Sample records for gaps incident reporting

  1. Patient Safety Incident Reporting: Current Trends and Gaps Within the Canadian Health System.

    PubMed

    Boucaud, Sarah; Dorschner, Danielle

    2016-01-01

    Patient safety incidents are a national-level phenomenon, requiring a pan-Canadian approach to ensure that incidents are reported and lessons are learned and broadly disseminated. This work explores the variation in current provincial and local approaches to reporting through a literature review. Trends are consolidated and recommendations are offered to foster better alignment of existing systems. These include adopting a common terminology, defining the patient role in reporting, increasing system users' perception of safety and further investigating the areas of home and community care in ensuring standard approaches at the local level. These steps can promote alignment, reducing barriers to a future pan-Canadian reporting and learning system.

  2. Prospective risk analysis prior to retrospective incident reporting and analysis as a means to enhance incident reporting behaviour: a quasi-experimental field study.

    PubMed

    Kessels-Habraken, Marieke; De Jonge, Jan; Van der Schaaf, Tjerk; Rutte, Christel

    2010-05-01

    Hospitals can apply prospective and retrospective methods to reduce the large number of medical errors. Retrospective methods are used to identify errors after they occur and to facilitate learning. Prospective methods aim to determine, assess and minimise risks before incidents happen. This paper questions whether the order of implementation of those two methods influences the resultant impact on incident reporting behaviour. From November 2007 until June 2008, twelve wards of two Dutch general hospitals participated in a quasi-experimental reversed-treatment non-equivalent control group design. The six units of Hospital 1 first conducted a prospective analysis, after which a sophisticated incident reporting and analysis system was implemented. On the six units of Hospital 2 the two methods were implemented in reverse order. Data from the incident reporting and analysis system and from a questionnaire were used to assess between-hospital differences regarding the number of reported incidents, the spectrum of reported incident types, and the profession of reporters. The results show that carrying out a prospective analysis first can improve incident reporting behaviour in terms of a wider spectrum of reported incident types and a larger proportion of incidents reported by doctors. However, the proposed order does not necessarily yield a larger number of reported incidents. This study fills an important gap in safety management research regarding the order of the implementation of prospective and retrospective methods, and contributes to literature on incident reporting. This research also builds on the network theory of social contagion. The results might indicate that health care employees can disseminate their risk perceptions through communication with their direct colleagues. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  3. Reporting Pesticide Incidents

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    Pesticides incidents must be reported by pesticide registrants. Others, such as members of the public and environmental professionals, would like to report pesticide incidents. This website will facilitate such incident reporting.

  4. Can incident reporting improve safety? Healthcare practitioners' views of the effectiveness of incident reporting.

    PubMed

    Anderson, Janet E; Kodate, Naonori; Walters, Rhiannon; Dodds, Anneliese

    2013-04-01

    Recent critiques of incident reporting suggest that its role in managing safety has been over emphasized. The objective of this study was to examine the perceived effectiveness of incident reporting in improving safety in mental health and acute hospital settings by asking staff about their perceptions and experiences. Qualitative research design using documentary analysis and semi-structured interviews. Two large teaching hospitals in London; one providing acute and the other mental healthcare. Sixty-two healthcare practitioners with experience of reporting and analysing incidents. Incident reporting was perceived as having a positive effect on safety, not only by leading to changes in care processes but also by changing staff attitudes and knowledge. Staff discussed examples of both instrumental and conceptual uses of the knowledge generated by incident reports. There are difficulties in using incident reports to improve safety in healthcare at all stages of the incident reporting process. Differences in the risks encountered and the organizational systems developed in the two hospitals to review reported incidents could be linked to the differences we found in attitudes to incident reporting between the two hospitals. Incident reporting can be a powerful tool for developing and maintaining an awareness of risks in healthcare practice. Using incident reports to improve care is challenging and the study highlighted the complexities involved and the difficulties faced by staff in learning from incident data.

  5. Medication incident reporting in residential aged care facilities: Limitations and risks to residents’ safety

    PubMed Central

    2012-01-01

    Background Medication incident reporting (MIR) is a key safety critical care process in residential aged care facilities (RACFs). Retrospective studies of medication incident reports in aged care have identified the inability of existing MIR processes to generate information that can be used to enhance residents’ safety. However, there is little existing research that investigates the limitations of the existing information exchange process that underpins MIR, despite the considerable resources that RACFs’ devote to the MIR process. The aim of this study was to undertake an in-depth exploration of the information exchange process involved in MIR and identify factors that inhibit the collection of meaningful information in RACFs. Methods The study was undertaken in three RACFs (part of a large non-profit organisation) in NSW, Australia. A total of 23 semi-structured interviews and 62 hours of observation sessions were conducted between May to July 2011. The qualitative data was iteratively analysed using a grounded theory approach. Results The findings highlight significant gaps in the design of the MIR artefacts as well as information exchange issues in MIR process execution. Study results emphasized the need to: a) design MIR artefacts that facilitate identification of the root causes of medication incidents, b) integrate the MIR process within existing information systems to overcome key gaps in information exchange execution, and c) support exchange of information that can facilitate a multi-disciplinary approach to medication incident management in RACFs. Conclusions This study highlights the advantages of viewing MIR process holistically rather than as segregated tasks, as a means to identify gaps in information exchange that need to be addressed in practice to improve safety critical processes. PMID:23122411

  6. Critical incident reporting and learning.

    PubMed

    Mahajan, R P

    2010-07-01

    The success of incident reporting in improving safety, although obvious in aviation and other high-risk industries, is yet to be seen in health-care systems. An incident reporting system which would improve patient safety would allow front-end clinicians to have easy access for reporting an incident with an understanding that their report will be handled in a non-punitive manner, and that it will lead to enhanced learning regarding the causation of the incident and systemic changes which will prevent it from recurring. At present, significant problems remain with local and national incident reporting systems. These include fear of punitive action, poor safety culture in an organization, lack of understanding among clinicians about what should be reported, lack of awareness of how the reported incidents will be analysed, and how will the reports ultimately lead to changes which will improve patient safety. In particular, lack of systematic analysis of the reports and feedback directly to the clinicians are seen as major barriers to clinical engagement. In this review, robust systematic methodology of analysing incidents is discussed. This methodology is based on human factors model, and the learning paradigm which emphasizes significant shift from traditional judicial approach to understanding how 'latent errors' may play a role in a chain of events which can set up an 'active error' to occur. Feedback directly to the clinicians is extremely important for keeping them 'in the loop' for their continued engagement, and it should target different levels of analyses. In addition to high-level information on the types of incidents, the feedback should incorporate results of the analyses of active and latent factors. Finally, it should inform what actions, and at what level/stage, have been taken in response to the reported incidents. For this, local and national systems will be required to work in close cooperation, so that the lessons can be learnt and actions taken

  7. Second-harmonic generation at angular incidence in a negative-positive index photonic band-gap structure.

    PubMed

    D'Aguanno, Giuseppe; Mattiucci, Nadia; Scalora, Michael; Bloemer, Mark J

    2006-08-01

    In the spectral region where the refractive index of the negative index material is approximately zero, at oblique incidence, the linear transmission of a finite structure composed of alternating layers of negative and positive index materials manifests the formation of a new type of band gap with exceptionally narrow band-edge resonances. In particular, for TM-polarized (transverse magnetic) incident waves, field values that can be achieved at the band edge may be much higher compared to field values achievable in standard photonic band-gap structures. We exploit the unique properties of these band-edge resonances for applications to nonlinear frequency conversion, second-harmonic generation, in particular. The simultaneous availability of high field localization and phase matching conditions may be exploited to achieve second-harmonic conversion efficiencies far better than those achievable in conventional photonic band-gap structures. Moreover, we study the role played by absorption within the negative index material, and find that the process remains efficient even for relatively high values of the absorption coefficient.

  8. Attitudes and perceived barriers influencing incident reporting by nurses and their correlation with reported incidents: A systematic review.

    PubMed

    Fung, Wing Mei; Koh, Serena Siew Lin; Chow, Yeow Leng

    Clinical incident reporting is an integral feature of risk management system in the healthcare sector. By reporting clinical incidents, nurses allow for learning from errors, identification of error patterns and development of error preventive strategies. The need to understand attitudes to reporting, perceived barriers and incident reporting patterns by nurses are the core highlights of this review. INCLUSION CRITERIA: This review considered descriptive quantitative studies that examined nurses' attitudes or perceived barriers towards incident reporting.The participants in this review were nurses working in acute care settings or step-down care settings. Studies that included non-nursing healthcare personnel were excluded.This review considered studies which examined nurses' attitudes towards incident reporting, perceived barriers and incident reporting practices.The outcomes of interest were the attitudes that nurses have towards incident reporting, perceived barriers and the types of reported incidents in correlation with nurses' attitudes and barriers. A three-step search strategy was utilised in this review. An initial limited search of CINAHL and MEDLINE was undertaken. Search strategies were then developed using identified keywords and index terms. Lastly, the reference lists of all identified articles were examined. All searches were limited to studies published in English, between 1991 and 2010. The studies were independently assessed by two reviewers using the Joanna Briggs Institute Critical Appraisal Checklist for Descriptive/ Case Series studies. The reviewers extracted data independently from included studies using the Joanna Briggs Institute Data Extraction Form for Descriptive/ Case Series studies. Due to the descriptive nature of the study designs, statistical pooling was not possible. Therefore, the findings of this systematic review are presented in a narrative summary. Fifty-five papers were identified from the searches based on their titles and

  9. Critical incident reporting in emergency medicine: results of the prehospital reports.

    PubMed

    Hohenstein, Christian; Hempel, Dorothea; Schultheis, Kerstin; Lotter, Oliver; Fleischmann, Thomas

    2014-05-01

    Medical errors frequently contribute to morbidity and mortality. Prehospital emergency medicine is prone to incidents that can lead to immediate deadly consequences. Critical incident reporting can identify typical problems and be the basis for structured risk management in order to reduce and mitigate these incidents. We set up a free access internet website for German-speaking countries, with an anonymous reporting system for emergency medical services personnel. After a 7-year study period, an expert team analysed and classified the incidents into staff related, equipment related, organisation and tactics, or other. 845 reports were entered in the study period. Physicians reported 44% of incidents, paramedics 42%. Most patients were in a life-threatening or potentially life-threatening situation (82%), and only 53% of all incidents had no influence on the outcome of the patient. Staff-related problems were responsible for 56% of the incidents, when it came to harm, 78% of these incidents were staff related. Incident reporting in prehospital emergency medicine can identify system weaknesses. Most of the incidents were reported during care of patients in life-threatening conditions with a high impact on patient outcome. Staff-related problems contributed to the most frequent and most severe incidents. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

  10. Melanoma reporting to central cancer registries by US dermatologists: an analysis of the persistent knowledge and practice gap.

    PubMed

    Cartee, Todd V; Kini, Seema P; Chen, Suephy C

    2011-11-01

    Every state requires diagnosing physicians to report new cases of melanoma to its central cancer registry. Previous regional studies and anecdotal experience suggest that few dermatologists are cognizant of this obligation. This oversight could result in a large number of unreported melanomas annually and, in turn, US melanoma statistics that markedly underestimate the true incidence of the disease. We sought to quantify the percentage of dermatologists who are unaware of melanoma reporting requirements (the knowledge gap) and who are not reporting melanoma diagnoses (the practice gap). We also sought to delineate factors predictive of reporting knowledge and behavior. A survey was administered to attendees of the Cutaneous Oncology Symposium at the 2010 American Academy of Dermatology annual meeting. In all, 104 of 419 eligible attendees completed surveys (response rate 26%). Fifty percent of respondents do not believe they are required to report melanomas and 56% do not actively report their diagnoses to a registry. Practice duration of less than 10 years was significantly associated with both a knowledge gap (P = .047) and practice gap (P = .056). Similarly, dermatologists who diagnosed fewer than 10 melanomas per year were more likely to possess a knowledge gap (P = .096) and a practice gap (P = .087) than those who diagnosed more than 10. Limitations include small sample size and low response rate. A majority of dermatologists are not reporting melanomas they diagnose to a cancer registry, and half of those surveyed were not aware that diagnosing physicians are required to report melanoma. Copyright © 2011 American Academy of Dermatology, Inc. Published by Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

  11. Customer behavior relative to gap between platform and train : final report, July 2009.

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    2009-07-01

    Managing gap safety at the train platform interface has been an on-going concern for passenger : rail systems. The major questions this research seeks to answer are what customer behaviors are : associated with the risk of gap injury incidents and wh...

  12. A critical incident reporting system in anaesthesia.

    PubMed

    Madzimbamuto, F D; Chiware, R

    2001-01-01

    To audit the recently established Critical Incident Reporting System in the Department of Anaesthesia and Critical Care Medicine, University of Zimbabwe Medical School. The system was set up with the purpose of improving the quality of care delivered by the department. Cross sectional study. A critical incident was defined as 'any adverse and reversible event in theatre, during or immediately after surgery that if it persisted without correction would cause harm to the patient'. The anaesthetic or recovery room staff filled a critical incident form anonymously. Data was collected from critical incident reporting forms for analysis. The anaesthetic service in the two teaching hospitals of Harare Central and Parirenyatwa General Hospitals. Between May and October 2000, 62 completed critical incident forms were collected. The nature of the incident and the monitoring used were recorded, the cause was classified as human, equipment or monitoring failure and the outcome for each patient reported. There was no formal system for reminding staff to fill in their critical incident forms. A total of 14,165 operations were performed over the reporting period: 62 critical incident forms were collected, reporting 130 incidents, giving a rate of 0.92% (130/14,165). Of these, 42 patients were emergencies and 20 elective. The incidents were hypotension, hypoxia, bradycardia, ECG changes, aspiration, laryngospasm, high spinal, and cardiac arrest. Monitoring present on patients who had critical incidents was: capnography 57%, oxymetry 90% and ECG 100%. Other monitors are not reported. Human error contributed in 32/62 of patients and equipment failure in 31/62 of patients. Patient outcome showed 15% died, 23% were unplanned admissions to HDU while 62% were discharged to the ward with little or no adverse outcome. Despite some under reporting, the critical incident rate was within the range reported in the literature. Supervision of juniors is not adequate, especially on call. The

  13. Lexington incident detection system evaluation report : final report.

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    2005-11-01

    This report describes the evaluation of an experimental incident detection system implemented within the Lexington/Fayette County area by the Lexington Fayette Urban County Government Department of Traffic Engineering. The incident detection system i...

  14. Semantic Theme Analysis of Pilot Incident Reports

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Thirumalainambi, Rajkumar

    2009-01-01

    Pilots report accidents or incidents during take-off, on flight and landing to airline authorities and Federal aviation authority as well. The description of pilot reports for an incident contains technical terms related to Flight instruments and operations. Normal text mining approaches collect keywords from text documents and relate them among documents that are stored in database. Present approach will extract specific theme analysis of incident reports and semantically relate hierarchy of terms assigning weights of themes. Once the theme extraction has been performed for a given document, a unique key can be assigned to that document to cross linking the documents. Semantic linking will be used to categorize the documents based on specific rules that can help an end-user to analyze certain types of accidents. This presentation outlines the architecture of text mining for pilot incident reports for autonomous categorization of pilot incident reports using semantic theme analysis.

  15. Nursing home report card and performance gap.

    PubMed

    Kim, Ae-Sook

    2016-01-01

    With the aging of our society, concerns about the quality of nursing homes have been increasing. The Nursing Home Compare (NHC) report card is believed to reduce information asymmetry between the facility and potential residents and, consequently, improve nursing home quality. However, there is limited evidence about how nursing homes use this publicly disseminated performance information. The aim of this study was to analyze the performance gap between nursing home administrators' self-assessment and the NHC report card performance ratings and explore the factors contributing to the gap. All 515 Medicare- and Medicaid-certified nursing homes in Indiana were surveyed between August and December 2013. The response rate was approximately 45%. The survey data were compared with the NHC data to identify the gap. Ordered logistic regression analysis was conducted. Despite voluntary participation, a reasonably high response rate, and anonymity, this study found that 62% of respondents either under- or overrated their facilities' performance, with the majority overrating their performance. The following factors were associated with a smaller performance gap: nonprofit or government-owned status, higher staffing levels, a higher percentage of hours worked by registered nurses, and a higher market concentration. Longer work experience and greater county occupancy rates were associated with a larger performance gap. The significant gap implies that administrators either do not regularly review the NHC report card or do not concur with the NHC ratings. To reduce the gap and thereby improve performance, it is necessary to stabilize the administrators' position so that administrators know how they stand in the market and are consequently better equipped to successfully respond to the market. Facilities may also need to provide regular training on current technologies and facilitate use of the NHC report card, targeting administrators who are old and have many years of work

  16. Evaluating the diagnostic gap: statewide incidence of undiagnosed critical congenital heart disease before newborn screening with pulse oximetry.

    PubMed

    Mouledoux, Jessica H; Walsh, William F

    2013-10-01

    Screening for critical congenital heart disease (CCHD) using pulse oximetry has been endorsed by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Heart Association. We sought to determine the incidence of undetected CCHD in Tennessee and the diagnostic gap of CCHD in Middle Tennessee prior to screening implementation. The Tennessee Initiative for Perinatal Quality Care (TIPQC) Undetected CCHD Registry is a quality improvement initiative established to identify neonates discharged from the nursery with undetected CCHD. The TIPQC database was queried and a simultaneous review of all neonates with CCHD in the Middle Tennessee region was performed to define the incidence and identify the pre-screen diagnostic gap of undetected CCHD at the time of hospital discharge. In 2011, of 79,462 live births in Tennessee, 12 newborns had undiagnosed CCHD (incidence 15 per 100,000; 95 % CI 9-26 per 100,000). Nine of 12 (75 %) had coarctation of the aorta (CoA). There were no deaths due to undiagnosed CCHD. In the Middle Tennessee region, 6 of 45 neonates with CCHD were missed, for a diagnostic gap of 13 % (95 % CI 6-26 %). Prior to implementation of CCHD screening using pulse oximetry, 12 Tennessee neonates with CCHD were missed by prenatal ultrasound and newborn examination. CoA was the most common lesion missed and is also the CCHD most likely to be missed despite addition of screening using pulse oximetry. Continued evaluation of the diagnostic gap with particular attention to missed diagnoses of CoA should accompany institution of CCHD screening programs.

  17. SU-E-P-07: Retrospective Analysis of Incident Reports at a Radiology Department: Feedback From Incident Reporting System

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Kakinohana, Y; Toita, T; Heianna, J

    Purpose: To provide an overview of reported incidents that occurred in a radiology department and to describe the most common causal source of incidents. Methods: Incident reports from the radiology department at the University of the Ryukyus Hospital between 2008 and 2013 were collected and analyzed retrospectively. The incident report form contains the following items, causal factors of the incident and desirable corrective actions to prevent recurrence of similar incidents. These items allow the institution to investigate/analyze root causes of the incidents and suggest measures to be taken to prevent further, similar incidents. The ‘causal factors of the incident’ itemmore » comprises multiple selections from among 24 selections and includes some synonymous selections. In this study, this item was re-categorized into four causal source types: (i) carelessness, (ii) lack of skill or knowledge, (iii) deficiencies in communication, and (iv) external factors. Results: There were a total of 7490 incident reports over the study period and 276 (3.7%) were identified as originating from the radiology department. The most frequent causal source type was carelessness (62%). The other three types showed similar frequencies (10–14%). The staff members involved in incidents indicate three predominant desirable corrective actions to prevent or decrease the recurrence of similar incidents. These are ‘improvement in communication’ (24%), ‘staff training/education’ (19%), and ‘daily medical procedures’ (22%), and the most frequent was ‘improvement in communication’. Even though the most frequent causal factor was related to carelessness, the most desirable corrective action indicated by the staff members was related to communication. Conclusion: Our finding suggests that the most immediate causes are strongly related to carelessness. However, the most likely underlying causes of incidents would be related to deficiencies in effective communication. At

  18. 49 CFR 225.11 - Reporting of accidents/incidents.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... 49 Transportation 4 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Reporting of accidents/incidents. 225.11 Section... ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION RAILROAD ACCIDENTS/INCIDENTS: REPORTS CLASSIFICATION, AND INVESTIGATIONS § 225.11 Reporting of accidents/incidents. (a) Each railroad subject to this part shall submit to...

  19. 49 CFR 225.11 - Reporting of accidents/incidents.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... 49 Transportation 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Reporting of accidents/incidents. 225.11 Section... ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION RAILROAD ACCIDENTS/INCIDENTS: REPORTS CLASSIFICATION, AND INVESTIGATIONS § 225.11 Reporting of accidents/incidents. Each railroad subject to this part shall submit to FRA...

  20. Evaluation of the National Gap Analysis Program (GAP): survey of users of GAP data: report to respondents

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Ratz, Joan M.

    2014-01-01

    This report provides a summary of responses to the questions included in a survey of individuals who use or have used data created and provided by the U.S. Geological Survey National Gap Analysis Program (GAP). The survey was commissioned by the GAP main office and was conducted by U.S. Geological Survey personnel in the Policy Analysis and Science Assistance branch. The data collection process started on September 18, 2012, and ended on November 9, 2012. The dataset includes the responses from 359 individuals. The adjusted response rate for the survey was 35 percent. This report provides a summary of results for the survey questions in the order in which the questions were asked. The text of comments provided by respondents to open-ended questions is provided.

  1. C2-Related Incidents Reported by UAS Pilots

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Hobbs, Alan; Cardoza, Colleen; Null, Cynthia

    2016-01-01

    It has been estimated that aviation accidents are typically preceded by numerous minor incidents arising from the same causal factors that ultimately produced the accident. Accident databases provide in-depth information on a relatively small number of occurrences, however incident databases have the potential to provide insights into the human factors of Remotely Piloted Aircraft System (RPAS) operations based on a larger volume of less-detailed reports. Currently, there is a lack of incident data dealing with the human factors of unmanned aircraft systems. An exploratory study is being conducted to examine the feasibility of collecting voluntary critical incident reports from RPAS pilots. Twenty-three experienced RPAS pilots volunteered to participate in focus groups in which they described critical incidents from their own experience. Participants were asked to recall (1) incidents that revealed a system flaw, or (2) highlighted a case where the human operator contributed to system resilience or mission success. Participants were asked to only report incidents that could be included in a public document. During each focus group session, a note taker produced a de-identified written record of the incident narratives. At the end of the session, participants reviewed each written incident report, and made edits and corrections as necessary. The incidents were later analyzed to identify contributing factors, with a focus on design issues that either hindered or assisted the pilot during the events. A total of 90 incidents were reported. This presentation focuses on incidents that involved the management of the command and control (C2) link. The identified issues include loss of link, interference from undesired transmissions, voice latency, accidental control transfer, and the use of the lost link timer, or lost link OK features.

  2. 33 CFR 150.830 - Reporting a pollution incident.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... 33 Navigation and Navigable Waters 2 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Reporting a pollution incident. 150.830 Section 150.830 Navigation and Navigable Waters COAST GUARD, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY... pollution incident. Oil pollution incidents involving a deepwater port are reported according to §§ 135.305...

  3. 33 CFR 150.830 - Reporting a pollution incident.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... 33 Navigation and Navigable Waters 2 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Reporting a pollution incident. 150.830 Section 150.830 Navigation and Navigable Waters COAST GUARD, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY... pollution incident. Oil pollution incidents involving a deepwater port are reported according to §§ 135.305...

  4. 33 CFR 150.830 - Reporting a pollution incident.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-07-01

    ... 33 Navigation and Navigable Waters 2 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false Reporting a pollution incident. 150.830 Section 150.830 Navigation and Navigable Waters COAST GUARD, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY... pollution incident. Oil pollution incidents involving a deepwater port are reported according to §§ 135.305...

  5. 33 CFR 150.830 - Reporting a pollution incident.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-07-01

    ... 33 Navigation and Navigable Waters 2 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false Reporting a pollution incident. 150.830 Section 150.830 Navigation and Navigable Waters COAST GUARD, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY... pollution incident. Oil pollution incidents involving a deepwater port are reported according to §§ 135.305...

  6. 33 CFR 150.830 - Reporting a pollution incident.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-07-01

    ... 33 Navigation and Navigable Waters 2 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false Reporting a pollution incident. 150.830 Section 150.830 Navigation and Navigable Waters COAST GUARD, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY... pollution incident. Oil pollution incidents involving a deepwater port are reported according to §§ 135.305...

  7. EMS helicopter incidents reported to the NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Connell, Linda J.; Reynard, William D.

    1993-01-01

    The objectives of this evaluation were to: Identify the types of safety-related incidents reported to the Aviation Safety Reporting System (ASRS) in Emergency Medical Service (EMS) helicopter operations; Describe the operational conditions surrounding these incidents, such as weather, airspace, flight phase, time of day; and Assess the contribution to these incidents of selected human factors considerations, such as communication, distraction, time pressure, workload, and flight/duty impact.

  8. Development of Incident Report Database for Organizational Learning

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Otsuka, Yuichi; Abe, Tomotaka; Noguchi, Hiroshi; Makinouchi, Akifumi

    The necessity of an incident reporting system has recently been increasing for hospitals. Japan Council for Quality Health Care (JCQHC) started operating a national incident reporting system to which domestic hospitals would report their incidents. However, the reporting system obtained an additional problem for the hospitals. They managed their own systems which collected reports by papers. The purposes of the reporting systems was to analyze considerable causes involved in incidents to improve the quality of patient safety management. On the contrary, the national reporting system aimed at collecting a statistical tendency of normal incidents. Simultaneously operating the two systems would be too much workload for safety managers. The load may have the managers rest only a short time for summarizing occurrences, not enough for analyzing their causes. However, to the authors' knowledge, there has not been an integrating policy of the two forms to adapt them to practical situations in patient safety management. The scope of this paper is to establish the integrated form in order to use in analyzing the causes of incidents as well as reporting for the national system. We have developed new data base system using XML + XSLT and Java Servlet. The developed system is composed of three computers; DB server , DB client and Data sending server. To investigate usability of the developed system, we conducted a monitoring test by real workers in reporting workplaces. The result of subjective evaluations by examinees was so preferable for the developed system. The results of usability test and the achievement of increasing the number of reports after the introduction can demonstrate the enough effectiveness of the developed system for supporting the activity of patient safety management.

  9. 46 CFR 148.115 - Report of incidents.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-10-01

    ... 46 Shipping 5 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false Report of incidents. 148.115 Section 148.115 Shipping COAST GUARD, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY (CONTINUED) DANGEROUS CARGOES CARRIAGE OF BULK SOLID MATERIALS THAT REQUIRE SPECIAL HANDLING Minimum Transportation Requirements § 148.115 Report of incidents. (a) When a fire or other hazardous condition...

  10. How to Report a Pesticide Incident Involving Exposures to People

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    Pesticides incidents must be reported by pesticide registrants. Others, such as members of the public and environmental professionals, would like to report pesticide incidents. This website will facilitate such incident reporting.

  11. Incident reporting in one UK accident and emergency department.

    PubMed

    Tighe, Catherine M; Woloshynowych, Maria; Brown, Ruth; Wears, Bob; Vincent, Charles

    2006-01-01

    Greater focus is needed on improving patient safety in modern healthcare systems and the first step to achieving this is to reliably identify the safety issues arising in healthcare. Research has shown the accident and emergency (A&E) department to be a particularly problematic environment where safety is a concern due to various factors, such as the range, nature and urgency of presenting conditions and the high turnover of patients. As in all healthcare environments clinical incident reporting in A&E is an important tool for detecting safety issues which can result in identifying solutions, learning from error and enhancing patient safety. This tool must be responsive and flexible to the local circumstances and work for the department to support the clinical governance agenda. In this paper, we describe the local processes for reporting and reviewing clinical incidents in one A&E department in a London teaching hospital and report recent changes to the system within the department. We used the historical data recorded on the Trust incident database as a representation of the information that would be available to the department in order to identify the high risk areas. In this paper, we evaluate the internal processes, the information available on the database and make recommendations to assist the emergency department in their internal processes. These will strengthen the internal review and staff feedback system so that the department can learn from incidents in a consistent manner. The process was reviewed by detailed examination of the centrally held electronic record (Datix database) of all incidents reported in a one year period. The nature of the incident and the level and accuracy of information provided in the incident reports was evaluated. There were positive aspects to the established system including evidence of positive changes made as a result of the reporting process, new initiatives to feedback to staff, and evolution of the programme for

  12. Length of nerve gap defects correlates with incidence of nerve regeneration but not with recovery of taste function in patients with severed chorda tympani nerve.

    PubMed

    Saito, Takehisa; Narita, Norihiko; Yamada, Takechiyo; Ogi, Kazuhiro; Kanno, Masafumi; Manabe, Yasuhiro; Ito, Tetsufumi

    2011-10-01

    To evaluate the relationship between the length of nerve gap defects, incidence of nerve regeneration, and recovery of gustatory function after severing the chorda tympani nerve (CTN). Retrospective study. University hospital. Eighty-eight consecutive patients whose CTNs were severed during primary surgery and who underwent secondary surgery were included. Proximal and distal stumps of severed nerves were readapted or approximated during surgery. Therapeutic. Before and after surgery, the taste function was periodically evaluated using electrogustometry. Nerve gaps were classified into 4 groups: readaptation (Group 1), 1 to 3 mm (Group 2), 4 to 6 mm (Group 3), and more than 7 mm (Group 4). Regenerated nerves in the tympanic segment were detected in 36 (41%) of the 88 patients during secondary surgery. The incidence of nerve regeneration was 100% (10/10) in Group 1, 45% (10/22) in Group 2, 47% (9/19) in Group 3, and 19% (7/37) in Group 4. There was a significant difference between the length of nerve gap defects and incidence of nerve regeneration (p < 0.001). In the 36 patients with a regenerated CTN, the incidence of gustatory function recovery was 60% (6/10) in Group 1, 50% (5/10) in Group 2, 56% (5/9) in Group 3, and 43% (3/7) in Group 4. There was no significant difference between the length of nerve gap defects and incidence of taste function recovery. Reconstruction of a severed CTN is very important for regeneration. However, the regenerated CTN in the tympanic segment does not always reinnervate the fungiform papillae.

  13. The effect of nerve section on the incidence and distribution of gap junctions in the odontoblast layer of the cat.

    PubMed

    Holland, G R

    1987-08-01

    Gap junctions are numerous in the odontoblast layer of the dental pulp and may link sensory axons to odontoblasts. If these junctions do link axons and odontoblasts, they, together with the axons, should disappear after cutting the pulpal nerves centrally. Under general anesthesia the inferior alveolar nerve on one side of two young adult cats was sectioned. Under general anesthesia the animals were perfused with fixative 56 hours later and the coronal dental pulp prepared for electron microscopy. Ultrathin sections were examined from the level of the pulpal cornu and levels approximately one, two, and three mm below this. The incidence of cell processes and gap junctions was measured at different distances from the pulp predentin junction, and operated and control sides compared. The odontoblast layer at the level of the cornu differed from elsewhere in having, on the control side, a greater density of cell processes and gap junctions and in having clearly recognizable axons approaching to within 5 to 10 micron of the predentin. The only statistically significant changes after nerve section occurred in this layer and consisted of a decline in the incidence of cell processes and of gap junctions that link one cell process to another. There was no significant difference between the operated and control sides in the number of gap junctions linking cell processes to recognizable cell bodies. The odontoblast layer in the pulpal cornu contained substantial numbers of unsheathed axons, many presumably en route to the dentin. These axons may participate in gap junctions that link them to other cell processes, possibly even other axons.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

  14. Under-reporting of violent incidents against nursing staff.

    PubMed

    Ferns, Terry

    This article examines factors that contribute to nurses failing to report incidents of violence and aggression in the clinical area and it develops the information published in a previous article (Ferns and Chojnacka 2005). Broader social factors are considered, including gender, violence experienced by women, the status of the nursing profession and bureaucratic structures that contribute to under-reporting. The life experiences of individual nursing staff play a significant role in how they react to violence in the clinical area. Strategies to minimise violence against nurses should consider the social, political and personal issues that limit the reporting of violent incidents. Only by reporting such incidents can the extent of violence towards nurses be determined and minimised.

  15. Implementation of a critical incident reporting system in a neurosurgical department.

    PubMed

    Kantelhardt, P; Müller, M; Giese, A; Rohde, V; Kantelhardt, S R

    2011-02-01

    Critical incident monitoring is an important tool for quality improvement and the maintenance of high safety standards. It was developed for aviation safety and is now widely accepted as a useful tool to reduce medical care-related morbidity and mortality. Despite this widespread acceptance, the literature has no reports on any neurosurgical applications of critical incident monitoring. We describe the introduction of a mono-institutional critical incident reporting system in a neurosurgical department. Furthermore, we have developed a formula to assess possible counterstrategies. All staff members of a neurosurgical department were advised to report critical incidents. The anonymous reporting form contained a box for the description of the incident, several multiple-choice questions on specific risk factors, place and reason for occurrence of the incident, severity of the consequences and suggested counterstrategies. The incident data was entered into an online documentation system (ADKA DokuPik) and evaluated by an external specialist. For data analysis we applied a modified assessment scheme initially designed for flight safety. Data collection was started in September 2008. The average number of reported incidents was 18 per month (currently 216 in total). Most incidents occurred on the neurosurgical ward (64%). Human error was involved in 86% of the reported incidents. The largest group of incidents consisted of medication-related problems. Accordingly, counterstrategies were developed, resulting in a decrease in the relative number of reported medication-related incidents from 42% (March 09) to 30% (September 09). Implementation of the critical incident reporting system presented no technical problems. The reporting rate was high compared to that reported in the current literature. The formulation, evaluation and introduction of specific counterstrategies to guard against selected groups of incidents may improve patient safety in neurosurgical departments.

  16. The development of an incident event reporting system for nursing students.

    PubMed

    Chiou, Shwu-Fen; Huang, Ean-Wen; Chuang, Jen-Hsiang

    2009-01-01

    Incident events may occur when nursing students are present in the clinical setting. Their inexperience and unfamiliarity with clinical practice put them at risk for making mistakes that could potentially harm patients and themselves. However, there are deficiencies with incident event reporting systems, including incomplete data and delayed reports. The purpose of this study was to develop an incident event reporting system for nursing students in clinical settings and evaluate its effectiveness. This study was undertaken in three phases. In the first phase, a literature review and focus groups were used to develop the architecture of the reporting system. In the second phase, the reporting system was implemented. Data from incident events that involved nursing students were collected for a 12-month period. In the third phase, a pre-post trial was undertaken to evaluate the performance of the reporting system. The ASP.NET software and Microsoft Access 2003 were used to create an interactive web-based interface and design a database for the reporting system. Email notifications alerted the nursing student's teacher when an incident event was reported. One year after installing the reporting system, the number of reported incident events increased tenfold. However, the time to report the incident event and the time required to complete the reporting procedures were shorter than before implementation of the reporting system. The incident event reporting system appeared to be effective in more comprehensively reporting the number of incident events and shorten the time required for reporting them compared to traditional written reports.

  17. Automatic Analysis of Critical Incident Reports: Requirements and Use Cases.

    PubMed

    Denecke, Kerstin

    2016-01-01

    Increasingly, critical incident reports are used as a means to increase patient safety and quality of care. The entire potential of these sources of experiential knowledge remains often unconsidered since retrieval and analysis is difficult and time-consuming, and the reporting systems often do not provide support for these tasks. The objective of this paper is to identify potential use cases for automatic methods that analyse critical incident reports. In more detail, we will describe how faceted search could offer an intuitive retrieval of critical incident reports and how text mining could support in analysing relations among events. To realise an automated analysis, natural language processing needs to be applied. Therefore, we analyse the language of critical incident reports and derive requirements towards automatic processing methods. We learned that there is a huge potential for an automatic analysis of incident reports, but there are still challenges to be solved.

  18. Factors that influence the recognition, reporting and resolution of incidents related to medical devices and other healthcare technologies: a systematic review.

    PubMed

    Polisena, Julie; Gagliardi, Anna; Urbach, David; Clifford, Tammy; Fiander, Michelle

    2015-03-29

    Medical devices have improved the treatment of many medical conditions. Despite their benefit, the use of devices can lead to unintended incidents, potentially resulting in unnecessary harm, injury or complications to the patient, a complaint, loss or damage. Devices are used in hospitals on a routine basis. Research to date, however, has been primarily limited to describing incidents rates, so the optimal design of a hospital-based surveillance system remains unclear. Our research objectives were twofold: i) to explore factors that influence device-related incident recognition, reporting and resolution and ii) to investigate interventions or strategies to improve the recognition, reporting and resolution of medical device-related incidents. We searched the bibliographic databases: MEDLINE, Embase, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials and PsycINFO database. Grey literature (literature that is not commercially available) was searched for studies on factors that influence incident recognition, reporting and resolution published and interventions or strategies for their improvement from 2003 to 2014. Although we focused on medical devices, other health technologies were eligible for inclusion. Thirty studies were included in our systematic review, but most studies were concentrated on other health technologies. The study findings indicate that fear of punishment, uncertainty of what should be reported and how incident reports will be used and time constraints to incident reporting are common barriers to incident recognition and reporting. Relevant studies on the resolution of medical errors were not found. Strategies to improve error reporting include the use of an electronic error reporting system, increased training and feedback to frontline clinicians about the reported error. The available evidence on factors influencing medical device-related incident recognition, reporting and resolution by healthcare professionals can inform data collection and

  19. A Descriptive Analysis of Incidents Reported by Community Aged Care Workers.

    PubMed

    Tariq, Amina; Douglas, Heather E; Smith, Cheryl; Georgiou, Andrew; Osmond, Tracey; Armour, Pauline; Westbrook, Johanna I

    2015-07-01

    Little is known about the types of incidents that occur to aged care clients in the community. This limits the development of effective strategies to improve client safety. The objective of the study was to present a profile of incidents reported in Australian community aged care settings. All incident reports made by community care workers employed by one of the largest community aged care provider organizations in Australia during the period November 1, 2012, to August 8, 2013, were analyzed. A total of 356 reports were analyzed, corresponding to a 7.5% incidence rate per client year. Falls and medication incidents were the most prevalent incident types. Clients receiving high-level care and those who attended day therapy centers had the highest rate of incidents with 14% to 20% of these clients having a reported incident. The incident profile indicates that clients on higher levels of care had higher incident rates. Incident data represent an opportunity to improve client safety in community aged care. © The Author(s) 2014.

  20. Incidents/accidents classification and reporting in Statoil.

    PubMed

    Berentsen, Rune; Holmboe, Rolf H

    2004-07-26

    Based on requirements in the new petroleum regulations from Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) and the realisation of a need to improve and rationalise the routines for reporting and follow up of incidents, Statoil Exploration & Production Norway (Statoil E&P Norway) has formulated a new strategy and process for handling of incidents/accidents. The following past experiences serve as basis for the changes made to incident reporting in Statoil E&P Norway; too much resources were spent on a comprehensive handling and analysis of a vast amount of incidents with less importance for the safety level, taking the focus away from the more severe and important issues at hand, the assessment of "Risk Factor", i.e. the combination of recurrence frequency and consequence, was difficult to use. The high degree of subjectivity involved in the determination of the "Risk Factor" (in particular the estimation of the recurrence frequency) resulted in poor data quality and lack of consistency in the data material. The new system for categorisation and handling of undesirable incidents was established in January 2002. The intention was to get a higher degree of focus on serious incidents (injuries, damages, loss and near misses), with a thorough handling and follow-up. This is reflected throughout the handling of the serious incidents, all the way from immediate notification of the incident, through investigation and follow-up of corrective and preventive actions. Simultaneously, it was also an objective to rationalise/simplify the handling of less serious incidents. These incidents are, however, subjected to analyses twice a year in order to utilize the learning opportunity that they also provide. A year after the introduction of this new system for categorisation and follow-up of undesirable incidents, Statoil's experiences are predominantly good; the intention to get a higher degree of focus on serious incidents (injuries, damages, loss and near misses), has been met, the data

  1. 78 FR 14877 - Pipeline Safety: Incident and Accident Reports

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2013-03-07

    ... DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration [Docket ID PHMSA-2013-0028] Pipeline Safety: Incident and Accident Reports AGENCY: Pipeline and Hazardous Materials... PHMSA F 7100.2--Incident Report--Natural and Other Gas Transmission and Gathering Pipeline Systems and...

