537 research outputs found
Advancing innovation in the public sector: Aligning innovation measurement with policy goals
There is sufficient evidence, drawn from surveys of innovation in the public sector and cognitive testing interviews with public sector managers, to develop a framework for measuring public sector innovation. Although many questions that are covered in the Oslo Manual guidelines for measuring innovation in the private sector can be applied with some modifications to the public sector, public sector innovation surveys need to meet policy needs that require collecting additional types of data. Policy to support public sector innovation requires data on how public sector organizations innovate and how a strategic management approach to innovation can influence the types of innovations that are developed. Both issues require innovations surveys to delve deeply into the innovation processes and strategies that are used by public sector managers. Implementation of the measurement framework proposed in this paper would open up opportunities for a new, policy-relevant research program on public sector innovation
Diagnostic accuracy of DXA compared to conventional spine radiographs for the detection of vertebral fractures in children
Objectives
In children, radiography is performed to diagnose vertebral fractures and dual energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) to
assess bone density. In adults, DXA assesses both. We aimed to establish whether
DXA can replace spine radiographs in assessment of paediatric vertebral fractures.
Methods
Prospectively, lateral spine radiographs and lateral spine DXA of 250 children
performed on the same day were independently scored by three radiologists using
the simplified algorithm based qualitative technique and blinded to results of the
other modality. Consensus radiograph read and second read of 100 random images
were performed. Diagnostic accuracy, inter/intraobserver and intermodality
agreements, patient/carer experience and radiation dose were assessed.
Results
Average sensitivity and specificity (95% confidence interval) in diagnosing one or
more vertebral fractures requiring treatment was 70% (58%-82%) and 97% (94%-
100%) respectively for DXA and 74% (55%-93%) and 96% (95%-98%) for
radiographs. Fleiss’ kappa for interobserver and average kappa for intraobserver
reliability were 0.371 and 0.631 respectively for DXA and 0.418 and 0.621 for
radiographs. Average effective dose was 41.9µSv for DXA and 232.7µSv for
radiographs. Image quality was similar.
Conclusion
Given comparable image quality and non-inferior diagnostic accuracy, lateral spine
DXA should replace conventional radiographs for assessment of vertebral fractures
in children
Small firms and patenting revisited
In order to observe a patent application at the firm level two conditions need to be met: new products need to be of patentable quality, which depends both on the degree of novelty of innovations and on the total number (portfolio) of innovations; and the benefits of patents
need to be higher than the costs of owning them. Analyzing the patent propensity of small and large UK firms using a novel innovation-level survey (the SIPU survey) linked to Community Innovation Survey data we find that when we consider the whole innovation portfolio smaller firms do patent less than larger firms. However, using data on individual
innovations, we find that smaller firms are no less likely to patent any specific innovation than larger firms. We argue that size differences in the probability to patent relate primarily to the ‘portfolio effect’, i.e. larger firms generate more innovations than smaller firms and therefore are more likely to create one or more which are patentable. As for the decision to patent a patentable innovation, we find that cost barriers, more than issues of innovation quality or enforceability, deter small firms from patenting specific innovations. Measures to address the costs of patenting for smaller firms – perhaps by considering patents as eligible
costs for R&D tax credits – and/or subsidizing SMEs’ participation in IP litigation schemes may both encourage patent use by smaller firms
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