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Letter to the Editor: Time to update the language of genetics from the nineteenth to the twenty-first century: a response to Schmidtke and Cornel
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How, in what contexts, and why do quality dashboards lead to improvements in care quality in acute hospitals? Protocol for a realist feasibility evaluation
Get PDFYesNational audits are used to monitor care quality and safety and are anticipated to reduce unexplained variations in quality by stimulating quality improvement (QI). However, variation within and between providers in the extent of engagement with national audits means that the potential for national audit data to inform QI is not being realised. This study will undertake a feasibility evaluation of QualDash, a quality dashboard designed to support clinical teams and managers to explore data from two national audits, the Myocardial Ischaemia National Audit Project (MINAP) and the Paediatric Intensive Care Audit Network (PICANet).
Realist evaluation, which involves building, testing and refining theories of how an intervention works, provides an overall framework for this feasibility study. Realist hypotheses that describe how, in what contexts, and why QualDash is expected to provide benefit will be tested across five hospitals. A controlled interrupted time series analysis, using key MINAP and PICANet measures, will provide preliminary evidence of the impact of QualDash, while ethnographic observations and interviews over 12 months will provide initial insight into contexts and mechanisms that lead to those impacts. Feasibility outcomes include the extent to which MINAP and PICANet data are used, data completeness in the audits, and the extent to which participants perceive QualDash to be useful and express the intention to continue using it after the study period.
The study has been approved by the University of Leeds School of Healthcare Research Ethics Committee. Study results will provide an initial understanding of how, in what contexts, and why quality dashboards lead to improvements in care quality. These will be disseminated to academic audiences, study participants, hospital IT departments and national audits. If the results show a trial is feasible, we will disseminate the QualDash software through a stepped wedge cluster randomised trial
New developments in hair research
Get PDFYesThis article is an editorial for the special focus theme issue on “hair research” published by the Experimental Dermatology journal. Here we introduce the articles from the special issue and pose a few questions. The full list of publications for the hair research special issue is available on the Journal’s web site. Many of the articles can be viewed free of charge on the web site. This is for; Experimental Dermatology, Volume 29, Number 3, published March 2020
An IoT-enabled Decision Support System for Circular Economy Business Model
Get PDFYesThe traditional linear economy using a take‐make‐dispose model is resource intensive and has adverse environmental impacts. Circular economy (CE) which is regenerative and restorative by design is recommended as the business model for resource efficiency. While there is a need for businesses and organisations to switch from linear to CE, there are several challenges that needs addressing such as business models and the criticism of CE projects often being small scale. Technology can be an enabler toward scaling up CE; however, the prime challenge is to identify technologies that can allow predicting, tracking and proactively monitoring product's residual value to motivate businesses to pursue circularity decisions. In this paper, we propose an IoT‐enabled decision support system (DSS) for CE business model that effectively allows tracking, monitoring, and analysing products in real time with the focus on residual value. The business model is implemented using an ontological model. This model is complemented by a semantic decision support system. The semantic ontological model, first of its kind, is evaluated for technical compliance. We applied DSS and the ontological model in a real‐world use case and demonstrate viability and applicability of our approach
Towards a Circular Economy: An Emerging Economies Context
Get PDFYesCircular Economy (CE) and the adoption of its principles globally are more important than ever to sustain the rate of production of goods and services to meet the ever-increasing consumer demand that is burdening the environment and society. This study investigates the adoption of CE principles amongst emerging economies as the challenges faced by these economies are generally different in terms of resource availability, varying government policies and consumer behaviour from those of developed economies. This research presents an empirically validated CE adoption model using a sample of 183 consumer responses. The study highlights the strong influence of factors such as consumer behaviour on the acceptance of remanufactured products and using products as a service to encourage the adoption of CE practices in emerging economies. This research offers businesses, consumers and policy makers insights into measures that have been taken by emerging economies that are in line with CE principles
Politically connected firms and corporate social responsibility implementation expenditure in sub-Saharan Africa: Evidence from Ghana
Get PDFYesWhile previous research has emphasized the role of stakeholder pressures, firm‐specific factors, as well as CEO characteristics as important drivers of corporate social responsibility (CSR) implementation, our understanding of how political connections impact small and medium‐sized enterprises' (SMEs') CSR implementation expenditure is quite limited. In this study, we contribute to filling this gap by investigating the effects of political connections and CSR expenditure and explain the conditions that impact this relationship. Using data from 473 SMEs in Ghana, we find that political connections negatively influence CSR implementation expenditure. However, the negative effect is weakened when a firms' reputation and competitive CSR implementation pressures are high. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City, Vietna
Information Security Behavior: A Cross-Cultural Comparison of Irish and US Employees
Get PDFYesThis study explores how aspects of perceived national culture affect the information security attitudes and behavior of employees. Data was collected using 19 semi-structured interviews in Ireland and the United States of America (US). The main findings are that US employees in the observed organizations are more inclined to adopt formalized information security policies and procedures than Irish employees, and are also more likely to have higher levels of compliance and lower levels of non-compliance
Assembling Archaeology: Teaching, practice and research
No full textNoAssembling Archaeology provides a radical rethinking of the relationships between teaching, researching, and practicing as an archaeologist in the twenty-first century. At its heart, this book addresses the marketization of higher education, demonstrating how this fundamentally impacts contemporary archaeological practice. The book proposes a solution which is grounded in a theoretical rethinking of archaeological teaching, training, and practice. Archaeology is currently undergoing a material turn which sees the revaluing of artefacts, objects, and the non-human in understanding the world. Drawing upon this, Cobb and Croucher approach the discipline as a subject of investigation and offer a new perspective founded upon the notion of learning assemblages. The holistic approach they propose challenges traditional power structures and the global marketization of the higher education system. The issues addressed here are global and applicable wherever archaeology is taught, practiced, and researched. This book is therefore valuable to all archaeologists, from academics to those in Cultural Resource Management, from heritage professionals to undergraduate students, and provides significant insights for educators throughout higher education