  2. Sci-Fri AM: Quality, Safety, and Professional Issues 06: An Evaluation of Incident Reporting and Learning using the Canadian National System for Incident Reporting – Radiation Treatment

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Montgomery, Logan; Kildea, John

    We report on the development and clinical deployment of an in-house incident reporting and learning system that implements the taxonomy of the Canadian National System for Incident Reporting – Radiation Treatment (NSIR-RT). In producing our new system, we aimed to: Analyze actual incidents, as well as potentially dangerous latent conditions. Produce recommendations on the NSIR-RT taxonomy. Incorporate features to divide reporting responsibility among clinical staff and expedite incident categorization within the NSIR-RT framework. Share anonymized incident data with the national database. Our multistep incident reporting workflow is focused around an initial report and a detailed follow-up investigation. An investigator, chosenmore » at the time of reporting, is tasked with performing the investigation. The investigation feature is connected to our electronic medical records database to allow automatic field population and quick reference of patient and treatment information. Additional features include a robust visualization suite, as well as the ability to flag incidents for discussion at monthly Risk Management meetings and task ameliorating actions to staff. Our system was deployed into clinical use in January 2016. Over the first three months of use, 45 valid incidents were reported; 31 of which were reported as actual incidents as opposed to near-misses or reportable circumstances. However, we suspect there is ambiguity within our centre in determining the appropriate event type, which may be arising from the taxonomy itself. Preliminary trending analysis aided in revealing workflow issues pertaining to storage of treatment accessories and treatment planning delays. Extensive analysis will be undertaken as more data are accrued.« less

  3. School Counselors: Closing Achievement Gaps and Writing Results Reports

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hartline, Julie; Cobia, Debra

    2012-01-01

    Charged with closing the achievement gap for marginalized students, school counselors need to be able to identify gaps, develop interventions, evaluate effectiveness, and share results. This study examined 100 summary results reports submitted by school counselors after having received four days of training on the ASCA National Model. Findings…

  4. General practitioner reported incidence of Lyme carditis in the Netherlands.

    PubMed

    Hofhuis, A; Arend, S M; Davids, C J; Tukkie, R; van Pelt, W

    2015-11-01

    Between 1994 and 2009, incidence rates of general practitioner (GP) consultations for tick bites and erythema migrans, the most common early manifestation of Lyme borreliosis, have increased substantially in the Netherlands. The current article aims to estimate and validate the incidence of GP-reported Lyme carditis in the Netherlands. We sent a questionnaire to all GPs in the Netherlands on clinical diagnoses of Lyme borreliosis in 2009 and 2010. To validate and adjust the obtained incidence rate, medical records of cases of Lyme carditis reported by GPs in this incidence survey were reviewed and categorised according to likelihood of the diagnosis of Lyme carditis. Lyme carditis occurred in 0.2 % of all patients with GP-reported Lyme borreliosis. The adjusted annual incidence was six GP-reported cases of Lyme carditis per 10 million inhabitants, i.e. approximately ten cases per year in 2009 and 2010. We report the first incidence estimate for Lyme carditis in the Netherlands, validated by a systematic review of the medical records. Although Lyme carditis is an uncommon manifestation of Lyme borreliosis, physicians need to be aware of this diagnosis, in particular in countries where the incidence of Lyme borreliosis has increased during the past decades.

  5. Concept-Based Retrieval from Critical Incident Reports.

    PubMed

    Denecke, Kerstin

    2017-01-01

    Critical incident reporting systems (CIRS) are used as a means to collect anonymously entered information of incidents that occurred for example in a hospital. Analyzing this information helps to identify among others problems in the workflow, in the infrastructure or in processes. The entire potential of these sources of experiential knowledge remains often unconsidered since retrieval of relevant reports and their analysis is difficult and time-consuming, and the reporting systems often do not provide support for these tasks. The objective of this work is to develop a method for retrieving reports from the CIRS related to a specific user query. atural language processing (NLP) and information retrieval (IR) methods are exploited for realizing the retrieval. We compare standard retrieval methods that rely upon frequency of words with an approach that includes a semantic mapping of natural language to concepts of a medical ontology. By an evaluation, we demonstrate the feasibility of semantic document enrichment to improve recall in incident reporting retrieval. It is shown that a combination of standard keyword-based retrieval with semantic search results in highly satisfactory recall values. In future work, the evaluation should be repeated on a larger data set and real-time user evaluation need to be performed to assess user satisfactory with the system and results.

  6. Is the reporting timeliness gap for avian flu and H1N1 outbreaks in global health surveillance systems associated with country transparency?

    PubMed

    Tsai, Feng-Jen; Tseng, Eva; Chan, Chang-Chuan; Tamashiro, Hiko; Motamed, Sandrine; Rougemont, André C

    2013-03-25

    This study aims to evaluate the length of time elapsed between reports of the same incidents related to avian flu and H1N1 outbreaks published by the WHO and ProMED-mail, the two major global health surveillance systems, before and after the amendment of the International Health Regulations in 2005 (IHR 2005) and to explore the association between country transparency and this timeliness gap. We recorded the initial release dates of each report related to avian flu or H1N1 listed on the WHO Disease Outbreak News site and the matching outbreak report from ProMED-mail, a non-governmental program for monitoring emerging diseases, from 2003 to the end of June 2009. The timeliness gap was calculated as the difference in days between the report release dates of the matching outbreaks in the WHO and ProMED-mail systems. Civil liberties scores were collected as indicators of the transparency of each country. The Human Development Index and data indicating the density of physicians and nurses were collected to reflect countries' development and health workforce statuses. Then, logistic regression was performed to determine the correlation between the timeliness gap and civil liberties, human development, and health workforce status, controlling for year. The reporting timeliness gap for avian flu and H1N1 outbreaks significantly decreased after 2003. On average, reports were posted 4.09 (SD = 7.99) days earlier by ProMED-mail than by the WHO. Countries with partly free (OR = 5.77) and free civil liberties scores (OR = 10.57) had significantly higher likelihoods of longer timeliness gaps than non-free countries. Similarly, countries with very high human development status had significantly higher likelihoods of longer timeliness gaps than countries with middle or low human development status (OR = 5.30). However, no association between the timeliness gap and health workforce density was found. The study found that the adoption of IHR 2005, which contributed

  7. Care Staff Perceptions of Choking Incidents: What Details Are Reported?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Guthrie, Susan; Lecko, Caroline; Roddam, Hazel

    2015-01-01

    Background: Following a series of fatal choking incidents in one UK specialist service, this study evaluated the detail included in incident reporting. This study compared the enhanced reporting system in the specialist service with the national reporting and learning system. Methods: Eligible reports were selected from a national organization and…

  8. 49 CFR 171.16 - Detailed hazardous materials incident reports.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-10-01

    ... quantity of hazardous waste; (3) A specification cargo tank with a capacity of 1,000 gallons or greater..., DC 20590-0001, or an electronic Hazardous Material Incident Report to the Information System Manager..., submit a written or electronic copy of the Hazardous Materials Incident Report to the FAA Security Field...

  9. 49 CFR 171.16 - Detailed hazardous materials incident reports.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-10-01

    ... quantity of hazardous waste; (3) A specification cargo tank with a capacity of 1,000 gallons or greater..., DC 20590-0001, or an electronic Hazardous Material Incident Report to the Information System Manager..., submit a written or electronic copy of the Hazardous Materials Incident Report to the FAA Security Field...

  10. 49 CFR 171.16 - Detailed hazardous materials incident reports.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-10-01

    ... quantity of hazardous waste; (3) A specification cargo tank with a capacity of 1,000 gallons or greater..., DC 20590-0001, or an electronic Hazardous Material Incident Report to the Information System Manager..., submit a written or electronic copy of the Hazardous Materials Incident Report to the FAA Security Field...

  11. Early Warning: Development of Confidential Incident Reporting Systems

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    OLeary, Mike J.; Chappell, Sheryl L.; Connell, Linda (Technical Monitor)

    1996-01-01

    Accidents hardly ever happen without warning. The combination, or sequence, of failures and mistakes that cause an accident may indeed be unique but the individual failures and mistakes rarely are. In the USA in 1974 the crews on two different aircraft misunderstood the same aeronautical chart and descended towards their destination dangerously early towards a mountain. The first crew were in good weather conditions and could see the mountain and resolved their misinterpretation of the chart. The second crew six weeks later were not so lucky. In cloud they had no clues to point out their mistake nor the presence of the mountain. The resulting crash and the ensuing inquiry, which brought to light the previous incident, shocked the country but gave it the impetus to instigate a safety reporting system. This system eventually became the NASA's Aviation Safety Reporting System (ASRS). The programme collects incident reports from pilots, controllers, mechanics, cabin attendants and many others involved in aviation operations. By disseminating this safety information the ASRS has helped enormously to give US airlines and airspace the highest safety standards. Accident prevention is a goal sought by everyone in the aviation industry and establishing effective incident reporting programmes can go a long way toward achieving that goal. This article will describe the steps and issues required to establish an incident reporting system. The authors summarize the lessons learned from the ASRS, now in its twentieth year of operation and from the Confidential Human Factors Reporting (HER) Programme run by British Airways, an airline that is a recognized world leader in safety reporting and analysis. The differences between government and airline operation of confidential safety reporting systems will be addressed.

  12. Flight Attendant Fatigue. Part IV. Analysis of Incident Reports

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2009-12-01

    Flight Attendant Fatigue, Part IV: Analysis of Incident Reports Kali Holcomb Katrina Avers Lena Dobbins Joy Banks Lauren Blackwell Thomas Nesthus...Incident Reports 6. Performing Organization Code 7. Author(s) 8. Performing Organization Report No. Holcomb K, Avers K, Dobbins L, Banks J...observed by erC members of the flight attendant ASAP programs, a survey was developed. Surveys were distributed via e -Mail to 23 participants for

  13. The evaluation of a web-based incident reporting system.

    PubMed

    Kuo, Ya-Hui; Lee, Ting-Ting; Mills, Mary Etta; Lin, Kuan-Chia

    2012-07-01

    A Web-based reporting system is essential to report incident events anonymously and confidentially. The purpose of this study was to evaluate a Web-based reporting system in Taiwan. User satisfaction and impact of system use were evaluated through a survey answered by 249 nurses. Incident events reported in paper and electronic systems were collected for comparison purposes. Study variables included system user satisfaction, willingness to report, number of reports, severity of the events, and efficiency of the reporting process. Results revealed that senior nurses were less willing to report events, nurses on internal medicine units had higher satisfaction than others, and lowest satisfaction was related to the time it took to file a report. In addition, the Web-based reporting system was used more often than the paper system. The percentages of events reported were significantly higher in the Web-based system in laboratory, environment/device, and incidents occurring in other units, whereas the proportions of reports involving bedsores and dislocation of endotracheal tubes were decreased. Finally, moderate injury event reporting decreased, whereas minor or minimal injury event reporting increased. The study recommends that the data entry process be simplified and the network system be improved to increase user satisfaction and reporting rates.

  14. Attitudes toward the large-scale implementation of an incident reporting system.

    PubMed

    Braithwaite, Jeffrey; Westbrook, Mary; Travaglia, Joanne

    2008-06-01

    An electronic Incident Information Management System implemented system-wide by the Department of Health, New South Wales, Australia was evaluated. We hypothesized that health professionals (i) would support the system via utilization and favourable attitudes and (ii) that their usage and attitudes would vary according to profession with nurses being most, and doctors least, favourably disposed. An online, anonymous questionnaire survey of 2185 health practitioners. Undertaking system training, satisfaction with training, reporting incidents, incident reporting rates since system introduction and attitude questions focusing on use, security and evaluation of the system and workplace safety cultures. The first hypothesis received partial support. The majority of respondents had undertaken training and rated it highly. Most had reported incidents and maintained their previous reporting levels. Most attitudes regarding using the system and its security were favourable. Mixed attitudes were held about workplace safety cultures and the value of the system. Deficiencies in quality of reporting, feedback on incident reports and resources to analyse incident data were problems identified. The second hypothesis was confirmed. Nurses were most, and doctors least, likely to undertake training, report incidents and express favourable attitudes. Allied health responses were intermediate to those of the other professions. The system implementation was relatively successful, but more so with some professions. Problems identified indicated that expectations as to the goals achievable in the short term were optimistic, but these are amenable to planned interventions.

  15. 76 FR 30855 - Accident/Incident Reporting Requirements

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-05-27

    ... definition contained in the final rule, if an individual suffers a reportable injury as the result of a car... sidewalk/walkway D5--In airport; D6- In airplane; D7--In hotel room; E1--On parking lot; E2--In building... reporting forms in addition to its Companion Guide: Guidelines for Submitting Accident/Incident Reports by...

  16. Do we need a national incident reporting system for medical imaging?

    PubMed

    Itri, Jason N; Krishnaraj, Arun

    2012-05-01

    The essential role of an incident reporting system as a tool to improve safety and reliability has been described in high-risk industries such as aviation and nuclear power, with anesthesia being the first medical specialty to successfully integrate incident reporting into a comprehensive quality improvement strategy. Establishing an incident reporting system for medical imaging that effectively captures system errors and drives improvement in the delivery of imaging services is a key component of developing and evaluating national quality improvement initiatives in radiology. Such a national incident reporting system would be most effective if implemented as one piece of a comprehensive quality improvement strategy designed to enhance knowledge about safety, identify and learn from errors, raise standards and expectations for improvement, and create safer systems through implementation of safe practices. The potential benefits of a national incident reporting system for medical imaging include reduced morbidity and mortality, improved patient and referring physician satisfaction, reduced health care expenses and medical liability costs, and improved radiologist satisfaction. The purposes of this article are to highlight the positive impact of external reporting systems, discuss how similar advancements in quality and safety can be achieved with an incident reporting system for medical imaging in the United States, and describe current efforts within the imaging community toward achieving this goal. Copyright © 2012 American College of Radiology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  17. Perceptions of reporting practices and barriers to reporting incidents among registered nurses and physicians in accredited and nonaccredited Jordanian hospitals.

    PubMed

    AbuAlRub, Raeda F; Al-Akour, Nemeh A; Alatari, Nour H

    2015-10-01

    To explore the awareness of the incident reporting system, incident reporting practices and barriers to reporting incidents among Jordanian staff nurses and physicians in accredited and nonaccredited hospitals. Reporting medical incidents is an important element of patient safety enhancement and quality of care improvement and it should be an integral part of the organisational culture. A descriptive exploratory survey was used for the present study. A modified version of the Incident Reporting Questionnaire was used to collect data from 307 nurses and 144 physicians at seven hospitals (four accredited and three not accredited) in Jordan. The response rate was 28·8% for nurses and 58·8% for physicians. Nurses were more aware of the incident reporting system than physicians. Physicians were less likely to report any incident on 50% or more of occasions. The major three barriers to reporting incidents were believing that there was no point in reporting near misses, lack of feedback and fear of disciplinary actions. The study showed significant differences between nurses in accredited and nonaccredited hospitals regarding barriers to reporting incidents and reporting practices. Nurse administrators should modify existing systems for reporting incidents to overcome the barriers as shown in the present study. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  18. Audits and critical incident reporting in paediatric anaesthesia: lessons from 75,331 anaesthetics.

    PubMed

    Wan, Sharon; Siow, Yew Nam; Lee, Su Min; Ng, Agnes

    2013-02-01

    This study reports our experience of audit and critical incidents observed by paediatric anaesthetics from 2000 to 2010 at a paediatric teaching hospital in Singapore. Data pertaining to patient demographics, practices and critical incidents during anaesthesia and in the perioperative period were prospectively collected via an audit form and retrospectively analysed thereafter. A total of 2,519 incidents were noted at the 75,331 anaesthetics performed during the study period. There were nine deaths reported. The majority of incidents reported were respiratory critical incidents (n = 1,757, 69.8%), followed by cardiovascular incidents (n = 238, 9.5%). Risk factors for critical incidents included age less than one year, and preterm and former preterm children. Critical incident reporting has value, as it provides insights into the system and helps to identify active and system errors, thus enabling the formulation of effective preventive strategies. By creating and maintaining an environment that encourages reporting, we have maintained a high and consistent reporting rate through the years. The teaching of analysis of critical incidents should be regarded by all clinicians as an important tool for improving patient safety.

  19. Human Factors of Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems: Lessons from Incident Reports

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Hobbs, Alan; Null, Cynthia

    2016-01-01

    An exploratory study is being conducted to examine the feasibility of collecting voluntary critical incident reports from RPAS pilots. Twenty-three experienced RPAS pilots volunteered to participate in focus groups in which they described critical incidents from their own experience. Participants were asked to recall (1) incidents that revealed a system flaw, or (2) highlighted a case where the human operator contributed to system resilience or mission success. Participants were asked to only report incidents that could be included in a public document. A total of 90 incidents were reported. Human factor issues included the impact of reduced sensory cues, traffic separation in the absence of an out-the-window view, control latencies, vigilance during monotonous and ultra-long endurance flights, control station design considerations, transfer of control between control stations, the management of lost link procedures, and decision-making during emergencies.

  20. I-35w incident management and impact of incidents on freeway operations. Final report, 1976-1979

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Lari, A.; Christianson, D.; Porter, S.

    1982-01-01

    I-35W and I-94 Traffic Management System have been in operation since 1974. As of December 1979, the TMS operation included six principal functional subsystems. These are (1) a 24 camera closed circuit television network (2) 38 ramp meter signals, (3) eleven express bus and/or carpool meter bypass ramps, (4) a motorist information program including changeable message signs, lane control signals, highway advisory radio and a traffic grade information sign, (5) the Traffic Management Center and (6) an incident detection and response program. The purpose of this study was twofold: first, available incident records accumulated on the TMS were analyzed tomore » develop a comprehensive view of the types and quantities of incidents that have occurred. Second, the incident data base and companion volume and occupancy data was used to determine the impact of 'typical' incidents and the impact of the total incident problem. Included in the report is an analysis of incident types detected, mode of incident detection, duration of incidents, and incident response activities.« less

  1. National Patient Safety Program in Brazil: Incidents Reported Between 2014 and 2017.

    PubMed

    Faustino, Tássia Nery; Batalha, Edenise Maria Santos da Silva; Vieira, Silvana Lima; Nicole, Andressa Garcia; Morais, Alexandre Souza; Tronchin, Daisy Maria Rizatto; Melleiro, Marta Maria

    2018-05-16

    The aim of the study was to analyze the patient safety incidents reported to the Brazilian National Health Surveillance System from March 2014 to March 2017. A documentary study that used the records of the incidents published in the Reports of Adverse Events (AE) in Brazil. The following variables were selected: number of incidents by type, type of health service, hospital unit, and degree of harm. To find whether there was a significant difference across the Brazilian regions by notifications related to general incidents, AE, and deaths, the analysis of variance and the Tukey tests were used. A total of 109,082 incidents were reported, of which 75,088 were AE, with 649 deaths. In relation to the types of incidents reported, there was a higher frequency in the categories other (30.04%) and failures during health care (26.72%). A total of 93.90% of the incidents occurred in hospitals, with 54,950 cases registered in hospitalization units and 30,141 cases in intensive care units. Statistically significant differences across the Brazilian regions were observed in the number of incidents (P = 0.004), AE (P = 0.004), and deaths (P = 0.024). A significant underreporting of incidents was found in Brazil, demonstrating only the tip of a giant iceberg. More than half of the incidents were reported as AE and were registered in hospitals, reiterating the importance of establishing public health policies at national, state, and municipal levels, with adequate supervision of the health service regarding the implementation of the Patient Safety Nuclei and the preparation of new protocols based on the most prevalent incidents.

  2. Linguistic analysis of large-scale medical incident reports for patient safety.

    PubMed

    Fujita, Katsuhide; Akiyama, Masanori; Park, Keunsik; Yamaguchi, Etsuko Nakagami; Furukawa, Hiroyuki

    2012-01-01

    The analysis of medical incident reports is indispensable for patient safety. The cycles between analysis of incident reports and proposals to medical staffs are a key point for improving the patient safety in the hospital. Most incident reports are composed from freely written descriptions, but an analysis of such free descriptions is not sufficient in the medical field. In this study, we aim to accumulate and reinterpret findings using structured incident information, to clarify improvements that should be made to solve the root cause of the accident, and to ensure safe medical treatment through such improvements. We employ natural language processing (NLP) and network analysis to identify effective categories of medical incident reports. Network analysis can find various relationships that are not only direct but also indirect. In addition, we compare bottom-up results obtained by NLP with existing categories based on experts' judgment. By the bottom-up analysis, the class of patient managements regarding patients' fallings and medicines in top-down analysis is created clearly. Finally, we present new perspectives on ways of improving patient safety.

  3. What are incident reports telling us? A comparative study at two Australian hospitals of medication errors identified at audit, detected by staff and reported to an incident system

    PubMed Central

    Westbrook, Johanna I.; Li, Ling; Lehnbom, Elin C.; Baysari, Melissa T.; Braithwaite, Jeffrey; Burke, Rosemary; Conn, Chris; Day, Richard O.

    2015-01-01

    Objectives To (i) compare medication errors identified at audit and observation with medication incident reports; (ii) identify differences between two hospitals in incident report frequency and medication error rates; (iii) identify prescribing error detection rates by staff. Design Audit of 3291patient records at two hospitals to identify prescribing errors and evidence of their detection by staff. Medication administration errors were identified from a direct observational study of 180 nurses administering 7451 medications. Severity of errors was classified. Those likely to lead to patient harm were categorized as ‘clinically important’. Setting Two major academic teaching hospitals in Sydney, Australia. Main Outcome Measures Rates of medication errors identified from audit and from direct observation were compared with reported medication incident reports. Results A total of 12 567 prescribing errors were identified at audit. Of these 1.2/1000 errors (95% CI: 0.6–1.8) had incident reports. Clinically important prescribing errors (n = 539) were detected by staff at a rate of 218.9/1000 (95% CI: 184.0–253.8), but only 13.0/1000 (95% CI: 3.4–22.5) were reported. 78.1% (n = 421) of clinically important prescribing errors were not detected. A total of 2043 drug administrations (27.4%; 95% CI: 26.4–28.4%) contained ≥1 errors; none had an incident report. Hospital A had a higher frequency of incident reports than Hospital B, but a lower rate of errors at audit. Conclusions Prescribing errors with the potential to cause harm frequently go undetected. Reported incidents do not reflect the profile of medication errors which occur in hospitals or the underlying rates. This demonstrates the inaccuracy of using incident frequency to compare patient risk or quality performance within or across hospitals. New approaches including data mining of electronic clinical information systems are required to support more effective medication error detection and

  4. What are incident reports telling us? A comparative study at two Australian hospitals of medication errors identified at audit, detected by staff and reported to an incident system.

    PubMed

    Westbrook, Johanna I; Li, Ling; Lehnbom, Elin C; Baysari, Melissa T; Braithwaite, Jeffrey; Burke, Rosemary; Conn, Chris; Day, Richard O

    2015-02-01

    To (i) compare medication errors identified at audit and observation with medication incident reports; (ii) identify differences between two hospitals in incident report frequency and medication error rates; (iii) identify prescribing error detection rates by staff. Audit of 3291 patient records at two hospitals to identify prescribing errors and evidence of their detection by staff. Medication administration errors were identified from a direct observational study of 180 nurses administering 7451 medications. Severity of errors was classified. Those likely to lead to patient harm were categorized as 'clinically important'. Two major academic teaching hospitals in Sydney, Australia. Rates of medication errors identified from audit and from direct observation were compared with reported medication incident reports. A total of 12 567 prescribing errors were identified at audit. Of these 1.2/1000 errors (95% CI: 0.6-1.8) had incident reports. Clinically important prescribing errors (n = 539) were detected by staff at a rate of 218.9/1000 (95% CI: 184.0-253.8), but only 13.0/1000 (95% CI: 3.4-22.5) were reported. 78.1% (n = 421) of clinically important prescribing errors were not detected. A total of 2043 drug administrations (27.4%; 95% CI: 26.4-28.4%) contained ≥ 1 errors; none had an incident report. Hospital A had a higher frequency of incident reports than Hospital B, but a lower rate of errors at audit. Prescribing errors with the potential to cause harm frequently go undetected. Reported incidents do not reflect the profile of medication errors which occur in hospitals or the underlying rates. This demonstrates the inaccuracy of using incident frequency to compare patient risk or quality performance within or across hospitals. New approaches including data mining of electronic clinical information systems are required to support more effective medication error detection and mitigation. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press in association

  5. Gap-Mode Surface-Plasmon-Enhanced Photoluminescence and Photoresponse of MoS2.

    PubMed

    Wu, Zhi-Qian; Yang, Jing-Liang; Manjunath, Nallappagar K; Zhang, Yue-Jiao; Feng, Si-Rui; Lu, Yang-Hua; Wu, Jiang-Hong; Zhao, Wei-Wei; Qiu, Cai-Yu; Li, Jian-Feng; Lin, Shi-Sheng

    2018-05-22

    2D materials hold great potential for designing novel electronic and optoelectronic devices. However, 2D material can only absorb limited incident light. As a representative 2D semiconductor, monolayer MoS 2 can only absorb up to 10% of the incident light in the visible, which is not sufficient to achieve a high optical-to-electrical conversion efficiency. To overcome this shortcoming, a "gap-mode" plasmon-enhanced monolayer MoS 2 fluorescent emitter and photodetector is designed by squeezing the light-field into Ag shell-isolated nanoparticles-Au film gap, where the confined electromagnetic field can interact with monolayer MoS 2 . With this gap-mode plasmon-enhanced configuration, a 110-fold enhancement of photoluminescence intensity is achieved, exceeding values reached by other plasmon-enhanced MoS 2 fluorescent emitters. In addition, a gap-mode plasmon-enhanced monolayer MoS 2 photodetector with an 880% enhancement in photocurrent and a responsivity of 287.5 A W -1 is demonstrated, exceeding previously reported plasmon-enhanced monolayer MoS 2 photodetectors. © 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  6. An Evaluation of Departmental Radiation Oncology Incident Reports: Anticipating a National Reporting System

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Terezakis, Stephanie A., E-mail: stereza1@jhmi.edu; Harris, Kendra M.; Ford, Eric

    Purpose: Systems to ensure patient safety are of critical importance. The electronic incident reporting systems (IRS) of 2 large academic radiation oncology departments were evaluated for events that may be suitable for submission to a national reporting system (NRS). Methods and Materials: All events recorded in the combined IRS were evaluated from 2007 through 2010. Incidents were graded for potential severity using the validated French Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN) 5-point scale. These incidents were categorized into 7 groups: (1) human error, (2) software error, (3) hardware error, (4) error in communication between 2 humans, (5) error at the human-software interface,more » (6) error at the software-hardware interface, and (7) error at the human-hardware interface. Results: Between the 2 systems, 4407 incidents were reported. Of these events, 1507 (34%) were considered to have the potential for clinical consequences. Of these 1507 events, 149 (10%) were rated as having a potential severity of ≥2. Of these 149 events, the committee determined that 79 (53%) of these events would be submittable to a NRS of which the majority was related to human error or to the human-software interface. Conclusions: A significant number of incidents were identified in this analysis. The majority of events in this study were related to human error and to the human-software interface, further supporting the need for a NRS to facilitate field-wide learning and system improvement.« less

  7. "Mind the gap!" Evaluation of the performance gap attributable to exception reporting and target thresholds in the new GMS contract: National database analysis.

    PubMed

    Fleetcroft, Robert; Steel, Nicholas; Cookson, Richard; Howe, Amanda

    2008-06-17

    The 2003 revision of the UK GMS contract rewards general practices for performance against clinical quality indicators. Practices can exempt patients from treatment, and can receive maximum payment for less than full coverage of eligible patients. This paper aims to estimate the gap between the percentage of maximum incentive gained and the percentage of patients receiving indicated care (the pay-performance gap), and to estimate how much of the gap is attributable respectively to thresholds and to exception reporting. Analysis of Quality Outcomes Framework data in the National Primary Care Database and exception reporting data from the Information Centre from 8407 practices in England in 2005 - 6. The main outcome measures were the gap between the percentage of maximum incentive gained and the percentage of patients receiving indicated care at the practice level, both for individual indicators and a combined composite score. An additional outcome was the percentage of that gap attributable respectively to exception reporting and maximum threshold targets set at less than 100%. The mean pay-performance gap for the 65 aggregated clinical indicators was 13.3% (range 2.9% to 48%). 52% of this gap (6.9% of eligible patients) is attributable to thresholds being set at less than 100%, and 48% to patients being exception reported. The gap was greater than 25% in 9 indicators: beta blockers and cholesterol control in heart disease; cholesterol control in stroke; influenza immunization in asthma; blood pressure, sugar and cholesterol control in diabetes; seizures in epilepsy and treatment of hypertension. Threshold targets and exception reporting introduce an incentive ceiling, which substantially reduces the percentage of eligible patients that UK practices need to treat in order to receive maximum incentive payments for delivering that care. There are good clinical reasons for exception reporting, but after unsuitable patients have been exempted from treatment, there is

  8. [Patient safety: a comparison between handwritten and computerized voluntary incident reporting].

    PubMed

    Capucho, Helaine Carneiro; Arnas, Emilly Rasquini; Cassiani, Silvia Helena De Bortoli

    2013-03-01

    This study's objective was to compare two types of voluntary incident reporting methods that affect patient safety, handwritten (HR) and computerized (CR), in relation to the number of reports, type of incident reported the individual submitting the report, and quality of reports. This was a descriptive, retrospective and cross-sectional study. CR were more frequent than HR (61.2% vs. 38.6%) among the 1,089 reports analyzed and were submitted every day of the month, while HR were submitted only on weekdays. The highest number of reports referred to medication, followed by problems related to medical-hospital material and the professional who most frequently submitted reports were nurses in both cases. Overall CR presented higher quality than HR (86.1% vs. 61.7%); 36.8% of HR were illegible, a problem that was eliminated in CR. Therefore, the use of computerized incident reporting in hospitals favors qualified voluntary reports, increasing patient safety.

  9. Benchmarking surgical incident reports using a database and a triage system to reduce adverse outcomes.

    PubMed

    Antonacci, Anthony C; Lam, Steven; Lavarias, Valentina; Homel, Peter; Eavey, Roland D

    2008-12-01

    To study the profile of incidents affecting quality outcomes after surgery by developing a usable operating room and perioperative clinical incident report database and a functional electronic classification, triage, and reporting system. Previously, incident reports after surgery were handled on an individual, episodic basis, which limited the ability to perceive actuarial patterns and meaningfully improve outcomes. Clinical incident reports were experientially generated in the second largest health care system in New York City. Data were entered into a functional classification system organized into 16 categories, and weekly triage meetings were held to electronically review and report summaries on 40 to 60 incident reports per week. System development and deployment reviewed 1041 reports after 19,693 operative procedures. During the next 4 years, 3819 additional reports were generated from 83,988 operative procedures and were reported electronically to the appropriate departments. Number of incident reports generated annually. A significant decrease in volume-adjusted clinical incident reports occurred (from 53 to 39 reports per 1000 procedures) from 2001 to 2005 (P < .001). Reductions in incident reports were observed for ambulatory conversions (74% reduction), wasted implants (65%), skin breakdown (64%), complications in the operating room (42%), laparoscopic conversions (32%), and cancellations (23%) as a result of data-focused process and clinical interventions. Six of 16 categories of incident reports accounted for more than 88% of all incident reports. These data suggest that effective review, communication, and summary feedback of clinical incident reports can produce a statistically significant decrease in adverse outcomes.

  10. Incident reporting in dentistry: Clinical supervisor's awareness, practice and perceived barriers.

    PubMed

    AlBlaihed, R M; AlSaeed, M I; Abuabat, A A; Ahsan, S H

    2017-12-21

    The significance of patient safety and risk management in dentistry has surfaced as dental settings bear delicate procedures carried out by teams utilising numerous devices and tools in complex environments. Our aim is to assess awareness, practice, attitude and perceived barriers of reporting incidents amongst dental clinical supervisors working at dental colleges in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The objectives are as follows: (i) Determine if correlations exist between socio-demographic data and supervisors' awareness, practice, attitude and perceived barriers. (ii) Identify most common perceived barriers. An online questionnaire was sent to the 450 clinical supervisors working at five dental colleges of Riyadh. The collected data included items assessing the awareness, practice and attitude of reporting students' incidents along with the perceived barriers. A response rate of (60.1% n = 264 of 450) was established. The majority of the respondents (62.9% n = 166) were aware of the incident reporting policy. Yet, only (35.4% n = 93) of them had completed an incident reporting form before. Most of the participants (90.5% n = 239) agreed on the necessity of reporting student's incidents, but only (67.0% n = 177) agreed on the necessity of reporting well-handled incidents. The possible negative relationship with students was the most agreed on barrier to reporting. This study shows that certain demographics of supervisors had significant relationship with their awareness, attitude, perceived barriers and practice. Awareness of the policy and form was linked to the increase in supervisors' practice, although they tend to report verbally rather than in writing. The possible negative relationship with students was the most common perceived barrier. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  11. Identification of Human Factors in Unmanned Aviation Via Pilot Incident Reports

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Hobbs, Alan; Cardoza, Colleen; Null, Cynthia

    2015-01-01

    There is a need for incident data relevant to the operation of civilian unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) in the National Air Space (NAS). Currently, very limited incident and accident data are available from military sources, and the tightly-restricted civilian UAS industry has produced very few incident reports that could shed light on design issues relevant to human factors. An exploratory study is being conducted to examine the feasibility of collecting voluntary critical incident reports from UAS pilots, and using the information to identify areas where human factors guidelines will be of assistance. Experienced UAS pilots are participating in small focus groups in which they are prompted to describe critical incidents that either reveal a system flaw, or highlight a case where the human operator contributed to system resilience or mission success. The de-identified incidents are being analyzed to identify contributing factors, with a focus on design issues that either hindered or assisted the pilot in dealing with the incident. Preliminary findings will be described.

  12. Surface Movement Incidents Reported to the NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Connell, Linda J.; Hubener, Simone

    1997-01-01

    Increasing numbers of aircraft are operating on the surface of airports throughout the world. Airport operations are forecast to grow by more that 50%, by the year 2005. Airport surface movement traffic would therefore be expected to become increasingly congested. Safety of these surface operations will become a focus as airport capacity planning efforts proceed toward the future. Several past events highlight the prevailing risks experienced while moving aircraft during ground operations on runways, taxiways, and other areas at terminal, gates, and ramps. The 1994 St. Louis accident between a taxiing Cessna crossing an active runway and colliding with a landing MD-80 emphasizes the importance of a fail-safe system for airport operations. The following study explores reports of incidents occurring on an airport surface that did not escalate to an accident event. The Aviation Safety Reporting System has collected data on surface movement incidents since 1976. This study sampled the reporting data from June, 1993 through June, 1994. The coding of the data was accomplished in several categories. The categories include location of airport, phase of ground operation, weather /lighting conditions, ground conflicts, flight crew characteristics, human factor considerations, and airport environment. These comparisons and distributions of variables contributing to surface movement incidents can be invaluable to future airport planning, accident prevention efforts, and system-wide improvements.

  13. A cross-sectional overview of the first 4,000 incidents reported to webAIRS, a de-identified web-based anaesthesia incident reporting system in Australia and New Zealand.

    PubMed

    Gibbs, N M; Culwick, M; Merry, A F

    2017-01-01

    webAIRS is a web-based de-identified anaesthesia incident reporting system, which was introduced in Australia and New Zealand in September 2009. By July 2016, 4,000 incident reports had been received. The incidents covered a wide range of patient age (<28 days to >90 years), American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status, and body mass index (<18.5 to >50 kg/m 2 ). They occurred across a wide range of anaesthesia techniques and grade of anaesthesia provider, and over a wide range of anaesthetising locations and times of day. In a high proportion the outcome was not benign; about 26% of incidents were associated with patient harm and a further 4% with death. Incidents appeared to be an ever-present risk in anaesthetic practice, with extrapolated estimates exceeding 200 per week across Australia and New Zealand. Independent of outcomes, many anaesthesia incidents were associated with increased use of health resources. The four most common main categories of incident were Respiratory/Airway, Medication, Cardiovascular, and Medical Device/Equipment. Over 50% of incidents were considered preventable. The narratives accompanying each incident provide a rich source of information, which will be analysed in subsequent reports on particular incident types. The summary data in this initial overview are a sober reminder of the prevalence and unpredictability of anaesthesia incidents, and their potential morbidity and mortality. The data justify current efforts to better prevent and manage anaesthesia incidents in Australia and New Zealand, and identify areas in which increased resources or additional initiatives may be required.

  14. Safety incidents involving confused and forgetful older patients in a specialised care setting--analysis of the safety incidents reported to the HaiPro reporting system.

    PubMed

    Kinnunen-Luovi, Kaisa; Saarnio, Reetta; Isola, Arja

    2014-09-01

    To describe the safety incidents involving confused and forgetful older patients in a specialised care setting entered in the HaiPro reporting system. About 10% of patients experience a safety incident during hospitalisation, which causes or could cause them harm. The possibility of a safety incident during hospitalisation increases significantly with age. A mild or moderate memory disorder and acute confusion are often present in the safety incidents originating with an older patient. The design of the study was action research with this study using findings from one of the first-phase studies, which included qualitative and quantitative analysed data. Data were collected from the reporting system for safety incidents (HaiPro) in a university hospital in Finland. There were 672 reported safety incidents from four acute medical wards during the years 2009-2011, which were scrutinised. Seventy-five of them were linked to a confused patient and were analysed. The majority of the safety incidents analysed involved patient-related accidents. In addition to challenging behaviour, contributing factors included ward routines, shortage of nursing staff, environmental factors and staff knowledge and skills. Nurses tried to secure the patient safety in many different ways, but the modes of actions were insufficient. Nursing staff need evidence-based information on how to assess the cognitive status of a confused patient and how to encounter such patients. The number of nursing staff and ward routines should be examined critically and put in proportion to the care intensity demands caused by the patient's confused state. The findings can be used as a starting point in the prevention of safety incidents and in improving the care of older patients. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  15. Nature of Blame in Patient Safety Incident Reports: Mixed Methods Analysis of a National Database.

    PubMed

    Cooper, Jennifer; Edwards, Adrian; Williams, Huw; Sheikh, Aziz; Parry, Gareth; Hibbert, Peter; Butlin, Amy; Donaldson, Liam; Carson-Stevens, Andrew

    2017-09-01

    A culture of blame and fear of retribution are recognized barriers to reporting patient safety incidents. The extent of blame attribution in safety incident reports, which may reflect the underlying safety culture of health care systems, is unknown. This study set out to explore the nature of blame in family practice safety incident reports. We characterized a random sample of family practice patient safety incident reports from the England and Wales National Reporting and Learning System. Reports were analyzed according to prespecified classification systems to describe the incident type, contributory factors, outcomes, and severity of harm. We developed a taxonomy of blame attribution, and we then used descriptive statistical analyses to identify the proportions of blame types and to explore associations between incident characteristics and one type of blame. Health care professionals making family practice incident reports attributed blame to a person in 45% of cases (n = 975 of 2,148; 95% CI, 43%-47%). In 36% of cases, those who reported the incidents attributed fault to another person, whereas 2% of those reporting acknowledged personal responsibility. Blame was commonly associated with incidents where a complaint was anticipated. The high frequency of blame in these safety, incident reports may reflect a health care culture that leads to blame and retribution, rather than to identifying areas for learning and improvement, and a failure to appreciate the contribution of system factors in others' behavior. Successful improvement in patient safety through the analysis of incident reports is unlikely without achieving a blame-free culture. © 2017 Annals of Family Medicine, Inc.

  16. Nature of Blame in Patient Safety Incident Reports: Mixed Methods Analysis of a National Database

    PubMed Central

    Cooper, Jennifer; Edwards, Adrian; Williams, Huw; Sheikh, Aziz; Parry, Gareth; Hibbert, Peter; Butlin, Amy; Donaldson, Liam; Carson-Stevens, Andrew

    2017-01-01

    PURPOSE A culture of blame and fear of retribution are recognized barriers to reporting patient safety incidents. The extent of blame attribution in safety incident reports, which may reflect the underlying safety culture of health care systems, is unknown. This study set out to explore the nature of blame in family practice safety incident reports. METHODS We characterized a random sample of family practice patient safety incident reports from the England and Wales National Reporting and Learning System. Reports were analyzed according to prespecified classification systems to describe the incident type, contributory factors, outcomes, and severity of harm. We developed a taxonomy of blame attribution, and we then used descriptive statistical analyses to identify the proportions of blame types and to explore associations between incident characteristics and one type of blame. RESULTS Health care professionals making family practice incident reports attributed blame to a person in 45% of cases (n = 975 of 2,148; 95% CI, 43%–47%). In 36% of cases, those who reported the incidents attributed fault to another person, whereas 2% of those reporting acknowledged personal responsibility. Blame was commonly associated with incidents where a complaint was anticipated. CONCLUSIONS The high frequency of blame in these safety, incident reports may reflect a health care culture that leads to blame and retribution, rather than to identifying areas for learning and improvement, and a failure to appreciate the contribution of system factors in others’ behavior. Successful improvement in patient safety through the analysis of incident reports is unlikely without achieving a blame-free culture. PMID:28893816

  17. Incident reporting.

    PubMed

    Wilson, J

    Healthcare delivery is a risky business. People view the NHS in the same light as other commercial businesses such as the hotel, retail and airline industries. The White Paper 'The New NHS: Modern, Dependable' (Secretary of State for Health, 1997) places statutory responsibilities on managers and clinicians to provide a quality service and to have accountability for clinical governance and performance management. Quality and risk are two sides of the same coin, i.e. if you have good quality you have low risk, and this firmly supports the clinical effectiveness agenda. Healthcare organizations in all sectors of care delivery need to demonstrate their high levels of achievement and commitment to continuous quality improvements. Risk management is a process for identifying, assessing and evaluating risks which have adverse effects on the quality, safety and effectiveness of service delivery, and taking positive action to eliminate or reduce them. Having an open, honest and blame-free organization which is open to improving processes and systems of care is a big step towards having staff who are committed to quality and getting things right. Near-miss, incident and indicator recording and reporting are cornerstones of any quality and risk management system.

  18. Community pharmacy incident reporting: a new tool for community pharmacies in Canada.

    PubMed

    Ho, Certina; Hung, Patricia; Lee, Gary; Kadija, Medina

    2010-01-01

    Incident reporting offers insight into a variety of intricate processes in healthcare. However, it has been found that medication incidents are under reported in the community pharmacy setting. The Community Pharmacy Incident Reporting (CPhIR) program was created by the Institute for Safe Medication Practices Canada specifically for incident reporting in the community pharmacy setting in Canada. The initial development of key elements for CPhIR included several focus-group teleconferences with pharmacists from Ontario and Nova Scotia. Throughout the development and release of the CPhIR pilot, feedback from pharmacists and pharmacy technicians was constantly incorporated into the reporting program. After several rounds of iterative feedback, testing and consultation with community pharmacy practitioners, a final version of the CPhIR program, together with self-directed training materials, is now ready to launch. The CPhIR program provides users with a one-stop platform to report and record medication incidents, export data for customized analysis and view comparisons of individual and aggregate data. These unique functions allow for a detailed analysis of underlying contributing factors in medication incidents. A communication piece for pharmacies to share their experiences is in the process of development. To ensure the success of the CPhIR program, a patient safety culture must be established. By gaining a deeper understanding of possible causes of medication incidents, community pharmacies can implement system-based strategies for quality improvement and to prevent potential errors from occurring again in the future. This article highlights key features of the CPhIR program that will assist community pharmacies to improve their drug distribution system and, ultimately, enhance patient safety.

