «retroalimentación» de estos resultados a los profesionales, se mejore la calidad asistencial. Con este trabajo se pretende demostrar que una estrategia de gestión puede mejorar la salud cardiovascular de la población. La originalidad de este proyecto se basa en el desarrollo de una nueva herramienta de evaluación basada en una novedosa estrategia de gestión para medir resultados en salud cardiovascular.ObjectiveThe objectives of this study are: 1) to determine the improvement in the cardiovascular health of the population after the introduction of the clinical governance contract for primary care team professionals in Tarragona-Reus and the Terres de l’Ebre area (Tarragona province, Spain); 2) to identify the factors predictive of better cardiovascular health after the introduction of the clinical governance contract. The introduction of the clinical governance contract, which is based on professional leadership, feed-back of care information, and monitoring of indicators of cardiovascular risk based on scientific evidence and concretised in clinical practice guidelines, will improve the cardiovascular health results of the reference population. Improvements in indicators of procedure and result are specified in “Material and methods.”DesignThis is a before-and-after, multicentre study.SettingPrimary health care.ParticipantsTirty health centres (all the primary care Centres in the area).Main measurementsCharacteristics of the centre. Variables in procedures: indicators of good care practice, calculation of cardiovascular risk, application of clinical practice guidelines (hypertension, diabetes, lipaemia, tobacco and cardiovascular risk) and quality standards for drug prescription. Result variables: cardiovascular risk figures, number of ongoing care visits, hospital emergencies and admissions for angina, heart attack or stroke, and risk factor screenings of the population.DiscussionThis study is useful, in that clinical governance aims to be a dynamic device to bring professionals into the leadership of health care management and, through monitoring indicators and feeding the findings back to the professionals, to improve health care quality. The study aims to show that management strategy can improve the populatiońs cardiovascular health. The originality of the study lies in the development of a new tool of evaluation based on a novel management strategy for measuring cardiovascular health findings

Highly sensitive optical hydrogen sensor using circular Pd-coated singlemode tapered fibre

A novel optical hydrogen sensor, based on the absorption change of the evanescent fields in a circular Pd-coated singlemode tapered fibre is presented. The proposed sensor is polarisation independent and its sensitivity is adjustable by means of the taper diameter, interaction length, and/or light wavelength. A simple light transmission measurement setup is used to test the sensor. The sensor is suitable for the detection of low hydrogen concentrations with high sensitivity and fast time response. Transmission changes as high as 60% are demonstrated