Developing creative and innovative thinking and problem-solving skills

Published ArticleA specific financial services organisation in South Africa realised that they had to join the innovation revolution in order to remain commercially competitive due to unexpected competitors entering the traditional financial services domain. The evaluation question asks whether employees in a financial services organisation can develop creative and innovative thinking and problem-solving skills through an intervention such as a workshop, and can a benefit for the business unit and organisation be identified. This qualitative study employed Utilisation Focused Evaluation (UFE) to address the evaluation question. Questionnaires, pen-and-paper tests and interviews were used to gather data. Descriptive statistics were applied to report the data. The most critical finding confirmed that individuals can acquire creative and innovative thinking and problem-solving skills. The acquisition of these skills though is not sufficient on its own to establish a culture supportive of creativity and innovation. The study culminated in the creation of The Triple I Creativity and Innovation Model. The Triple I Creativity and Innovation Model illustrates how a workshop with distinctive training design features can impact the individual, the business unit and the organisation in order to initiate, ideaneer and ignite creativity and innovation

Offside goals and induced breaches of contract

An analysis of Global Resources Group Ltd v Mackay which explores the possibility of building links between the offside goals rule and nominate delict of inducing breach of contract

Point-of-care and lung ultrasound incorporated in daily practice

Point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) is a fast-growing clinical utility and is becoming an essential clinical skill for all practitioners attending to critically ill patients. Ultrasound equipment is now smaller, more affordable and readily available in clinical work areas. POCUS is performed by a non-cardiologist physician at the patient’s bedside as an adjunct to the physical examination. It is easily taught, non-invasive and allows for real-time clinical information. Bedside use of ultrasound imaging aids with rapid diagnosis of severe and life-threatening pathological conditions. It can be repeated, may change clinical management, and impact on patient outcome. POCUS has a broad clinical use, including, but not limited to, focused assessed transthoracic echocardiography (FATE), lung ultrasound imaging, extended focused assessment with sonography for trauma (e-FAST), vascular access and regional blocks. It may also be extended to detect endotracheal intubation and the estimation of intracranial pressure. Assessment of cardiac pathology by POCUS, performed by a novice examiner, has been shown to compare with the gold standard of an expert. Training is paramount. The physician should know his limitations and always relate the information back to the clinical scenario and context. By incorporating POCUS as part of our armamentarium and into our daily medical practice, we might see it reach its full clinical potential, optimising patient care and improving patient outcomes

A survey of a small group of workers exposed to toluene di-isocyanate

All 20 workers exposed to toluene di-isocyanate (TDI) in a chemical processing and packing factory were tested for TDI-induced asthma. The assessment included a respiratory symptom questionnaire, spirometry, skin prick tests for common allergens and assessment of total and TDI-specific immunoglobulin E (IgE) levels by radio-allergo-sorbent tests. Six workers had symptoms suggestive of TDI-related asthtna. Three of these 6 workers had a significant cross-shift decline in forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1) (10% or greater). Two of the 6 had high levels of TDI-specific IgE. Of the 14 workers without work-related symptoms, 1 had a significant cross-shift decline in FEV1. There was no significant association between the levels of exposure to TDI and symptoms, lung function paratneters or immunological findings. This study demonstrates the difficulties in correlating immunological status with clinical and lung function findings in workers exposed to TDI. Recommendations include a stepwise approach to diagnosing TDI-induced asthma in exposed workers

6,6′-(Pyridine-2,6-di­yl)bis­(pyrrolo­[3,4-b]pyridine-5,7-dione)

The title compound, C19H9N5O4, has crystallographically imposed twofold rotational symmetry. The asymmetric unit contains one half-mol­ecule. The crystal structure is stabilized by π–π stacking of inversion-related pyrrolo­[3,4-b]pyridine rings, with a centroid–centroid distance between stacked pyridines of 3.6960 (8) Å. The dihedral angle between the central pyridine ring and the pyrrolo-pyridine side rings is 77.86 (2)° while the angle between the two side chains is 60.87 (2)°

Dimethyl 2,6-dimethyl-4-phenyl­pyridine-3,5-dicarboxyl­ate

In the title compound, C17H17NO4, the dihedral angle between the benzene and pyridine rings is 75.51 (4)°. The benzene and pyridine rings are both approximately planar (r.m.s. deviations of 0.0040 and 0.0083 Å, respectively), indicating that the pyridine N atom is not protonated. The crystal structure is stabilized by weak inter­molecular C—H⋯O and C—H⋯N inter­actions

5-(3,4-Dimeth­oxy­benzyl­idene)-1,3-dimethyl-1,3-diazinane-2,4,6-trione

In the title compound, C15H16N2O5, the dihedral angle between 1,3-diazinane and benzene rings is only 4.27 (1)°. The essentially planar mol­ecular structure is characterized by a short intra­molecular C—H⋯O separation and by an exceptionally large bond angle of 138.25 (14)° at the bridging methine C atom. The meth­oxy groups deviate somewhat from the plane of the benzene ring, with C—C—O—C torsion angles of −15.6 (1) and 9.17 (6)°. In the crystal, mol­ecules form centrosymmetric dimers via donor–acceptor π–π inter­actions, with a centroid–centroid distance of 3.401 (1) Å

A prospective observational study of preoperative natriuretic peptide testing in adult non-cardiac surgical patients in hospitals in Western Cape Province, South Africa

Background. International guidelines recommend risk stratification to identify high-risk non-cardiac surgical patients. It is also recommended that all patients aged ≥45 years with significant cardiovascular disease should have preoperative natriuretic peptide (NP) testing. Abnormal preoperative B-type NPs have a strong association with postoperative cardiac complications. In South African hospitals, it is not known how many patients with significant cardiovascular disease scheduled for intermediate- to high-risk surgery will have raised NPs.Objectives. To determine the prevalence of abnormal (raised) NPs in non-cardiac surgical patients with cardiac clinical risk factors. A secondary objective was to develop a model to identify surgical patients who may benefit from preoperative NP screening.Methods. The inclusion criteria were patients aged ≥45 years presenting for elective, non-obstetric, intermediate- to high-risk non-cardiac surgery with at least one of the following cardiovascular risk factors: a history of ischaemic heart disease or peripheral vascular disease (coronary equivalent); a history of stroke or transient ischaemic attack; a history of congestive cardiac failure; diabetes mellitus currently on an oral hypoglycaemic agent or insulin; and serum creatinine level >175 µmol/L (>2.0 mg/dL). Blood samples for N-terminal-prohormone B-type NP (NT-proBNP) were collected before induction of anaesthesia. The preoperative prognostic threshold for abnormal (raised) NT-proBNP was ≥300 pg/mL. A generalised linear mixed model was used to determine the association between the risk factors and an abnormal NT-proBNP level.Results. Of 172 patients, 63 (37%) had an elevated preoperative NT-proBNP level. The comorbidities independently associated with elevated preoperative NT-proBNP were coronary artery disease or peripheral vascular disease, congestive cardiac failure, diabetes mellitus, and a creatinine level >175 µmol/L.Conclusions. We strongly recommend that non-cardiac surgical patients aged ≥45 years undergoing intermediate- or high-risk non-cardiac surgery with a history of coronary artery disease/peripheral vascular disease, congestive cardiac failure, diabetes mellitus or elevated creatinine have preoperative NP testing as part of risk stratification