  19. A study on the mutual causation of suicide reporting and suicide incidences.

    PubMed

    Yip, Paul S F; Kwok, Simon Sai Man; Chen, Feng; Xu, Xiaochen; Chen, Ying-Yeh

    2013-05-15

    Little research has been done on the complex relationships between the effect of news reporting on suicide incidence and vice versa (i.e., mutual causation). Furthermore, few studies have examined whether the entry of a new media outlet into a market changes the media dynamics in that market. A recursive two-way feedback model was used to test for mutual causation between suicide reporting and suicide incidence on a daily basis. We applied the model to examine the effect of the arrival of the Apple Daily (AD) newspaper in Taiwan and whether its suicide reporting affected the suicide incidence and suicide reporting of two other newspapers, the United Daily (UD) and the China Times (CT). The AD's entry into Taiwan led to a major shift in the relationship between suicide incidence and suicide reporting. The AD stimulated more suicide coverage by the UD and the CT the following day; conversely, the UD and the CT had no such impact on the AD. Before the entry of the AD, there was little correlation between daily suicide incidence and suicide reporting, but the suicide reporting of the UD and CT correlated significantly with daily suicide incidence after the entry of the AD. Media impact was assessed by number of news items; detailed content analysis of the reporting was not conducted. The vicious business competition facing new dailies in Taiwan's media market has changed the mass media ecology. Efforts to prevent suicide by regulating the media should closely monitor not only the behavior of newcomers, but also the established news media's reaction to new competitors. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  20. Physician reported incidence of early and late Lyme borreliosis.

    PubMed

    Hofhuis, Agnetha; Harms, Margriet; Bennema, Sita; van den Wijngaard, Cees C; van Pelt, Wilfrid

    2015-03-15

    Lyme borreliosis is the most common vector-borne disease in Europe and North America. The objective of this study is to estimate the incidence of tick bites and Lyme borreliosis, representative of our entire country, including erythema migrans, disseminated Lyme borreliosis and persisting symptoms attributed to Lyme borreliosis. A questionnaire on clinical diagnoses of Lyme borreliosis was sent to all GPs, company physicians, and medical specialists. To adjust for possible misclassification and telescoping bias, we sent additional questionnaires to categorize reported cases according to likelihood of the diagnosis and to exclude cases diagnosed outside the target period. Adjusted annual incidence rate for disseminated Lyme borreliosis was 7.7 GP reports per 100,000 inhabitants, and for persisting symptoms attributed to Lyme borreliosis was 5.5 GP reports per 100,000 inhabitants, i.e. approximately 1,300 and 900 cases respectively. GP consultations for tick bites and erythema migrans diagnoses were 495 and 132 per 100,000 inhabitants, respectively, i.e. 82,000 and 22,000 cases in 2010. This is the first reported nationwide physician survey on the incidence of tick bites and the whole range of manifestations of Lyme borreliosis, including persisting symptoms attributed to Lyme borreliosis. This is crucial for complete assessment of the public health impact of Lyme borreliosis.

  1. The non-technical skills used by anaesthetic technicians in critical incidents reported to the Australian Incident Monitoring System between 2002 and 2008.

    PubMed

    Rutherford, J S; Flin, R; Irwin, A

    2015-07-01

    The outcome of critical incidents in the operating theatre has been shown to be influenced by the behaviour of anaesthetic technicians (ATs) assisting anaesthetists, but the specific non-technical skills involved have not been described. We performed a review of critical incidents (n=1433) reported to the Australian Incident Monitoring System between 2002 and 2008 to identify which non-technical skills were used by ATs. The reports were assessed if they mentioned anaesthetic assistance or had the boxes ticked to identify "inadequate assistance" or "absent supervision or assistance". A total of 90 critical incidents involving ATs were retrieved, 69 of which described their use of non-technical skills. In 20 reports, the ATs ameliorated the critical incident, whilst in 46 they exacerbated the critical incident, and three cases had both positive and negative non-technical skills described. Situation awareness was identified in 39 reports, task management in 23, teamwork in 21 and decision-making in two, but there were no descriptions of issues related to leadership, stress or fatigue management. Situation awareness, task management and teamwork appear to be important non-technical skills for ATs in the development or management of critical incidents in the operating theatre. This analysis has been used to support the development of a non-technical skills taxonomy for anaesthetic assistants.

  2. Differences in reported sepsis incidence according to study design: a literature review.

    PubMed

    Mariansdatter, Saga Elise; Eiset, Andreas Halgreen; Søgaard, Kirstine Kobberøe; Christiansen, Christian Fynbo

    2016-10-12

    Sepsis and severe sepsis are common conditions in hospital settings, and are associated with high rates of morbidity and mortality, but reported incidences vary considerably. In this literature review, we describe the variation in reported population-based incidences of sepsis and severe sepsis. We also examine methodological and demographic differences between studies that may explain this variation. We carried out a literature review searching three major databases and reference lists of relevant articles, to identify all original studies reporting the incidence of sepsis or severe sepsis in the general population. Two authors independently assessed all articles, and the final decision to exclude an article was reached by consensus. We extracted data according to predetermined variables, including study country, sepsis definition, and data source. We then calculated descriptive statistics for the reported incidences of sepsis and severe sepsis. The studies were classified according to the method used to identify cases of sepsis or severe sepsis: chart-based (i.e. review of patient charts) or code-based (i.e. predetermined International Classification of Diseases [ICD] codes). Among 482 articles initially screened, we identified 23 primary publications reporting incidence of sepsis and/or severe sepsis in the general population. The reported incidences ranged from 74 to 1180 per 100,000 person-years and 3 to 1074 per 100,000 person-years for sepsis and severe sepsis, respectively. Most chart-based studies used the Bone criteria (or a modification hereof) and Protein C Worldwide Evaluation in Severe Sepsis (PROWESS) study criteria to identify cases of sepsis and severe sepsis. Most code-based studies used ICD-9 codes, but the number of codes used ranged from 1 to more than 1200. We found that the incidence varied according to how sepsis was identified (chart-based vs. code-based), calendar year, data source, and world region. The reported incidences of sepsis and

  3. Planetary Protection Knowledge Gaps for Human Extraterrestrial Missions: Workshop Report

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Race, Margaret S. (Editor); Johnson, James E. (Editor); Spry, James A. (Editor); Siegel, Bette; Conley, Catharine A.

    2015-01-01

    This report on Planetary Protection Knowledge Gaps for Human Extraterrestrial Missions summarizes the presentations, deliberations and findings of a workshop at NASA Ames Research Center, March 24-26, 2015, which was attended by more than 100 participants representing a diverse mix of science, engineering, technology, and policy areas. The main objective of the three-day workshop was to identify specific knowledge gaps that need to be addressed to make incremental progress towards the development of NASA Procedural Requirements (NPRs) for Planetary Protection during human missions to Mars.

  4. Physicians' and Nurses' Perceptions of and Attitudes Toward Incident Reporting in Palestinian Hospitals.

    PubMed

    Rashed, Anan; Hamdan, Motasem

    2015-06-22

    Underreporting of incidents that happen in health care services undermines the ability of the systems to improve patient safety. This study assessed the attitudes of physicians and nurses toward incident reporting and the factors influencing reporting in Palestinian hospitals. It also examined clinicians' views about the preferred features of incident reporting system. Cross-sectional self-administered survey of 475 participants, 152 physicians and 323 nurses, from 11 public hospitals in the West Bank; response rate, 81.3%. There was a low level of event reporting among participants in the past year (40.3%). Adjusted for sex and age, physicians were 2.1 times more likely to report incidents than nurses (95% confidence interval, 1.32-3.417; P = 0.002). Perceived main barriers for reporting were grouped under lack of proper structure for reporting, prevalence of blame, and punitive environment. The clinicians indicated fear of administrative sanctions, social and legal liability, and of their competence being questioned (P > 0.05). Getting help for patients, learning from mistakes, and ethical obligation were equally indicated motivators for reporting (P > 0.05). Meanwhile, clinicians prefer formal reporting (77.8%) of all type of errors (65.5%), disclosure of reporters (52.7%), using reports to improve patient safety (80.3%), and willingness to report to immediate supervisors (57.6%). Clinicians acknowledge the importance of reporting incidents; however, prevalence of punitive culture and inadequate reporting systems are key barriers. Improving feedback about reported errors, simplifying procedures, providing clear guidelines on what and who should report, and avoiding blame are essential to enhance reporting. Moreover, health care organizations should consider the opinions of the clinicians in developing reporting systems.

  5. Reporter Concerns in 300 Mode-Related Incident Reports from NASA's Aviation Safety Reporting System

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    McGreevy, Michael W.

    1996-01-01

    A model has been developed which represents prominent reporter concerns expressed in the narratives of 300 mode-related incident reports from NASA's Aviation Safety Reporting System (ASRS). The model objectively quantifies the structure of concerns which persist across situations and reporters. These concerns are described and illustrated using verbatim sentences from the original narratives. Report accession numbers are included with each sentence so that concerns can be traced back to the original reports. The results also include an inventory of mode names mentioned in the narratives, and a comparison of individual and joint concerns. The method is based on a proximity-weighted co-occurrence metric and object-oriented complexity reduction.

  6. 41 CFR 102-33.445 - What accident and incident data must we report?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-01-01

    ... 41 Public Contracts and Property Management 3 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false What accident and... 33-MANAGEMENT OF GOVERNMENT AIRCRAFT Reporting Information on Government Aircraft Accident and Incident Data § 102-33.445 What accident and incident data must we report? You must report within 14...

  7. Clinical incidents involving students on placement: an analysis of incident reports to identify potential risk factors.

    PubMed

    Gaida, J E; Maloney, S; Lo, K; Morgan, P

    2015-06-01

    Students are sometimes involved in incidents during clinical training. To the authors' knowledge, no quantitative studies of incidents specifically involving physiotherapy students on clinical placement are available in the literature. A retrospective audit (2008 to 2011) of incident reports involving physiotherapy students was conducted to identify the nature and features of incidents. The study aimed to determine if injuries to a student or patient were more or less likely when the supervisor was in close proximity, and whether students with lower academic performance in their preclinical semester were more likely to be involved in an incident. There were 19 care-delivery-related and three equipment-related incidents. There were no incidents of violent, aggressive or demeaning behaviour towards students. The incident rate was 9.0/100,000 student-hours for third-year students and 6.8/100,000 student-hours for fourth-year students. The majority of incidents (55%) occurred from 11 am to 12-noon and from 3 pm to 3.30 pm. Incidents more often resulted in patient or student injury when the supervisor was not in close proximity (approximately 50% vs approximately 20%), although the difference was not significant (P=0.336). The academic results of students involved in incidents were equivalent to the whole cohort in their preclinical semester {mean 75 [standard deviation (SD) 6] vs 76 (SD 7); P=0.488}. The unexpected temporal clustering of incidents warrants further investigation. Student fatigue may warrant attention as a potential contributor; however, contextual factors, such as staff workload, along with organisational systems, structures and procedures may be more relevant. The potential relationship between supervisor proximity and injury also warrants further exploration. The findings of the present study should be integrated into clinical education curricula and communicated to clinical educators. Copyright © 2014 Chartered Society of Physiotherapy. Published by

  8. Lessons learnt from incidents reported by postgraduate trainees in Dutch general practice. A prospective cohort study.

    PubMed

    Zwart, Dorien L M; Heddema, Wendelien S; Vermeulen, Margit I; van Rensen, Elizabeth L J; Verheij, Theo J M; Kalkman, Cor J

    2011-10-01

    There is an inherent tension between allowing trainees in general practice (GP) to feel comfortable to report and learn from errors in a blame-free environment while still assuring high-quality and safe patient care. Unfortunately, little is known about the types and potential severity of incidents that may confront GP trainees. Furthermore, incident reporting by resident trainees is hindered by their concern that such transparency might result in more negative performance evaluations. To explore the number and nature of incidents that were reported by GP trainees and to determine whether there were differences between the reporters and non-reporters based on their performance evaluations. Prospective cohort study. Confidential and voluntary incident reporting was implemented in GP vocational training of the University Medical Center Utrecht, the Netherlands. Seventy-nine GP trainees were asked to report incidents over 6 months. Mixed methods were used to analyse the data. 24 trainees reported a total of 44 incidents. 23 incidents concerned the work process and 17 concerned problems with diagnosis or therapy. Three-quarters (34/44) of incidents were determined to be not specifically related to the inexperience of the GP trainees. While actual patient harm was determined to be minimal or absent in two-thirds of incidents (29/44), the potential for moderate, major, or catastrophic harm was 89% (39/44). Trainees performing best on their performance assessment in the domain of clinical expertise reported incidents more often (43% vs 18%, p<0.03) than those who performed at a lower level. GP trainees rated highly by their faculty voluntarily reported incidents in the delivery of clinical care when given a safe, blame-free, and confidential reporting process. Most incidents were not found to be directly related to the inexperience of the trainee, but were caused by failing organisational processes in the healthcare delivery system. Moreover, the trainees who tended to

  9. Pilot Critical Incident Reports as a Means to Identify Human Factors of Remotely Piloted Aircraft

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Hobbs, Alan; Cardoza, Colleen; Null, Cynthia

    2016-01-01

    It has been estimated that aviation accidents are typically preceded by numerous minor incidents arising from the same causal factors that ultimately produced the accident. Accident databases provide in-depth information on a relatively small number of occurrences, however incident databases have the potential to provide insights into the human factors of Remotely Piloted Aircraft System (RPAS) operations based on a larger volume of less-detailed reports. Currently, there is a lack of incident data dealing with the human factors of unmanned aircraft systems. An exploratory study is being conducted to examine the feasibility of collecting voluntary critical incident reports from RPAS pilots. Twenty-three experienced RPAS pilots volunteered to participate in focus groups in which they described critical incidents from their own experience. Participants were asked to recall (1) incidents that revealed a system flaw, or (2) highlighted a case where the human operator contributed to system resilience or mission success. Participants were asked to only report incidents that could be included in a public document. During each focus group session, a note taker produced a de-identified written record of the incident narratives. At the end of the session, participants reviewed each written incident report, and made edits and corrections as necessary. The incidents were later analyzed to identify contributing factors, with a focus on design issues that either hindered or assisted the pilot during the events. A total of 90 incidents were reported. Human factor issues included the impact of reduced sensory cues, traffic separation in the absence of an out-the-window view, control latencies, vigilance during monotonous and ultra-long endurance flights, control station design considerations, transfer of control between control stations, the management of lost link procedures, and decision-making during emergencies. Pilots participated willingly and enthusiastically in the study

  10. The Incidence of Human Papillomavirus in Tanzanian Adolescent Girls Before Reported Sexual Debut.

    PubMed

    Houlihan, Catherine F; Baisley, Kathy; Bravo, Ignacio G; Kapiga, Saidi; de Sanjosé, Silvia; Changalucha, John; Ross, David A; Hayes, Richard J; Watson-Jones, Deborah

    2016-03-01

    Acquisition of human papillomavirus (HPV) in women occurs predominantly through vaginal sex. However, HPV has been detected in girls reporting no previous sex. We aimed to determine incidence and risk factors for HPV acquisition in girls who report no previous sex in Tanzania, a country with high HPV prevalence and cervical cancer incidence. We followed 503 adolescent girls aged 15-16 years in Mwanza, Tanzania, with face-to-face interviews and self-administered vaginal swabs every 3 months for 18 months; 397 girls reported no sex before enrollment or during follow-up; of whom, 120 were randomly selected. Samples from enrollment, 6-, 12-, and 18-month visits were tested for 37 HPV genotypes. Incidence, clearance, point prevalence, and duration of any HPV and genotype-specific infections were calculated and associated factors were evaluated. Of 120 girls who reported no previous sex, 119 were included, contributing 438 samples. HPV was detected in 51 (11.6%) samples. The overall incidence of new HPV infections was 29.4/100 person-years (95% confidence interval: 15.9-54.2). The point prevalence of vaccine types HPV-6,-11,-16, and -18 was .9%, .9%, 2.0%, and 0%, respectively. Spending a night away from home and using the Internet were associated with incident HPV, and reporting having seen a pornographic movie was inversely associated with HPV incidence. Incident HPV infections were detected frequently in adolescent girls who reported no previous sex over 18 months. This is likely to reflect under-reporting of sex. A low-point prevalence of HPV genotypes in licensed vaccines was seen, indicating that vaccination of these girls might still be effective. Copyright © 2016 Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. All rights reserved.

  11. The Incidence of Human Papillomavirus in Tanzanian Adolescent Girls Before Reported Sexual Debut

    PubMed Central

    Houlihan, Catherine F.; Baisley, Kathy; Bravo, Ignacio G.; Kapiga, Saidi; de Sanjosé, Silvia; Changalucha, John; Ross, David A.; Hayes, Richard J.; Watson-Jones, Deborah

    2016-01-01

    Purpose Acquisition of human papillomavirus (HPV) in women occurs predominantly through vaginal sex. However, HPV has been detected in girls reporting no previous sex. We aimed to determine incidence and risk factors for HPV acquisition in girls who report no previous sex in Tanzania, a country with high HPV prevalence and cervical cancer incidence. Methods We followed 503 adolescent girls aged 15–16 years in Mwanza, Tanzania, with face-to-face interviews and self-administered vaginal swabs every 3 months for 18 months; 397 girls reported no sex before enrollment or during follow-up; of whom, 120 were randomly selected. Samples from enrollment, 6-, 12-, and 18-month visits were tested for 37 HPV genotypes. Incidence, clearance, point prevalence, and duration of any HPV and genotype-specific infections were calculated and associated factors were evaluated. Results Of 120 girls who reported no previous sex, 119 were included, contributing 438 samples. HPV was detected in 51 (11.6%) samples. The overall incidence of new HPV infections was 29.4/100 person-years (95% confidence interval: 15.9–54.2). The point prevalence of vaccine types HPV-6,-11,-16, and -18 was .9%, .9%, 2.0%, and 0%, respectively. Spending a night away from home and using the Internet were associated with incident HPV, and reporting having seen a pornographic movie was inversely associated with HPV incidence. Conclusions Incident HPV infections were detected frequently in adolescent girls who reported no previous sex over 18 months. This is likely to reflect under-reporting of sex. A low-point prevalence of HPV genotypes in licensed vaccines was seen, indicating that vaccination of these girls might still be effective. PMID:26725717

  12. Reporting of Violent and Disruptive Incidents by Public Schools. Report 2005-S-38

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    New York State Education Department, 2006

    2006-01-01

    The objective of this report was to determine whether the State Education Department (SED) has developed effective processes for (1) ensuring that school districts report violent and disruptive incidents to SED in accordance with State law and regulations, (2) identifying schools that should be designated as persistently dangerous because of their…

  13. 14 CFR 91.1021 - Internal safety reporting and incident/accident response.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-01-01

    .../accident response. 91.1021 Section 91.1021 Aeronautics and Space FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION... incident/accident response. (a) Each program manager must establish an internal anonymous safety reporting.... (b) Each program manager must establish procedures to respond to an aviation incident/accident. ...

  14. Understanding public responses to chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear incidents--driving factors, emerging themes and research gaps.

    PubMed

    Krieger, Kristian; Amlôt, Richard; Rogers, M Brooke

    2014-11-01

    This paper discusses the management of public responses to incidents involving chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear materials (CBRN). Given the extraordinary technical and operational challenges of a response to a CBRN release including, but not limited to, hazard detection and identification, casualty decontamination and multi-agency co-ordination, it is not surprising that public psychological and behavioural responses to such incidents have received limited attention by scholars and practitioners alike. As a result, a lack of understanding about the role of the public in effective emergency response constitutes a major gap in research and practice. This limitation must be addressed as a CBRN release has the potential to have wide-reaching psychological and behavioural impacts which, in turn, impact upon public morbidity and mortality rates. This paper addresses a number of key issues: why public responses matter; how responses have been conceptualised by practitioners; what factors have been identified as influencing public responses to a CBRN release and similar extreme events, and what further analysis is needed in order to generate a better understanding of public responses to inform the management of public responses to a CBRN release. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  15. Development of the Space Operations Incident Reporting Tool (SOIRT)

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Minton, Jacquie

    1997-01-01

    The space operations incident reporting tool (SOIRT) is an instrument used to record information about an anomaly occurring during flight which may have been due to insufficient and/or inappropriate application of human factors knowledge. We originally developed the SOIRT form after researching other incident reporting systems of this type. We modified the form after performing several in-house reviews and a pilot test to access usability. Finally, crew members from Space Shuttle flights participated in a usability test of the tool after their missions. Since the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) currently has no system for continuous collection of this type of information, the SOIRT was developed to report issues such as reach envelope constraints, control operation difficulties, and vision impairments. However, if the SOIRT were to become a formal NASA process, information from crew members could be collected in a database and made available to individuals responsible for improving in-flight safety and productivity. Potential benefits include documentation to justify the redesign or development of new equipment/systems, provide the mission planners with a method for identifying past incidents, justify the development of timelines and mission scenarios, and require the creation of more appropriate work/rest cycles.

  16. Infections and exposures: reported incidents associated with unsuccessful decontamination of reusable surgical instruments.

    PubMed

    Southworth, P M

    2014-11-01

    Reusable surgical instruments provide a potential route for the transmission of pathogenic agents between patients in healthcare facilities. As such, the decontamination process between uses is a vital component in the prevention of healthcare-associated infections. This article reviews reported outbreaks and incidents associated with inappropriate, inadequate, or unsuccessful decontamination of surgical instruments, indicating potential pitfalls of decontamination practices worldwide. To the author's knowledge, this is the first review of surgical instrument decontamination failures. Databases of medical literature, Medline and Embase, were searched systematically. Articles detailing incidents associated with unsuccessful decontamination of surgical instruments were identified. Twenty-one articles were identified reporting incidents associated with failures in decontamination. A large proportion of incidents involved the attempted disinfection, rather than sterilization, of surgical instruments (43% of articles), counter to a number of national guidelines. Instruments used in eye surgery were most frequently reported to be associated with decontamination failures (29% of articles). Of the few articles detailing potential or confirmed pathogenic transmission, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Mycobacterium spp. were most represented. One incident of possible variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease transmission was also identified. Limitations of analysing only published incidents mean that the likelihood of under-reporting (including reluctance to publish failure) must be considered. Despite these limitations, the small number of articles identified suggests a relatively low risk of cross-infection through reusable surgical instruments when cleaning/sterilization procedures are adhered to. The diverse nature of reported incidents also suggests that failures are not systemic. Copyright © 2014 The Healthcare Infection Society. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  17. Reported fatal and non-fatal incidents involving tourists in Thailand, July 1997-June 1999.

    PubMed

    Leggat, Peter A; Leggat, Frances W

    2003-05-01

    Objectives. To examine fatal and non-fatal incidents involving tourists in Thailand. Methods. Press records from a major English language newspaper for the period from July 1997 to June 1999 were examined for reports of fatal and non-fatal incidents involving tourists. Results. From July 1997 to June 1999, up to 233 deaths were reported and up to a further 216 were reported injured in incidents involving tourists. One hundred and one deaths and 45 injured were reported following one major domestic jet aircraft crash in southern Thailand, however, it was not stated what proportion of casualties were tourists. Approximately 90 people perished in a single hotel fire in southeast Thailand. Most of the victims were local travellers attending meetings of two Thai companies. Sixteen deaths and 86 injured resulted from five road accidents. The majority of deaths and injuries involved foreigners. Twelve deaths and at least 33 injured resulted from three ferry and tour boat accidents. Most victims were reported to be foreigners. Three deaths and 35 injured resulted from a single cable car accident in northern Thailand. Most of these were Thai tourists, however, four of the injured were foreigners. Eight deaths and six injured resulted from 11 muggings and other violent incidents. All were foreigners. Six deaths were reportedly connected to a scam at the airport in Bangkok involving unlicensed airport taxis. Three deaths and four injured were due to other reported incidents. Conclusions. Newspaper reports of fatal and non-fatal incidents involving tourists in Thailand were probably uncommon, particularly given the volume of tourists entering the Kingdom, although better reporting mechanisms are needed. With the exception of the unusual major incidents, most reported fatal and non-fatal incidents involving tourists were due to road trauma and other transportation accidents, muggings, and occasional water sports and other accidents, which could occur at any major tourist

  18. Patient-reported safety incidents in older patients with long-term conditions: a large cross-sectional study

    PubMed Central

    Panagioti, Maria; Blakeman, Thomas; Hann, Mark; Bower, Peter

    2017-01-01

    Background Increasing evidence suggests that patient safety is a serious concern for older patients with long-term conditions. Despite this, there is a lack of research on safety incidents encountered by this patient group. In this study, we sought to examine patient reports of safety incidents and factors associated with reports of safety incidents in older patients with long-term conditions. Methods The baseline cross-sectional data from a longitudinal cohort study were analysed. Older patients (n=3378 aged 65 years and over) with a long-term condition registered in general practices were included in the study. The main outcome was patient-reported safety incidents including availability and appropriateness of medical tests and prescription of wrong types or doses of medication. Binary univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were undertaken to examine factors associated with patient-reported safety incidents. Results Safety incidents were reported by 11% of the patients. Four factors were significantly associated with patient-reported safety incidents in multivariate analyses. The experience of multiple long-term conditions (OR=1.09, 95% CI 1.05 to 1.13), a probable diagnosis of depression (OR=1.36, 95% CI 1.06 to 1.74) and greater relational continuity of care (OR=1.28, 95% CI 1.08 to 1.52) were associated with increased odds for patient-reported safety incidents. Perceived greater support and involvement in self-management was associated with lower odds for patient-reported safety incidents (OR=0.95, 95% CI 0.93 to 0.97). Conclusions We found that older patients with multimorbidity and depression are more likely to report experiences of patient safety incidents. Improving perceived support and involvement of patients in their care may help prevent patient-reported safety incidents. PMID:28559454

  19. Estimating Achievement Gaps from Test Scores Reported in Ordinal "Proficiency" Categories

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ho, Andrew D.; Reardon, Sean F.

    2012-01-01

    Test scores are commonly reported in a small number of ordered categories. Examples of such reporting include state accountability testing, Advanced Placement tests, and English proficiency tests. This paper introduces and evaluates methods for estimating achievement gaps on a familiar standard-deviation-unit metric using data from these ordered…

  20. Analysis of the sex ratio of reported gonorrhoea incidence in Shenzhen, China

    PubMed Central

    Xiong, Mingzhou; Lan, Lina; Feng, Tiejian; Zhao, Guanglu; Wang, Feng; Hong, Fuchang; Wu, Xiaobing; Zhang, Chunlai; Wen, Lizhang; Liu, Aizhong; Best, John McCulloch; Tang, Weiming

    2016-01-01

    Objective To assess the clinical process of gonorrhoea diagnosis and report in China, and to determine the difference of sex ratio between reported incidence based on reporting data and true diagnosis rate based on reference tests of gonorrhoea. Setting A total of 26 dermatology and sexually transmitted disease (STD) departments, 34 obstetrics-gynaecology clinics and 28 urology outpatient clinics selected from 34 hospitals of Shenzhen regarded as our study sites. Participants A total of 2754 participants were recruited in this study, and 2534 participants completed the questionnaire survey and provided genital tract secretion specimens. There were 1106 male and 1428 female participants. Eligible participants were patients who presented for outpatient STD care at the selected clinics for the first time in October 2012 were at least 18 years old, and were able to give informed consent. Outcome measures Untested rate, true-positive rate, false-negative rate and unreported rate of gonorrhoea, as well as reported gonorrhoea incidence sex ratio and true diagnosis sex ratio were calculated and used to describe the results. Results 2534 participants were enrolled in the study. The untested rate of gonorrhoea among females was significantly higher than that among males (female 88.1%, male 68.3%, p=0.001). The male-to-female sex ratios of untested rate, true-positive rate, false-negative rate and unreported rate were 1:1.3, 1.2:1, 1:1.6 and 1:1.4, respectively. The reported gonorrhoea incidence sex ratio of new diagnosed gonorrhoea was 19.8:1 (male vs female: 87/1106 vs 5/1420), while the true diagnosis sex ratio was 2.5:1 (male vs female: 161/1106 vs 84/1420). These data indicate that the sex ratio of reported gonorrhoea incidence has been overestimated by a factor of 7.9 (19.8/2.5). Conclusions We found the current reported gonorrhoea incidence and sex ratios to be inaccurate due to underestimations of gonorrhoea incidence, especially among women. PMID:26975933

  1. National GAP Conference 2007-Discussion Groups Report

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Ratz, Joan M.; Lamb, Berton Lee

    2010-01-01

    We led two discussion groups during the 2007 National GAP Conference. These discussion groups provided information to help develop a survey of National Gap Analysis Program (GAP) data users. One group discussed technical issues, and the second group discussed the use of GAP data for decisionmaking. Themes emerging from the technical issues group included concerns about data quality, need for information on how to use data, and passive data distribution. The decisionmaking discussion included a wide range of topics including the need to understand presentation of information, the need to connect with and understand users of data, the revision of GAP's mission, and the adaptability of products and data. The decisionmaking group also raised concerns regarding technical issues. One conclusion is that a deep commitment to ongoing information transfer and support is a key component of success for the GAP program.

  2. Development of an online incident-reporting system for management of medical risks at hospital.

    PubMed

    Kanda, Hirohito

    2011-01-01

      To minimize their occurrence, it is important to gather and analyze data regarding cases of not only medical accidents but also of incidents involving potential harm to patients. In gathering data, we have separated reporting between the details of such incidents and information about their occurrence. We have implemented a system involving a first report to achieve prompt notification and a second report to provide details. An online report input system has been established taking into consideration both ease of input and promptness of information sharing. We discuss the input of the first and second reports in a total of 951 cases over a period of 6 months. From the data regarding the timing of the first report, 307 and 789 cases were reported within 24 h and 48 h, respectively, indicating that the first report was input mostly without delay in accordance with the operational guidelines. On the other hand, it took 14 days to surpass a second report rate of 80%. Cases that took more than 2 weeks to be reported would likely have gone unreported had there not been a first report to indicate and confirm that an incident had even occurred. Investigation is needed, especially for problematic cases, so we assume that discovering important incidents via the first report has been successful. In addition, details of incidents can be input into this system in free-text, yielding information that cannot be acquired with multiple choice input as in standard reporting systems.

  3. Racial and Gender Gaps in Academic Achievement. Report Summary.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Dulaney, Chuck; Banks, Karen

    This report summarizes the level of academic achievement, and the extent of racial and gender gaps in that achievement, of students in North Carolina's Wake County Public School System (WCPSS). The comparison was conducted using 1993 End-of-Grade (EOG) tests; low income group EOG test performance; 1993 writing tests and high school writing…

  4. Medication incidents related to automated dose dispensing in community pharmacies and hospitals--a reporting system study.

    PubMed

    Cheung, Ka-Chun; van den Bemt, Patricia M L A; Bouvy, Marcel L; Wensing, Michel; De Smet, Peter A G M

    2014-01-01

    Automated dose dispensing (ADD) is being introduced in several countries and the use of this technology is expected to increase as a growing number of elderly people need to manage their medication at home. ADD aims to improve medication safety and treatment adherence, but it may introduce new safety issues. This descriptive study provides insight into the nature and consequences of medication incidents related to ADD, as reported by healthcare professionals in community pharmacies and hospitals. The medication incidents that were submitted to the Dutch Central Medication incidents Registration (CMR) reporting system were selected and characterized independently by two researchers. Person discovering the incident, phase of the medication process in which the incident occurred, immediate cause of the incident, nature of incident from the healthcare provider's perspective, nature of incident from the patient's perspective, and consequent harm to the patient caused by the incident. From January 2012 to February 2013 the CMR received 15,113 incidents: 3,685 (24.4%) incidents from community pharmacies and 11,428 (75.6%) incidents from hospitals. Eventually 1 of 50 reported incidents (268/15,113 = 1.8%) were related to ADD; in community pharmacies more incidents (227/3,685 = 6.2%) were related to ADD than in hospitals (41/11,428 = 0.4%). The immediate cause of an incident was often a change in the patient's medicine regimen or relocation. Most reported incidents occurred in two phases: entering the prescription into the pharmacy information system and filling the ADD bag. A proportion of incidents was related to ADD and is reported regularly, especially by community pharmacies. In two phases, entering the prescription into the pharmacy information system and filling the ADD bag, most incidents occurred. A change in the patient's medicine regimen or relocation was the immediate causes of an incident.

  5. Analysis of Incident and Accident Reports and Risk Management in Spine Surgery.

    PubMed

    Kobayashi, Kazuyoshi; Imagama, Shiro; Ando, Kei; Hida, Tetsuro; Ito, Kenyu; Tsushima, Mikito; Ishikawa, Yoshimoto; Matsumoto, Akiyuki; Morozumi, Masayoshi; Nishida, Yoshihiro; Nagao, Yoshimasa; Ishiguro, Naoki

    2017-08-01

    A review of accident and incident reports. To analyze prevalence, characteristics, and details of perioperative incidents and accidents in patients receiving spine surgery. In our institution, a clinical error that potentially results in an adverse event is usually submitted as an incident or accident report through a web database, to ensure anonymous and blame-free reporting. All reports are analyzed by a medical safety management group. These reports contain valuable data for management of medical safety, but there have been no studies evaluating such data for spine surgery. A total of 320 incidents and accidents that occurred perioperatively in 172 of 415 spine surgeries were included in the study. Incidents were defined as events that were "problematic, but with no damage to the patient," and accidents as events "with damage to the patient." The details of these events were analyzed. There were 278 incidents in 137 surgeries and 42 accidents in 35 surgeries, giving prevalence of 33% (137/415) and 8% (35/415), respectively. The proportion of accidents among all events was significantly higher for doctors than non-doctors [68.0% (17/25) vs. 8.5% (25/295), P < 0.01] and in the operating room compared with outside the operating room [40.5% (15/37) vs. 9.5% (27/283), P < 0.01]. There was no significant difference in years of experience among personnel involved in all events. The major types of events were medication-related, line and tube problems, and falls and slips. Accidents also occurred because of a long-term prone position, with complications such as laryngeal edema, ulnar nerve palsy, and tooth damage. Surgery and procedures in the operating room always have a risk of complications. Therefore, a particular effort is needed to establish safe management of this environment and to provide advice on risk to the doctor and medical care team. 4.

  6. Exploring the Influence of Nurse Work Environment and Patient Safety Culture on Attitudes Toward Incident Reporting.

    PubMed

    Yoo, Moon Sook; Kim, Kyoung Ja

    2017-09-01

    The aim of this study was to explore the influence of nurse work environments and patient safety culture on attitudes toward incident reporting. Patient safety culture had been known as a factor of incident reporting by nurses. Positive work environment could be an important influencing factor for the safety behavior of nurses. A cross-sectional survey design was used. The structured questionnaire was administered to 191 nurses working at a tertiary university hospital in South Korea. Nurses' perception of work environment and patient safety culture were positively correlated with attitudes toward incident reporting. A regression model with clinical career, work area and nurse work environment, and patient safety culture against attitudes toward incident reporting was statistically significant. The model explained approximately 50.7% of attitudes toward incident reporting. Improving nurses' attitudes toward incident reporting can be achieved with a broad approach that includes improvements in work environment and patient safety culture.

  7. 49 CFR 191.9 - Distribution system: Incident report.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... 49 Transportation 3 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Distribution system: Incident report. 191.9 Section 191.9 Transportation Other Regulations Relating to Transportation (Continued) PIPELINE AND HAZARDOUS MATERIALS SAFETY ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION (CONTINUED) PIPELINE SAFETY TRANSPORTATION OF NATURAL AND OTHER GAS BY PIPELINE;...

  8. Media actors' perceptions of their roles in reporting food incidents.

    PubMed

    Wilson, Annabelle M; Henderson, Julie; Coveney, John; Meyer, Samantha B; Webb, Trevor; Calnan, Michael; Caraher, Martin; Lloyd, Sue; McCullum, Dean; Elliott, Anthony; Ward, Paul R

    2014-12-18

    Previous research has shown that the media can play a role in shaping consumer perceptions during a public health crisis. In order for public health professionals to communicate well-informed health information to the media, it is important that they understand how media view their role in transmitting public health information to consumers and decide what information to present. This paper reports the perceptions of media actors from three countries about their role in reporting information during a food incident. This information is used to present ideas and suggestions for public health professionals working with media during food incidents. Thirty three semi-structured interviews with media actors from Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom were conducted and analysed thematically. Media actors were recruited via purposive sampling using a sampling strategy, from a variety of formats including newspaper, television, radio and online. Media actors said that during a food incident, they play two roles. First, they play a role in communicating information to consumers by acting as a conduit for information between the public and the relevant authorities. Second, they play a role as investigators by acting as a public watchdog. Media actors are an important source of consumer information during food incidents. Public health professionals can work with media by actively approaching them with information about food incidents; promoting to media that as public health professionals, they are best placed to provide the facts about food incidents; and by providing angles for further investigation and directing media to relevant and correct information to inform such investigations. Public health professionals who adapt how they work with media are more likely to influence media to portray messages that fit what they would like the public to know and that are in line with public health recommendations and enable consumers to engage in safe and health promoting

  9. A review of medication incidents reported to the National Reporting and Learning System in England and Wales over 6 years (2005–2010)

    PubMed Central

    Cousins, David H; Gerrett, David; Warner, Bruce

    2012-01-01

    A review of all medication incidents reported to the National Reporting and Learning System (NRLS) in England in Wales between 1 January 2005 and 31 December 2010 was undertaken. The 526 186 medication incident reports represented 9.68% of all patient safety incidents. Medication incidents from acute general hospitals (394 951) represented 75% of reports. There were relatively smaller numbers of medication incident reports (44 952) from primary care, representing 8.5% of the total. Of 86 821 (16%) medication incidents reporting actual patient harm, 822 (0.9%) resulted in death or severe harm. The incidents involving medicine administration (263 228; 50%) and prescribing (97 097; 18%) were the process steps with the largest number of reports. Omitted and delayed medicine (82 028; 16%) and wrong dose (80 170; 15%) represented the largest error categories. Thirteen medicines or therapeutic groups accounted for 377 (46%) of the incidents with outcomes of death or severe harm. The National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA) has issued guidance to help minimize incidents with many of these medicines. Many recent incidents could have been prevented if the NPSA guidance had been better implemented. It is recommended that healthcare organizations in all sectors establish an effective infrastructure to oversee and promote safe medication practice, including an annual medication safety report. In the future, preventable harms from medication incidents can be further minimized by; the continued use of the NRLS to identify and prioritize important actions to improve medication safety, a central organization continuing to issue medication safety guidance to the service and better methods to ensure that the National Health Service has implemented this guidance. PMID:22188210

  10. Using incident reports to inform the prevention of medication administration errors.

    PubMed

    Härkänen, Marja; Saano, Susanna; Vehviläinen-Julkunen, Katri

    2017-11-01

    To describe ways of preventing medication administration errors based on reporters' views expressed in medication administration incident reports. Medication administration errors are very common, and nurses play important roles in committing and in preventing such errors. Thus far, incident reporters' perceptions of how to prevent medication administration errors have rarely been analysed. This is a qualitative, descriptive study using an inductive content analysis of the incident reports related to medication administration errors (n = 1012). These free-text descriptions include reporters' views on preventing the reoccurrence of medication administration errors. The data were collected from two hospitals in Finland and pertain to incidents that were reported between 1 January 2013 and 31 December 2014. Reporters' views on preventing medication administration errors were divided into three main categories related to individuals (health professionals), teams and organisations. The following categories related to individuals in preventing medication administration errors were identified: (1) accuracy and preciseness; (2) verification; and (3) following the guidelines, responsibility and attitude towards work. The team categories were as follows: (1) distribution of work; (2) flow of information and cooperation; and (3) documenting and marking the drug information. The categories related to organisation were as follows: (1) work environment; (2) resources; (3) training; (4) guidelines; and (5) development of the work. Health professionals should administer medication with a high moral awareness and an attempt to concentrate on the task. Nonetheless, the system should support health professionals by providing a reasonable work environment and encouraging collaboration among the providers to facilitate the safe administration of medication. Although there are numerous approaches to supporting medication safety, approaches that support the ability of individual health

  11. A Profile of Criminal Incidents at School: Results from the 2003-05 National Crime Victimization Survey Crime Incident Report NCES 2010-318

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ruddy, Sally A.; Bauer, Lynn; Neiman, Samantha

    2010-01-01

    This report provides estimates of criminal incidents that occur at school. Incident-level data were obtained from the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS), the nation's primary source of information on criminal victimization and criminal incidents in the United States. The NCVS collects demographic information on respondents in the NCVS…

  12. Spatial Distribution of Black Bear Incident Reports in Michigan.

    PubMed

    McFadden-Hiller, Jamie E; Beyer, Dean E; Belant, Jerrold L

    2016-01-01

    Interactions between humans and carnivores have existed for centuries due to competition for food and space. American black bears are increasing in abundance and populations are expanding geographically in many portions of its range, including areas that are also increasing in human density, often resulting in associated increases in human-bear conflict (hereafter, bear incidents). We used public reports of bear incidents in Michigan, USA, from 2003-2011 to assess the relative contributions of ecological and anthropogenic variables in explaining the spatial distribution of bear incidents and estimated the potential risk of bear incidents. We used weighted Normalized Difference Vegetation Index mean as an index of primary productivity, region (i.e., Upper Peninsula or Lower Peninsula), primary and secondary road densities, and percentage land cover type within 6.5-km2 circular buffers around bear incidents and random points. We developed 22 a priori models and used generalized linear models and Akaike's Information Criterion (AIC) to rank models. The global model was the best compromise between model complexity and model fit (w = 0.99), with a ΔAIC 8.99 units from the second best performing model. We found that as deciduous forest cover increased, the probability of bear incident occurrence increased. Among the measured anthropogenic variables, cultivated crops and primary roads were the most important in our AIC-best model and were both positively related to the probability of bear incident occurrence. The spatial distribution of relative bear incident risk varied markedly throughout Michigan. Forest cover fragmented with agriculture and other anthropogenic activities presents an environment that likely facilitates bear incidents. Our map can help wildlife managers identify areas of bear incident occurrence, which in turn can be used to help develop strategies aimed at reducing incidents. Researchers and wildlife managers can use similar mapping techniques to

  13. Spatial Distribution of Black Bear Incident Reports in Michigan

    PubMed Central

    McFadden-Hiller, Jamie E.; Beyer, Dean E.; Belant, Jerrold L.

