An analytical basis for assaying buried biological contamination Interim report

Assay techniques for determining biological contamination of spacecraft material

Following Francis: reversing performance in the NHS from targets to teams

Between 400 and 1200 people died unnecessarily in just four years at the Mid Staffordshire National Health Service Foundation Trust in the UK. Two inquiries carried out by Robert Francis QC, the second one producing a report of 1700 pages with 290 recommendations, have proposed a range of changes to the regulatory framework and legal duties placed on hospitals throughout England. It proposes better warning signals, greater accountability of senior managers and NHS staff facing possible criminal prosecution for non-reporting of clinical error. The report also identifies that the model of performance management dominant in the NHS compounded the already delicate balance between available resources and quality of care such that, “quality wasn’t the organising principle of the NHS, it wasn’t the thing that was driving us during that period”(David Nicholson, NHS Chief Executive. Evidence 28th September 2011, Francis Report).Virtually no organisation emerges from the inquiry with credit except the local campaigns set up by the relatives of the victims.The NHS is now facing a major culture change in relation to performance management if it is to improve outcomes for patients

Reversing performance in the UK National Health Service: from targets to teams

The UK’s 2010 and 2013 public inquiries into the Mid Staffordshire hospital scandal estimated that between 400 and 1,200 people died unnecessarily in just a four-year period. The inquiries, carried out by Robert Francis QC, identified a range of performance management problems within the National Health Service (NHS) stemming from a widespread preoccupation with nationally set targets, emphasizing an organizing principle of reducing costs rather than delivering quality patient care. The inquiries conclude that there had been a systemic failure at Mid Staffs; including a culture of bullying and secrecy regarding patient care, a focus on achieving externally set targets and budgeting, and low staff morale. This was explained, in part, by the performance culture in place where frontline staff worked within an “endemic culture of bullying” (Francis, 2010: Vol 1. B.38), forced to prioritize targets over patient welfare for fear of victimization and job loss which incentivized short cuts and “unacceptable standards of performance” (Francis, 2013: 111). Virtually no organization emerges from the inquiries with credit except the local campaign set up by the relatives of the victims. The reports provide few concrete recommendations to improve performance despite an emphasis within the Francis report on the urgent need for the NHS to reform its performance management. Although we offer no magic solutions to the structural problems across the organization, our proposal is that an important aspect of reform should be a reorientation away from targets and top-down management toward a model of inter-disciplinary and inter-organizational team working

Acoustic Tomographic Reconstruction of Fiber Angle in Orthotropic Composite Materials

Composite materials are complex structures widely utilized in modern industry. Numerous nondestructive testing techniques are used to examine these composites for manufacturing flaws, including ultrasonic testing. Normally the reinforcing fibers in a composite material are aligned in a prescribed fashion, from a simple unidirectional composite to a complex composite laminate lay-up. Defects caused by manufacturing or in-service use can result in buckling or warping of the fibers. This is an important concern when dealing with thick composites

The role of intermolecular coupling in the photophysics of disordered organic semiconductors: Aggregate emission in regioregular polythiophene

We address the role of excitonic coulping on the nature of photoexcitations in the conjugated polymer regioregular poly(3-hexylthiophene). By means of temperature-dependent absorption and photoluminescence spectroscopy, we show that optical emission is overwhelmingly dominated by weakly coupled H-aggregates. The relative absorbance of the 0-0 and 0-1 vibronic peaks provides a powerfully simple means to extract the magnitude of the intermolecular coupling energy, approximately 5 and 30 meV for films spun from isodurene and chloroform solutions respectively.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures, published in Phys. Rev. Let

Current Investigations of Turbulent Shear

The paper covers first a short review of the history of research on turbulent shear and second a description of current experiments which may lead to further understanding. The first portion categorizes the kinds of data which have been taken and discusses what can be learned from each. It then summarizes what is firmly established concerning the nature of turbulent shear, mostly from work of the past decade. A description of the several interpretations of these data under theoretic study by current leading researchers is then given. The second portion of the paper discusses the extraordinarily difficult problem of identifying and measuring the actual production of turbulence in a boundary layer. The difficulties arise from the fact that production is a partly-coherent, intermittent process buried in relatively high amplitude noise. The measurement problems are discussed and a potential solution for the measurement of turbulence production with adequate accuracy is proposed

Dynamic Mechanical Behavior of Black Cherry (Prunus Serotina EHRH.)

The dynamic mechanical properties of black cherry (Prunus serotina Ehrh.) have been investigated as a function of temperature at audio frequencies. Relaxation processes are evident near 200, 360, and 510 K. The process near 200 K was investigated as a function of initial moisture content (based on mass measurements prior to testing). At moisture contents greater than about 20%, the damping peak is centered near 185 K. This relaxation shifts with moisture content, and at moisture contents below 6%, the peak is centered near 225 K. The relaxation in the 360 K region is also associated with initial moisture content. For oven-dry black cherry specimens, the dynamic mechanical properties in the 360 K region are nearly temperature-independent. The relaxation near 510 K is believed to be associated with thermal degradation of wood constituents that are known to degrade in that temperature region

The Aquatic Heteroptera (Hemiptera) of Marshes in the Florida Everglades

The Everglades is a large subtropical wetland that has been modified heavily by humans and now is undergoing restoration. Aquatic and semiaquatic Heteroptera (Hemiptera) in the infraorders Gerromorpha and Nepomorpha were collected in the Florida Everglades using standardized 1-m2throw-traps. Sampling efforts were conducted in marshes distributed from southern Everglades National Park, north throughout the Water Conservation Areas to Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge. In total, 12,833 individuals were identified representing 17 species in 13 genera and 8 families (Belostomatidae, Corixidae, Gerridae, Mesoveliidae, Naucoridae, Nepidae, Veliidae). The naucorid Pelocoris femoratus (Palisot de Beauvois) (Hemiptera: Naucoridae) was by far the most abundant species, whereas 2 other species, Belostoma lutarium (Stål) (Hemiptera: Belostomatidae) and Neogerris hesione Kirkaldy (Hemiptera: Gerridae), were widespread but less abundant. Two species, Abedus immaculatus (Say) (Hemiptera: Belostomatidae) and Pelocoris balius La Rivers (Hemiptera: Naucoridae) had localized distributions, whereas all other species were collected rarely. We discuss the abundance and distribution of species recorded, along with unique traits and the biology of the aquatic Heteroptera in the Everglades and implications for the restoration of the Everglades

Some Physical Properties of Birch Carbonized in A Nitrogen Atmosphere

The dynamic mechanical properties, mass loss, and shrinkage data of birch carbonized in a nitrogen atmosphere to different temperatures from 473 to 973 K have been investigated. The dynamic elastic modulus data decreased as the heat treatment temperatures approached 673 K. Major mass loss and shrinkage accompanied the decrease in the modulus data. Treatments at higher temperatures (> 673 K) produced substantially less additional mass loss and shrinkage but produced increased rigidity in the char. The internal friction behavior of the char was complex