Method and apparatus for making curved reflectors Patent

Fabrication of curved reflector segments for solar mirro

Apparatus for making curved reflectors Patent

Forming mold for polishing and machining curved solar magnesium reflector with reinforcing rib

What can acute medicine learn from qualitative methods?

Purpose of review: The contribution of qualitative methods to evidence-based medicine is growing, with qualitative studies increasingly used to examine patient experience and unsafe organizational cultures. The present review considers qualitative research recently conducted on teamwork and organizational culture in the ICU and also other acute domains. Recent findings: Qualitative studies have highlighted the importance of interpersonal and social aspects of healthcare on managing and responding to patient care needs. Clear/consistent communication, compassion, and trust underpin successful patient-physician interactions, with improved patient experiences linked to patient safety and clinical effectiveness across a wide range of measures and outcomes. Across multidisciplinary teams, good communication facilitates shared understanding, decision-making and coordinated action, reducing patient risk in the process. Summary: Qualitative methods highlight the complex nature of risk management in hospital wards, which is highly contextualized to the demands and resources available, and influenced by multilayered social contexts. In addition to augmenting quantitative research, qualitative investigations enable the investigation of questions on social behaviour that are beyond the scope of quantitative assessment alone. To develop improved patient-centred care, health professionals should therefore consider integrating qualitative procedures into their existing assessments of patient/staff satisfaction

Patient neglect in healthcare institutions: a systematic review and conceptual model

Background Patient neglect is an issue of increasing public concern in Europe and North America, yet remains poorly understood. This is the first systematic review on the nature, frequency and causes of patient neglect as distinct from patient safety topics such as medical error. Method The Pubmed, Science Direct, and Medline databases were searched in order to identify research studies investigating patient neglect. Ten articles and four government reports met the inclusion criteria of reporting primary data on the occurrence or causes of patient neglect. Qualitative and quantitative data extraction investigated (1) the definition of patient neglect, (2) the forms of behaviour associated with neglect, (3) the reported frequency of neglect, and (4) the causes of neglect. Results Patient neglect is found to have two aspects. First, procedure neglect, which refers to failures of healthcare staff to achieve objective standards of care. Second, caring neglect, which refers to behaviours that lead patients and observers to believe that staff have uncaring attitudes. The perceived frequency of neglectful behaviour varies by observer. Patients and their family members are more likely to report neglect than healthcare staff, and nurses are more likely to report on the neglectful behaviours of other nurses than on their own behaviour. The causes of patient neglect frequently relate to organisational factors (e.g. high workloads that constrain the behaviours of healthcare staff, burnout), and the relationship between carers and patients. Conclusion A social psychology-based conceptual model is developed to explain the occurrence and nature of patient neglect. This model will facilitate investigations of i) differences between patients and healthcare staff in how they perceive neglect, ii) the association with patient neglect and health outcomes, iii) the relative importance of system and organisational factors in causing neglect, and iv) the design of interventions and health policy to reduce patient neglect

Human factors in financial trading: an analysis of trading incidents

Objective: This study tests the reliability of a system (FINANS) to collect and analyse incident reports in the financial trading domain, and is guided by a human factors taxonomy used to describe error in the trading domain. Background: Research indicates the utility of applying human factors theory to understand error in finance, yet empirical research is lacking. We report on the development of the first system for capturing and analysing human factors-related issues in operational trading incidents. Method: In study 1, 20 incidents are analysed by an expert user group against a referent standard to establish the reliability of FINANS. Study 2 analyses 750 incidents using distribution, mean, pathway and associative analysis to describe the data. Results: Kappa scores indicate that categories within FINANS can be reliably used to identify and extract data on human factors-related problems underlying trading incidents. Approximately 1% of trades (n=750) lead to an incident. Slip/lapse (61%), situation awareness (51%), and teamwork (40%) were found to be the most common problems underlying incidents. For the most serious incidents, problems in situation awareness and teamwork were most common. Conclusion: We show that (i) experts in the trading domain can reliably and accurately code human factors in incidents, (ii) 1% of trades incur error and (iii) poor teamwork skills and situation awareness underpin the most critical incidents. Application: This research provides data crucial for ameliorating risk within financial trading organizations, with implications for regulation and policy

Process sequence produces strong, lightweight reflectors of excellent quality

Large compound curved surfaces for collecting and concentrating radiation are fabricated by the use of several common machining and forming processes. Lightweight sectors are assembled into large reflectors. With this concept of fabrication, integrally stiffened reflective sectors up to 25 square feet in area have been produced

Near misses in financial trading: skills for capturing and averting error

Objective: The aims of this study were (a) to determine whether near-miss incidents in financial trading contain information on the operator skills and systems that detect and prevent near misses and the patterns and trends revealed by these data and (b) to explore if particular operator skills and systems are found as important for avoiding particular types of error on the trading floor. Background: In this study, we examine a cohort of near-miss incidents collected from a financial trading organization using the Financial Incident Analysis System and report on the nontechnical skills and systems that are used to detect and prevent error in this domain. Method: One thousand near-miss incidents are analyzed using distribution, mean, chi-square, and associative analysis to describe the data; reliability is provided. Results: Slips/lapses (52%) and human–computer interface problems (21%) often occur alone and are the main contributors to error causation, whereas the prevention of error is largely a result of teamwork (65%) and situation awareness (46%) skills. No matter the cause of error, situation awareness and teamwork skills are used most often to detect and prevent the error. Conclusion: Situation awareness and teamwork skills appear universally important as a “last line” of defense for capturing error, and data from incident-monitoring systems can be analyzed in a fashion more consistent with a “Safety-II” approach. Application: This research provides data for ameliorating risk within financial trading organizations, with implications for future risk management programs and regulation

Investigating organisational culture from the ‘outside’, and implications for investing

Dr Alex Gillespie and Dr Tom Reader consider how organizational culture can be researched from ‘outside’ an organization and what dimensions could be of particular interest for potential investment decisions

UK Sugar Beet Farm Productivity Under Different Reform Scenarios: A Farm Level Analysis

The purpose of this paper is to study the effect that the imminent reform in the European Union (EU) sugar regime may have on farm productivity in the United Kingdom (UK). We perform the analysis on a sample of sugar beet farms representative of all the UK sugar beet regions. To estimate the changes in productivity, we estimate a multi-output cost function representing the cropping part of the farm, which is the component that would be mostly affected by the sugar beet reform. We use this cost function to compute the new allocation of outputs and inputs after the changes in the sugar beet quota and price support. This are subsequently used to compute measures of total factor productivity. Our results show slight decreases in the productivity at the individual farm level under both quota and price support reduction. However, when considering the aggregate level, the reduction in the price support shows significant increases in productivity, in contrast to the results obtained from a reduction in quota.EU sugar reform, UK agriculture, UK sugar beet production, multi-output cost function, total factor productivity, Agricultural and Food Policy, Productivity Analysis, Q00, D24,

Using hospital complaints to improve patient safety

LSE colleagues from the Department of Social Psychology consider the untapped reserve of data that could be used to improve hospital patient safety: hospital complaints. Guest bloggers Dr Tom Reader and Dr Alex Gillespie explain how the analysis of this untapped data could inform future learning