    2016-01-01

    Interactions between humans and carnivores have existed for centuries due to competition for food and space. American black bears are increasing in abundance and populations are expanding geographically in many portions of its range, including areas that are also increasing in human density, often resulting in associated increases in human-bear conflict (hereafter, bear incidents). We used public reports of bear incidents in Michigan, USA, from 2003–2011 to assess the relative contributions of ecological and anthropogenic variables in explaining the spatial distribution of bear incidents and estimated the potential risk of bear incidents. We used weighted Normalized Difference Vegetation Index mean as an index of primary productivity, region (i.e., Upper Peninsula or Lower Peninsula), primary and secondary road densities, and percentage land cover type within 6.5-km2 circular buffers around bear incidents and random points. We developed 22 a priori models and used generalized linear models and Akaike’s Information Criterion (AIC) to rank models. The global model was the best compromise between model complexity and model fit (w = 0.99), with a ΔAIC 8.99 units from the second best performing model. We found that as deciduous forest cover increased, the probability of bear incident occurrence increased. Among the measured anthropogenic variables, cultivated crops and primary roads were the most important in our AIC-best model and were both positively related to the probability of bear incident occurrence. The spatial distribution of relative bear incident risk varied markedly throughout Michigan. Forest cover fragmented with agriculture and other anthropogenic activities presents an environment that likely facilitates bear incidents. Our map can help wildlife managers identify areas of bear incident occurrence, which in turn can be used to help develop strategies aimed at reducing incidents. Researchers and wildlife managers can use similar mapping techniques to

  14. A review and discussion of flight management system incidents reported to the Aviation Safety Reporting System

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    1992-02-01

    This report covers the activities related to the description, classification and : analysis of the types and kinds of flight crew errors, incidents and actions, as : reported to the Aviation Safety Reporting System (ASRS) database, that can occur as ...

  15. Medication Incidents Related to Automated Dose Dispensing in Community Pharmacies and Hospitals - A Reporting System Study

    PubMed Central

    Cheung, Ka-Chun; van den Bemt, Patricia M. L. A.; Bouvy, Marcel L.; Wensing, Michel; De Smet, Peter A. G. M.

    2014-01-01

    Introduction Automated dose dispensing (ADD) is being introduced in several countries and the use of this technology is expected to increase as a growing number of elderly people need to manage their medication at home. ADD aims to improve medication safety and treatment adherence, but it may introduce new safety issues. This descriptive study provides insight into the nature and consequences of medication incidents related to ADD, as reported by healthcare professionals in community pharmacies and hospitals. Methods The medication incidents that were submitted to the Dutch Central Medication incidents Registration (CMR) reporting system were selected and characterized independently by two researchers. Main Outcome Measures Person discovering the incident, phase of the medication process in which the incident occurred, immediate cause of the incident, nature of incident from the healthcare provider's perspective, nature of incident from the patient's perspective, and consequent harm to the patient caused by the incident. Results From January 2012 to February 2013 the CMR received 15,113 incidents: 3,685 (24.4%) incidents from community pharmacies and 11,428 (75.6%) incidents from hospitals. Eventually 1 of 50 reported incidents (268/15,113 = 1.8%) were related to ADD; in community pharmacies more incidents (227/3,685 = 6.2%) were related to ADD than in hospitals (41/11,428 = 0.4%). The immediate cause of an incident was often a change in the patient's medicine regimen or relocation. Most reported incidents occurred in two phases: entering the prescription into the pharmacy information system and filling the ADD bag. Conclusion A proportion of incidents was related to ADD and is reported regularly, especially by community pharmacies. In two phases, entering the prescription into the pharmacy information system and filling the ADD bag, most incidents occurred. A change in the patient's medicine regimen or relocation was the immediate causes of an incident

  16. Analysis of the sex ratio of reported gonorrhoea incidence in Shenzhen, China.

    PubMed

    Xiong, Mingzhou; Lan, Lina; Feng, Tiejian; Zhao, Guanglu; Wang, Feng; Hong, Fuchang; Wu, Xiaobing; Zhang, Chunlai; Wen, Lizhang; Liu, Aizhong; Best, John McCulloch; Tang, Weiming

    2016-03-14

    To assess the clinical process of gonorrhoea diagnosis and report in China, and to determine the difference of sex ratio between reported incidence based on reporting data and true diagnosis rate based on reference tests of gonorrhoea. A total of 26 dermatology and sexually transmitted disease (STD) departments, 34 obstetrics-gynaecology clinics and 28 urology outpatient clinics selected from 34 hospitals of Shenzhen regarded as our study sites. A total of 2754 participants were recruited in this study, and 2534 participants completed the questionnaire survey and provided genital tract secretion specimens. There were 1106 male and 1428 female participants. Eligible participants were patients who presented for outpatient STD care at the selected clinics for the first time in October 2012 were at least 18 years old, and were able to give informed consent. Untested rate, true-positive rate, false-negative rate and unreported rate of gonorrhoea, as well as reported gonorrhoea incidence sex ratio and true diagnosis sex ratio were calculated and used to describe the results. 2534 participants were enrolled in the study. The untested rate of gonorrhoea among females was significantly higher than that among males (female 88.1%, male 68.3%, p=0.001). The male-to-female sex ratios of untested rate, true-positive rate, false-negative rate and unreported rate were 1:1.3, 1.2:1, 1:1.6 and 1:1.4, respectively. The reported gonorrhoea incidence sex ratio of new diagnosed gonorrhoea was 19.8:1 (male vs female: 87/1106 vs 5/1420), while the true diagnosis sex ratio was 2.5:1 (male vs female: 161/1106 vs 84/1420). These data indicate that the sex ratio of reported gonorrhoea incidence has been overestimated by a factor of 7.9 (19.8/2.5). We found the current reported gonorrhoea incidence and sex ratios to be inaccurate due to underestimations of gonorrhoea incidence, especially among women. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already

  17. Impact of Study Design on Reported Incidences of Acute Mountain Sickness: A Systematic Review.

    PubMed

    Waeber, Baptiste; Kayser, Bengt; Dumont, Lionel; Lysakowski, Christopher; Tramèr, Martin R; Elia, Nadia

    2015-09-01

    Published incidences of acute mountain sickness (AMS) vary widely. Reasons for this variation, and predictive factors of AMS, are not well understood. We aimed to identify predictive factors that are associated with the occurrence of AMS, and to test the hypothesis that study design is an independent predictive factor of AMS incidence. We did a systematic search (Medline, bibliographies) for relevant articles in English or French, up to April 28, 2013. Studies of any design reporting on AMS incidence in humans without prophylaxis were selected. Data on incidence and potential predictive factors were extracted by two reviewers and crosschecked by four reviewers. Associations between predictive factors and AMS incidence were sought through bivariate and multivariate analyses for different study designs separately. Association between AMS incidence and study design was assessed using multiple linear regression. We extracted data from 53,603 subjects from 34 randomized controlled trials, 44 cohort studies, and 33 cross-sectional studies. In randomized trials, the median of AMS incidences without prophylaxis was 60% (range, 16%-100%); mode of ascent and population were significantly associated with AMS incidence. In cohort studies, the median of AMS incidences was 51% (0%-100%); geographical location was significantly associated with AMS incidence. In cross-sectional studies, the median of AMS incidences was 32% (0%-68%); mode of ascent and maximum altitude were significantly associated with AMS incidence. In a multivariate analysis, study design (p=0.012), mode of ascent (p=0.003), maximum altitude (p<0.001), population (p=0.002), and geographical location (p<0.001) were significantly associated with AMS incidence. Age, sex, speed of ascent, duration of exposure, or history of AMS were inconsistently reported and therefore not further analyzed. Reported incidences and identifiable predictive factors of AMS depend on study design.

  18. Aging and the 4 kHz Air-bone Gap

    PubMed Central

    Nondahl, David M.; Tweed, Ted S.; Cruickshanks, Karen J.; Wiley, Terry L.; Dalton, Dayna S.

    2011-01-01

    Purpose To assess age- and gender-related patterns in the prevalence and 10-year incidence of 4 kHz air-bone gaps, and associated factors. Method Data were obtained as part of the longitudinal, population-based Epidemiology of Hearing Loss Study. An air-bone gap at 4 kHz was defined as an air-conduction threshold ≥15 dB higher than the bone-conduction threshold in the right ear. Results Among 3,553 participants aged 48 to 92 years at baseline (1993-1995), 3.4% had a 4 kHz air-bone gap in the right ear. The prevalence increased with age. Among the 120 participants with an air-bone gap, 60.0% did not have a flat tympanogram or an air-bone gap at .5 kHz. Ten years later we assessed 2093 participants who did not have a 4 kHz air-bone gap at baseline; 9.2% had developed a 4 kHz air-bone gap in the right ear. The incidence increased with age. Among the 192 participants who had developed an air-bone gap, 60.9% did not have a flat tympanogram or air-bone gaps at other frequencies. Conclusions These results suggest that a finding of a 4 kHz air-bone gap may reflect a combination of aging and other factors and not necessarily exclusively abnormal middle ear function. PMID:22232408

  19. State Medicaid Coverage, ESRD Incidence, and Access to Care

    PubMed Central

    Goldstein, Benjamin A.; Hall, Yoshio N.; Mitani, Aya A.; Winkelmayer, Wolfgang C.

    2014-01-01

    The proportion of low-income nonelderly adults covered by Medicaid varies widely by state. We sought to determine whether broader state Medicaid coverage, defined as the proportion of each state’s low-income nonelderly adult population covered by Medicaid, associates with lower state-level incidence of ESRD and greater access to care. The main outcomes were incidence of ESRD and five indicators of access to care. We identified 408,535 adults aged 20–64 years, who developed ESRD between January 1, 2001, and December 31, 2008. Medicaid coverage among low-income nonelderly adults ranged from 12.2% to 66.0% (median 32.5%). For each additional 10% of the low-income nonelderly population covered by Medicaid, there was a 1.8% (95% confidence interval, 1.0% to 2.6%) decrease in ESRD incidence. Among nonelderly adults with ESRD, gaps in access to care between those with private insurance and those with Medicaid were narrower in states with broader coverage. For a 50-year-old white woman, the access gap to the kidney transplant waiting list between Medicaid and private insurance decreased by 7.7 percentage points in high (>45%) versus low (<25%) Medicaid coverage states. Similarly, the access gap to transplantation decreased by 4.0 percentage points and the access gap to peritoneal dialysis decreased by 3.8 percentage points in high Medicaid coverage states. In conclusion, states with broader Medicaid coverage had a lower incidence of ESRD and smaller insurance-related access gaps. PMID:24652791

  20. 29 CFR 1904.39 - Reporting fatalities and multiple hospitalization incidents to OSHA.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... machine, faxing the area office, or sending an e-mail? No, if you can't talk to a person at the Area... incident. (7) What if I don't learn about an incident right away? If you do not learn of a reportable...

  1. 29 CFR 1904.39 - Reporting fatalities and multiple hospitalization incidents to OSHA.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... machine, faxing the area office, or sending an e-mail? No, if you can't talk to a person at the Area... incident. (7) What if I don't learn about an incident right away? If you do not learn of a reportable...

  2. 29 CFR 1904.39 - Reporting fatalities and multiple hospitalization incidents to OSHA.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-07-01

    ... machine, faxing the area office, or sending an e-mail? No, if you can't talk to a person at the Area... incident. (7) What if I don't learn about an incident right away? If you do not learn of a reportable...

  3. 29 CFR 1904.39 - Reporting fatalities and multiple hospitalization incidents to OSHA.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-07-01

    ... machine, faxing the area office, or sending an e-mail? No, if you can't talk to a person at the Area... incident. (7) What if I don't learn about an incident right away? If you do not learn of a reportable...

  4. 29 CFR 1904.39 - Reporting fatalities and multiple hospitalization incidents to OSHA.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-07-01

    ... machine, faxing the area office, or sending an e-mail? No, if you can't talk to a person at the Area... incident. (7) What if I don't learn about an incident right away? If you do not learn of a reportable...

  5. 46 CFR 148.02-5 - Report of hazardous materials incidents.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... 46 Shipping 5 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Report of hazardous materials incidents. 148.02-5 Section 148.02-5 Shipping COAST GUARD, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY (CONTINUED) DANGEROUS CARGOES CARRIAGE OF SOLID HAZARDOUS MATERIALS IN BULK Vessel Requirements § 148.02-5 Report of hazardous materials...

  6. Reported fatal and non-fatal incidents involving tourists in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, 1992-2002.

    PubMed

    Heggie, Travis W

    2005-08-01

    Objectives. To examine fatal and non-fatal incidents involving tourists in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. Methods. Official press releases from the public relations office at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park were examined for reports of fatal and non-fatal incidents involving tourists. Results. Between 1992 and 2002 there were 65 press releases reporting 40 fatalities, 45 serious injuries, 53 minor injuries, and 25 no injury events. Severity information was unavailable for four additional tourists. Aircraft and backcountry incidents each accounted for 30% of all incidents followed by road incidents (22%) and frontcountry incidents (17%). Aircraft incidents reported 17 fatalities, backcountry incidents accounted for 10 fatalities, frontcountry incidents reported seven fatalities, and road incidents totaled six fatalities. One fatality was classified as a suicide. Backcountry (23) and road (10) incidents had the highest number of serious incidents. Male tourists (62) were more frequently involved in incidents than female tourists (41) and tourists aged 20-29 years and 40-49 years accounted for the highest number of fatalities and total incidents. Conclusions. Helicopter tours, hiking in areas with active lava flows, falls into steam vents and earthcracks, and driving unfamiliar rental cars in unfamiliar locations are the major activities resulting in death and serious injury. Additional factors such as tourists ignoring warning signs, wandering off-trail or hiking at night, tourists misinformed by guidebooks and other tourists, and tourists with pre-existing heart and asthma conditions are contributing causes in many incidents. The findings of this study provide information that allows prospective tourists, tourism managers, and travel health providers make informed decisions that promote safe tourism and can aid future efforts in developing preventative strategies at tourist destinations with similar environments and activities. However, in order for preventative

  7. ILD-NSCLC-GAP index scoring and staging system for patients with non-small cell lung cancer and interstitial lung disease.

    PubMed

    Kobayashi, Haruki; Naito, Tateaki; Omae, Katsuhiro; Omori, Shota; Nakashima, Kazuhisa; Wakuda, Kazushige; Ono, Akira; Kenmotsu, Hirotsugu; Murakami, Haruyasu; Endo, Masahiro; Takahashi, Toshiaki

    2018-07-01

    Patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and interstitial lung disease (ILD) are commonly excluded from most clinical trials because of acute exacerbation (AE) of ILD triggered by chemotherapy. Data on the efficacy and feasibility of chemotherapy are limited in this patient population. Recently, the ILD-GAP index and staging system was reported as a clinical prognostic factor associated with mortality in patients with ILD. Therefore, we evaluated the incidence of ILD-AE during the surveillance term in this study and the prognosis in patients with NSCLC and ILD using a modified ILD-GAP (ILD-NSCLC-GAP) index scoring system. The medical records of patients with NSCLC and ILD who underwent a pulmonary function test before initiation of platinum-based chemotherapy as first-line treatment at the Shizuoka Cancer Center between September 2002 and December 2014 were reviewed retrospectively. Among these patients, we compared the incidence of ILD-AE, one-year survival rate, and overall survival (OS) between the ILD-NSCLC-GAP index scores and stages. Of the 78 patients included, 21 (27%; 95% confidence interval [CI], 18%-38%) had ILD-AE during the surveillance term in this study. The one-year survival and median OS rates were 49% and 11.3 months, respectively. The incidence of ILD-AE increased gradually and the one-year survival and median OS rates decreased gradually with increasing ILD-NSCLC-GAP index scores and stages. The ILD-NSCLC-GAP index scoring and staging system may be a useful tool to calculate a prediction of the incidence of ILD-AE and its prognosis for patients with NSCLC and ILD. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  8. Can Patient Safety Incident Reports Be Used to Compare Hospital Safety? Results from a Quantitative Analysis of the English National Reporting and Learning System Data.

    PubMed

    Howell, Ann-Marie; Burns, Elaine M; Bouras, George; Donaldson, Liam J; Athanasiou, Thanos; Darzi, Ara

    2015-01-01

    The National Reporting and Learning System (NRLS) collects reports about patient safety incidents in England. Government regulators use NRLS data to assess the safety of hospitals. This study aims to examine whether annual hospital incident reporting rates can be used as a surrogate indicator of individual hospital safety. Secondly assesses which hospital characteristics are correlated with high incident reporting rates and whether a high reporting hospital is safer than those lower reporting hospitals. Finally, it assesses which health-care professionals report more incidents of patient harm, which report more near miss incidents and what hospital factors encourage reporting. These findings may suggest methods for increasing the utility of reporting systems. This study used a mix methods approach for assessing NRLS data. The data were investigated using Pareto analysis and regression models to establish which patients are most vulnerable to reported harm. Hospital factors were correlated with institutional reporting rates over one year to examine what factors influenced reporting. Staff survey findings regarding hospital safety culture were correlated with reported rates of incidents causing harm; no harm and death to understand what barriers influence error disclosure. 5,879,954 incident reports were collected from acute hospitals over the decade. 70.3% of incidents produced no harm to the patient and 0.9% were judged by the reporter to have caused severe harm or death. Obstetrics and Gynaecology reported the most no harm events [OR 1.61(95%CI: 1.12 to 2.27), p<0.01] and pharmacy was the hospital location where most near-misses were captured [OR 3.03(95%CI: 2.04 to 4.55), p<0.01]. Clinicians were significantly more likely to report death than other staff [OR 3.04(95%CI: 2.43 to 3.80) p<0.01]. A higher ratio of clinicians to beds correlated with reduced rate of harm reported [RR = -1.78(95%Cl: -3.33 to -0.23), p = 0.03]. Litigation claims per bed were

  9. SAR backscatter from coniferous forest gaps

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Day, John L.; Davis, Frank W.

    1992-01-01

    A study is in progress comparing Airborne Synthetic Aperture Radar (AIRSAR) backscatter from coniferous forest plots containing gaps to backscatter from adjacent gap-free plots. Issues discussed are how do gaps in the range of 400 to 1600 sq m (approximately 4-14 pixels at intermediate incidence angles) affect forest backscatter statistics and what incidence angles, wavelengths, and polarizations are most sensitive to forest gaps. In order to visualize the slant-range imaging of forest and gaps, a simple conceptual model is used. This strictly qualitative model has led us to hypothesize that forest radar returns at short wavelengths (eg., C-band) and large incidence angles (e.g., 50 deg) should be most affected by the presence of gaps, whereas returns at long wavelengths and small angles should be least affected. Preliminary analysis of 1989 AIRSAR data from forest near Mt. Shasta supports the hypothesis. Current forest backscatter models such as MIMICS and Santa Barbara Discontinuous Canopy Backscatter Model have in several cases correctly predicted backscatter from forest stands based on inputs of measured or estimated forest parameters. These models do not, however, predict within-stand SAR scene texture, or 'intrinsic scene variability' as Ulaby et al. has referred to it. For instance, the Santa Barbara model, which may be the most spatially coupled of the existing models, is not truly spatial. Tree locations within a simulated pixel are distributed according to a Poisson process, as they are in many natural forests, but tree size is unrelated to location, which is not the case in nature. Furthermore, since pixels of a simulated stand are generated independently in the Santa Barbara model, spatial processes larger than one pixel are not modeled. Using a different approach, Oliver modeled scene texture based on an hypothetical forest geometry. His simulated scenes do not agree well with SAR data, perhaps due to the simple geometric model used. Insofar as texture

  10. An eHealth Approach to Reporting Allergic Reactions to Food and Closing the Knowledge Gap.

    PubMed

    Munro, Christopher; Semic-Jusufagic, Aida; Pyrz, Katarzyna; Couch, Philip; Dunn-Galvin, Audrey; Peek, Niels; Themis, Marina; Mills, Clare; Buchan, Iain; Hourihane, Jonathan; Simpson, Angela

    2015-01-01

    There is an important knowledge gap in food allergy management in understanding the factors that determine allergic reactions to food, in gathering objective reports of reactions in real time, and in accessing patients' reaction-histories during consultations. We investigate how eHealth methods can close this knowledge gap. We report experiences with an online tool for reporting allergic reactions that we have developed as a web application. This application has been successfully validated by participants from Ireland and the UK, and is currently being used in a pilot where participants report allergic reactions in near-real time.

  11. SU-E-T-524: Web-Based Radiation Oncology Incident Reporting and Learning System (ROIRLS)

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Kapoor, R; Palta, J; Hagan, M

    Purpose: Describe a Web-based Radiation Oncology Incident Reporting and Learning system that has the potential to improve quality of care for radiation therapy patients. This system is an important facet of continuing effort by our community to maintain and improve safety of radiotherapy.Material and Methods: The VA National Radiation Oncology Program office has embarked on a program to electronically collect adverse events and near miss data of radiation treatment of over 25,000 veterans treated with radiotherapy annually. Software used for this program is deployed on the VAs intranet as a Website. All data entry forms (adverse event or near missmore » reports, work product reports) utilize standard causal, RT process step taxonomies and data dictionaries defined in AAPM and ASTRO reports on error reporting (AAPM Work Group Report on Prevention of Errors and ASTROs safety is no accident report). All reported incidents are investigated by the radiation oncology domain experts. This system encompasses the entire feedback loop of reporting an incident, analyzing it for salient details, and developing interventions to prevent it from happening again. The operational workflow is similar to that of the Aviation Safety Reporting System. This system is also synergistic with ROSIS and SAFRON. Results: The ROIRLS facilitates the collection of data that help in tracking adverse events and near misses and develop new interventions to prevent such incidents. The ROIRLS electronic infrastructure is fully integrated with each registered facility profile data thus minimizing key strokes and multiple entries by the event reporters. Conclusions: OIRLS is expected to improve the quality and safety of a broad spectrum of radiation therapy patients treated in the VA and fulfills our goal of Effecting Quality While Treating Safely The Radiation Oncology Incident Reporting and Learning System software used for this program has been developed, conceptualized and maintained by TSG

  12. Laboratory Studies on Surface Sampling of Bacillus anthracis Contamination: Summary, Gaps, and Recommendations

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Piepel, Gregory F.; Amidan, Brett G.; Hu, Rebecca

    2011-11-28

    This report summarizes previous laboratory studies to characterize the performance of methods for collecting, storing/transporting, processing, and analyzing samples from surfaces contaminated by Bacillus anthracis or related surrogates. The focus is on plate culture and count estimates of surface contamination for swab, wipe, and vacuum samples of porous and nonporous surfaces. Summaries of the previous studies and their results were assessed to identify gaps in information needed as inputs to calculate key parameters critical to risk management in biothreat incidents. One key parameter is the number of samples needed to make characterization or clearance decisions with specified statistical confidence. Othermore » key parameters include the ability to calculate, following contamination incidents, the (1) estimates of Bacillus anthracis contamination, as well as the bias and uncertainties in the estimates, and (2) confidence in characterization and clearance decisions for contaminated or decontaminated buildings. Gaps in knowledge and understanding identified during the summary of the studies are discussed and recommendations are given for future studies.« less

  13. Acetaminophen-induced anion gap metabolic acidosis secondary to 5-oxoproline: a case report.

    PubMed

    Abkur, Tarig Mohammed; Mohammed, Waleed; Ali, Mohamed; Casserly, Liam

    2014-12-06

    5-oxoproline (pyroglutamic acid), an organic acid intermediate of the gamma-glutamyl cycle, is a rare cause of high anion gap metabolic acidosis. Acetaminophen and several other drugs have been implicated in the development of transient 5-oxoprolinemia in adults. We believe that reporting all cases of 5-oxoprolinemia will contribute to a better understanding of this disease. Here, we report the case of a patient who developed transient 5-oxoprolinemia following therapeutic acetaminophen use. A 75-year-old Caucasian woman was initially admitted for treatment of an infected hip prosthesis and subsequently developed transient high anion gap metabolic acidosis. Our patient received 40 g of acetaminophen over a 10-day period. After the more common causes of high anion gap metabolic acidosis were excluded, a urinary organic acid screen revealed a markedly increased level of 5-oxoproline. The acidosis resolved completely after discontinuation of the acetaminophen. 5-oxoproline acidosis is an uncommon cause of high anion gap metabolic acidosis; however, it is likely that it is under-diagnosed as awareness of the condition remains low and testing can only be performed at specialized laboratories. The diagnosis should be suspected in cases of anion gap metabolic acidosis, particularly in patients with recent acetaminophen use in combination with sepsis, malnutrition, liver disease, pregnancy or renal failure. This case has particular interest in medicine, especially for the specialties of nephrology and orthopedics. We hope that it will add more information to the literature about this rare condition.

  14. Study of model of anesthesia related adverse event by incident report at King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital.

    PubMed

    Narasethkamol, Arunchai; Charuluxananan, Somrat; Kyokong, Oranuch; Premsamran, Porntep; Kundej, Sarawut

    2011-01-01

    As a site of the Thai Anesthesia Incidents Monitoring Study (Thai AIMS), the authors continued data collection of incident reports to find out the frequency, clinical course, contributing factors, factors minimizing adverse events, and investigation of model appropriate for possible corrective strategies in a Thai university hospital. A standardized anesthesia incident report form that included close-end and open-end questions was provided to the attending anesthesia personnel of King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital between January I and December 31, 2007. They filled it on a voluntary and anonymous basis. Each incident report was reviewed by three reviewers. Any disagreement was discussed to achieve a consensus. One hundred sixty three incident reports were filled reporting 191 incidents. There were fewer male (44%) than female (56%) patients and they had an ASA physical status classification 1 (41%), 2 (43%), 3 (10%), 4 (4%) and 5 (2%). Surgical specialties that posed high risk of incidents were general, orthopedic, gynecological, otorhino-laryngological and urological surgery. Locations of incident were operating room (85%), ward (8%) and recovery room (2%). The common adverse incidents were oxygen desaturation (23%), arrhythmia needing treatment (14%), equipment malfunction (13%), drug error (9%), difficult intubation (6%), esophageal intubation (5%), cardiac arrest (5%), reintubation (4%), and endobronchial intubation (4%). Adverse events were detected by monitoring only (27%), by monitoring before clinical diagnosis (26%), by clinical diagnosis before monitoring (21%), and by clinical diagnosis only (26%). Incidents were considered to be from anesthesia related factor (73%), system factor (16%) and preventable (47%). Common factors related to incident were inexperience, lack of vigilance, haste, inappropriate decision, not comply with guidelines, and lack of equipment maintenance. Suggested corrective strategies were quality assurance activity, additional

  15. Feedback from incident reporting: information and action to improve patient safety.

    PubMed

    Benn, J; Koutantji, M; Wallace, L; Spurgeon, P; Rejman, M; Healey, A; Vincent, C

    2009-02-01

    Effective feedback from incident reporting systems in healthcare is essential if organisations are to learn from failures in the delivery of care. Despite the wide-scale development and implementation of incident reporting in healthcare, studies in the UK suggest that information concerning system vulnerabilities could be better applied to improve operational safety within organisations. In this article, the findings and implications of research to identify forms of effective feedback from incident reporting are discussed, to promote best practices in this area. The research comprised a mixed methods review to investigate mechanisms of effective feedback for healthcare, drawing upon experience within established reporting programmes in high-risk industry and transport domains. Systematic searches of published literature were undertaken, and 23 case studies describing incident reporting programmes with feedback were identified for analysis from the international healthcare literature. Semistructured interviews were undertaken with 19 subject matter experts across a range of domains, including: civil aviation, maritime, energy, rail, offshore production and healthcare. In analysis, qualitative information from several sources was synthesised into practical requirements for developing effective feedback in healthcare. Both action and information feedback mechanisms were identified, serving safety awareness, improvement and motivational functions. The provision of actionable feedback that visibly improved systems was highlighted as important in promoting future reporting. Fifteen requirements for the design of effective feedback systems were identified, concerning: the role of leadership, the credibility and content of information, effective dissemination channels, the capacity for rapid action and the need for feedback at all levels of the organisation, among others. Above all, the safety-feedback cycle must be closed by ensuring that reporting, analysis and

  16. 30 CFR 285.831 - What incidents must I report, and when must I report them?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... 30 Mineral Resources 2 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false What incidents must I report, and when must I report them? 285.831 Section 285.831 Mineral Resources MINERALS MANAGEMENT SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR OFFSHORE RENEWABLE ENERGY ALTERNATE USES OF EXISTING FACILITIES ON THE OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF Environmental and Safety Management,...

  17. 75 FR 75911 - Adjustment of Monetary Threshold for Reporting Rail Equipment Accidents/Incidents for Calendar...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2010-12-07

    ...This rule increases the rail equipment accident/incident reporting threshold from $9,200 to $9,400 for certain railroad accidents/incidents involving property damage that occur during calendar year 2011. This action is needed to ensure that FRA's reporting requirements reflect cost increases that have occurred since the reporting threshold was last computed in December of 2009.

  18. 76 FR 72850 - Adjustment of Monetary Threshold for Reporting Rail Equipment Accidents/Incidents for Calendar...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-11-28

    ...This rule increases the rail equipment accident/incident reporting threshold from $9,400 to $9,500 for certain railroad accidents/incidents involving property damage that occur during calendar year 2012. This action is needed to ensure that FRA's reporting requirements reflect cost increases that have occurred since the reporting threshold was last published in December of 2010.

  19. 77 FR 71354 - Adjustment of Monetary Threshold for Reporting Rail Equipment Accidents/Incidents for Calendar...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2012-11-30

    ...This rule increases the rail equipment accident/incident reporting threshold from $9,500 to $9,900 for certain railroad accidents/incidents involving property damage that occur during calendar year 2013. This action is needed to ensure that FRA's reporting requirements reflect cost increases that have occurred since the reporting threshold was last published in November of 2011.

  20. 30 CFR 285.831 - What incidents must I report, and when must I report them?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... 30 Mineral Resources 2 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false What incidents must I report, and when must I report them? 285.831 Section 285.831 Mineral Resources BUREAU OF OCEAN ENERGY MANAGEMENT, REGULATION, AND ENFORCEMENT, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR OFFSHORE RENEWABLE ENERGY ALTERNATE USES OF EXISTING FACILITIES ON THE OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF...

  1. Learning and feedback from the Danish patient safety incident reporting system can be improved.

    PubMed

    Moeller, Anders Damgaard; Rasmussen, Kurt; Nielsen, Kent Jacob

    2016-06-01

    The perceived usefulness of incident reporting systems is an important motivational factor for reporting. The usefulness may be facilitated by well-established feedback mechanisms and by learning processes. The aim of this study was to investigate how feedback mechanisms and learning processes were implemented at four Danish hospital units all located in one of the five Danish regions. Based on the concepts of feedback and learning from incident processes, a questionnaire was developed and distributed to 335 patient safety representatives from 200 departments at four Danish hospital units in one of the five Danish regions. The study showed that external reporters were rarely contacted for dialogue, grouped front-line staff were sparsely involved in the learning process, few evaluated the effectiveness of implemented interventions and personal factors were frequently perceived as a primary contributory factor to these incidents. In contrast, the patient safety representatives perceived their competencies as sufficient for the job, internal reporters were often contacted for dialogue, evaluation was widely used and management supported the work with incident reports. The results of the study identified several shortcomings in the implementation of learning processes and feedback mechanisms. The apparent existence of a person-focused approach stands out as an element of notice. The insufficient implementation we observed indicates that there is room for improvement in the efforts made to maximise learning from incidents in the investigated population. not relevant. not relevant.

  2. GAP Final Technical Report 12-14-04

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Andrew J. Bordner, PhD, Senior Research Scientist

    2004-12-14

    The Genomics Annotation Platform (GAP) was designed to develop new tools for high throughput functional annotation and characterization of protein sequences and structures resulting from genomics and structural proteomics, benchmarking and application of those tools. Furthermore, this platform integrated the genomic scale sequence and structural analysis and prediction tools with the advanced structure prediction and bioinformatics environment of ICM. The development of GAP was primarily oriented towards the annotation of new biomolecular structures using both structural and sequence data. Even though the amount of protein X-ray crystal data is growing exponentially, the volume of sequence data is growing even moremore » rapidly. This trend was exploited by leveraging the wealth of sequence data to provide functional annotation for protein structures. The additional information provided by GAP is expected to assist the majority of the commercial users of ICM, who are involved in drug discovery, in identifying promising drug targets as well in devising strategies for the rational design of therapeutics directed at the protein of interest. The GAP also provided valuable tools for biochemistry education, and structural genomics centers. In addition, GAP incorporates many novel prediction and analysis methods not available in other molecular modeling packages. This development led to signing the first Molsoft agreement in the structural genomics annotation area with the University of oxford Structural Genomics Center. This commercial agreement validated the Molsoft efforts under the GAP project and provided the basis for further development of the large scale functional annotation platform.« less

  3. FINAL REPORT ON GDE GAP CELL

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Herman, D.; Summers, W.; Danko, E.

    2009-09-28

    A project has been undertaken to develop an electrochemical cell and support equipment for evaluation of a gas diffusion electrode-based, narrow-electrolyte-gap anode for SO{sub 2} oxidation in the hydrogen production cycle of the hybrid sulfur (HyS) process. The project supported the HyS development program at the Savannah River National Lab (SRNL). The benefits of using a gas diffusion electrode in conjunction with the narrow anolyte gap are being determined through electrochemical polarization testing under a variety conditions, and by comparison to results produced by SRNL and others using anode technologies that have no anolyte gap. These test results indicate thatmore » the NGA cell has low resistance suitable for use in the HyS electrolyzer, exhibits good efficiency at high current densities compared to the direct feed HyS electrolyzer, and indicates robust performance in extended testing over 65 hours. Seepage episodes were mostly caused by port clogging, which can be mitigated in future designs through minor modifications to the hardware. Significant reductions in sulfur crossover have not yet been demonstrated in the NGA configuration compared to in-house direct feed testing, but corroborative sulfur layer analysis is as yet incomplete. Further testing in a single-pass anolyte configuration is recommended for complete evaluation of steady-state electrochemical efficiency and SO{sub 2} crossover in the narrow gap configuration.« less

  4. 30 CFR 585.831 - What incidents must I report, and when must I report them?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-07-01

    ... 30 Mineral Resources 2 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false What incidents must I report, and when must I report them? 585.831 Section 585.831 Mineral Resources BUREAU OF OCEAN ENERGY MANAGEMENT, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR OFFSHORE RENEWABLE ENERGY AND ALTERNATE USES OF EXISTING FACILITIES ON THE OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF Environmental and Safety Managemen...

  5. 30 CFR 585.831 - What incidents must I report, and when must I report them?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-07-01

    ... 30 Mineral Resources 2 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false What incidents must I report, and when must I report them? 585.831 Section 585.831 Mineral Resources BUREAU OF OCEAN ENERGY MANAGEMENT, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR OFFSHORE RENEWABLE ENERGY AND ALTERNATE USES OF EXISTING FACILITIES ON THE OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF Environmental and Safety Managemen...

  6. 30 CFR 585.831 - What incidents must I report, and when must I report them?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-07-01

    ... 30 Mineral Resources 2 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false What incidents must I report, and when must I report them? 585.831 Section 585.831 Mineral Resources BUREAU OF OCEAN ENERGY MANAGEMENT, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR OFFSHORE RENEWABLE ENERGY AND ALTERNATE USES OF EXISTING FACILITIES ON THE OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF Environmental and Safety Managemen...

  7. 49 CFR 191.15 - Transmission systems; gathering systems; and liquefied natural gas facilities: Incident report.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... under § 191.5 of this part. (b) LNG. Each operator of a liquefied natural gas plant or facility must... liquefied natural gas facilities: Incident report. 191.15 Section 191.15 Transportation Other Regulations...; gathering systems; and liquefied natural gas facilities: Incident report. (a) Transmission or Gathering...

  8. Skills Gaps in Australian Firms

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lindorff, Margaret

    2011-01-01

    This paper reports the results of a survey of more than 2000 managers examining perceptions of skills gaps in a range of Australian firms. It finds that three quarters report a skills gap, and almost one third report skills gaps across the whole organisation. Firm size and industry differences exist in perceptions of the effect of the skills gap…

  9. SU-F-T-223: Radiotherapy Incident Reporting and Analysis System (RIRAS):Early Experience

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Kapoor, R; Palta, J; Hagan, M

    Background & Purpose: RIRAS is a web-based information system deployed on the Veterans Health Administration intranet in early 2014 to collect adverse events and good catch data; analyze the causes and contributing factors; and find ways to prevent future occurrences. Material and Methods: Incident learning consists of a feedback loop which starts with reporting an event, followed by analysis of contributing factors, and culminates in the development of a patient safety work product (PSWP) to prevent recurrence. RIRAS permits both anonymous and non-anonymous reporting. Each report is analyzed by a team of medical physicists who are independent of the reportingmore » facility. The analysts usually contact the reporting facilities for additional information. We analyzed all reports and held telephonic interviews (when necessary) with the reporters. We then generated PSWPs with corrective/preventive and learning actions. Anonymous reporting is handled in the same manner, except without the ability to further interview the reporter. Results: In a significant number of reports, the causes and recommended preventive actions were considerably altered by the independent analysis and additional information from the facility. 130 reports have been entered in RIRAS; 9 misadministrations, 83 good catches, 3 anonymous good catches, and 35 earlier reported incidents from FY2005-14. 45% of the reported incidents occurred in the treatment delivery stages, 19% in on-treatment management, and 16% in pre-treatment verification. 80% of the good catches were found in the treatment delivery workflow. Majority of these incidents were due to inconsistent patient setup instructions or documentation, nonadherence to policies and procedures, lax time-out policy, distracted RTTs, and inadequate RTT staffing. Conclusion: RIRAS has identified many areas for improvement and elevated the quality and safety of radiation treatments in the VHA. We found that the ability to learn is significantly

  10. A self-report critical incident assessment tool for army night vision goggle helicopter operations.

    PubMed

    Renshaw, Peter F; Wiggins, Mark W

    2007-04-01

    The present study sought to examine the utility of a self-report tool that was designed as a partial substitute for a face-to-face cognitive interview for critical incidents involving night vision goggles (NVGs). The use of NVGs remains problematic within the military environment, as these devices have been identified as a factor in a significant proportion of aircraft accidents and incidents. The self-report tool was structured to identify some of the cognitive features of human performance that were associated with critical incidents involving NVGs. The tool incorporated a number of different levels of analysis, ranging from specific behavioral responses to broader cognitive constructs. Reports were received from 30 active pilots within the Australian Army using the NVG Critical Incident Assessment Tool (NVGCIAT). The results revealed a correspondence between specific types of NVG-related errors and elements of the Human Factors Analysis and Classification System (HFACS). In addition, uncertainty emerged as a significant factor associated with the critical incidents that were recalled by operators. These results were broadly consistent with previous research and provide some support for the utility of subjective assessment tools as a means of extracting critical incident-related data when face-to-face cognitive interviews are not possible. In some circumstances, the NVGCIAT might be regarded as a substitute cognitive interview protocol with some level of diagnosticity.

  11. Dijets with 2, 1 or 0 rapidity gap: factorization breaking at the Tevatron

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bialas, A.; Peschanski, R.

    2003-11-01

    Central production cross-sections of hard dijets with 2, 1 or 0 rapidity gap at Tevatron are analyzed in terms of diffractive ("a la Good-Walker") and non-diffractive fluctuations of the incident particles. The observed large factorization breaking and the unexpected high value of the 2 to 1 gap cross-section ratio are explained in terms of scattering with and between the incident particles.

  12. Educators' Reports on Incidence of Harassment and Advocacy toward LGBTQ Students

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Dragowski, Eliza A.; McCabe, Paul C.; Rubinson, Florence

    2016-01-01

    This study is based on a national survey investigation of 968 educators, who reported the incidence of LGBTQ harassment in schools, and their advocacy efforts on behalf of this population. LGBTQ-related knowledge, attitudes, norms, and perceived ability to advocate were also assessed. Ninety percent of educators reported observing LGBTQ harassment…

  13. Nonparametric analysis of bivariate gap time with competing risks.

    PubMed

    Huang, Chiung-Yu; Wang, Chenguang; Wang, Mei-Cheng

    2016-09-01

    This article considers nonparametric methods for studying recurrent disease and death with competing risks. We first point out that comparisons based on the well-known cumulative incidence function can be confounded by different prevalence rates of the competing events, and that comparisons of the conditional distribution of the survival time given the failure event type are more relevant for investigating the prognosis of different patterns of recurrence disease. We then propose nonparametric estimators for the conditional cumulative incidence function as well as the conditional bivariate cumulative incidence function for the bivariate gap times, that is, the time to disease recurrence and the residual lifetime after recurrence. To quantify the association between the two gap times in the competing risks setting, a modified Kendall's tau statistic is proposed. The proposed estimators for the conditional bivariate cumulative incidence distribution and the association measure account for the induced dependent censoring for the second gap time. Uniform consistency and weak convergence of the proposed estimators are established. Hypothesis testing procedures for two-sample comparisons are discussed. Numerical simulation studies with practical sample sizes are conducted to evaluate the performance of the proposed nonparametric estimators and tests. An application to data from a pancreatic cancer study is presented to illustrate the methods developed in this article. © 2016, The International Biometric Society.

  14. Patient safety incident reporting: a qualitative study of thoughts and perceptions of experts 15 years after 'To Err is Human'.

    PubMed

    Mitchell, Imogen; Schuster, Anne; Smith, Katherine; Pronovost, Peter; Wu, Albert

    2016-02-01

    One of the key recommendations of the Institute of Medicine's (IOM) report, To Err is Human, 15 years ago was for greater attention to incident reporting in healthcare, analogous to the role it has played in aviation and other high-risk industries. With the passage of time and maturation of the patient safety field, we conducted semistructured interviews with 11 international patient safety experts with knowledge of the US healthcare and meeting at least one of the following criteria: (1) involved in the development of the IOM's recommendations, (2) responsible for the design and/or implementation of national or regional incident reporting systems, (3) conducted research on patient safety/incident reporting at a national level. Five key challenges emerged to explain why incident reporting has not reached its potential: poor processing of incident reports (triaging, analysis, recommendations), inadequate engagement of doctors, insufficient subsequent visible action, inadequate funding and institutional support of incident reporting systems and inadequate usage of evolving health information technology. Leading patient safety experts acknowledge the current challenges of incident reports. The future of incident reporting lies in targeted incident reporting, effective triaging and robust analysis of the incident reports and meaningful engagement of doctors. Incident reporting must be coupled with visible, sustainable action and linkage of incident reports to the electronic health record. If the healthcare industry wants to learn from its mistakes, miss or near miss events, it will need to take incident reporting as seriously as the health budget. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/

  15. Age-Specific Incidence Rates for Self-Reported Uterine Leiomyomata in the Black Women’s Health Study

    PubMed Central

    Wise, Lauren A.; Palmer, Julie R.; Stewart, Elizabeth A.; Rosenberg, Lynn

    2007-01-01

    OBJECTIVE Uterine leiomyomata represent a major public health problem for black women in the United States, but limited data are available on age–incidence curves in this high-risk population. We estimated overall and age-specific incidence rates for self-reported uterine leiomyomata in a large cohort of African-American women in the United States. METHODS Data were derived from the Black Women’s Health Study, an ongoing prospective cohort study of 59,000 black women from across the United States who were aged 21–69 years at baseline (ie, 1995). From March 1997 through March 2001, we followed up 22,895 premenopausal women with no prior diagnosis of uterine leiomyoma. Poisson regression was used to estimate overall and age-specific incidence rates and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for self-reported uterine leiomyoma. In a subset of 248 patients who were selected randomly from the total case group, the self-reported diagnosis was verified in 96% of cases who released their medical records. RESULTS During 76,711 woman-years of follow-up, 2,637 incident cases of uterine leiomyomata reported as confirmed by pelvic examination (n = 358), ultrasonography (n = 2,006), or hysterectomy (n = 273) were observed. Incidence rates per 1,000 woman-years were 34.4 (95% CI 33.1–35.7) for all cases combined, 29.7 (95% CI 28.5–30.9) for cases confirmed by ultrasonography or hysterectomy, and 3.6 (95% CI 3.2–4.0) for cases confirmed by hysterectomy. The incidence rate peaked at ages 40–44 years for all cases combined (incidence rate 45.6, 95% CI 42.0–49.5) and for cases confirmed by ultrasonography or hysterectomy (incidence rate 39.8, 95% CI 36.5–43.4), and peaked at ages 45–49 years for cases confirmed by hysterectomy (incidence rate 8.3, 95% CI 6.4–10.7). CONCLUSION Overall incidence rates for self-reported uterine leiomyomata were consistent with other U.S studies in black women and confirmed a high burden of disease in this population. Age-specific incidence

  16. The incidence of medically reported work-related ill health in the UK construction industry.

    PubMed

    Stocks, S J; McNamee, R; Carder, M; Agius, R M

    2010-08-01

    Self-reported work-related ill health (SWI) data show a high incidence of occupational ill health and a high burden of cancer attributable to occupational factors in the UK construction industry. However, there is little information on the incidence of medically reported work-related ill health (WRI) within this industry. This study aims to examine the incidence of WRI within the UK construction industry. Standardised incidence rate ratios (SRRs) were used to compare incidence rates of reports of medically certified work-related ill health returned to The Health and Occupation Reporting network (THOR) within the UK construction industry with all other UK industries combined. Male UK construction industry workers aged under 65 years had significantly raised SRRs for respiratory (3.8, 95% CI 3.5 to 4.2), skin (1.6, 1.4 to 1.8) and musculoskeletal disorders (MSD; 1.9, 1.6 to 2.2). These SRRs were further raised for those working within a construction trade. The increased SRRs for skin disease within male construction industry workers were due to contact dermatitis (1.4, 1.2 to 1.6) and neoplasia (4.2, 3.3 to 5.3). For respiratory disease, the increased SRRs were due to non-malignant pleural disease (7.1, 6.3 to 8.1), mesothelioma (7.1, 6.0 to 8.3), lung cancer (5.4, 3.2 to 8.9) and pneumoconiosis (5.5, 3.7 to 8.0), but the SRRs for asthma (0.09, 0.06 to 0.11) and mental ill health (0.3, 0.1 to 0.4) were significantly reduced. The significantly raised SRRs for medically reported MSD and significantly reduced SRRs for mental ill health in construction workers confirm self-reported UK data. These SRRs provide a baseline of the incidence of WRI in the UK construction industry from which to monitor the effects of changes in policy or exposures.

  17. Incidence and severity of self-reported chemotherapy side effects in routine care: A prospective cohort study

    PubMed Central

    Haas, Marion; Viney, Rosalie; Pearson, Sallie-Anne; Haywood, Philip; Brown, Chris; Ward, Robyn

    2017-01-01

    Aim Chemotherapy side effects are often reported in clinical trials; however, there is little evidence about their incidence in routine clinical care. The objective of this study was to describe the frequency and severity of patient-reported chemotherapy side effects in routine care across treatment centres in Australia. Methods We conducted a prospective cohort study of individuals with breast, lung or colorectal cancer undergoing chemotherapy. Side effects were identified by patient self-report. The frequency, prevalence and incidence rates of side effects were calculated by cancer type and grade, and cumulative incidence curves for each side effect computed. Frequencies of side effects were compared between demographic subgroups using chi-squared statistics. Results Side effect data were available for 449 eligible individuals, who had a median follow-up of 5.64 months. 86% of participants reported at least one side effect during the study period and 27% reported a grade IV side effect, most commonly fatigue or dyspnoea. Fatigue was the most common side effect overall (85%), followed by diarrhoea (74%) and constipation (74%). Prevalence and incidence rates were similar across side effects and cancer types. Age was the only demographic factor associated with the incidence of side effects, with older people less likely to report side effects. Conclusion This research has produced the first Australian estimates of self-reported incidence of chemotherapy side effects in routine clinical care. Chemotherapy side effects in routine care are common, continue throughout chemotherapy and can be serious. This work confirms the importance of observational data in providing clinical practice-relevant information to decision-makers. PMID:29016607

  18. Incidence and severity of self-reported chemotherapy side effects in routine care: A prospective cohort study.

    PubMed

    Pearce, Alison; Haas, Marion; Viney, Rosalie; Pearson, Sallie-Anne; Haywood, Philip; Brown, Chris; Ward, Robyn

    2017-01-01

    Chemotherapy side effects are often reported in clinical trials; however, there is little evidence about their incidence in routine clinical care. The objective of this study was to describe the frequency and severity of patient-reported chemotherapy side effects in routine care across treatment centres in Australia. We conducted a prospective cohort study of individuals with breast, lung or colorectal cancer undergoing chemotherapy. Side effects were identified by patient self-report. The frequency, prevalence and incidence rates of side effects were calculated by cancer type and grade, and cumulative incidence curves for each side effect computed. Frequencies of side effects were compared between demographic subgroups using chi-squared statistics. Side effect data were available for 449 eligible individuals, who had a median follow-up of 5.64 months. 86% of participants reported at least one side effect during the study period and 27% reported a grade IV side effect, most commonly fatigue or dyspnoea. Fatigue was the most common side effect overall (85%), followed by diarrhoea (74%) and constipation (74%). Prevalence and incidence rates were similar across side effects and cancer types. Age was the only demographic factor associated with the incidence of side effects, with older people less likely to report side effects. This research has produced the first Australian estimates of self-reported incidence of chemotherapy side effects in routine clinical care. Chemotherapy side effects in routine care are common, continue throughout chemotherapy and can be serious. This work confirms the importance of observational data in providing clinical practice-relevant information to decision-makers.

  19. Do specialty registrars change their attitudes, intentions and behaviour towards reporting incidents following a patient safety course?

    PubMed Central

    2010-01-01

    Background Reporting incidents can contribute to safer health care, as an awareness of the weaknesses of a system could be considered as a starting point for improvements. It is believed that patient safety education for specialty registrars could improve their attitudes, intentions and behaviour towards incident reporting. The objective of this study was to examine the effect of a two-day patient safety course on the attitudes, intentions and behaviour concerning the voluntary reporting of incidents by specialty registrars. Methods A patient safety course was designed to increase specialty registrars' knowledge, attitudes and skills in order to recognize and cope with unintended events and unsafe situations at an early stage. Data were collected through an 11-item questionnaire before, immediately after and six months after the course was given. Results The response rate at all three points in time assessed was 100% (n = 33). There were significant changes in incident reporting attitudes and intentions immediately after the course, as well as during follow-up. However, no significant changes were found in incident reporting behaviour. Conclusions It is shown that patient safety education can have long-term positive effects on attitudes towards reporting incidents and the intentions of registrars. However, further efforts need to be undertaken to induce a real change in behaviour. PMID:20416053

  20. Small-Gap Flows

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1984-04-01

    I TV N 4 NAVAL ARCIETUR & OFFSHORE ENGINEERING SMALL- GAP FLOWSti E 0.TUCK01 REPORT NO- M!AOL 34-1 CONTRACT NJU1-𔃾-K-0026 APRIL 1984 let.? UNIVERSMn...34’OF CALIFORNIA# BERKELEY, CA 5.1720 ft (45 642-141 SMALL- GAP FLOWS BY E. 0. TUCK REPORT No. NAUE 84-1 CONTRACT N00014-84-K-OU26 APRIL i984...34small- gap " theme.Chapters 1-4 were originally presented in the form of a lecture series in the Department of Naval Architecture and Offshore

  1. Introduction to Pesticide Incidents

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    Pesticides incidents must be reported by pesticide registrants. Others, such as members of the public and environmental professionals, would like to report pesticide incidents. This website will explain and facilitate such incident reporting.

  2. Using multiclass classification to automate the identification of patient safety incident reports by type and severity.

    PubMed

    Wang, Ying; Coiera, Enrico; Runciman, William; Magrabi, Farah

    2017-06-12

    Approximately 10% of admissions to acute-care hospitals are associated with an adverse event. Analysis of incident reports helps to understand how and why incidents occur and can inform policy and practice for safer care. Unfortunately our capacity to monitor and respond to incident reports in a timely manner is limited by the sheer volumes of data collected. In this study, we aim to evaluate the feasibility of using multiclass classification to automate the identification of patient safety incidents in hospitals. Text based classifiers were applied to identify 10 incident types and 4 severity levels. Using the one-versus-one (OvsO) and one-versus-all (OvsA) ensemble strategies, we evaluated regularized logistic regression, linear support vector machine (SVM) and SVM with a radial-basis function (RBF) kernel. Classifiers were trained and tested with "balanced" datasets (n_ Type  = 2860, n_ SeverityLevel  = 1160) from a state-wide incident reporting system. Testing was also undertaken with imbalanced "stratified" datasets (n_ Type  = 6000, n_ SeverityLevel =5950) from the state-wide system and an independent hospital reporting system. Classifier performance was evaluated using a confusion matrix, as well as F-score, precision and recall. The most effective combination was a OvsO ensemble of binary SVM RBF classifiers with binary count feature extraction. For incident type, classifiers performed well on balanced and stratified datasets (F-score: 78.3, 73.9%), but were worse on independent datasets (68.5%). Reports about falls, medications, pressure injury, aggression and blood products were identified with high recall and precision. "Documentation" was the hardest type to identify. For severity level, F-score for severity assessment code (SAC) 1 (extreme risk) was 87.3 and 64% for SAC4 (low risk) on balanced data. With stratified data, high recall was achieved for SAC1 (82.8-84%) but precision was poor (6.8-11.2%). High risk incidents (SAC2) were confused

  3. 30 CFR 250.188 - What incidents must I report to BSEE and when must I report them?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-07-01

    ... 30 Mineral Resources 2 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false What incidents must I report to BSEE and when must I report them? 250.188 Section 250.188 Mineral Resources BUREAU OF SAFETY AND ENVIRONMENTAL ENFORCEMENT, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR OFFSHORE OIL AND GAS AND SULPHUR OPERATIONS IN THE OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF General Information and Reporting...

  4. 30 CFR 250.188 - What incidents must I report to BSEE and when must I report them?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-07-01

    ... 30 Mineral Resources 2 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false What incidents must I report to BSEE and when must I report them? 250.188 Section 250.188 Mineral Resources BUREAU OF SAFETY AND ENVIRONMENTAL ENFORCEMENT, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR OFFSHORE OIL AND GAS AND SULPHUR OPERATIONS IN THE OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF General Information and Reporting...

  5. 30 CFR 250.188 - What incidents must I report to BSEE and when must I report them?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-07-01

    ... 30 Mineral Resources 2 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false What incidents must I report to BSEE and when must I report them? 250.188 Section 250.188 Mineral Resources BUREAU OF SAFETY AND ENVIRONMENTAL ENFORCEMENT, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR OFFSHORE OIL AND GAS AND SULPHUR OPERATIONS IN THE OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF General Information and Reporting...

  6. 30 CFR 250.188 - What incidents must I report to MMS and when must I report them?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... 30 Mineral Resources 2 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false What incidents must I report to MMS and when must I report them? 250.188 Section 250.188 Mineral Resources MINERALS MANAGEMENT SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR OFFSHORE OIL AND GAS AND SULPHUR OPERATIONS IN THE OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF General Information and Reporting Requirements § 250.188...

  7. The Black-White Achievement Gap: When Progress Stopped. Policy Information Report

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Barton, Paul E.; Coley, Richard J.

    2010-01-01

    This report is about understanding the periods of progress and the periods of stagnation in changes in the achievement gap that have occurred over the past several decades. The authors try to understand what might have contributed to the progress as well as probe the reasons that may account for the progress halting, in the hope of finding some…

  8. Developing Secure Power Systems Professional Competence: Alignment and Gaps in Workforce Development Programs—Summary Report

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    O'Neil, Lori Ross; Assante, Michael; Tobey, D. H.

    2013-07-01

    This document is a summarization of the report, Developing Secure Power Systems Professional Competence: Alignment and Gaps in Workforce Development Programs, the final report for phase 2 of the SPSP (DOE workforce study) project.

  9. [Incident reporting systems in anesthesiology--methods and benefits using the example of PaSOS].

    PubMed

    Rall, Marcus; Reddersen, Silke; Zieger, Jörg; Schädle, Bertram; Hirsch, Patricia; Stricker, Eric; Martin, Jörg; Geldner, Götz; Schleppers, Alexander

    2008-09-01

    Preventing patient harm is one of the main tasks for the field of anesthesiology from early on. With the introduction of the national German incident reporting system PaSOS, which is hosted by the German anesthesia society, anesthesiology is again leading the field of patient safety. Important elements, success factors and background information for the introduction of successful incident reporting systems in an organization are given. Examples by and from PaSOS are given.

  10. Survey to identify depth of penetration of critical incident reporting systems in Austrian healthcare facilities

    PubMed Central

    Sendlhofer, Gerald; Eder, Harald; Leitgeb, Karina; Gorges, Roland; Jakse, Heidelinde; Raiger, Marianne; Türk, Silvia; Petschnig, Walter; Pregartner, Gudrun; Kamolz, Lars-Peter; Brunner, Gernot

    2018-01-01

    Incident reporting systems or so-called critical incident reporting systems (CIRS) were first recommended for use in health care more than 15 years ago. The uses of these CIRS are highly variable among countries, ranging from being used to report critical incidents, falls, or sentinel events resulting in death. In Austria, CIRS have only been introduced to the health care sector relatively recently. The goal of this work, therefore, was to determine whether and specifically how CIRS are used in Austria. A working group from the Austrian Society for Quality and Safety in Healthcare (ASQS) developed a survey on the topic of CIRS to collect information on penetration of CIRS in general and on how CIRS reports are used to increase patient safety. Three hundred seventy-one health care professionals from 274 health care facilities were contacted via e-mail. Seventy-eight respondents (21.0%) completed the online survey, thereof 66 from hospitals and 12 from other facilities (outpatient clinics, nursing homes). In all, 64.1% of the respondents indicated that CIRS were used in the entire health care facility; 20.6% had not yet introduced CIRS and 15.4% used CIRS only in particular areas. Most often, critical incidents without any harm to patients were reported (76.9%); however, some health care facilities also use their CIRS to report patient falls (16.7%), needle stick injuries (17.9%), technical problems (51.3%), or critical incidents involving health care professionals. CIRS are not yet extensively or homogeneously used in Austria. Inconsistencies exist with respect to which events are reported as well as how they are followed up and reported to health care professionals. Further recommendations for general use are needed to support the dissemination in Austrian health care environments. PMID:29310496

  11. Survey to identify depth of penetration of critical incident reporting systems in Austrian healthcare facilities.

    PubMed

    Sendlhofer, Gerald; Eder, Harald; Leitgeb, Karina; Gorges, Roland; Jakse, Heidelinde; Raiger, Marianne; Türk, Silvia; Petschnig, Walter; Pregartner, Gudrun; Kamolz, Lars-Peter; Brunner, Gernot

    2018-01-01

    Incident reporting systems or so-called critical incident reporting systems (CIRS) were first recommended for use in health care more than 15 years ago. The uses of these CIRS are highly variable among countries, ranging from being used to report critical incidents, falls, or sentinel events resulting in death. In Austria, CIRS have only been introduced to the health care sector relatively recently. The goal of this work, therefore, was to determine whether and specifically how CIRS are used in Austria. A working group from the Austrian Society for Quality and Safety in Healthcare (ASQS) developed a survey on the topic of CIRS to collect information on penetration of CIRS in general and on how CIRS reports are used to increase patient safety. Three hundred seventy-one health care professionals from 274 health care facilities were contacted via e-mail. Seventy-eight respondents (21.0%) completed the online survey, thereof 66 from hospitals and 12 from other facilities (outpatient clinics, nursing homes). In all, 64.1% of the respondents indicated that CIRS were used in the entire health care facility; 20.6% had not yet introduced CIRS and 15.4% used CIRS only in particular areas. Most often, critical incidents without any harm to patients were reported (76.9%); however, some health care facilities also use their CIRS to report patient falls (16.7%), needle stick injuries (17.9%), technical problems (51.3%), or critical incidents involving health care professionals. CIRS are not yet extensively or homogeneously used in Austria. Inconsistencies exist with respect to which events are reported as well as how they are followed up and reported to health care professionals. Further recommendations for general use are needed to support the dissemination in Austrian health care environments.

  12. Incident reporting: Its role in aviation safety and the acquisition of human error data

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Reynard, W. D.

    1983-01-01

    The rationale for aviation incident reporting systems is presented and contrasted to some of the shortcomings of accident investigation procedures. The history of the United State's Aviation Safety Reporting System (ASRS) is outlined and the program's character explained. The planning elements that resulted in the ASRS program's voluntary, confidential, and non-punitive design are discussed. Immunity, from enforcement action and misuse of the volunteered data, is explained and evaluated. Report generation techniques and the ASRS data analysis process are described; in addition, examples of the ASRS program's output and accomplishments are detailed. Finally, the value of incident reporting for the acquisition of safety information, particularly human error data, is explored.

  13. Human factors in airport surface incidents : an analysis of pilot reports submitted to the Aviation Safety Reporting System (ASRS)

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    2006-12-01

    The purpose of this study was to examine human factors involved in airport surface incidents as reported by pilots. Reports submitted to the : Aviation Safety Reporting System (ASRS) are a good source of information regarding the human performance is...

  14. Effects of patient safety culture interventions on incident reporting in general practice: a cluster randomised trial

    PubMed Central

    Verbakel, Natasha J; Langelaan, Maaike; Verheij, Theo JM; Wagner, Cordula; Zwart, Dorien LM

    2015-01-01

    Background A constructive safety culture is essential for the successful implementation of patient safety improvements. Aim To assess the effect of two patient safety culture interventions on incident reporting as a proxy of safety culture. Design and setting A three-arm cluster randomised trial was conducted in a mixed method study, studying the effect of administering a patient safety culture questionnaire (intervention I), the questionnaire complemented with a practice-based workshop (intervention II) and no intervention (control) in 30 general practices in the Netherlands. Method The primary outcome, the number of reported incidents, was measured with a questionnaire at baseline and a year after. Analysis was performed using a negative binomial model. Secondary outcomes were quality and safety indicators and safety culture. Mixed effects linear regression was used to analyse the culture questionnaires. Results The number of incidents increased in both intervention groups, to 82 and 224 in intervention I and II respectively. Adjusted for baseline number of incidents, practice size and accreditation status, the study showed that practices that additionally participated in the workshop reported 42 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 9.81 to 177.50) times more incidents compared to the control group. Practices that only completed the questionnaire reported 5 (95% CI = 1.17 to 25.49) times more incidents. There were no statistically significant differences in staff perception of patient safety culture at follow-up between the three study groups. Conclusion Educating staff and facilitating discussion about patient safety culture in their own practice leads to increased reporting of incidents. It is beneficial to invest in a team-wise effort to improve patient safety. PMID:25918337

  15. Effects of patient safety culture interventions on incident reporting in general practice: a cluster randomised trial.

    PubMed

    Verbakel, Natasha J; Langelaan, Maaike; Verheij, Theo J M; Wagner, Cordula; Zwart, Dorien L M

    2015-05-01

    A constructive safety culture is essential for the successful implementation of patient safety improvements. To assess the effect of two patient safety culture interventions on incident reporting as a proxy of safety culture. A three-arm cluster randomised trial was conducted in a mixed method study, studying the effect of administering a patient safety culture questionnaire (intervention I), the questionnaire complemented with a practice-based workshop (intervention II) and no intervention (control) in 30 general practices in the Netherlands. The primary outcome, the number of reported incidents, was measured with a questionnaire at baseline and a year after. Analysis was performed using a negative binomial model. Secondary outcomes were quality and safety indicators and safety culture. Mixed effects linear regression was used to analyse the culture questionnaires. The number of incidents increased in both intervention groups, to 82 and 224 in intervention I and II respectively. Adjusted for baseline number of incidents, practice size and accreditation status, the study showed that practices that additionally participated in the workshop reported 42 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 9.81 to 177.50) times more incidents compared to the control group. Practices that only completed the questionnaire reported 5 (95% CI = 1.17 to 25.49) times more incidents. There were no statistically significant differences in staff perception of patient safety culture at follow-up between the three study groups. Educating staff and facilitating discussion about patient safety culture in their own practice leads to increased reporting of incidents. It is beneficial to invest in a team-wise effort to improve patient safety. © British Journal of General Practice 2015.

  16. Aging and the 4-kHz Air-Bone Gap

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Nondahl, David M.; Tweed, Ted S.; Cruickshanks, Karen J.; Wiley, Terry L.; Dalton, Dayna S.

    2012-01-01

    Purpose: In this study, the authors assessed age- and sex-related patterns in the prevalence and 10-year incidence of 4-kHz air-bone gaps and associated factors. Method: Data were obtained as part of the longitudinal, population-based Epidemiology of Hearing Loss Study ( Cruickshanks et al., 1998). An air-bone gap at 4 kHz was defined as an…

  17. Self-Reported Minimalist Running Injury Incidence and Severity: A Pilot Study.

    PubMed

    Ostermann, Katrina; Ridpath, Lance; Hanna, Jandy B

    2016-08-01

    Minimalist running entails using shoes with a flexible thin sole and is popular in the United States. Existing literature disagrees over whether minimalist running shoes (MRS) improve perceived severity of injuries associated with running in traditional running shoes (TRS). Additionally, the perceived injury patterns associated with MRS are relatively unknown. To examine whether injury incidence and severity (ie, degree of pain) by body region change after switching to MRS, and to determine if transition times affect injury incidences or severity with MRS. Runners who were either current or previous users of MRS were recruited to complete an Internet-based survey regarding self-reported injury before switching to MRS and whether self-reported pain from that injury decreased after switching. Questions regarding whether new injuries developed in respondents after switching to MRS were also included. Analyses were calculated using t tests, Wilcoxon signed rank tests, and Fischer exact tests. Forty-seven runners completed the survey, and 16 respondents reported injuries before switching to MRS. Among these respondents, pain resulting from injuries of the feet (P=.03) and knees (P=.01) decreased. Eighteen respondents (38.3%) indicated they sustained new injuries after switching to MRS, but the severity of these did not differ significantly from no injury. Neither time allowed for transition to MRS nor use or disuse of a stretching routine during this period was correlated with an increase in the incidence or severity of injuries. After switching to MRS, respondents perceived an improvement in foot and knee injuries. Additionally, respondents using MRS reported an injury rate of 38.3%, compared with the approximately 64% that the literature reports among TRS users. Future studies should be expanded to determine the full extent of the differences in injury patterns between MRS and TRS.

  18. Standardizing the classification of abortion incidents: the Procedural Abortion Incident Reporting and Surveillance (PAIRS) Framework.

    PubMed

    Taylor, Diana; Upadhyay, Ushma D; Fjerstad, Mary; Battistelli, Molly F; Weitz, Tracy A; Paul, Maureen E

    2017-07-01

    To develop and validate standardized criteria for assessing abortion-related incidents (adverse events, morbidities, near misses) for first-trimester aspiration abortion procedures and to demonstrate the utility of a standardized framework [the Procedural Abortion Incident Reporting & Surveillance (PAIRS) Framework] for estimating serious abortion-related adverse events. As part of a California-based study of early aspiration abortion provision conducted between 2007 and 2013, we developed and validated a standardized framework for defining and monitoring first-trimester (≤14weeks) aspiration abortion morbidity and adverse events using multiple methods: a literature review, framework criteria testing with empirical data, repeated expert reviews and data-based revisions to the framework. The final framework distinguishes incidents resulting from procedural abortion care (adverse events) from morbidity related to pregnancy, the abortion process and other nonabortion related conditions. It further classifies incidents by diagnosis (confirmatory data, etiology, risk factors), management (treatment type and location), timing (immediate or delayed), seriousness (minor or major) and outcome. Empirical validation of the framework using data from 19,673 women receiving aspiration abortions revealed almost an equal proportion of total adverse events (n=205, 1.04%) and total abortion- or pregnancy-related morbidity (n=194, 0.99%). The majority of adverse events were due to retained products of conception (0.37%), failed attempted abortion (0.15%) and postabortion infection (0.17%). Serious or major adverse events were rare (n=11, 0.06%). Distinguishing morbidity diagnoses from adverse events using a standardized, empirically tested framework confirms the very low frequency of serious adverse events related to clinic-based abortion care. The PAIRS Framework provides a useful set of tools to systematically classify and monitor abortion-related incidents for first

  19. Recommendations for Nuclear Medicine Technologists Drawn from an Analysis of Errors Reported in Australian Radiation Incident Registers.

    PubMed

    Kearney, Nicole; Denham, Gary

    2016-12-01

    When a radiation incident occurs in nuclear medicine in Australia, the incident is reported to the relevant state or territory authority, which performs an investigation and sends its findings to the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency. The agency then includes these data in its Australian Radiation Incident Register and makes them available to the public as an annual summary report on its website. The aim of this study was to analyze the radiation incidents included in these annual reports and in the publically available state and territory registers, identify any recurring themes, and make recommendations to minimize future incidents. A multidisciplinary team comprising a nuclear medicine technologist, a radiation therapist, and a diagnostic radiographer analyzed all nuclear medicine technology-, radiation therapy-, and diagnostic radiography-related incidents recorded in the Australian Radiation Incident Register and in the registers of New South Wales, Western Australia, Victoria, South Australia, and Tasmania between 2003 and 2015. Each incident was placed into 1 of 18 categories, and each category was examined to determine any recurring causes of the incidents. We analyzed 209 nuclear medicine incidents. Their primary cause was failure to comply with time-out protocols (85.6%). By analyzing both the causes and the rates of radiation incidents, we were able to recommend ways to help prevent them from being repeated. Information drawn from the Australian Radiation Incident Register and 5 state registers has revealed steps that can be taken by any nuclear medicine department to prevent repetition of the incidents that have already occurred. © 2016 by the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, Inc.

  20. Contributory factors in surgical incidents as delineated by a confidential reporting system.

    PubMed

    Mushtaq, F; O'Driscoll, C; Smith, Fct; Wilkins, D; Kapur, N; Lawton, R

    2018-05-01

    Background Confidential reporting systems play a key role in capturing information about adverse surgical events. However, the value of these systems is limited if the reports that are generated are not subjected to systematic analysis. The aim of this study was to provide the first systematic analysis of data from a novel surgical confidential reporting system to delineate contributory factors in surgical incidents and document lessons that can be learned. Methods One-hundred and forty-five patient safety incidents submitted to the UK Confidential Reporting System for Surgery over a 10-year period were analysed using an adapted version of the empirically-grounded Yorkshire Contributory Factors Framework. Results The most common factors identified as contributing to reported surgical incidents were cognitive limitations (30.09%), communication failures (16.11%) and a lack of adherence to established policies and procedures (8.81%). The analysis also revealed that adverse events were only rarely related to an isolated, single factor (20.71%) - with the majority of cases involving multiple contributory factors (79.29% of all cases had more than one contributory factor). Examination of active failures - those closest in time and space to the adverse event - pointed to frequent coupling with latent, systems-related contributory factors. Conclusions Specific patterns of errors often underlie surgical adverse events and may therefore be amenable to targeted intervention, including particular forms of training. The findings in this paper confirm the view that surgical errors tend to be multi-factorial in nature, which also necessitates a multi-disciplinary and system-wide approach to bringing about improvements.

  1. SU-F-T-462: Lessons Learned From a Machine Incident Reporting System

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Sutlief, S; Hoisak, J

    Purpose: Linear accelerators must operate with minimal downtime. Machine incident logs are a crucial tool to meet this requirement. They providing a history of service and demonstrate whether a fix is working. This study investigates the information content of a large department linear accelerator incident log. Methods: Our department uses an electronic reporting system to provide immediate information to both key department staff and the field service department. This study examines reports for five linac logs during 2015. The report attributes for analysis include frequency, level of documentation, who solved the problem, and type of fix used. Results: Of themore » reports, 36% were documented as resolved. In another 25% the resolution allowed treatment to proceed although the reported problem recurred within days. In 5% only intermediate troubleshooting was documented. The remainder lacked documentation. In 60% of the reports, radiation therapists resolved the problem, often by clearing the appropriate faults or reinitializing a software or hardware service. 22% were resolved by physics and 10% by field service engineers. The remaining 8% were resolved by IT, Facilities, or resolved spontaneously. Typical fixes, in order of scope, included clearing the fault and moving on, closing and re-opening the patient session or software, cycling power to a sub-unit, recalibrating a device (e.g., optical surface imaging), and calling in Field Service (usually resolving the problem through maintenance or component replacement). Conclusion: The reports with undocumented resolution represent a missed opportunity for learning. Frequency of who resolves a problem scales with the proximity of the person’s role (therapist, physicist, or service engineer), which is inversely related to the permanence of the resolution. Review of lessons learned from machine incident logs can form the basis for guidance to radiation therapists and medical physicists to minimize equipment

  2. A systematic review of the incidence and prevalence of comorbidity in multiple sclerosis: Overview

    PubMed Central

    Cohen, Jeffrey; Stuve, Olaf; Trojano, Maria; Sørensen, Per Soelberg; Reingold, Stephen; Cutter, Gary; Reider, Nadia

    2015-01-01

    Background: Comorbidity is an area of increasing interest in multiple sclerosis (MS). Objective: The objective of this review is to estimate the incidence and prevalence of comorbidity in people with MS and assess the quality of included studies. Methods: We searched the PubMed, SCOPUS, EMBASE and Web of Knowledge databases, conference proceedings, and reference lists of retrieved articles. Two reviewers independently screened abstracts. One reviewer abstracted data using a standardized form and the abstraction was verified by a second reviewer. We assessed study quality using a standardized approach. We quantitatively assessed population-based studies using the I2 statistic, and conducted random-effects meta-analyses. Results: We included 249 articles. Study designs were variable with respect to source populations, case definitions, methods of ascertainment and approaches to reporting findings. Prevalence was reported more frequently than incidence; estimates for prevalence and incidence varied substantially for all conditions. Heterogeneity was high. Conclusion: This review highlights substantial gaps in the epidemiological knowledge of comorbidity in MS worldwide. Little is known about comorbidity in Central or South America, Asia or Africa. Findings in North America and Europe are inconsistent. Future studies should report age-, sex- and ethnicity-specific estimates of incidence and prevalence, and standardize findings to a common population. PMID:25623244

  3. 14 CFR 91.1021 - Internal safety reporting and incident/accident response.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    .../accident response. 91.1021 Section 91.1021 Aeronautics and Space FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION (CONTINUED) AIR TRAFFIC AND GENERAL OPERATING RULES GENERAL OPERATING AND FLIGHT... incident/accident response. (a) Each program manager must establish an internal anonymous safety reporting...

  4. Fabry-Pérot Interference in Gapped Bilayer Graphene with Broken Anti-Klein Tunneling

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Varlet, Anastasia; Liu, Ming-Hao; Krueckl, Viktor; Bischoff, Dominik; Simonet, Pauline; Watanabe, Kenji; Taniguchi, Takashi; Richter, Klaus; Ensslin, Klaus; Ihn, Thomas

    2014-09-01

    We report the experimental observation of Fabry-Pérot interference in the conductance of a gate-defined cavity in a dual-gated bilayer graphene device. The high quality of the bilayer graphene flake, combined with the device's electrical robustness provided by the encapsulation between two hexagonal boron nitride layers, allows us to observe ballistic phase-coherent transport through a 1-μm-long cavity. We confirm the origin of the observed interference pattern by comparing to tight-binding calculations accounting for the gate-tunable band gap. The good agreement between experiment and theory, free of tuning parameters, further verifies that a gap opens in our device. The gap is shown to destroy the perfect reflection for electrons traversing the barrier with normal incidence (anti-Klein tunneling). The broken anti-Klein tunneling implies that the Berry phase, which is found to vary with the gate voltages, is always involved in the Fabry-Pérot oscillations regardless of the magnetic field, in sharp contrast with single-layer graphene.

  5. Detection of medical errors in kidney transplantation: a pilot study comparing proactive clinician debriefings to a hospital-wide incident reporting system.

    PubMed

    McElroy, Lisa M; Daud, Amna; Lapin, Brittany; Ross, Olivia; Woods, Donna M; Skaro, Anton I; Holl, Jane L; Ladner, Daniela P

    2014-11-01

    Rates of medical errors and adverse events remain high for patients who undergo kidney transplantation; they are particularly vulnerable because of the complexity of their disease and the kidney transplantation procedure. Although institutional incident-reporting systems are used in hospitals around the country, they often fail to capture a substantial proportion of medical errors. The goal of this study was to assess the ability of a proactive, web-based clinician safety debriefing to augment the information about medical errors and adverse events obtained via traditional incident reporting systems. Debriefings were sent to all individuals listed on operating room personnel reports for kidney transplantation surgeries between April 2010 and April 2011, and incident reports were collected for the same time period. The World Health Organization International Classification for Patient Safety was used to classify all issues reported. A total of 270 debriefings reported 334 patient safety issues (179 safety incidents, 155 contributing factors), and 57 incident reports reported 92 patient safety issues (56 safety incidents, 36 contributing factors). Compared with incident reports, more attending physicians completed the debriefings (32.0 vs 3.5%). The use of a proactive, web-based debriefing to augment an incident reporting system in assessing safety risks in kidney transplantation demonstrated increased information, more perspectives of a single safety issue, and increased breadth of participants. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  6. Enhancing the Safety of Children in Foster Care and Family Support Programs: Automated Critical Incident Reporting

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Brenner, Eliot; Freundlich, Madelyn

    2006-01-01

    The Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997 has made child safety an explicit focus in child welfare. The authors describe an automated critical incident reporting program designed for use in foster care and family-support programs. The program, which is based in Lotus Notes and uses e-mail to route incident reports from direct service staff to…

  7. [The critical incident reporting system as an instrument of risk management for better patient safety].

    PubMed

    Panzica, M; Krettek, C; Cartes, M

    2011-09-01

    The probability that an inpatient will be harmed by a medical procedure is at least 3% of all patients. As a consequence, hospital risk management has become a central management task in the health care sector. The critical incident reporting system (CIRS) as a voluntary instrument for reporting (near) incidents plays a key role in the implementation of a risk management system. The goal of the CIRS is to register system errors without assigning guilt or meting out punishment and at the same time increasing the number of voluntary reports.

  8. Relationship between tort claims and patient incident reports in the Veterans Health Administration

    PubMed Central

    Schmidek, J; Weeks, W

    2005-01-01

    Objective: The Veterans Health Administration's patient incident reporting system was established to obtain comprehensive data on adverse events that affect patients and to act as a harbinger for risk management. It maintains a dataset of tort claims that are made against Veterans Administration's employees acting within the scope of employment. In an effort to understand the thoroughness of reporting, we examined the relationship between tort claims and patient incident reports (PIRs). Methods: Using social security and record numbers, we matched 8260 tort claims and 32 207 PIRs from fiscal years 1993–2000. Tort claims and PIRs were considered to be related if the recorded dates of incident were within 1 month of each other. Descriptive statistics, odds ratios, and two sample t tests with unequal variances were used to determine the relationship between PIRs and tort claims. Results: 4.15% of claims had a related PIR. Claim payment (either settlement or judgment for plaintiff) was more likely when associated with a PIR (OR 3.62; 95% CI 2.87 to 4.60). Payment was most likely for medication errors (OR 8.37; 95% CI 2.05 to 73.25) and least likely for suicides (OR 0.25; 95% CI 0.11 to 0.55). Conclusions: Although few tort claims had a related PIR, if a PIR was present the tort claim was more likely to result in a payment; moreover, the payment was likely to be higher. Underreporting of patient incidents that developed into tort claims was evident. Our findings suggest that, in the Veterans Health Administration, there is a higher propensity to both report and settle PIRs with bad outcomes. PMID:15805457

  9. 30 CFR 250.188 - What incidents must I report to MMS and when must I report them?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... 30 Mineral Resources 2 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false What incidents must I report to MMS and when must I report them? 250.188 Section 250.188 Mineral Resources BUREAU OF OCEAN ENERGY MANAGEMENT, REGULATION, AND ENFORCEMENT, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR OFFSHORE OIL AND GAS AND SULPHUR OPERATIONS IN THE OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF General Information and...

  10. 41 CFR 102-33.450 - How must we report accident and incident data?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ...-MANAGEMENT OF GOVERNMENT AIRCRAFT Reporting Information on Government Aircraft Accident and Incident Data... Street, NW., Washington, DC 20405. Common Aviation Management Information Standard (C-AMIS) ... 41 Public Contracts and Property Management 3 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false How must we report...

  11. Influence of laser beam incidence angle on laser lap welding quality of galvanized steels

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Mei, Lifang; Yan, Dongbing; Chen, Genyu; Wang, Zhenhui; Chen, Shuixuan

    2017-11-01

    Based on the characteristics of laser welded structural parts of auto bodies, the influence of variation in laser beam incidence angle on the lap welding performance of galvanized auto-body sheets was studied. Lap welding tests were carried out on the galvanized sheets for auto-body application at different laser beam incidence angles by using the optimal welding parameters obtained through orthogonal experiment. The effects of incidence angle variation on seam appearance, cross-sectional shape, joint mechanical properties and microstructure of weldments were analyzed. In addition, the main factors influencing the value of incidence angle were investigated. According to the results, the weld seams had a good appearance as well as a fine, and uniform microstructure when the laser beam incidence angle was smaller than the critical incidence angle, and thus they could withstand great tensile and shear loads. Moreover, all tensile-shear specimens were fractured in the base material zone. When the laser beam incidence angle was larger than the critical incidence angle, defects like shrinkage and collapse tended to emerge, thereby resulting in the deteriorated weldability of specimens. Meanwhile, factors like the type and thickness of sheet, weld width as well as inter-sheet gap all had a certain effect on the value of laser beam incidence angle. When the sheet thickness was small and the weld width was narrow, the laser beam incidence angle could be increased appropriately. At the same time, small changes in the inter-sheet gap could greatly impact the value of incidence angle. When the inter-sheet gap was small, the laser beam incidence angle should not be too large.

  12. Professional attitudes toward incident reporting: can we measure and compare improvements in patient safety culture?

    PubMed

    Tricarico, Pierfrancesco; Castriotta, Luigi; Battistella, Claudio; Bellomo, Fabrizio; Cattani, Giovanni; Grillone, Lucrezia; Degan, Stefania; De Corti, Daniela; Brusaferro, Silvio

    2017-04-01

    To establish categories of professionals' attitudes toward incident reporting by analyzing the trends in incident reporting while accounting for general risk indicators. The incident reporting system was evaluated over 6 years. Reporting rates, stratified by year and profession, were estimated using the non-mandatory reported events/full-time equivalent (NM-IR/FTE) rate. Other indicators were collected using the hospital's official database. Staff attitudes toward self-reporting were analyzed. Univariate and multivariable analyses were performed. A 1000-bed Italian academic hospital. Staff of the hospital (over 3200 professionals). None. NM-IT/FTE rates, self-reported rates, patient complaints/praises, work accidents among professionals and 30-day readmissions. The overall reporting rate was 0.44 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.42-0.46) among doctors and 0.40 (95% CI: 0.39-0.41) among nurses. Between 2010 and 2015, only the doctors' reporting rate increased significantly (P = 0.04), from 0.29 (95% CI: 0.25-0.34) to 0.67 (95% CI: 0.60-0.73). Patient complaints decreased from 384 to 224 (P < 0.001) and work accidents decreased from 296 to 235 (P = 0.01), while other indicators remained constant. Multivariable logistic regression showed that self-reporting was more likely among nurses than doctors (odds ratio: 1.51; 95% CI: 1.31-1.73) and for severe events than near misses (odds ratio: 1.78; 95% CI: 1.11-2.87). Because the doctors' reporting rates increased during the study period, doctors may be more likely to report adverse events than nurses, although nurses reported more events. Incident reporting trends and other routinely collected risk indicators may be useful to improve our understanding and measurement of patient safety issues. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press in association with the International Society for Quality in Health Care. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com

  13. Analysis of general aviation single-pilot IFR incident data obtained from the NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Bergeron, H. P.

    1983-01-01

    An analysis of incident data obtained from the NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (ASRS) has been made to determine the problem areas in general aviation single-pilot IFR (SPIFR) operations. The Aviation Safety Reporting System data base is a compilation of voluntary reports of incidents from any person who has observed or been involved in an occurrence which was believed to have posed a threat to flight safety. This paper examines only those reported incidents specifically related to general aviation single-pilot IFR operations. The frequency of occurrence of factors related to the incidents was the criterion used to define significant problem areas and, hence, to suggest where research is needed. The data was cataloged into one of five major problem areas: (1) controller judgment and response problems, (2) pilot judgment and response problems, (3) air traffic control (ATC) intrafacility and interfacility conflicts, (4) ATC and pilot communication problems, and (5) IFR-VFR conflicts. In addition, several points common to all or most of the problems were observed and reported. These included human error, communications, procedures and rules, and work load.

  14. Special Education--Non-Special Education Achievement Gap in Math: Effects of Reporting Methods, Analytical Techniques, and Reclassification

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Thurlow, Martha L.; Wu, Yi-Chen; Lazarus, Sheryl S.; Ysseldyke, James E.

    2016-01-01

    Federal regulations indicate that the achievement gap must be closed between subgroups, including the gap between special education and non-special education students. We explored the ways in which achievement trends are influenced by three methods of reporting (cross-sectional, cohort-static, and cohort-dynamic). We also investigated (a) the ways…

  15. Impact and management of chemotherapy/radiotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting and the perceptual gap between oncologists/oncology nurses and patients: a cross-sectional multinational survey.

    PubMed

    Vidall, Cheryl; Fernández-Ortega, Paz; Cortinovis, Diego; Jahn, Patrick; Amlani, Bharat; Scotté, Florian

    2015-11-01

    Chemotherapy/radiotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV/RINV) can affect half of oncology patients, significantly impacting daily life. Nausea without vomiting has only recently been thought of as a condition in its own right. As such, the incidence of nausea is often underestimated. This survey investigated the incidence and impact of CINV/RINV in patients compared with estimations of physicians/oncology nurses to determine if there is a perceptual gap between healthcare professionals and patients. An online research survey of physicians, oncology nurses and patients was conducted across five European countries. Participants had to have experience prescribing/recommending or have received anti-emetic medication for CINV/RINV treatment. Questionnaires assessed the incidence and impact of CINV/RINV, anti-emetic usage and compliance, and attribute importance of anti-emetic medication. A total of 947 (375 physicians, 186 oncology nurses and 386 patients) participated in this survey. The incidence of nausea was greater than vomiting: 60 % of patients reported nausea alone, whereas 18 % reported vomiting. Physicians and oncology nurses overestimated the incidence of CINV/RINV but underestimated its impact on patients' daily lives. Only 38 % of patients reported full compliance with physicians'/oncology nurses' guidelines when self-administering anti-emetic medication. Leading factors for poor compliance included reluctance to add to a pill burden and fear that swallowing itself would induce nausea/vomiting. There is a perceptual gap between healthcare professionals and patients in terms of the incidence and impact of CINV/RINV. This may lead to sub-optimal prescription of anti-emetics and therefore management of CINV/RINV. Minimising the pill burden and eliminating the requirement to swallow medication could improve poor patient compliance with anti-emetic regimens.

  16. Do air-gaps behind soft body armour affect protection?

    PubMed

    Tilsley, Lee; Carr, D J; Lankester, C; Malbon, C

    2018-02-01

    Body armour typically comprises a fabric garment covering the torso combined with hard armour (ceramic/composite). Some users wear only soft armour which provides protection from sharp weapons and pistol ammunition. It is usually recommended that body armour is worn against the body with no air-gaps being present between the wearer and the armour. However, air-gaps can occur in certain situations such as females around the breasts, in badly fitting armour and where manufacturers have incorporated an air-gap claiming improvements in thermophysiological burden. The effect of an air-gap on the ballistic protection and the back face signature (BFS) as a result of a non-perforating ballistic impact was determined. Armour panels representative of typical police armour (400x400 mm) were mounted on calibrated Roma Plastilina No 1 and impacted with 9 mm Luger FMJ (9×19 mm; full metal jacket; Dynamit Nobel DM11A1B2) ammunition at 365±10 m/s with a range of air-gaps (0-15 mm). Whether or not the ammunition perforated the armour was noted, the BFS was measured and the incidence of pencilling (a severe, deep and narrow BFS) was identified. For 0° impacts, a critical air-gap size of 10 mm is detrimental to armour performance for the armour/ammunition combination assessed in this work. Specifically, the incidences of pencilling were more common with a 10 mm air-gap and resulted in BFS depth:volume ratios ≥1.0. For impacts at 30° the armour was susceptible to perforation irrespective of air-gap. This work suggested that an air-gap behind police body armour might result in an increased likelihood of injury. It is recommended that body armour is worn with no air-gap underneath. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2018. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

  17. SU-E-T-511: Inter-Rater Variability in Classification of Incidents in a New Incident Reporting System

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Pappas, D; Reis, S; Ali, A

    Purpose To determine how consistent the results of different raters are when reviewing the same cases within the Radiation Oncology Incident Learning System (ROILS). Methods Three second-year medical physics graduate students filled out incident reports in spreadsheets set up to mimic ROILS. All students studied the same 33 cases and independently entered their assessments, for a total of 99 reviewed cases. The narratives for these cases were obtained from a published International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) report which included shorter narratives selected from the Radiation Oncology Safety Information System (ROSIS) database. Each category of questions was reviewed to seemore » how consistent the results were by utilizing free-marginal multirater kappa analysis. The percentage of cases where all raters shared full agreement or full disagreement was recorded to show which questions were answered consistently by multiple raters for a given case. The consistency among the raters was analyzed between ICRP and ROSIS cases to see if either group led to more reliable results. Results The categories where all raters agreed 100 percent in their choices were the event type (93.94 percent of cases 0.946 kappa) and the likelihood of the event being harmful to the patient (42.42 percent of cases 0.409 kappa). The categories where all raters disagreed 100 percent in their choices were the dosimetric severity scale (39.39 percent of cases 0.139 kappa) and the potential future toxicity (48.48 percent of cases 0.205 kappa). ROSIS had more cases where all raters disagreed than ICRP (23.06 percent of cases compared to 15.58 percent, respectively). Conclusion Despite reviewing the same cases, the results among the three raters was widespread. ROSIS narratives were shorter than ICRP, which suggests that longer narratives lead to more consistent results. This study shows that the incident reporting system can be optimized to yield more consistent results.« less

  18. 2014-2015 Partnership accomplishments report on joint activities: National Gap Analysis Program and LANDFIRE

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Davidson, Anne; McKerrow, Alexa; Long, Don; Earnhardt, Todd

    2015-01-01

    The intended target audience for this document initially is management and project technical specialist and scientists involved in the Gap Analysis Program (GAP) and the Landscape Fire and Resource Management Planning Tools - (LANDFIRE) program to help communicate coordination activities to all involved parties. This document is also intended to give background information in other parts of the USGS and beyond, although some details given are relatively oriented to management of the respective programs. Because the Gap Analysis Program (GAP) and the Landscape Fire and Resource Management Planning Tools - LANDFIRE programs both rely on characterizations of land cover using similar scales and resolutions, the programs have been coordinating their work to improve scientific consistency and efficiency of production. Initial discussions and informal sharing of ideas and work began in 2008. Although this collaboration was fruitful, there was no formal process for reporting results, plans, or outstanding issues, nor was there any formally-defined coordinated management team that spanned the two programs. In 2012, leadership from the two programs agreed to strengthen the coordination of their respective work efforts. In 2013 the GAP and LANDFIRE programs developed an umbrella plan of objectives and components related to three mutual focus areas for the GAP and LANDFIRE collaboration for the years 2013 and 2014 (GAP/LANDFIRE 2013). The evolution of this partnership resulted in the drafting of an inter-program Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in 2014. This MOU identified three coordination topics relevant to the two programs participating at this point in the MOU history: Vegetation mappingDisturbance classesFormal quality assessment

  19. Medical students' perceptions of a novel institutional incident reporting system : A thematic analysis.

    PubMed

    Gordon, Morris; Parakh, Dillan

    2017-10-01

    Errors in healthcare are a major patient safety issue, with incident reporting a key solution. The incident reporting system has been integrated within a new medical curriculum, encouraging medical students to take part in this key safety process. The aim of this study was to describe the system and assess how students perceived the reporting system with regards to its role in enhancing safety. Employing a thematic analysis, this study used interviews with medical students at the end of the first year. Thematic indices were developed according to the information emerging from the data. Through open, axial and then selective stages of coding, an understanding of how the system was perceived was established. Analysis of the interview specified five core themes: (1) Aims of the incident reporting system; (2) internalized cognition of the system; (3) the impact of the reporting system; (4) threshold for reporting; (5) feedback on the systems operation. Selective analysis revealed three overriding findings: lack of error awareness and error wisdom as underpinned by key theoretical constructs, student support of the principle of safety, and perceptions of a blame culture. Students did not interpret reporting as a manner to support institutional learning and safety, rather many perceived it as a tool for a blame culture. The impact reporting had on students was unexpected and may give insight into how other undergraduates and early graduates interpret such a system. Future studies should aim to produce interventions that can support a reporting culture.

  20. Pediatric critical incidents reported over 15 years at a tertiary care teaching hospital of a developing country.

    PubMed

    Abbasi, Shemila; Khan, Fauzia Anis; Khan, Sobia

    2018-01-01

    The role of critical incident (CI) reporting is well established in improving patient safety but only a limited number of available reports relate to pediatric incidents. Our aim was to analyze the reported CIs specific to pediatric patients in our database and to reevaluate the value of this program in addressing issues in pediatric anesthesia practice. Incidents related to pediatric population from neonatal period till the age of 12 years were selected. A review of all CI records collected between January 1998 and December 2012, in the Department of Anaesthesiology of Aga Khan University hospital was done. This was retrospective form review. The Department has a structured CI form in use since 1998 which is intermittently evaluated and modified if needed. A total of 451 pediatric CIs were included. Thirty-four percent of the incidents were reported in infants. Ninety-six percent of the reported incidents took place during elective surgery and 4% during emergency surgery. Equipment-related events (n = 114), respiratory events (n = 112), and drug events (n = 110) were equally distributed (25.6%, 25.3%, and 24.7%). Human factors accounted for 74% of reports followed by, equipment failure (10%) and patient factors (8%). Only 5% of the incidents were system errors. Failure to check (equipment/drugs/doses) was the most common cause for human factors. Poor outcome was seen in 7% of cases. Medication and equipment are the clinical areas that need to be looked at more closely. We also recommend quality improvement projects in both these areas as well as training of residents and staff in managing airway-related problems in pediatric patients.

  1. Relationship Type and Sexual Precedence: Their Associations With Characteristics of Sexual Assault Perpetrators and Incidents

    PubMed Central

    Wegner, Rhiana; Pierce, Jennifer; Abbey, Antonia

    2015-01-01

    Although most sexual assaults are committed by men who know their victims, few researchers have considered how characteristics of perpetrators and incidents differ depending on the victim–perpetrator relationship. This study addresses this gap with a community sample of 204 men who reported committing a sexually aggressive act in an audio computer-assisted self-interview. 2 (Relationship Type: Committed vs. Casual) × 2 (Sexual Precedence: Yes vs. No) ANOVAs revealed significant main effects of relationship type and sexual precedence associated with individual difference and incident characteristics. These findings demonstrate the importance of developing theories and prevention programs tailored for different relationship contexts. PMID:25288595

  2. Relationship type and sexual precedence: their associations with characteristics of sexual assault perpetrators and incidents.

    PubMed

    Wegner, Rhiana; Pierce, Jennifer; Abbey, Antonia

    2014-11-01

    Although most sexual assaults are committed by men who know their victims, few researchers have considered how characteristics of perpetrators and incidents differ depending on the victim-perpetrator relationship. This study addresses this gap with a community sample of 204 men who reported committing a sexually aggressive act in an audio computer-assisted self-interview. 2 (Relationship Type: Committed vs. Casual) × 2 (Sexual Precedence: Yes vs. No) ANOVAs revealed significant main effects of relationship type and sexual precedence associated with individual difference and incident characteristics. These findings demonstrate the importance of developing theories and prevention programs tailored for different relationship contexts. © The Author(s) 2014.

  3. 75 FR 51953 - Notification and Reporting of Aircraft Accidents or Incidents and Overdue Aircraft, and...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2010-08-24

    ... Accidents or Incidents and Overdue Aircraft, and Preservation of Aircraft Wreckage, Mail, Cargo, and Records... its regulations on the notification and reporting of aircraft accidents or incidents by adding a definition of ``unmanned aircraft accident'' and requiring that operators notify the NTSB of accidents...

  4. Development of an Automated Security Incident Reporting System (SIRS) for Bus Transit

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    1986-12-01

    The security incident reporting system (sirs) is a microcomputer-based software program demonstrated at the metropolitan transit commission (mtc) in Minneapolis, mn. Sirs is designed to provide convenient storage, update and retrieval of security inc...

  5. Should we worry about periacetabular interference gaps in hip resurfacing?

    PubMed

    Gomes, Bruno; Olsen, Michael; Donnelly, Michael; Kumar, Ashesh; Schemitsch, Emil H

    2013-02-01

    Press-fit acetabular component seating in hip resurfacing can be challenging as a strong interference fit is required. It has not been established whether reducing the acetabular underream minimizes incomplete component seating or leads to increased acetabular loosening. We examined (1) the incidence and natural history of postoperative interference gaps in hip resurfacing and (2) whether reduction of the acetabular underream from 2 mm to 1 mm reduces the incidence of periacetabular interference gaps. Of 327 Birmingham Hip™ Resurfacings (Smith & Nephew Inc, Memphis, TN, USA) performed by a single surgeon from 2005 to 2010, we evaluated 306 hips with a minimum 1-year radiographic followup. Postoperative periacetabular interference gaps were monitored for radiographic gap resolution at latest followup. The frequency of incomplete component seating was compared between acetabula prepared with 1- and 2-mm underream techniques. Minimum followup was 1 year (mean, 2.7 years; range, 1-6 years). Fifty-one percent of the postoperative radiographs demonstrated the presence of a periacetabular interference gap. At latest followup, 96% of these gaps were no longer visible. We observed a reduction in the number of interference gaps identified when acetabular preparation changed from a 2-mm underream (63%) to a 1-mm underream (39%). There were no revisions due to acetabular failure. Periacetabular interference gaps were common in this series but not associated with acetabular component failure. The use of a 1-mm underream is sufficient for adequate short-term press-fit fixation of the acetabular component in Birmingham Hip™ Resurfacing arthroplasty. Level IV, therapeutic study. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.

  6. Effect of a gap opening on the conductance of graphene with magnetic barrier structures

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Esmailpour, Mohammad

    2018-04-01

    In the present study Klein tunneling in a single-layer gapped graphene was investigated by transfer matrix method under normal magnetic field for one and two magnetic barriers. Calculations show that electron transmission through a magnetic barrier is deflected to positive angles and reduces as the magnitude of magnetic field and especially the energy gap increases. This reduction is even more significant in larger fields so that after reaching a specific value of energy gap, an effective confinement for fermions and suppression of Klein tunneling is reached particularly in normal incidence and the conductance becomes zero. Unlike one barrier, the process of tunneling through two magnetic barriers induces symmetric transmission probability versus the incident angle; even, for lower energy gaps, electron transmission probability increases which in turn reduces total conductance via proper changes in the value of the magnetic field and energy gap. In general, it is concluded that confining electrons in asymmetric transmission through one barrier is conducted better than two barriers.

  7. Adult Perpetrator Gender Asymmetries in Child Sexual Assault Victim Selection: Results from the 2000 National Incident-Based Reporting System

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    McCloskey, Kathy A.; Raphael, Desreen N.

    2005-01-01

    Data from the 2000 National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) show that while males make up about nine out of every 10 adult sexual assault perpetrators, totaling about 26,878 incidents within the reporting period, females account for about one out of 10 perpetrators, totaling about 1,162 incidents. Male sexual assault perpetrators offend…

  8. Surface dose measurements from air gaps under a bolus by using a MOSFET dosimeter in clinical oblique photon beams

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Chung, Jin-Beom; Kim, Jae-Sung; Kim, In-Ah; Lee, Jeong-Woo

    2012-10-01

    This study is intended to investigate the effects of surface dose from air gaps under the bolus in clinically used oblique photon beams by using a Markus parallel-plate chamber and a metal-oxide semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) dosimeter. To evaluate the performances of the two detectors, the percentage surface doses of the MOSFET dosimeters in without an air gap under the bolus material were measured and compared with those of the Markus parallel-plate chamber. MOSFET dosimeters at the surface provided results mostly in good agreement with the parallelplate chamber. The MOSFET dosimeters seemed suitable for surface dose measurements having excellent accuracy for clinical used photon beams. The relative surface doses were measured with air gaps (2, 5, 10 mm) and without an air gap under 3 different bolus setups: (1) unbolused (no bolus), (2) 5-mm bolus, and (3) 10-mm bolus. The reductions in the surface dose substantially increased with small field size, thick bolus, and large air gap. The absolute difference in the reductions of the surface dose between the MOSFET dosimeter and the Markus parallel-plate chamber was less than 1.1%. Results at oblique angles of incidence showed larger reductions in surface dose with increasing angle of incidence. The largest reduction in surface dose was recorded for a 6 × 6 cm2 field at a 60° angle of incidence with an 10-mm air gap under a 10-mm bolus. When a 10-mm bolus was used, a reduction in the surface dose with an air gap of up to 10.5% could be achieved by varying the field size and the incident angle. Therefore, air gaps under the bolus should be avoided in radiotherapy treatment, especially for photon beam with highly oblique angles of incidence.

  9. Self-reported Preparedness to Respond to Mass Fatality Incidents in 38 State Health Departments.

    PubMed

    Merrill, Jacqueline; Zhi, Qi; Gershon, Robyn R

    Public health departments play an important role in the preparation and response to mass fatality incidents (MFIs). To describe MFI response capabilities of US state health departments. The data are part of a multisector cross-sectional study aimed at 5 sectors that comprise the US mass fatality infrastructure. Data were collected over a 6-week period via a self-administered, anonymous Web-based survey. In 2014, a link to the survey was distributed via e-mail to health departments in 50 states and the District of Columbia. State health department representatives responsible for their state's MFI plans. Preparedness was assessed using 3 newly developed metrics: organizational capabilities (n = 19 items); operational capabilities (n = 19 items); and resource-sharing capabilities (n = 13 items). Response rate was 75% (n = 38). Among 38 responses, 37 rated their workplace moderately or well prepared; 45% reported MFI training, but only 30% reported training on MFI with hazardous contaminants; 58% estimated high levels of staff willingness to respond, but that dropped to 40% if MFIs involved hazardous contaminants; and 84% reported a need for more training. On average, 76% of operational capabilities were present. Resource sharing was most prevalent with state Office of Emergency Management but less evident with faith-based organizations and agencies within the medical examiner sector. Overall response capability was adequate, with gaps found in capabilities where public health shares responsibility with other sectors. Collaborative training with other sectors is critical to ensure optimal response to future MFIs, but recent funding cuts in public health preparedness may adversely impact this critical preparedness element. In order for the sector to effectively meet its public health MFI responsibilities as delineated in the National Response Framework, resources to support training and other elements of preparedness must be maintained.

  10. Graphene field effect transistor without an energy gap.

    PubMed

    Jang, Min Seok; Kim, Hyungjun; Son, Young-Woo; Atwater, Harry A; Goddard, William A

    2013-05-28

    Graphene is a room temperature ballistic electron conductor and also a very good thermal conductor. Thus, it has been regarded as an ideal material for postsilicon electronic applications. A major complication is that the relativistic massless electrons in pristine graphene exhibit unimpeded Klein tunneling penetration through gate potential barriers. Thus, previous efforts to realize a field effect transistor for logic applications have assumed that introduction of a band gap in graphene is a prerequisite. Unfortunately, extrinsic treatments designed to open a band gap seriously degrade device quality, yielding very low mobility and uncontrolled on/off current ratios. To solve this dilemma, we propose a gating mechanism that leads to a hundredfold enhancement in on/off transmittance ratio for normally incident electrons without any band gap engineering. Thus, our saw-shaped geometry gate potential (in place of the conventional bar-shaped geometry) leads to switching to an off state while retaining the ultrahigh electron mobility in the on state. In particular, we report that an on/off transmittance ratio of 130 is achievable for a sawtooth gate with a gate length of 80 nm. Our switching mechanism demonstrates that intrinsic graphene can be used in designing logic devices without serious alteration of the conventional field effect transistor architecture. This suggests a new variable for the optimization of the graphene-based device--geometry of the gate electrode.

  11. Bus incident reporting, tracking and analysis system

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    2006-08-01

    Many Florida transit systems do little formal analysis of all accidents on an aggregate basis. In many transit system accidents and incidents are not being tracked or analyzed to identify common trends from types of incidents, location, driver, bus r...

  12. 76 FR 34812 - Proposed Information Collection (Report of Medical, Legal, and Other Expenses Incident to...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-06-14

    ... of Medical, Legal, and Other Expenses Incident to Recovery for Injury or Death) Activity; Comment... Expenses Incident to Recovery for Injury or Death, VA Form 21-8416b. OMB Control Number: 2900-0545. Type of... report compensation awarded by another entity or government agency for personal injury or death. Such...

  13. A cross-sectional mixed methods study protocol to generate learning from patient safety incidents reported from general practice.

    PubMed

    Carson-Stevens, Andrew; Hibbert, Peter; Avery, Anthony; Butlin, Amy; Carter, Ben; Cooper, Alison; Evans, Huw Prosser; Gibson, Russell; Luff, Donna; Makeham, Meredith; McEnhill, Paul; Panesar, Sukhmeet S; Parry, Gareth; Rees, Philippa; Shiels, Emma; Sheikh, Aziz; Ward, Hope Olivia; Williams, Huw; Wood, Fiona; Donaldson, Liam; Edwards, Adrian

    2015-12-01

    Incident reports contain descriptions of errors and harms that occurred during clinical care delivery. Few observational studies have characterised incidents from general practice, and none of these have been from the England and Wales National Reporting and Learning System. This study aims to describe incidents reported from a general practice care setting. A general practice patient safety incident classification will be developed to characterise patient safety incidents. A weighted-random sample of 12,500 incidents describing no harm, low harm and moderate harm of patients, and all incidents describing severe harm and death of patients will be classified. Insights from exploratory descriptive statistics and thematic analysis will be combined to identify priority areas for future interventions. The need for ethical approval was waivered by the Aneurin Bevan University Health Board research risk review committee given the anonymised nature of data (ABHB R&D Ref number: SA/410/13). The authors will submit the results of the study to relevant journals and undertake national and international oral presentations to researchers, clinicians and policymakers. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/

  14. Closing the Gaps: 2014 Progress Report. College for All Texans

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, 2014

    2014-01-01

    "Closing the Gaps: The Texas Higher Education Plan" was adopted in October 2000 by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB). The goal of the "Closing the Gaps" ("CTG") plan is to close educational gaps in participation, success, excellence, and research within Texas and between Texas and other states by…

  15. ECOREGIONAL GAP ANALYSIS OF THE SOUTHWESTERN UNITED STATES: THE SOUTHWEST REGIONAL GAP ANALYSIS PROJECT FINAL REPORT

    EPA Science Inventory

    The Gap Analysis Program is a national program with the mission of developing key datasets needed to assess biological diversity across the nation. The primary objectives of the Gap Analysis Program are: (1) Land Cover Mapping – to map the distributions of natural communities; (2...

  16. Patient-reported experiences of patient safety incidents need to be utilized more systematically in promoting safe care.

    PubMed

    Sahlström, Merja; Partanen, Pirjo; Turunen, Hannele

    2018-04-16

    To analyze patient safety incidents (PSIs) reported by patients and their use in Finnish healthcare organizations. Cross-sectional study. About 15 Finnish healthcare organizations ranging from specialized hospital care to home care, outpatient and inpatient clinics, and geographically diverse areas of Finland. The study population included all Finnish patients who had voluntarily reported PSI via web-based system in 2009-15. Quantitative analysis of patients' safety reports, inductive content analysis of patients' suggestions to prevent the reoccurrence incidents and how those suggestions were used in healthcare organizations. Patients reported 656 PSIs, most of which were classified by the healthcare organizations' analysts as problems associated with information flow (32.6%) and medications (18%). Most of the incidents (65%) did not cause any harm to patients. About 76% of the reports suggested ways to prevent reoccurrence of PSIs, most of which were feasible, system-based amendments of processes for reviewing or administering treatment, anticipating risks or improving diligence in patient care. However, only 6% had led to practical implementation of corrective actions in the healthcare organizations. The results indicate that patients report diverse PSIs and suggest practical systems-based solutions to prevent their reoccurrence. However, patients' reports rarely lead to corrective actions documented in the registering system, indicating that there is substantial scope to improve utilization of patients' reports. There is also a need for strong patient safety management, including willingness and commitment of HCPs and leaders to learn from safety incidents.

  17. Lessons for pediatric anesthesia from audit and incident reporting.

    PubMed

    Bell, Graham

    2011-07-01

    This review will attempt to put the various systems that allow clinicians to assess errors, omissions, or avoidable incidents into context and where possible, look for areas that deserve more or less attention and resource specifically for those of us who practice pediatric anesthesia. Different approaches will be contrasted with respect to their outputs in terms of positive impact on the practice of anesthesia. These approaches include audits by governmental organizations, national representative bodies, specialist societies, commissioned boards of inquiry, medicolegal sources, and police force investigations. Implementation strategies are considered alongside the reports as the reports cannot be considered end points themselves. Specific areas where pediatric anesthetics has failed to address recurring risk through any currently available tools will be highlighted. © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

  18. SU-E-T-469: Implementation of VAs Web-Based Radiotherapy Incident Reporting and Analysis System (RIRAS)

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Kapoor, R; Palta, J; Hagan, M

    Purpose: This Web-based Radiotherapy Incident Reporting and Analysis System (RIRAS) is a tool to improve quality of care for radiation therapy patients. This system is an important facet of continuing effort by our community to maintain and improve safety of radiotherapy.Material and Methods: VA’s National Radiation Oncology Program office has embarked on a program to electronically collect adverse events and good-catch data of radiation treatment of over 25,000 veterans treated with radiotherapy annually. This VA-Intranet based software design has made use of dataset taxonomies and data dictionaries defined in AAPM/ASTRO reports on error reporting. We used proven industrial and medicalmore » event reporting techniques to avoid several common problems faced in effective data collection such as incomplete data due to data entry fatigue by the reporters, missing data due to data difficult to obtain or not familiar to most reporters, missing reports due to fear of reprisal etc. This system encompasses the entire feedback loop of reporting an incident, analyzing it for salient details, and developing interventions to prevent it from happening again. The analysis reports with corrective, learning actions are shared with the reporter/facility and made public to the community (after deidentification) as part of the learning process. Results: Till date 50 incident/good catches have been reported in RIRAS and we have completed analysis on 100% of these reports. This is done due to the fact that each reported incidents is investigated and a complete analysis/patient-safety-work-product report is generated by radiation oncology domain-experts. Conclusions Because of the completeness of the data, the system has enabled us to analyze process steps and track trends of major errors which in the future will lead to implementing system wide process improvement steps and safe standard operating procedures for each radiotherapy treatment modality/technique and fulfills our goal

  19. A global assessment of the gender gap in self-reported health with survey data from 59 countries.

    PubMed

    Boerma, Ties; Hosseinpoor, Ahmad Reza; Verdes, Emese; Chatterji, Somnath

    2016-07-30

    While surveys in high-income countries show that women generally have poorer self-reported health than men, much less is known about gender differences in other regions of the world. Such data can be used to examine the determinants of sex differences. We analysed data on respondents 18 years and over from the World Health Surveys 2002-04 in 59 countries, which included multiple measures of self-reported health, eight domains of functioning and presumptive diagnoses of chronic conditions. The age-standardized female excess fraction was computed for all indicators and analysed for five regional groups of countries. Multivariate regression models were used to examine the association between country gaps in self-reported health between the sexes with societal and other background characteristics. Women reported significantly poorer health than men on all self-reported health indicators. The excess fraction was 15 % for the health score based on the eight domains, 28 % for "poor" or "very poor" self-rated health on the single question, and 26 % for "severe" or "extreme" on a single question on limitations. The excess female reporting of poorer health occurred at all ages, but was smaller at ages 60 and over. The female excess was observed in all regions, and was smallest in the European high-income countries. Women more frequently reported problems in specific health domains, with the excess fraction ranging from 25 % for vision to 35 % for mobility, pain and sleep, and with considerable variation between regions. Angina, arthritis and depression had female excess fractions of 33, 32 and 42 % respectively. Higher female prevalence of the presumptive diagnoses was observed in all regional country groups. The main factors affecting the size of the gender gap in self-reported health were the female-male gaps in the prevalence of chronic conditions, especially arthritis and depression and gender characteristics of the society. Large female-male differences in self-reported

  20. Assessment of Evidence Base from Medical Debriefs Data on Space Motion Sickness Incidence and Treatment

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Younker, D.R.; Daniels, V.R.; Boyd, J.L.; Putcha, L.

    2008-01-01

    An objective of this data compilation and analysis project is to examine incidence and treatment efficacy of common patho-physiological disturbances during spaceflight. Analysis of medical debriefs data indicated that astronauts used medications to alleviate symptoms of four major ailments for which astronauts received treatment for sleep disturbances, space motion sickness (SMS), pain (headache, back pain) and sinus congestion. In the present data compilation and analysis project on SMS treatment during space missions, subject demographics (gender, age, first-time or repeat flyer), incidence and severity of SMS symptoms and subjective treatment efficacy from 317 crewmember debrief records were examined from STS-1 through STS-89. Preliminary analysis of data revealed that 50% of crew members reported SMS symptoms on at least one flight and 22% never experienced it. In addition, there were 387 medication dosing episodes reported, and promethazine was the most commonly used medication. Results of analysis of symptom check lists, medication use/efficacy and gender and flight record differences in incidence and treatment efficacy will be presented. Evidence gaps for treatment efficacy along with medication use trend analysis will be identified.

  1. Second Workshop on the Investigation and Reporting of Incidents and Accidents, IRIA 2003

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Hayhurst, Kelly J. (Compiler); Holloway, C. Michael (Compiler)

    2003-01-01

    This publication consists of papers presented at the Second Workshop on the Investigation and Reporting of Incidents and Accidents, IRIA 2003, sponsored by NASA Langley Research Center and the University of Virginia.

  2. Review and bibliometric analysis of published literature citing data produced by the Gap Analysis Program (GAP)

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Ratz, Joan M.; Conk, Shannon J.

    2014-01-01

    The Gap Analysis Program (GAP) of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) produces geospatial datasets providing information on land cover, predicted species distributions, stewardship (ownership and conservation status), and an analysis dataset which synthesizes the other three datasets. The intent in providing these datasets is to support the conservation of biodiversity. The datasets are made available at no cost. The initial datasets were created at the state level. More recent datasets have been assembled at regional and national levels. GAP entered an agreement with the Policy Analysis and Science Assistance branch of the USGS to conduct an evaluation to describe the effect that using GAP data has on those who utilize the datasets (GAP users). The evaluation project included multiple components: a discussion regarding use of GAP data conducted with participants at a GAP conference, a literature review of publications that cited use of GAP data, and a survey of GAP users. The findings of the published literature search were used to identify topics to include on the survey. This report summarizes the literature search, the characteristics of the resulting set of publications, the emergent themes from statements made regarding GAP data, and a bibliometric analysis of the publications. We cannot claim that this list includes all publications that have used GAP data. Given the time lapse that is common in the publishing process, more recent datasets may be cited less frequently in this list of publications. Reports or products that used GAP data may be produced but never published in print or released online. In that case, our search strategies would not have located those reports. Authors may have used GAP data but failed to cite it in such a way that the search strategies we used would have located those publications. These are common issues when using a literature search as part of an evaluation project. Although the final list of publications we identified is not

  3. Finding clusters of similar events within clinical incident reports: a novel methodology combining case based reasoning and information retrieval

    PubMed Central

    Tsatsoulis, C; Amthauer, H

    2003-01-01

    A novel methodological approach for identifying clusters of similar medical incidents by analyzing large databases of incident reports is described. The discovery of similar events allows the identification of patterns and trends, and makes possible the prediction of future events and the establishment of barriers and best practices. Two techniques from the fields of information science and artificial intelligence have been integrated—namely, case based reasoning and information retrieval—and very good clustering accuracies have been achieved on a test data set of incident reports from transfusion medicine. This work suggests that clustering should integrate the features of an incident captured in traditional form based records together with the detailed information found in the narrative included in event reports. PMID:14645892

  4. Development of a theoretical framework of factors affecting patient safety incident reporting: a theoretical review of the literature

    PubMed Central

    Hull, Louise; Soukup, Tayana; Mayer, Erik; Athanasiou, Thanos; Sevdalis, Nick; Darzi, Ara

    2017-01-01

    Objectives The development and implementation of incident reporting systems within healthcare continues to be a fundamental strategy to reduce preventable patient harm and improve the quality and safety of healthcare. We sought to identify factors contributing to patient safety incident reporting. Design To facilitate improvements in incident reporting, a theoretical framework, encompassing factors that act as barriers and enablers ofreporting, was developed. Embase, Ovid MEDLINE(R) and PsycINFO were searched to identify relevant articles published between January 1980 and May 2014. A comprehensive search strategy including MeSH terms and keywords was developed to identify relevant articles. Data were extracted by three independent researchers; to ensure the accuracy of data extraction, all studies eligible for inclusion were rescreened by two reviewers. Results The literature search identified 3049 potentially eligible articles; of these, 110 articles, including >29 726 participants, met the inclusion criteria. In total, 748 barriers were identified (frequency count) across the 110 articles. In comparison, 372 facilitators to incident reporting and 118 negative cases were identified. The top two barriers cited were fear of adverse consequences (161, representing 21.52% of barriers) and process and systems of reporting (110, representing 14.71% of barriers). In comparison, the top two facilitators were organisational (97, representing 26.08% of facilitators) and process and systems of reporting (75, representing 20.16% of facilitators). Conclusion A wide range of factors contributing to engagement in incident reporting exist. Efforts that address the current tendency to under-report must consider the full range of factors in order to develop interventions as well as a strategic policy approach for improvement. PMID:29284714

  5. 40 CFR 1612.3 - Published reports and material contained in the public incident investigation dockets.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... 40 Protection of Environment 32 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Published reports and material... Published reports and material contained in the public incident investigation dockets. (a) Demands for published investigation reports should be directed to the Office of Congressional and Public Affairs, U.S...

  6. Application of an aviation model of incident reporting and investigation to the neurosurgical scenario: method and preliminary data.

    PubMed

    Ferroli, Paolo; Caldiroli, Dario; Acerbi, Francesco; Scholtze, Maurizio; Piro, Alfonso; Schiariti, Marco; Orena, Eleonora F; Castiglione, Melina; Broggi, Morgan; Perin, Alessandro; DiMeco, Francesco

    2012-11-01

    Incident reporting systems are universally recognized as important tools for quality improvement in all complex adaptive systems, including the operating room. Nevertheless, introducing a safety culture among neurosurgeons is a slow process, and few studies are available in the literature regarding the implementation of an incident reporting system within a neurosurgical department. The authors describe the institution of an aviation model of incident reporting and investigation in neurosurgery, focusing on the method they have used and presenting some preliminary results. In 2010, the Inpatient Safety On-Board project was developed through cooperation between a team of human factor and safety specialists with aviation backgrounds (DgSky team) and the general manager of the Fondazione Istituto Neurologico Carlo Besta. In 2011, after specific training in safety culture, the authors implemented an aviation-derived prototype of incident reporting within the Department of Neurosurgery. They then developed an experimental protocol to track, analyze, and categorize any near misses that happened in the operating room. This project officially started in January 2012, when a dedicated team of assessors was established. All members of the neurosurgical department were asked to report near misses on a voluntary, confidential, and protected form (Patient Incident Reporting System form, Besta Safety Management Programme). Reports were entered into an online database and analyzed by a dedicated team of assessors with the help of a facilitator, and an aviation-derived root cause analysis was performed. Since January 2012, 14 near misses were analyzed and classified. The near-miss contributing factors were mainly related to human factors (9 of 14 cases), technology (1 of 14 cases), organizational factors (3 of 14 cases), or procedural factors (1 of 14 cases). Implementing an incident reporting system is quite demanding; the process should involve all of the people who work within

  7. 76 FR 54004 - Agency Information Collection (Report of Medical, Legal, and Other Expenses Incident to Recovery...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-08-30

    ... of Medical, Legal, and Other Expenses Incident to Recovery for Injury or Death) Activity under OMB... INFORMATION: Title: Report of Medical, Legal, and Other Expenses Incident to Recovery for Injury or Death, VA... government agency for personal injury or death. Such award is considered as countable income; however...

  8. Regression analysis for bivariate gap time with missing first gap time data.

    PubMed

    Huang, Chia-Hui; Chen, Yi-Hau

    2017-01-01

    We consider ordered bivariate gap time while data on the first gap time are unobservable. This study is motivated by the HIV infection and AIDS study, where the initial HIV contracting time is unavailable, but the diagnosis times for HIV and AIDS are available. We are interested in studying the risk factors for the gap time between initial HIV contraction and HIV diagnosis, and gap time between HIV and AIDS diagnoses. Besides, the association between the two gap times is also of interest. Accordingly, in the data analysis we are faced with two-fold complexity, namely data on the first gap time is completely missing, and the second gap time is subject to induced informative censoring due to dependence between the two gap times. We propose a modeling framework for regression analysis of bivariate gap time under the complexity of the data. The estimating equations for the covariate effects on, as well as the association between, the two gap times are derived through maximum likelihood and suitable counting processes. Large sample properties of the resulting estimators are developed by martingale theory. Simulations are performed to examine the performance of the proposed analysis procedure. An application of data from the HIV and AIDS study mentioned above is reported for illustration.

  9. Technology-related medication errors in a tertiary hospital: a 5-year analysis of reported medication incidents.

    PubMed

    Samaranayake, N R; Cheung, S T D; Chui, W C M; Cheung, B M Y

    2012-12-01

    Healthcare technology is meant to reduce medication errors. The objective of this study was to assess unintended errors related to technologies in the medication use process. Medication incidents reported from 2006 to 2010 in a main tertiary care hospital were analysed by a pharmacist and technology-related errors were identified. Technology-related errors were further classified as socio-technical errors and device errors. This analysis was conducted using data from medication incident reports which may represent only a small proportion of medication errors that actually takes place in a hospital. Hence, interpretation of results must be tentative. 1538 medication incidents were reported. 17.1% of all incidents were technology-related, of which only 1.9% were device errors, whereas most were socio-technical errors (98.1%). Of these, 61.2% were linked to computerised prescription order entry, 23.2% to bar-coded patient identification labels, 7.2% to infusion pumps, 6.8% to computer-aided dispensing label generation and 1.5% to other technologies. The immediate causes for technology-related errors included, poor interface between user and computer (68.1%), improper procedures or rule violations (22.1%), poor interface between user and infusion pump (4.9%), technical defects (1.9%) and others (3.0%). In 11.4% of the technology-related incidents, the error was detected after the drug had been administered. A considerable proportion of all incidents were technology-related. Most errors were due to socio-technical issues. Unintended and unanticipated errors may happen when using technologies. Therefore, when using technologies, system improvement, awareness, training and monitoring are needed to minimise medication errors. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  10. Reporting of Child Maltreatment: A Secondary Analysis of the National Incidence Surveys.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ards, Sheila; Harrell, Adele

    1993-01-01

    Data from the National Study of the Incidence and Prevalence of Child Abuse and Neglect were analyzed concerning kinds of cases underreported, overreported, or not reported. The analysis examined age, family income, sex, race, urban or rural, and type of abuse from sexual abuse to educational neglect. (JDD)

  11. Patient safety in palliative care: A mixed-methods study of reports to a national database of serious incidents.

    PubMed

    Yardley, Iain; Yardley, Sarah; Williams, Huw; Carson-Stevens, Andrew; Donaldson, Liam J

    2018-06-01

    Patients receiving palliative care are vulnerable to patient safety incidents but little is known about the extent of harm caused or the origins of unsafe care in this population. To quantify and qualitatively analyse serious incident reports in order to understand the causes and impact of unsafe care in a population receiving palliative care. A mixed-methods approach was used. Following quantification of type of incidents and their location, a qualitative analysis using a modified framework method was used to interpret themes in reports to examine the underlying causes and the nature of resultant harms. Reports to a national database of 'serious incidents requiring investigation' involving patients receiving palliative care in the National Health Service (NHS) in England during the 12-year period, April 2002 to March 2014. A total of 475 reports were identified: 266 related to pressure ulcers, 91 to medication errors, 46 to falls, 21 to healthcare-associated infections (HCAIs), 18 were other instances of disturbed dying, 14 were allegations against health professions, 8 transfer incidents, 6 suicides and 5 other concerns. The frequency of report types differed according to the care setting. Underlying causes included lack of palliative care experience, under-resourcing and poor service coordination. Resultant harms included worsened symptoms, disrupted dying, serious injury and hastened death. Unsafe care presents a risk of significant harm to patients receiving palliative care. Improvements in the coordination of care delivery alongside wider availability of specialist palliative care support may reduce this risk.

  12. Development of a theoretical framework of factors affecting patient safety incident reporting: a theoretical review of the literature.

    PubMed

    Archer, Stephanie; Hull, Louise; Soukup, Tayana; Mayer, Erik; Athanasiou, Thanos; Sevdalis, Nick; Darzi, Ara

    2017-12-27

    The development and implementation of incident reporting systems within healthcare continues to be a fundamental strategy to reduce preventable patient harm and improve the quality and safety of healthcare. We sought to identify factors contributing to patient safety incident reporting. To facilitate improvements in incident reporting, a theoretical framework, encompassing factors that act as barriers and enablers ofreporting, was developed. Embase, Ovid MEDLINE(R) and PsycINFO were searched to identify relevant articles published between January 1980 and May 2014. A comprehensive search strategy including MeSH terms and keywords was developed to identify relevant articles. Data were extracted by three independent researchers; to ensure the accuracy of data extraction, all studies eligible for inclusion were rescreened by two reviewers. The literature search identified 3049 potentially eligible articles; of these, 110 articles, including >29 726 participants, met the inclusion criteria. In total, 748 barriers were identified (frequency count) across the 110 articles. In comparison, 372 facilitators to incident reporting and 118 negative cases were identified. The top two barriers cited were fear of adverse consequences (161, representing 21.52% of barriers) and process and systems of reporting (110, representing 14.71% of barriers). In comparison, the top two facilitators were organisational (97, representing 26.08% of facilitators) and process and systems of reporting (75, representing 20.16% of facilitators). A wide range of factors contributing to engagement in incident reporting exist. Efforts that address the current tendency to under-report must consider the full range of factors in order to develop interventions as well as a strategic policy approach for improvement. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2017. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

  13. [Results of provisional use of a system for voluntary anonymous reporting of incidents that threaten patient safety in the emergency medical services of Asturias].

    PubMed

    Galván Núñez, Pablo; Santander Barrios, María Dolores; Villa Álvarez, María Cristina; Castro Delgado, Rafael; Alonso Lorenzo, Julio C; Arcos González, Pedro

    2016-06-01

    To describe the reported incidents and adverse events in the emergency medical services of Asturias, Spain, and assess their consequences, delays caused, and preventability. Prospective, observational study of incidents reported by the staff of the emergency medical services of Asturias after implementation of a system devised by the researchers. Incident reports were received for 0.48% (95% CI, 0.41%-0.54%) of the emergencies attended. Patient safety was compromised in 74.7% of the reported incidents. Problems arising in the emergency response coordination center (ERCC) accounted for 37.6% of the incidents, transport problems for 13.4%, vehicular problems for 10.8%, and communication problems for 8.8%. Seventy percent of the reported incidents caused delays in care; 55% of the reported incidents that put patients at risk (according to severity assessment code ratings) corresponded to problems related to human or material resources. A total of 88.1% of the incidents reported were considered avoidable. Some type of intervention was required to attenuate the effects of 46.2% of the adverse events reported. The measures that staff members most often proposed to prevent adverse events were to increase human and material resources (28.3%), establish protocols (14.5%), and comply with quality of care recommendations (9.7%). It is important to promote a culture of safety and incident reporting among health care staff in Asturias given the number of serious adverse events. Reporting is necessary for understanding the errors made and taking steps to prevent them. The ERCC is the point in the system where incidents are particularly likely to appear and be noticed and reported.

  14. The National "Expertise Gap"

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hamilton, Kendra

    2005-01-01

    This article discusses the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation's report, "Diversity and the Ph.D.," released in May, which documents in troubling detail the exact dimensions of what the foundation's president, Dr. Robert Weisbuch, is calling the national "expertise gap." Weisbuch states that the expertise gap extends beyond the…

  15. 78 FR 38803 - Pipeline Safety: Information Collection Activities, Revisions to Incident and Annual Reports for...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2013-06-27

    ... Reports for Gas Pipeline Operators AGENCY: Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA... DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration [Docket No... (OMB) Control No. 2137-0522, titled ``Incident and Annual Reports for Gas Pipeline Operators.'' PHMSA...

  16. Violent behaviour in a forensic psychiatric hospital in Finland: an analysis of violence incident reports.

    PubMed

    Kuivalainen, S; Vehviläinen-Julkunen, K; Putkonen, A; Louheranta, O; Tiihonen, J

    2014-04-01

    The aim of this paper was to explore the frequency and provocation of physically violent incidents in a Finnish forensic psychiatric hospital. Three years (2007-2009) of violent incident reports were analysed retrospectively. The data were analysed by content analysis, and statistically by Poisson regression analysis. During the study period a total of 840 incidents of physical violence occurred. Six main categories were found to describe the provocation of violence where three of these categories seemed to be without a specified reason (61%), and three represented a reaction to something (36%). The risk for violent behaviour was highest for the civil patients (RR = 11.96; CI 95% 9.43-15.18; P < 0.001), compared to criminal patients (RR = 1). The civil patients represented 36.7% of the patients, and in 43.6% of the studied patient days, they caused 89.8% of the reported violence incidents. Patients undergoing a forensic mental examination did not frequently behave aggressively (RR = 1.97; CI 95% 0.91-4.28). These results can be used in the reorganization of health-care practices and the allocation of resources. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  17. What Happened, and Why: Toward an Understanding of Human Error Based on Automated Analyses of Incident Reports. Volume 1

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Maille, Nicolas P.; Statler, Irving C.; Ferryman, Thomas A.; Rosenthal, Loren; Shafto, Michael G.; Statler, Irving C.

    2006-01-01

    The objective of the Aviation System Monitoring and Modeling (ASMM) project of NASA s Aviation Safety and Security Program was to develop technologies that will enable proactive management of safety risk, which entails identifying the precursor events and conditions that foreshadow most accidents. This presents a particular challenge in the aviation system where people are key components and human error is frequently cited as a major contributing factor or cause of incidents and accidents. In the aviation "world", information about what happened can be extracted from quantitative data sources, but the experiential account of the incident reporter is the best available source of information about why an incident happened. This report describes a conceptual model and an approach to automated analyses of textual data sources for the subjective perspective of the reporter of the incident to aid in understanding why an incident occurred. It explores a first-generation process for routinely searching large databases of textual reports of aviation incident or accidents, and reliably analyzing them for causal factors of human behavior (the why of an incident). We have defined a generic structure of information that is postulated to be a sound basis for defining similarities between aviation incidents. Based on this structure, we have introduced the simplifying structure, which we call the Scenario as a pragmatic guide for identifying similarities of what happened based on the objective parameters that define the Context and the Outcome of a Scenario. We believe that it will be possible to design an automated analysis process guided by the structure of the Scenario that will aid aviation-safety experts to understand the systemic issues that are conducive to human error.

  18. Inequalities at the Starting Gate: Cognitive and Noncognitive Skills Gaps between 2010-2011 Kindergarten Classmates. Report

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Garcia, Emma

    2015-01-01

    Inequalities in education outcomes such as test scores or degree attainment have been at the center of education policy debates for decades. Indeed, the first seminal national report on the state of U.S. education--the 1966 Coleman Report--examined some of these inequalities 50 years ago. Since then, researchers have examined performance gaps by…

  19. A safety incident reporting system for primary care. A systematic literature review and consensus procedure by the LINNEAUS collaboration on patient safety in primary care

    PubMed Central

    Klemp, Kerstin; Zwart, Dorien; Hansen, Jørgen; Hellebek, Torben; Luettel, Dagmar; Verstappen, Wim; Beyer, Martin; Gerlach, Ferdin M.; Hoffmann, Barbara; Esmail, Aneez

    2015-01-01

    Background: Incident reporting is widely used in both patient safety improvement programmes, and in research on patient safety. Objective: To identify the key requirements for incident reporting systems in primary care; to develop an Internet-based incident reporting and learning system for primary care. Methods: A literature review looking at the purpose, design and requirements of an incident reporting system (IRS) was used to update an existing incident reporting system, widely used in Germany. Then, an international expert panel with knowledge on IRS developed the criteria for the design of a new web-based incident reporting system for European primary care. A small demonstration project was used to create a web-based reporting system, to be made freely available for practitioners and researchers. The expert group compiled recommendations regarding the desirable features of an incident reporting system for European primary care. These features covered the purpose of reporting, who should be involved in reporting, the mode of reporting, design considerations, feedback mechanisms and preconditions necessary for the implementation of an IRS. Results: A freely available web-based reporting form was developed, based on these criteria. It can be modified for local contexts. Practitioners and researchers can use this system as a means of recording patient safety incidents in their locality and use it as a basis for learning from errors. Conclusion: The LINNEAUS collaboration has provided a freely available incident reporting system that can be modified for a local context and used throughout Europe. PMID:26339835

  20. Gap state analysis in electric-field-induced band gap for bilayer graphene.

    PubMed

    Kanayama, Kaoru; Nagashio, Kosuke

    2015-10-29

    The origin of the low current on/off ratio at room temperature in dual-gated bilayer graphene field-effect transistors is considered to be the variable range hopping in gap states. However, the quantitative estimation of gap states has not been conducted. Here, we report the systematic estimation of the energy gap by both quantum capacitance and transport measurements and the density of states for gap states by the conductance method. An energy gap of ~ 250 meV is obtained at the maximum displacement field of ~ 3.1 V/nm, where the current on/off ratio of ~ 3 × 10(3) is demonstrated at 20 K. The density of states for the gap states are in the range from the latter half of 10(12) to 10(13) eV(-1) cm(-2). Although the large amount of gap states at the interface of high-k oxide/bilayer graphene limits the current on/off ratio at present, our results suggest that the reduction of gap states below ~ 10(11) eV(-1) cm(-2) by continual improvement of the gate stack makes bilayer graphene a promising candidate for future nanoelectronic device applications.

  1. GAP-REACH

    PubMed Central

    Lewis-Fernández, Roberto; Raggio, Greer A.; Gorritz, Magdaliz; Duan, Naihua; Marcus, Sue; Cabassa, Leopoldo J.; Humensky, Jennifer; Becker, Anne E.; Alarcón, Renato D.; Oquendo, María A.; Hansen, Helena; Like, Robert C.; Weiss, Mitchell; Desai, Prakash N.; Jacobsen, Frederick M.; Foulks, Edward F.; Primm, Annelle; Lu, Francis; Kopelowicz, Alex; Hinton, Ladson; Hinton, Devon E.

    2015-01-01

    Growing awareness of health and health care disparities highlights the importance of including information about race, ethnicity, and culture (REC) in health research. Reporting of REC factors in research publications, however, is notoriously imprecise and unsystematic. This article describes the development of a checklist to assess the comprehensiveness and the applicability of REC factor reporting in psychiatric research publications. The 16-itemGAP-REACH© checklist was developed through a rigorous process of expert consensus, empirical content analysis in a sample of publications (N = 1205), and interrater reliability (IRR) assessment (N = 30). The items assess each section in the conventional structure of a health research article. Data from the assessment may be considered on an item-by-item basis or as a total score ranging from 0% to 100%. The final checklist has excellent IRR (κ = 0.91). The GAP-REACH may be used by multiple research stakeholders to assess the scope of REC reporting in a research article. PMID:24080673

  2. Poster - 27: Incident Learning Practices in Ontario

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Angers, Crystal; Medlam, Gaylene; Liszewski, Brian

    Purpose: The Radiation Incident and Safety Committee (RISC), established and supported by Cancer Care Ontario (CCO), is responsible for advising the Provincial Head of the Radiation Treatment program on matters relating to provincial reporting of radiation incidents with the goal of improved risk mitigation. Methods: The committee is made up of Radiation Incident Leads (RILs) with representation from each of the 14 radiation medicine programs in the province. RISC routinely meets to review recent critical incidents and to discuss provincial reporting processes and future directions of the committee. Regular face to face meetings have provided an excellent venue for sharingmore » incident learning practices. A summary of the incident learning practices across Ontario has been compiled. Results: Almost all programs in Ontario employ an incident learning committee to review incidents and identify corrective actions or process improvements. Tools used for incident reporting include: paper based reporting, a number of different commercial products and software solutions developed in-house. A wide range of classification schema (data taxonomies) are employed, although most have been influenced by national guidance documents. The majority of clinics perform root cause analyses but utilized methodologies vary significantly. Conclusions: Most programs in Ontario employ a committee approach to incident learning. However, the reporting tools and taxonomies in use vary greatly which represents a significant challenge to provincial reporting. RISC is preparing to adopt the National System for Incident Reporting – Radiation Therapy (NSIR-RT) which will standardize incident reporting and facilitate data analyses aimed at identifying targeted improvement initiatives.« less

  3. GAP-REACH: a checklist to assess comprehensive reporting of race, ethnicity, and culture in psychiatric publications.

    PubMed

    Lewis-Fernández, Roberto; Raggio, Greer A; Gorritz, Magdaliz; Duan, Naihua; Marcus, Sue; Cabassa, Leopoldo J; Humensky, Jennifer; Becker, Anne E; Alarcón, Renato D; Oquendo, María A; Hansen, Helena; Like, Robert C; Weiss, Mitchell; Desai, Prakash N; Jacobsen, Frederick M; Foulks, Edward F; Primm, Annelle; Lu, Francis; Kopelowicz, Alex; Hinton, Ladson; Hinton, Devon E

    2013-10-01

    Growing awareness of health and health care disparities highlights the importance of including information about race, ethnicity, and culture (REC) in health research. Reporting of REC factors in research publications, however, is notoriously imprecise and unsystematic. This article describes the development of a checklist to assess the comprehensiveness and the applicability of REC factor reporting in psychiatric research publications. The 16-item GAP-REACH checklist was developed through a rigorous process of expert consensus, empirical content analysis in a sample of publications (N = 1205), and interrater reliability (IRR) assessment (N = 30). The items assess each section in the conventional structure of a health research article. Data from the assessment may be considered on an item-by-item basis or as a total score ranging from 0% to 100%. The final checklist has excellent IRR (κ = 0.91). The GAP-REACH may be used by multiple research stakeholders to assess the scope of REC reporting in a research article.

  4. The caspase-3/p120 RasGAP stress-sensing module reduces liver cancer incidence but does not affect overall survival in gamma-irradiated and carcinogen-treated mice.

    PubMed

    Vanli, Güliz; Sempoux, Christine; Widmann, Christian

    2017-06-01

    Activation of oncogenes is the initial step in cellular transformation. Oncogenes favor aberrant proliferation, which, at least initially, induces cellular stress. This oncogenic stress can act as a safeguard mechanism against further transformation by inducing senescence or apoptosis. Yet, the few premalignant cells that tolerate and escape these senescent or apoptotic responses are those that will ultimately generate tumors. The caspase-3/p120 RasGAP module is a stress-sensing device that promotes survival under mild stress conditions. A point mutation in RasGAP that prevents its cleavage by caspase-3 inactivates the pro-survival capacity of the device. When the mice homozygous for this mutation (D455A knock-in mice) are patho-physiologically challenged, they experience much stronger cellular damage than their wild-type counterparts and the affected organs rapidly lose their functionality. We reasoned that the caspase-3/p120 RasGAP module could help premalignant cells to cope with oncogenic stress and hence favor the development of tumors. Using gamma-irradiation and N-ethyl-N-nitrosourea (ENU) as tumor initiators, we assessed the survival advantage that the caspase-3/p120 RasGAP module could provide to premalignant cells. No difference in overall mortality between wild-type and D455A knock-in mice were observed. However, the number of ENU-induced liver tumors in the knock-in mice was higher than in control mice. These results indicate that the caspase-3/p120 RasGAP stress-sensing module impacts on carcinogen-induced liver cancer incidence but not sufficiently so as to affect overall survival. Hence, gamma irradiation and ENU-induced tumorigenesis processes do not critically rely on a survival mechanism that contributes to the maintenance of organ homeostasis in stressed healthy tissues. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  5. Occupational Bloodborne Exposure Incident Survey & Management of Exposure Incidents in a Dental Teaching Environment

    PubMed Central

    Sedky, Nabila A.

    2013-01-01

    Objectives The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence of occupational exposure incidents among undergraduate dental students and the factors associated with it in the educational dental clinics at Pharos University in Alexandria – Egypt, and to measure the commitment with applying infection control policy in the form of compliance with post-exposure management protocol and reporting exposure incidents. Materials and Methods An anonymous self-administered questionnaire consisting of thirteen multiple-choice questions was distributed among 350 undergraduate dental students in mid-senior and senior levels during lectures at the end of the second semester of 2011, with a response rate of 90.00%. Results About 62.00% of the senior students reported that exposures occurred outside the patient’s mouth. A high percentage of both the mid-senior and senior students (74.70% and 70.70%, respectively) reported that they were exposed to multiple sources of incidents. The vast majority of studied groups stated that they didn’t follow Infection Control Protocol after Incident Exposure. Conclusion The findings of this study confirm that dental students experience exposure incidents but are not likely to report them, thus it is important that the principles of infection control training and reporting of all exposure incidents continue to be emphasized throughout undergraduate dental education. PMID:24421746

  6. Oesophageal atresia: Are "long gap" patients at greater anesthetic risk?

    PubMed

    Powell, Laura; Frawley, Jacinta; Crameri, Joe; Teague, Warwick J; Frawley, Geoff P

    2018-03-01

    Long gap oesophageal atresia occurs in approximately 10% of all oesophageal atresia infants and surgical repair is often difficult with significant postoperative complications. Our aim was to describe the perioperative course, morbidity, and early results following repair of long gap oesophageal atresia and to identify factors which may be associated with complications. This is a single center retrospective cohort study of consecutive patients with oesophageal atresia undergoing surgical repair at The Royal Children's Hospital Melbourne from January 2006 to June 2017. Two hundred and thirty-nine consecutive oesophageal atresia infants included 44 long gap oesophageal atresia infants and 195 non-long gap infants. A high rate of prematurity (24.7%), major cardiac (17%), and other surgically relevant malformations (12.6%) was found in both groups. The median age at oesophageal anastomosis surgery was 65.5 days for the long gap group vs 1 day for the oesophageal atresia group (mean difference 56.8 days, 95% CI 48.1-65.5 days, P < .01). Surgery for long gap oesophageal atresia included immediate primary anastomosis (n = 10), delayed primary anastomosis (n = 11), oesophageal lengthening techniques (n = 12) and primary oesophageal replacement (n = 6). Long gap oesophageal atresia was not associated with an increased incidence of difficult intubation (OR 2.8, 95% CI 0.6-22.1, P = .17), intraoperative hypoxemia (OR 1.6, 95% CI 0.6-4.5, P = .32), or hypotension (OR 0.9, 95% CI 0.5-1.8, P = .81). The surgical duration (177.7 vs 202.1 minute, mean difference [95% CI], 28 [5.5-50.4 minutes], P = .04) and mean duration of postoperative mechanical ventilation (107 vs 199.8 hours, mean difference [95% CI], 91.8 [34.5-149.1 hours], P < .01) were shorter for the non-long gap group. Overall in-hospital mortality was 7.5% (15.9% long gap vs 5.6% non-long gap oesophageal atresia OR 1.1, 95% CI 0.4-3.4, P = .85). Long gap oesophageal atresia infants have a

  7. Elevated incidence rates of diabetes in Peru: report from PERUDIAB, a national urban population-based longitudinal study

    PubMed Central

    Seclen, Segundo Nicolas; Rosas, Moises Ernesto; Arias, Arturo Jaime; Medina, Cecilia Alexandra

    2017-01-01

    Objective A recent report from a non-nationally representative, geographically diverse sample in four separate communities in Peru suggests an unusually high diabetes incidence. We aimed to estimate the national diabetes incidence rate using PERUDIAB, a probabilistic, national urban population-based longitudinal study. Research design and methods 662 subjects without diabetes, selected by multistage, cluster, random sampling of households, representing the 24 administrative and the 3 (coast, highlands and jungle) natural regions across the country, from both sexes, aged 25+ years at baseline, enrolled in 2010–2012, were followed for 3.8 years. New diabetes cases were defined as fasting blood glucose ≥126 mg/dL or on medical diabetes treatment. Results There were 49 cases of diabetes in 2408 person-years follow-up. The weighted cumulative incidence of diabetes was 7.2% while the weighted incidence rate was estimated at 19.5 (95% CI 13.9 to 28.3) new cases per 1000 person-years. Older age, obesity and technical or higher education were statistically associated with the incidence of diabetes. Conclusion Our results confirm that the incidence of diabetes in Peru is among the highest reported globally. The fast economic growth in the last 20 years, high overweight and obesity rates may have triggered this phenomenon. PMID:28878935

  8. Elevated incidence rates of diabetes in Peru: report from PERUDIAB, a national urban population-based longitudinal study.

    PubMed

    Seclen, Segundo Nicolas; Rosas, Moises Ernesto; Arias, Arturo Jaime; Medina, Cecilia Alexandra

    2017-01-01

    A recent report from a non-nationally representative, geographically diverse sample in four separate communities in Peru suggests an unusually high diabetes incidence. We aimed to estimate the national diabetes incidence rate using PERUDIAB, a probabilistic, national urban population-based longitudinal study. 662 subjects without diabetes, selected by multistage, cluster, random sampling of households, representing the 24 administrative and the 3 (coast, highlands and jungle) natural regions across the country, from both sexes, aged 25+ years at baseline, enrolled in 2010-2012, were followed for 3.8 years. New diabetes cases were defined as fasting blood glucose ≥126 mg/dL or on medical diabetes treatment. There were 49 cases of diabetes in 2408 person-years follow-up. The weighted cumulative incidence of diabetes was 7.2% while the weighted incidence rate was estimated at 19.5 (95% CI 13.9 to 28.3) new cases per 1000 person-years. Older age, obesity and technical or higher education were statistically associated with the incidence of diabetes. Our results confirm that the incidence of diabetes in Peru is among the highest reported globally. The fast economic growth in the last 20 years, high overweight and obesity rates may have triggered this phenomenon.

  9. Development of the standards of reporting of neurological disorders (STROND) checklist: a guideline for the reporting of incidence and prevalence studies in neuroepidemiology.

    PubMed

    Bennett, Derrick A; Brayne, Carol; Feigin, Valery L; Barker-Collo, Suzanne; Brainin, Michael; Davis, Daniel; Gallo, Valentina; Jetté, Nathalie; Karch, André; Kurtzke, John F; Lavados, Pablo M; Logroscino, Giancarlo; Nagel, Gabriele; Preux, Pierre-Marie; Rothwell, Peter M; Svenson, Lawrence W

    2015-07-01

    Incidence and prevalence studies of neurological disorders play an important role in assessing the burden of disease and planning services. However, the assessment of disease estimates is hindered by problems in reporting for such studies. Despite a growth in published reports, existing guidelines relate to analytical rather than descriptive epidemiological studies. There are also no user-friendly tools (e.g., checklists) available for authors, editors and peer-reviewers to facilitate best practice in reporting of descriptive epidemiological studies for most neurological disorders. The Standards of Reporting of Neurological Disorders (STROND) is a guideline that consists of recommendations and a checklist to facilitate better reporting of published incidence and prevalence studies of neurological disorders. A review of previously developed guidance was used to produce a list of items required for incidence and prevalence studies in neurology. A three-round Delphi technique was used to identify the 'basic minimum items' important for reporting, as well as some additional 'ideal reporting items'. An e-consultation process was then used in order to gauge opinion by external neuroepidemiological experts on the appropriateness of the items included in the checklist. Of 38 candidate items, 15 items and accompanying recommendations were developed along with a user-friendly checklist. The introduction and use of the STROND checklist should lead to more consistent, transparent and contextualised reporting of descriptive neuroepidemiological studies resulting in more applicable and comparable findings and ultimately support better healthcare decisions.

  10. Development of the Standards of Reporting of Neurological Disorders (STROND) checklist: A guideline for the reporting of incidence and prevalence studies in neuroepidemiology.

    PubMed

    Bennett, Derrick A; Brayne, Carol; Feigin, Valery L; Barker-Collo, Suzanne; Brainin, Michael; Davis, Daniel; Gallo, Valentina; Jetté, Nathalie; Karch, André; Kurtzke, John F; Lavados, Pablo M; Logroscino, Giancarlo; Nagel, Gabriele; Preux, Pierre-Marie; Rothwell, Peter M; Svenson, Lawrence W

    2015-09-01

    Incidence and prevalence studies of neurologic disorders play an important role in assessing the burden of disease and planning services. However, the assessment of disease estimates is hindered by problems in reporting for such studies. Despite a growth in published reports, existing guidelines relate to analytical rather than descriptive epidemiologic studies. There are also no user-friendly tools (e.g., checklists) available for authors, editors, and peer reviewers to facilitate best practice in reporting of descriptive epidemiologic studies for most neurologic disorders. The Standards of Reporting of Neurological Disorders (STROND) is a guideline that consists of recommendations and a checklist to facilitate better reporting of published incidence and prevalence studies of neurologic disorders. A review of previously developed guidance was used to produce a list of items required for incidence and prevalence studies in neurology. A 3-round Delphi technique was used to identify the "basic minimum items" important for reporting, as well as some additional "ideal reporting items." An e-consultation process was then used in order to gauge opinion by external neuroepidemiologic experts on the appropriateness of the items included in the checklist. Of 38 candidate items, 15 items and accompanying recommendations were developed along with a user-friendly checklist. The introduction and use of the STROND checklist should lead to more consistent, transparent, and contextualized reporting of descriptive neuroepidemiologic studies resulting in more applicable and comparable findings and ultimately support better health care decisions. © 2015 American Academy of Neurology.

  11. Identifying medication error chains from critical incident reports: a new analytic approach.

    PubMed

    Huckels-Baumgart, Saskia; Manser, Tanja

    2014-10-01

    Research into the distribution of medication errors usually focuses on isolated stages within the medication use process. Our study aimed to provide a novel process-oriented approach to medication incident analysis focusing on medication error chains. Our study was conducted across a 900-bed teaching hospital in Switzerland. All reported 1,591 medication errors 2009-2012 were categorized using the Medication Error Index NCC MERP and the WHO Classification for Patient Safety Methodology. In order to identify medication error chains, each reported medication incident was allocated to the relevant stage of the hospital medication use process. Only 25.8% of the reported medication errors were detected before they propagated through the medication use process. The majority of medication errors (74.2%) formed an error chain encompassing two or more stages. The most frequent error chain comprised preparation up to and including medication administration (45.2%). "Non-consideration of documentation/prescribing" during the drug preparation was the most frequent contributor for "wrong dose" during the administration of medication. Medication error chains provide important insights for detecting and stopping medication errors before they reach the patient. Existing and new safety barriers need to be extended to interrupt error chains and to improve patient safety. © 2014, The American College of Clinical Pharmacology.

  12. Critical incidents and mortality reporting in pediatric anesthesia: the Australian experience.

    PubMed

    Ragg, Philip

    2011-07-01

    Since 1960, the collection and analysis of mortality data for anesthesia in Australia has been of significant benefit to practising anesthetists. These figures include pediatric deaths which fortunately have been rare and often inevitable because of severe underlying disease and patient risk factors. The reporting of critical incidents and serious morbidity, on the other hand, has been far less impressive. Only one state in Australia, Victoria, currently has a committee that collects morbidity data and, as this reporting is voluntary, is likely to under-represent the true numbers of critical events. There is no specific pediatric morbidity database in Australia so much of this discussion will be regarding overall anesthesia critical event reporting which includes pediatrics as a subset. © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

  13. 75 FR 68861 - Miscellaneous Amendments to the Federal Railroad Administration's Accident/Incident Reporting...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2010-11-09

    ... regulations addressing accident/incident reporting in order to clarify ambiguous regulations and to enhance the quality of information available for railroad casualty analysis. In addition, FRA has revised the... (telephone: 202-493- 1381). SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: I. The FRA Guide and the Companion Guide In addition...

  14. New York integrated incident management system evaluation project final report

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    2007-03-23

    The Integrated Incident Management System (IIMS) enables incident response personnel to transmit data about an incident to other responders and dispatchers on a real-time basis. When an incident is entered into IIMS, the system uses GPS to identify t...

  15. Income inequality and schizophrenia: increased schizophrenia incidence in countries with high levels of income inequality.

    PubMed

    Burns, Jonathan K; Tomita, Andrew; Kapadia, Amy S

    2014-03-01

    Income inequality is associated with numerous negative health outcomes. There is evidence that ecological-level socio-environmental factors may increase risk for schizophrenia. The aim was to investigate whether measures of income inequality are associated with incidence of schizophrenia at the country level. We conducted a systematic review of incidence rates for schizophrenia, reported between 1975 and 2011. For each country, national measures of income inequality (Gini coefficient) along with covariate risk factors for schizophrenia were obtained. Multi-level mixed-effects Poisson regression was performed to investigate the relationship between Gini coefficients and incidence rates of schizophrenia controlling for covariates. One hundred and seven incidence rates (from 26 countries) were included. Mean incidence of schizophrenia was 18.50 per 100,000 (SD = 11.9; range = 1.7-67). There was a significant positive relationship between incidence rate of schizophrenia and Gini coefficient (β = 1.02; Z = 2.28; p = .02; 95% CI = 1.00, 1.03). Countries characterized by a large rich-poor gap may be at increased risk of schizophrenia. We suggest that income inequality impacts negatively on social cohesion, eroding social capital, and that chronic stress associated with living in highly disparate societies places individuals at risk of schizophrenia.

  16. Effects of external and gap mean flows on sound transmission through a double-wall sandwich panel

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Liu, Yu; Sebastian, Alexis

    2015-05-01

    This paper studies analytically the effects of an external mean flow and an internal gap mean flow on sound transmission through a double-wall sandwich panel lined with poroelastic materials. Biot's theory is employed to describe wave propagation in poroelastic materials, and the transfer matrix method with three types of boundary conditions is applied to solve the system simultaneously. The random incidence transmission loss in a diffuse field is calculated numerically, and the limiting angle of incidence due to total internal reflection is discussed in detail. The numerical predictions suggest that the sound insulation performance of such a double-wall panel is enhanced considerably by both external and gap mean flows particularly in the high-frequency range. Similar effects on transmission loss are observed for the two mean flows. It is shown that the effect of the gap mean flow depends on flow velocity, flow direction, gap depth and fluid properties and also that the fluid properties within the gap appear to influence the transmission loss more effectively than the gap flow. Despite the implementation difficulty in practice, an internal gap flow provides more design space for tuning the sound insulation performance of a double-wall sandwich panel and has great potential for active/passive noise control.

  17. Incident management in Virginia : a state of the practice report : final report.

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    1991-01-01

    Because of the number of incidents and the magnitude of their consequences, the Virginia Department of transportation made a concerted effort to ensure that incident management became a top priority and spearheaded an effort to start a statewide inci...

  18. Patient involvement in patient safety: Protocol for developing an intervention using patient reports of organisational safety and patient incident reporting.

    PubMed

    Ward, Jane K; McEachan, Rosemary R C; Lawton, Rebecca; Armitage, Gerry; Watt, Ian; Wright, John

    2011-05-27

    Patients have the potential to provide a rich source of information on both organisational aspects of safety and patient safety incidents. This project aims to develop two patient safety interventions to promote organisational learning about safety - a patient measure of organisational safety (PMOS), and a patient incident reporting tool (PIRT) - to help the NHS prevent patient safety incidents by learning more about when and why they occur. To develop the PMOS 1) literature will be reviewed to identify similar measures and key contributory factors to error; 2) four patient focus groups will ascertain practicality and feasibility; 3) 25 patient interviews will elicit approximately 60 items across 10 domains; 4) 10 patient and clinician interviews will test acceptability and understanding. Qualitative data will be analysed using thematic content analysis.To develop the PIRT 1) individual and then combined patient and clinician focus groups will provide guidance for the development of three potential reporting tools; 2) nine wards across three hospital directorates will pilot each of the tools for three months. The best performing tool will be identified from the frequency, volume and quality of reports. The validity of both measures will be tested. 300 patients will be asked to complete the PMOS and PIRT during their stay in hospital. A sub-sample (N = 50) will complete the PMOS again one week later. Health professionals in participating wards will also be asked to complete the AHRQ safety culture questionnaire. Case notes for all patients will be reviewed. The psychometric properties of the PMOS will be assessed and a final valid and reliable version developed. Concurrent validity for the PIRT will be assessed by comparing reported incidents with those identified from case note review and the existing staff reporting scheme. In a subsequent study these tools will be used to provide information to wards/units about their priorities for patient safety. A patient

  19. Zero-n gap in one dimensional photonic crystal

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Chobey, Mahesh K., E-mail: mahesh01chobey@gmail.com; Suthar, B.

    2016-05-06

    We study a one-dimensional (1-D) photonic crystal composed of Double Positive (DPS) and Double Negative (DNG) material. This structure shows omnidirectional photonic bandgap, which is insensitive with angle of incidence and polarization. To study the effect of structural parameters on the photonic band structure, we have calculated photonic band gap at various thicknesses of DPS and DNG.

  20. Incident management under SCAT adaptive control system : FAST-TRAC phase III deliverable. #11, Final report on incident management under SCATS adaptive control system

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    1998-04-01

    The report documents the results of a study designed to test the effectiveness of ATMS and ATIS strategies to reduce delay resulting from an incident. The study had two main sections: a simulation study to test the effectiveness of several control st...

  1. 78 FR 77601 - Adjustment of Monetary Threshold for Reporting Rail Equipment Accidents/Incidents for Calendar...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2013-12-24

    ..., Notice No. 6] RIN 2130-ZA12 Adjustment of Monetary Threshold for Reporting Rail Equipment Accidents... threshold from $9,900 to $10,500 for certain railroad accidents/incidents involving property damage that... reflect cost increases that have occurred since the reporting threshold was last published in November of...

  2. Improving the Capture of Fall Events in Hospitals: Combining a Service for Evaluating Inpatient Falls with an Incident Report System

    PubMed Central

    Shorr, Ronald I.; Mion, Lorraine C.; Chandler, A. Michelle; Rosenblatt, Linda C.; Lynch, Debra; Kessler, Lori A.

    2008-01-01

    OBJECTIVES To determine the utility of a fall evaluation service to improve the ascertainment of falls in acute care. DESIGN Six-month observational study. SETTING Sixteen adult nursing units (349 beds) in an urban, academically affiliated, community hospital. PARTICIPANTS Patients admitted to the study units during the study period. INTERVENTION Nursing staff identifying falls were instructed to notify, using a pager, a trained nurse ‘‘fall evaluator.’’ Fall evaluators provided 24-hour-per-day 7-day-per-week coverage throughout the study. Data on patient falls gathered by fall evaluators were compared with falls data obtained through the hospital’s incident reporting system. RESULTS During 51,180 patient-days of observation, 191 falls were identified according to incident reports (3.73 falls/1,000 patient-days), whereas the evaluation service identified 228 falls (4.45 falls/1,000 patient-days). Combining falls reported from both data sources yielded 266 falls (5.20 falls/1,000 patient-days), a 39% relative rate increase compared with incident reports alone (P<.001). For falls with injury, combining data from both sources yielded 79 falls (1.54 injurious falls/1,000 patient-days), compared with 57 falls (1.11 injurious falls/1,000 patient-days) filed in incident reports—a 28% increase (P = .06). In the 16 nursing units, the relative percentage increase of captured fall events using the combined data sources versus the incident reporting system alone ranged from 13% to 125%. CONCLUSION Incident reports significantly underestimate both injurious and noninjurious falls in acute care settings and should not be used as the sole source of data for research or quality improvement initiatives. PMID:18205761

  3. Assessing and improving cross-border chemical incident preparedness and response across Europe.

    PubMed

    Stewart-Evans, James; Hall, Lisbeth; Czerczak, Slawomir; Manley, Kevin; Dobney, Alec; Hoffer, Sally; Pałaszewska-Tkacz, Anna; Jankowska, Agnieszka

    2014-11-01

    Good practices in emergency preparedness and response for chemical incidents include practices specific to the different functions of exposure assessment (e.g., within the monitoring function, the use of mobile monitoring equipment; within the modelling function, the use of rapid dispersion models with integrated mapping software) and generic practices to engage incident response stakeholders to maximise exposure assessment capabilities (e.g., sharing protocols and pre-prepared information and multi-agency training and exercising). Such practices can optimise cross-border collaboration. A wide range of practices have been implemented across MSs during chemical incident response, particularly during incidents that have cross-border and trans-boundary impacts. This paper proposes a self-assessment methodology to enable MSs, or organisations within MSs, to examine exposure assessment capabilities and communication pathways between exposure assessors and public health risk assessors. Where gaps exist, this methodology provides links to good practices that could improve response, communication and collaboration across local, regional and national borders. A fragmented approach to emergency preparedness for chemical incidents is a major obstacle to improving cross-border exposure assessment. There is no one existing body or structure responsible for all aspects of chemical incident preparedness and response in the European Union. Due to the range of different organisations and networks involved in chemical incident response, emergency preparedness needs to be drawn together. A number of recommendations are proposed, including the use of networks of experts which link public health risk assessors with experts in exposure assessment, in order to coordinate and improve chemical incident emergency preparedness. The EU's recent Decision on serious cross-border threats to health aims to facilitate MSs' compliance with the International Health Regulations, which require

  4. Characteristics of bias-based harassment incidents reported by a national sample of U.S. adolescents.

    PubMed

    Jones, Lisa M; Mitchell, Kimberly J; Turner, Heather A; Ybarra, Michele L

    2018-06-01

    Using a national sample of youth from the U.S., this paper examines incidents of bias-based harassment by peers that include language about victims' perceived sexual orientation, race/ethnicity, religion, weight or height, or intelligence. Telephone interviews were conducted with youth who were 10-20 years old (n = 791). One in six youth (17%) reported at least one experience with bias-based harassment in the past year. Bias language was a part of over half (52%) of all harassment incidents experienced by youth. Perpetrators of bias-based harassment were similar demographically to perpetrators of non-biased harassment. However, bias-based incidents were more likely to involve multiple perpetrators, longer timeframes and multiple harassment episodes. Even controlling for these related characteristics, the use of bias language in incidents of peer harassment resulted in significantly greater odds that youth felt sad as a result of the victimization, skipped school, avoided school activities, and lost friends, compared to non-biased harassment incidents. Copyright © 2018 The Foundation for Professionals in Services for Adolescents. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  5. Computer Simulation for Emergency Incident Management

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Brown, D L

    2004-12-03

    This report describes the findings and recommendations resulting from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Incident Management Simulation Workshop held by the DHS Advanced Scientific Computing Program in May 2004. This workshop brought senior representatives of the emergency response and incident-management communities together with modeling and simulation technologists from Department of Energy laboratories. The workshop provided an opportunity for incident responders to describe the nature and substance of the primary personnel roles in an incident response, to identify current and anticipated roles of modeling and simulation in support of incident response, and to begin a dialog between the incident responsemore » and simulation technology communities that will guide and inform planned modeling and simulation development for incident response. This report provides a summary of the discussions at the workshop as well as a summary of simulation capabilities that are relevant to incident-management training, and recommendations for the use of simulation in both incident management and in incident management training, based on the discussions at the workshop. In addition, the report discusses areas where further research and development will be required to support future needs in this area.« less

  6. Cyber Incidents Involving Control Systems

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Robert J. Turk

    2005-10-01

    The Analysis Function of the US-CERT Control Systems Security Center (CSSC) at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) has prepared this report to document cyber security incidents for use by the CSSC. The description and analysis of incidents reported herein support three CSSC tasks: establishing a business case; increasing security awareness and private and corporate participation related to enhanced cyber security of control systems; and providing informational material to support model development and prioritize activities for CSSC. The stated mission of CSSC is to reduce vulnerability of critical infrastructure to cyber attack on control systems. As stated in the Incident Managementmore » Tool Requirements (August 2005) ''Vulnerability reduction is promoted by risk analysis that tracks actual risk, emphasizes high risk, determines risk reduction as a function of countermeasures, tracks increase of risk due to external influence, and measures success of the vulnerability reduction program''. Process control and Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems, with their reliance on proprietary networks and hardware, have long been considered immune to the network attacks that have wreaked so much havoc on corporate information systems. New research indicates this confidence is misplaced--the move to open standards such as Ethernet, Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol, and Web technologies is allowing hackers to take advantage of the control industry's unawareness. Much of the available information about cyber incidents represents a characterization as opposed to an analysis of events. The lack of good analyses reflects an overall weakness in reporting requirements as well as the fact that to date there have been very few serious cyber attacks on control systems. Most companies prefer not to share cyber attack incident data because of potential financial repercussions. Uniform reporting requirements will do much to make this information

  7. Giant Hall Photoconductivity in Narrow-Gapped Dirac Materials

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Song, Justin C. W.; Kats, Mikhail A.

    2016-12-01

    Carrier dynamics acquire a new character in the presence of Bloch-band Berry curvature, which naturally arises in gapped Dirac materials (GDMs). Here we argue that photoresponse in GDMs with small band gaps is dramatically enhanced by Berry curvature. This manifests in a giant and saturable Hall photoconductivity when illuminated by circularly polarized light. Unlike Hall motion arising from a Lorentz force in a magnetic field, which impedes longitudinal carrier motion, Hall photoconductivity arising from Berry curvature can boost longitudinal carrier transport. In GDMs, this results in a helicity-dependent photoresponse in the Hall regime, where photoconductivity is dominated by its Hall component. We find that the induced Hall conductivity per incident irradiance is enhanced by up to six orders of magnitude when moving from the visible regime (with corresponding band gaps) to the far infrared. These results suggest that narrow-gap GDMs are an ideal test-bed for the unique physics that arise in the presence of Berry curvature, and open a new avenue for infrared and terahertz optoelectronics.

  8. Integrating Data From the UK National Reporting and Learning System With Work Domain Analysis to Understand Patient Safety Incidents in Community Pharmacy.

    PubMed

    Phipps, Denham L; Tam, W Vanessa; Ashcroft, Darren M

    2017-03-01

    To explore the combined use of a critical incident database and work domain analysis to understand patient safety issues in a health-care setting. A retrospective review was conducted of incidents reported to the UK National Reporting and Learning System (NRLS) that involved community pharmacy between April 2005 and August 2010. A work domain analysis of community pharmacy was constructed using observational data from 5 community pharmacies, technical documentation, and a focus group with 6 pharmacists. Reports from the NRLS were mapped onto the model generated by the work domain analysis. Approximately 14,709 incident reports meeting the selection criteria were retrieved from the NRLS. Descriptive statistical analysis of these reports found that almost all of the incidents involved medication and that the most frequently occurring error types were dose/strength errors, incorrect medication, and incorrect formulation. The work domain analysis identified 4 overall purposes for community pharmacy: business viability, health promotion and clinical services, provision of medication, and use of medication. These purposes were served by lower-order characteristics of the work system (such as the functions, processes and objects). The tasks most frequently implicated in the incident reports were those involving medication storage, assembly, or patient medication records. Combining the insights from different analytical methods improves understanding of patient safety problems. Incident reporting data can be used to identify general patterns, whereas the work domain analysis can generate information about the contextual factors that surround a critical task.

  9. The Degree Gap: Are University Graduates Making Full Use of Their Degrees? Report 09-23

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Angeli, Mallory; Fuller, Ryan

    2009-01-01

    California's degree gap is a growing concern. According to recent reports and news articles comparing the number of degrees awarded with the jobs expected in the coming decade, California will not have enough university graduates to meet the needs of the labor market. Previous work by the California Postsecondary Education Commission (CPEC) showed…

  10. A web-based incident reporting system: a two years' experience in an Italian research and teaching hospital.

    PubMed

    Bodina, A; Demarchi, A; Castaldi, S

    2014-01-01

    A web-based incident reporting system (IRS) is a tool allowing healthcare workers to voluntary and anonymously report adverse events/near misses. In 2010, this system was introduced in a research and teaching hospital in metropolitan area in the North part of Italy, in order to detect errors and to learn from failures in care delivery. The aim of this paper is to assess whether and how IRS has proved to be a valuable tool to manage clinical risk and improve healthcare quality. Adverse events are reported anonymously by staff members with the use of an online template form available in the hospital intranet. We retrospectively reviewed the recorded data for each incident/near miss reported between January 2011 and December 2012. The number of reported incidents/near misses was 521 in 2011 and 442 in 2012. In the two years the admissions were 36.974 and 36.107 respectively. We noticed that nursing staff made more use of IRS and that reported errors were basically related to prescription and administration of medications. Much international literature reports that adverse events and near misses are 10% of admissions. Our data are far from that number, thus meaning that a failure in reporting adverse events exists. This consideration, together with the high number of near misses in comparison with occurred errors, leads us to speculate that adverse events with serious consequences for patients are marginally reported. Probably the lack of a strong leadership considering IRS as an instrument for improving quality and operators' reluctance to overcome the culture of blame may negatively affect IRS.

  11. The circumstances surrounding the death of 105 elders as a result of resident-to-resident incidents in dementia in long-term care homes.

    PubMed

    Caspi, Eilon

    2018-05-31

    Resident-to-resident incidents in dementia in long-term care homes resulting in deaths represent a growing concern among residents, family members, care providers, care advocacy organizations, and policy makers. Despite these concerns and experts' predictions by which injurious and fatal incidents will increase in the coming years due to the projected growth in the number of people with dementia, no studies have been conducted in North America on these fatal incidents. This exploratory pilot study makes first steps towards bridging this major gap in research and practice. Using publicly available information (primarily newspaper articles and death review reports), practically useful patterns were identified pertaining to the circumstances surrounding the death of 105 elders as a result of these incidents. The findings could inform various efforts to prevent future deaths in similar circumstances, keep vulnerable and frail residents safe, and encourage researchers to examine risk and protective factors for these incidents.

  12. 12 CFR 250.181 - Reports of change in control of bank management incident to a merger.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-01-01

    ... 12 Banks and Banking 4 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false Reports of change in control of bank management... Reports of change in control of bank management incident to a merger. (a) A State member bank has inquired whether Pub. L. 88-593 (78 Stat. 940) requires reports of change in control of bank management in...

  13. 12 CFR 250.181 - Reports of change in control of bank management incident to a merger.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-01-01

    ... 12 Banks and Banking 4 2014-01-01 2014-01-01 false Reports of change in control of bank management... Reports of change in control of bank management incident to a merger. (a) A State member bank has inquired whether Pub. L. 88-593 (78 Stat. 940) requires reports of change in control of bank management in...

  14. 12 CFR 250.181 - Reports of change in control of bank management incident to a merger.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-01-01

    ... 12 Banks and Banking 4 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false Reports of change in control of bank management... Reports of change in control of bank management incident to a merger. (a) A State member bank has inquired whether Pub. L. 88-593 (78 Stat. 940) requires reports of change in control of bank management in...

  15. Characteristics of Intimate Partner Violence Incidents and the Environments in Which They Occur: Victim Reports to Responding Law Enforcement Officers.

    PubMed

    Campbell, Andrew M; Hicks, Ralph A; Thompson, Shannon L; Wiehe, Sarah E

    2017-04-01

    The objectives of this study were to identify intimate partner violence (IPV) incidence rates, to quantify specific risks and characteristics of these incidents and the environments in which they occur, to identify how often children are present for or injured during these incidents, and to identify differences in victim reports of IPV to law enforcement officers at the scene of the incident compared with previously published reports of IPV from retropsective, anonymous surveys and domestic violence shelter interviews. Data gathered by responding law enforcement officers at the scene of the IPV incident were used to determine the prevalence of IPV incident characteristics and outcomes. Females aged 20 to 39 years, unmarried adults, and African Americans were disproportionately represented as victims of IPV in this study. IPV incidents were significantly more likely to occur on Saturdays and Sundays and during the months of May through August. Relationship durations for suspect-victim pairs were most often less than 12 months at the time of the incident. Weapon use and/or strangulation was common, occurring in 44% of all incidents. Minors (under age 18 years) were frequently present in the home during the IPV incident or a member of the household (59%). This study provides a unique perspective of IPV by utilizing data collected directly from the scene of the incident by first responders. Previously published characteristics of IPV were confirmed, but this study also brings to light new and critical information concerning this prevalent form of violence. Study findings relating to incidence, seasonality, severity, disproportionately affected populations, and child exposure are discussed.

  16. Gap Test Calibrations and Their Scaling

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sandusky, Harold

    2011-06-01

    Common tests for measuring the threshold for shock initiation are the NOL large scale gap test (LSGT) with a 50.8-mm diameter donor/gap and the expanded large scale gap test (ELSGT) with a 95.3-mm diameter donor/gap. Despite the same specifications for the explosive donor and polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) gap in both tests, calibration of shock pressure in the gap versus distance from the donor scales by a factor of 1.75, not the 1.875 difference in their sizes. Recently reported model calculations suggest that the scaling discrepancy results from the viscoelastic properties of PMMA in combination with different methods for obtaining shock pressure. This is supported by the consistent scaling of these donors when calibrated in water-filled aquariums. Calibrations with water gaps will be provided and compared with PMMA gaps. Scaling for other donor systems will also be provided. Shock initiation data with water gaps will be reviewed.

  17. A web-based incident reporting system and multidisciplinary collaborative projects for patient safety in a Japanese hospital

    PubMed Central

    Nakajima, K; Kurata, Y; Takeda, H

    2005-01-01

    

Problem: When patient safety programs were mandated for Japanese health care institutions, a safety culture, a tool for collecting incident reports, an organizational arrangement for multidisciplinary collaboration, and interventional methods for improvement had to be established. Design: Observational study of effects of new patient safety programs. Setting: Osaka University Hospital, a large government-run teaching hospital. Strategy for change: A voluntary and anonymous web-based incident reporting system was introduced. For the new organizational structure a clinical risk management committee, a department of clinical quality management, and area clinical risk managers were established with their respective roles clearly defined to advance the plan-do-study-act cycle and to integrate efforts. For preventive action, alert procedures, staff education, ward rounds by peers, a system oriented approach for reducing errors, and various feedback channels were introduced. Effects of change: Continuous incident reporting by all hospital staff has been observed since the introduction of the new system. Several error inducing situations have been improved: wrong choice of drug in computer prescribing, maladministration of drugs due to a look-alike appearance or confusion about the manipulation of a medical device, and poor after hours service of the blood transfusion unit. Staff participation in educational seminars has been dramatically improved. Ward rounds have detected problematic procedures which needed to be dealt with. Lessons learnt: Patient safety programs based on a web-based incident reporting system, responsible persons, staff education, and a variety of feedback procedures can help promote a safety culture, multidisciplinary collaboration, and strong managerial leadership resulting in system oriented improvement. PMID:15805458

  18. EHR Improvement Using Incident Reports.

    PubMed

    Teame, Tesfay; Stålhane, Tor; Nytrø, Øystein

    2017-01-01

    This paper discusses reactive improvement of clinical software using methods for incident analysis. We used the "Five Whys" method because we had only descriptive data and depended on a domain expert for the analysis. The analysis showed that there are two major root causes for EHR software failure, and that they are related to human and organizational errors. A main identified improvement is allocating more resources to system maintenance and user training.

  19. Gaps in Data for American Indians and Alaska Natives in the National Healthcare Disparities Report

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Moy, Ernest; Smith, Colleen Ryan; Johansson, Patrik; Andrews, Roxanne

    2006-01-01

    The aim of this study was to identify and quantify gaps in health care data for American Indians and Alaska Natives. Findings indicate that only 42% of measures of health care quality and access tracked in the National Healthcare Disparities Report could be used to assess disparities among American Indians and Alaska Natives. Patient safety data…

  20. National Incident Management System (NIMS) Standards Review Panel Workshop Summary Report

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Stenner, Robert D.; Kirk, Jennifer L.; Stanton, James R.

    to be a reasonable approach for identifying and establishing existing standards that would be applicable to NIMS compliance. The suggested generalized steps to establishing existing SDO generated standards for NIMS compliance are: (1) establish search criteria from the NIMS and its support documents, (2) search SDO databases to identify key existing nationally and/or internationally recognized standards that have potential application to NIMS compliance needs, (3) review the identified standards against the specific component needs of the NIMS, (4) identify the pertinent aspects/components of those identified standards that clearly address specific NIMS compliance needs, (5) establish a process to adopt the pertinent standards, which includes the generation of formalized FEMA Guidance that identifies the specific NIMS component compliance needs addressed in the respective standard, (6) develop performance criteria for which to measure compliance with the identified NIMS components addressed by the respective adopted standard, and (7) adopt the standard, publish the guidance and performance criteria, and incorporate it into routine FEMA/NIC NIMS management operations. This review process will also help identify real gaps in standards for which new NIMS specific standards should be developed. To jump start this process and hopefully identify some key ''low hanging fruit'' standards the NIC could use to begin such a process, a panel of first-responder experts (familiar with the current standards of common use in the first-responder community) from various response disciplines was formed and a workshop held. The workshop included a pre-workshop information gathering process. This report discusses the workshop and its findings in detail.« less

  1. Report: Improvements Needed in CSB’s Identity and Access Management and Incident Response Security Functions

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    Report #18-P-0030, October 30, 2017. Weaknesses in the Identity and Access Management and Incident Response metric domains leave the CSB vulnerable to attacks occurring and not being detected in a timely manner.

  2. A preliminary analysis of incident investigation reports of an integrated steel plant: some reflection.

    PubMed

    Verma, A; Maiti, J; Gaikwad, V N

    2018-06-01

    Large integrated steel plants employ an effective safety management system and gather a significant amount of safety-related data. This research intends to explore and visualize the rich database to find out the key factors responsible for the occurrences of incidents. The study was carried out on the data in the form of investigation reports collected from a steel plant in India. The data were processed and analysed using some of the quality management tools like Pareto chart, control chart, Ishikawa diagram, etc. Analyses showed that causes of incidents differ depending on the activities performed in a department. For example, fire/explosion and process-related incidents are more common in the departments associated with coke-making and blast furnace. Similar kind of factors were obtained, and recommendations were provided for their mitigation. Finally, the limitations of the study were discussed, and the scope of the research works was identified.

  3. The Economic Impact of Achievement Gaps in Pennsylvania's Public Schools. Research Report

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Karoly, Lynn A.

    2015-01-01

    This study documents the magnitude of the gaps in student performance for public school students in Pennsylvania and estimates the economic consequences of those education performance gaps. Although Pennsylvania is one of the top-scoring states on the 2013 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) on average, the achievement gaps between…

  4. Measuring the incidence and reporting of violence against women and girls in liberia using the 'neighborhood method'.

    PubMed

    Stark, Lindsay; Warner, Ann; Lehmann, Heidi; Boothby, Neil; Ager, Alastair

    2013-09-23

    This paper reports on the use of a "neighborhood method" to measure the nature and incidence of violence against women and girls in post-conflict Liberia. The study population comprised females in Montserrado and Nimba counties. Study participants were randomly selected for interviews using multi-stage cluster sampling. 30 clusters of households were sampled in each county. Information on incidents of domestic violence and rape within the preceding 18 months was collected with regard to females of all ages in the respondent's household, and those of her four closest neighbors to make up the full sample. Households in the sample contained 7015 females (1687 girls, 4586 women, 742 age missing) in Montserrado and 6632 (2070 girls, 4167 women, 95 age missing) in Nimba. In the previous 18 months 54.1% (CI 53.1-55.1) and 55.8% (CI 54.8-56.8) of females in Montserrado and Nimba respectively were indicated to have experienced non-sexual domestic abuse; 19.4% (CI 18.6-20.2) and 26.0% (CI 25.1-26.9) of females in Montserrado and Nimba respectively to have been raped outside of marriage; and 72.3% (CI 70.7-73.9) and 73.8% (CI 72.0-75.7) of married or separated women in Montserrado and Nimba respectively to have experienced marital rape. Husbands and boyfriends were reported as the perpetrators of the vast majority of reported violence. Strangers were reported to account for less than 2% of the perpetrators of rape in either county. Incidents were most commonly disclosed to other family members or to friends and neighbors, and less often to formal authorities such as the police, court or community leaders. Incidents were approaching fifty times more likely to be reported to police if perpetrated by strangers rather than intimate partners. Violence against women and girls is widespread in the areas studied. Programming needs to address the fact that this violence is primarily occurring in the household, where most incidents go unreported outside the immediate family or social

  5. The Development and Preliminary Evaluation of an Education Intervention to Prevent Driveway Run-Over Incidents

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Armstrong, Kerry A.; Watling, Hanna; Davey, Jeremy

    2016-01-01

    Objective: While driveway run-over incidents continue to be a cause of serious injury and deaths among young children in Australia, few empirically evaluated educational interventions have been developed which address these incidents. Addressing this gap, this study describes the development and evaluation of a paper-based driveway safety…

  6. Economically motivated adulteration (EMA) of food: common characteristics of EMA incidents.

    PubMed

    Everstine, Karen; Spink, John; Kennedy, Shaun

    2013-04-01

    Economically motivated adulteration (EMA) of food, also known as food fraud, is the intentional adulteration of food for financial advantage. A common form of EMA, undeclared substitution with alternative ingredients, is usually a health concern because of allergen labeling requirements. As demonstrated by the nearly 300,000 illnesses in China from melamine adulteration of infant formula, EMA also has the potential to result in serious public health consequences. Furthermore, EMA incidents reveal gaps in quality assurance testing methodologies that could be exploited for intentional harm. In contrast to foodborne disease outbreaks, EMA incidents present a particular challenge to the food industry and regulators because they are deliberate acts that are intended to evade detection. Large-scale EMA incidents have been described in the scientific literature, but smaller incidents have been documented only in media sources. We reviewed journal articles and media reports of EMA since 1980. We identified 137 unique incidents in 11 food categories: fish and seafood (24 incidents), dairy products (15), fruit juices (12), oils and fats (12), grain products (11), honey and other natural sweeteners (10), spices and extracts (8), wine and other alcoholic beverages (7), infant formula (5), plant-based proteins (5), and other food products (28). We identified common characteristics among the incidents that may help us better evaluate and reduce the risk of EMA. These characteristics reflect the ways in which existing regulatory systems or testing methodologies were inadequate for detecting EMA and how novel detection methods and other deterrence strategies can be deployed. Prevention and detection of EMA cannot depend on traditional food safety strategies. Comprehensive food protection, as outlined by the Food Safety Modernization Act, will require innovative methods for detecting EMA and for targeting crucial resources toward the riskiest food products.

  7. Analysis of general aviation single-pilot IFR incident data obtained from the NASA aviation safety reporting system

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Bergeron, H. P.

    1980-01-01

    Data obtained from the NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (ASRS) data base were used to determine problems in general aviation single pilot IFR operations. The data examined consisted of incident reports involving flight safety in the National Aviation System. Only those incidents involving general aviation fixed wing aircraft flying under IFR in instrument meteorological conditions were analyzed. The data were cataloged into one of five major problem areas: (1) controller judgement and response problems; (2) pilot judgement and response problems; (3) air traffic control intrafacility and interfacility conflicts; (4) ATC and pilot communications problems; and (5) IFR-VFR conflicts. The significance of the related problems, and the various underlying elements associated with each are discussed. Previous ASRS reports covering several areas of analysis are reviewed.

  8. The casualty profile from the Reading train crash, November 2004: proposals for improved major incident reporting and the application of trauma scoring systems.

    PubMed

    Howells, N R; Dunne, N; Reddy, S

    2006-07-01

    To report the casualty profile of the major incident at the Royal Berkshire Hospital, Reading, following the Ufton Nervet Train crash, November 2004. To make further proposals regarding major incident reporting and implementation of trauma-scoring systems. Retrospective analysis of emergency department and hospital notes. Calculation of index Injury Severity Score (ISS) and Trauma and Injury Severity Score (TRISS) in all patients. Of 61 casualties, the majority (74%) were seen in the minors area of our emergency department with a mixture of blunt impact and penetrating glass injuries. One died and 16 were admitted. 10% had an ISS >16. All surviving patients had a TRISS predicted probability of survival >90%. We propose mandatory major incident reporting within 6 months of a major incident to aid development of a national database. As previously proposed, this will aid education and facilitate future major incident planning. We further propose the widespread use of trauma scoring systems to facilitate comparative analysis between major incidents, perhaps extrapolating this to develop a major incident score.

  9. Gap Test Calibrations And Their Scalin

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sandusky, Harold

    2012-03-01

    Common tests for measuring the threshold for shock initiation are the NOL large scale gap test (LSGT) with a 50.8-mm diameter donor/gap and the expanded large scale gap test (ELSGT) with a 95.3-mm diameter donor/gap. Despite the same specifications for the explosive donor and polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) gap in both tests, calibration of shock pressure in the gap versus distance from the donor scales by a factor of 1.75, not the 1.875 difference in their sizes. Recently reported model calculations suggest that the scaling discrepancy results from the viscoelastic properties of PMMA in combination with different methods for obtaining shock pressure. This is supported by the consistent scaling of these donors when calibrated in water-filled aquariums. Calibrations and their scaling are compared for other donors with PMMA gaps and for various donors in water.

  10. Improving patient safety incident reporting systems by focusing upon feedback - lessons from English and Welsh trusts.

    PubMed

    Wallace, Louise M; Spurgeon, Peter; Benn, Jonathan; Koutantji, Maria; Vincent, Charles

    2009-08-01

    This paper describes practical implications and learning from a multi-method study of feedback from patient safety incident reporting systems. The study was performed using the Safety Action and Information Feedback from Incident Reporting model, a model of the requirements of the feedback element of a patient safety incident reporting and learning system, derived from a scoping review of research and expert advice from world leaders in safety in high-risk industries. We present the key findings of the studies conducted in the National Health Services (NHS) trusts in England and Wales in 2006. These were a survey completed by risk managers for 351 trusts in England and Wales, three case studies including interviews with staff concerning an example of good practice feedback and an audit of 90 trusts clinical risk staff newsletters. We draw on an Expert Workshop that included 71 experts from the NHS, from regulatory bodies in health care, Royal Colleges, Health and Safety Executive and safety agencies in health care and high-risk industries (commercial aviation, rail and maritime industries). We draw recommendations of enduring relevance to the UK NHS that can be used by trust staff to improve their systems. The recommendations will be of relevance in general terms to health services worldwide.

  11. Incident surveillance in New Jersey career and technical education programs, 1999 to 2008: attributes, severity, and reported use of personal protective equipment.

    PubMed

    Shendell, Derek G; Jhaveri, Mehul; Nowakowski, Alexandra C H; Wozniak, Maryann E; Campbell, Jennifer K; Marshall, Elizabeth G; Kelly, Sarah W

    2010-09-01

    Through school-sponsored career and technical education programs in New Jersey, students work part-time during or after school in paid and unpaid structured learning experiences regulated by the New Jersey Department of Education. Schools submit information on "reportable incidents," injury or illness resulting in physician treatment. Incidents including reported use of personal protective equipment (PPE) were assessed; 1,600 incident reports (1999 to 2008) were received. Attributes such as type and severity, body parts affected, and PPE use for incidents occurring at school among students grades 9 to 12 or labeled as "adults" during school hours (n = 285) were analyzed. Older teens incurred more injuries. PPE use was consistently low across age and gender. Students most frequently experienced knife injuries involving fingers and hands. Results identified potential injury determinants and training and intervention topics such as PPE, and support development of an enhanced reporting form. Copyright 2010, SLACK Incorporated.

  12. International variations and trends in renal cell carcinoma incidence and mortality.

    PubMed

    Znaor, Ariana; Lortet-Tieulent, Joannie; Laversanne, Mathieu; Jemal, Ahmedin; Bray, Freddie

    2015-03-01

    Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) incidence rates are higher in developed countries, where up to half of the cases are discovered incidentally. Declining mortality trends have been reported in highly developed countries since the 1990s. To compare and interpret geographic variations and trends in the incidence and mortality of RCC worldwide in the context of controlling the future disease burden. We used data from GLOBOCAN, the Cancer Incidence in Five Continents series, and the World Health Organisation mortality database to compare incidence and mortality rates in more than 40 countries worldwide. We analysed incidence and mortality trends in the last 10 yr using joinpoint analyses of the age-standardised rates (ASRs). RCC incidence in men varied in ASRs (World standard population) from approximately 1/100,000 in African countries to >15/100,000 in several Northern and Eastern European countries and among US blacks. Similar patterns were observed for women, although incidence rates were commonly half of those for men. Incidence rates are increasing in most countries, most prominently in Latin America. Although recent mortality trends are stable in many countries, significant declines were observed in Western and Northern Europe, the USA, and Australia. Southern European men appear to have the least favourable RCC mortality trends. Although RCC incidence is still increasing in most countries, stabilisation of mortality trends has been achieved in many highly developed countries. There are marked absolute differences and opposing RCC mortality trends in countries categorised as areas of higher versus lower human development, and these gaps appear to be widening. Renal cell cancer is becoming more commonly diagnosed worldwide in both men and women. Mortality is decreasing in the most developed settings, but not in low- and middle-income countries, where access to and the availability of optimal therapies are likely to be limited. Copyright © 2014 European Association of

  13. Profile of preoperative fecal organic acids closely predicts the incidence of postoperative infectious complications after major hepatectomy with extrahepatic bile duct resection: Importance of fecal acetic acid plus butyric acid minus lactic acid gap.

    PubMed

    Yokoyama, Yukihiro; Mizuno, Takashi; Sugawara, Gen; Asahara, Takashi; Nomoto, Koji; Igami, Tsuyoshi; Ebata, Tomoki; Nagino, Masato

    2017-10-01

    To investigate the association between preoperative fecal organic acid concentrations and the incidence of postoperative infectious complications in patients undergoing major hepatectomy with extrahepatic bile duct resection for biliary malignancies. The fecal samples of 44 patients were collected before undergoing hepatectomy with bile duct resection for biliary malignancies. The concentrations of fecal organic acids, including acetic acid, butyric acid, and lactic acid, and representative fecal bacteria were measured. The perioperative clinical characteristics and the concentrations of fecal organic acids were compared between patients with and without postoperative infectious complications. Among 44 patients, 13 (30%) developed postoperative infectious complications. Patient age and intraoperative bleeding were significantly greater in patients with postoperative infectious complications compared with those without postoperative infectious complications. The concentrations of fecal acetic acid and butyric acid were significantly less, whereas the concentration of fecal lactic acid tended to be greater in the patients with postoperative infectious complications. The calculated gap between the concentrations of fecal acetic acid plus butyric acid minus lactic acid gap was less in the patients with postoperative infectious complications (median 43.5 vs 76.1 μmol/g of feces, P = .011). Multivariate analysis revealed that an acetic acid plus butyric acid minus lactic acid gap <60 μmol/g was an independent risk factor for postoperative infectious complications with an odds ratio of 15.6; 95% confidence interval 1.8-384.1. The preoperative fecal organic acid profile (especially low acetic acid, low butyric acid, and high lactic acid) had a clinically important impact on the incidence of postoperative infectious complications in patients undergoing major hepatectomy with extrahepatic bile duct resection. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Inc.

  14. Perioperative anaesthetic adverse events in Thailand (PAAd THAI) study: Incident report of perioperative convulsion.

    PubMed

    Eiamcharoenwit, Jatuporn; Akavipat, Phuping; Ariyanuchitkul, Thidarat; Wirachpisit, Nichawan; Pulnitiporn, Aksorn; Pongraweewan, Orawan

    2018-01-01

    The aim of this study was to identify the characteristics of perioperative convulsion and to suggest possible correcting strategies. The multi-centre study was conducted prospectively in 22 hospitals across Thailand in 2015. The occurrences of perioperative adverse events were collected. The data was collated by site manager and forwarded to the data management unit. All perioperative convulsion incidences were enrolled and analysed. The consensus was documented for the relevant factors and the corrective strategies. Descriptive statistics were used. From 2,000 incident reports, perioperative convulsions were found in 16 patients. Six episodes (37.5%) were related to anaesthesia, 31.3% to patients, 18.8% to surgery, and 12.5% to systemic processes. The contributing factor was an inexperienced anaesthesia performer (25%), while the corrective strategy was improvements to supervision (43.8%). Incidents of perioperative convulsion were found to be higher than during the last decade. The initiation and maintenance of safe anaesthesia should be continued.

  15. An Estimate of the Incidence of Prostate Cancer in Africa: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

    PubMed Central

    Aderemi, Adewale Victor; Iseolorunkanmi, Alexander; Oyedokun, Ayo; Ayo, Charles K.

    2016-01-01

    Background Prostate cancer (PCa) is rated the second most common cancer and sixth leading cause of cancer deaths among men globally. Reports show that African men suffer disproportionately from PCa compared to men from other parts of the world. It is still quite difficult to accurately describe the burden of PCa in Africa due to poor cancer registration systems. We systematically reviewed the literature on prostate cancer in Africa and provided a continent-wide incidence rate of PCa based on available data in the region. Methods A systematic literature search of Medline, EMBASE and Global Health from January 1980 to June 2015 was conducted, with additional search of Google Scholar, International Association of Cancer Registries (IACR), International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), and WHO African region websites, for studies that estimated incidence rate of PCa in any African location. Having assessed quality and consistency across selected studies, we extracted incidence rates of PCa and conducted a random effects meta-analysis. Results Our search returned 9766 records, with 40 studies spreading across 16 African countries meeting our selection criteria. We estimated a pooled PCa incidence rate of 22.0 (95% CI: 19.93–23.97) per 100,000 population, and also reported a median incidence rate of 19.5 per 100,000 population. We observed an increasing trend in PCa incidence with advancing age, and over the main years covered. Conclusion Effective cancer registration and extensive research are vital to appropriately quantifying PCa burden in Africa. We hope our findings may further assist at identifying relevant gaps, and contribute to improving knowledge, research, and interventions targeted at prostate cancer in Africa. PMID:27073921

  16. Hydrogen production by Tuning the Photonic Band Gap with the Electronic Band Gap of TiO2

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Waterhouse, G. I. N.; Wahab, A. K.; Al-Oufi, M.; Jovic, V.; Anjum, D. H.; Sun-Waterhouse, D.; Llorca, J.; Idriss, H.

    2013-10-01

    Tuning the photonic band gap (PBG) to the electronic band gap (EBG) of Au/TiO2 catalysts resulted in considerable enhancement of the photocatalytic water splitting to hydrogen under direct sunlight. Au/TiO2 (PBG-357 nm) photocatalyst exhibited superior photocatalytic performance under both UV and sunlight compared to the Au/TiO2 (PBG-585 nm) photocatalyst and both are higher than Au/TiO2 without the 3 dimensionally ordered macro-porous structure materials. The very high photocatalytic activity is attributed to suppression of a fraction of electron-hole recombination route due to the co-incidence of the PBG with the EBG of TiO2 These materials that maintain their activity with very small amount of sacrificial agents (down to 0.5 vol.% of ethanol) are poised to find direct applications because of their high activity, low cost of the process, simplicity and stability.

  17. Space Human Factors Engineering Gap Analysis Project Final Report

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Hudy, Cynthia; Woolford, Barbara

    2006-01-01

    Humans perform critical functions throughout each phase of every space mission, beginning with the mission concept and continuing to post-mission analysis (Life Sciences Division, 1996). Space missions present humans with many challenges - the microgravity environment, relative isolation, and inherent dangers of the mission all present unique issues. As mission duration and distance from Earth increases, in-flight crew autonomy will increase along with increased complexity. As efforts for exploring the moon and Mars advance, there is a need for space human factors research and technology development to play a significant role in both on-orbit human-system interaction, as well as the development of mission requirements and needs before and after the mission. As part of the Space Human Factors Engineering (SHFE) Project within the Human Research Program (HRP), a six-month Gap Analysis Project (GAP) was funded to identify any human factors research gaps or knowledge needs. The overall aim of the project was to review the current state of human factors topic areas and requirements to determine what data, processes, or tools are needed to aid in the planning and development of future exploration missions, and also to prioritize proposals for future research and technology development.

  18. Accident/incident bulletin : calendar year 1995

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    1996-08-01

    Railroads must file monthly accident/incident reports with the Federal Railroad Administrations (FRA) Office of Safety. Bulletin 164 is a summary of accident/incident data reported by 679 railroads for calendar year 1995. The FRA Guide for Prepari...

  19. Accident/incident bulletin : calendar year 1996

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    1997-08-01

    Railroads must file monthly accident/incident reports with the Federal Railroad Administrations (FRA) Office of Safety. Bulletin 165 is a summary of accident/incident data reported by 704 railroads for calendar year 1996. There are three basic cat...

  20. Spark Gap Electrode Erosion

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1984-12-01

    N~JFOSR-TR- 85-0282 o ~FINAL REPORT S SPARK GAP ELECTRODE EROSION 00i Air Force Office of Scientific Research Grant No. 84-0015- Approve", t’r p...OF MONITORING ORGANIZATION Texas Tech University IDibj Air Office of Scientific Research it- ADORESS rCat.. State and ZIP CG*, 7b. ADONESS ’CitY...spark gap was measured for various electrode, gas, and pressure combinations. A previously developed model of self breakdown voltage distribution was

  1. Opportunities to Improve Processes for Reporting, Investigating, and Remediating Serious Incidents Involving Private Security Contractors in Iraq

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2009-04-30

    Iraq Reconstruction,400 Army Navy Drive,Arlington,VA,22202-4704 8. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION REPORT NUMBER 9. SPONSORING/MONITORING AGENCY NAME(S...contractor, Blackwater , that resulted in the death of 17 Iraqi civilians. As a result of the incident, DoD and DoS agreed on core standards...have surfaced over the years concerning the oversight, control, cost, and legal status of PSCs, the Blackwater incident in September 2007, during which

  2. An analysis of nurses' post-incident manual restraint reports.

    PubMed

    Ryan, C J; Bowers, L

    2006-10-01

    Manual restraint techniques are associated with the management of violence in psychiatric settings. Restraint effectiveness and acceptability are under scrutiny, yet the nature and frequency of who or what were involved in restraint episodes have not previously been fully described or understood. The aim of this study was to describe the nature and frequency of manual restraint-related events and their components. This study was carried out using content analyses of nurses' post-incident reports from a psychiatric unit situated within a general hospital, and from its associated medium-secure unit. Requests for restraint occurred at the rate of about once per day, and the majority related to patients' ill-directed frustration, resistance to containment and their desire to leave the ward. Only half of responses to conflicts resulted in restraint implementation. The majority of restraint activities occurred during the afternoon and night. Male patients and detained patients were more frequent participants in restraint interventions. To a lesser extent, police, ambulance, fire services, hospital security, visitors and ex-patients were also involved in restraint episodes. Injuries were rare. In conclusion, training in restraint skills, clinical audit of adverse incidents, and research into psychiatric aggression all need to take into account the association of restraint with the enforcement of detention and treatment of acutely ill patients. The coupling of restraint with medication requires examination of its safety and efficacy. Interagency training may enable the essential services involved to coordinate restraint activities more effectively.

  3. A Bayesian approach for estimating under-reported dengue incidence with a focus on non-linear associations between climate and dengue in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

    PubMed

    Sharmin, Sifat; Glass, Kathryn; Viennet, Elvina; Harley, David

    2018-04-01

    Determining the relation between climate and dengue incidence is challenging due to under-reporting of disease and consequent biased incidence estimates. Non-linear associations between climate and incidence compound this. Here, we introduce a modelling framework to estimate dengue incidence from passive surveillance data while incorporating non-linear climate effects. We estimated the true number of cases per month using a Bayesian generalised linear model, developed in stages to adjust for under-reporting. A semi-parametric thin-plate spline approach was used to quantify non-linear climate effects. The approach was applied to data collected from the national dengue surveillance system of Bangladesh. The model estimated that only 2.8% (95% credible interval 2.7-2.8) of all cases in the capital Dhaka were reported through passive case reporting. The optimal mean monthly temperature for dengue transmission is 29℃ and average monthly rainfall above 15 mm decreases transmission. Our approach provides an estimate of true incidence and an understanding of the effects of temperature and rainfall on dengue transmission in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

  4. Farm tractors on Swedish public roads--age-related perspectives on police reported incidents and injuries.

    PubMed

    Pinzke, Stefan; Nilsson, Kerstin; Lundqvist, Peter

    2014-01-01

    Agriculture consistently ranks as one of the highest risk industries in North America and Europe. In addition to vehicle injuries and other injuries that occur on farms, farm vehicle drivers are also involved in collisions involving tractors and other slow-moving vehicles (SMVs) on public roads. These collisions often lead to injuries among farmers, family members, farm workers, and other road users. To conduct a demographic analysis of road traffic incidents involving tractors in Sweden during the time period 1992-2009, with special consideration of how incidents vary with driver age. Statistics from 2,305 police reports describing tractor-related road traffic incidents in Sweden in 1992-2009 were analysed with respect to driver age, type of incident, severity of injury, type of road user and other circumstances at the accident site. Tractors of all kinds were involved in 128 road traffic incidents annually, with 7 people killed, 44 seriously injured and 143 suffering minor injuries each year. The annual number of fatalities represented 1.2% of all Swedish road fatalities. Most road traffic incidents with farm tractors involved people aged 25-55 years (mean 45 years). However, most farm tractor drivers killed or injured belonged to younger or older age groups. Drivers aged 12-16 years were over-represented in tractor incidents with no other vehicle involved. Older tractor drivers (> 55 years) were more often involved in incidents with passenger vehicles on entering traffic flows. The youngest tractor drivers aged 12-16 years were more often involved in road traffic incidents during school holidays, and both youngest and oldest drivers (>65 years) during harvest time. Sweden has an ageing fleet of tractors, so increased attention to vehicle maintenance is needed to improve road safety. The over-representation of young children in tractor incidents suggests that it is questionable whether they should be allowed to operate farm vehicles. Farm vehicle drivers

  5. Policy Options to Address Crucial Communication Gaps in the Incident Command System

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2012-09-01

    California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection COML Communications Unit Leader COMT Communication Technician EBRPD East Bay Regional Parks...Laguna Fire 1970 - One of California’s Worst Wildfires.” Available at http://www.cccarto.com/cal_wildfire/laguna/fire.html, Accessed August 10, 2012...NIMS - The Evolution of the National Incident Management System.” Fire Rescue Magazine, August 2011. 15 compatibility, and department emergency

  6. The effectiveness of the error reporting promoting program on the nursing error incidence rate in Korean operating rooms.

    PubMed

    Kim, Myoung-Soo; Kim, Jung-Soon; Jung, In Sook; Kim, Young Hae; Kim, Ho Jung

    2007-03-01

    The purpose of this study was to develop and evaluate an error reporting promoting program(ERPP) to systematically reduce the incidence rate of nursing errors in operating room. A non-equivalent control group non-synchronized design was used. Twenty-six operating room nurses who were in one university hospital in Busan participated in this study. They were stratified into four groups according to their operating room experience and were allocated to the experimental and control groups using a matching method. Mann-Whitney U Test was used to analyze the differences pre and post incidence rates of nursing errors between the two groups. The incidence rate of nursing errors decreased significantly in the experimental group compared to the pre-test score from 28.4% to 15.7%. The incidence rate by domains, it decreased significantly in the 3 domains-"compliance of aseptic technique", "management of document", "environmental management" in the experimental group while it decreased in the control group which was applied ordinary error-reporting method. Error-reporting system can make possible to hold the errors in common and to learn from them. ERPP was effective to reduce the errors of recognition-related nursing activities. For the wake of more effective error-prevention, we will be better to apply effort of risk management along the whole health care system with this program.

  7. Racial and Gender Gaps in Academic Achievement: An Updated Look at 1993-94 Data. Report Summary.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Dulaney, Chuck; Bethune, Ginger

    This second annual report for the Wake County (North Carolina) Public School System examined students' achievement indicators among groups that vary in gender, race, and economic status. The graphic format displays the extent of some of the gaps in academic achievement among the groups examined that existed in the 1993-94 school year, and compares…

  8. Psychological Trauma in the Workplace: Variation of Incident Severity among Industry Settings and between Recurring vs Isolated Incidents.

    PubMed

    DeFraia, G S

    2015-07-01

    Psychologically traumatic workplace events (known as critical incidents) occur within various work environments, with workgroups in certain industries vulnerable to multiple incidents. With the increasing prevalence of incidents in the USA, incident response is a growing practice area within occupational medicine, industrial psychology, occupational social work and other occupational health professions. To analyze a measure of incident severity based on level of disruption to the workplace and explore whether incident severity varied among different industry settings or between workgroups experiencing multiple vs single traumatic incidents. Administrative data mining was employed to examine practice data from a workplace trauma response unit in the USA. Bivariate analyses were conducted to test whether scores from an instrument measuring incident severity level varied among industry settings or between workgroups impacted by multiple vs isolated events. Incident severity level differed among various industry settings. Banks, retail stores and fast food restaurants accounted for the most severe incidents, while industrial and manufacturing sites reported less severe incidents. Workgroups experiencing multiple incidents reported more severe incidents than workgroups experiencing a single incident. Occupational health practitioners should be alert to industry differences in several areas: pre-incident resiliency training, the content of business recovery plans, assessing worker characteristics, strategies to assist continuous operations and assisting workgroups impacted by multiple or severe incidents.

  9. Piloting violence and incident reporting measures on one acute mental health inpatient unit.

    PubMed

    Woods, Phil; Ashley, Carolyn; Kayto, Denise; Heusdens, Carol

    2008-05-01

    During May, 2006, on one acute mental health inpatient unit, nursing staff evaluated each patient three times a day (i.e., once each nursing shift) using the Broset Violence Checklist (BVC). Associated data were collected using the Staff Observation and Aggression Scale-Revised (SOAS-R) if an adverse incident occurred. At the end of the data collection period, the nursing staff were asked to complete a short questionnaire anonymously to evaluate how useful they had found the instruments. N = 93 patients were admitted to the unit during the month of study. Seven incidents were reported using the SOAS-R. A slight trend was noted for higher BVC score in aggressive patients. A potential high occurrence of underreporting on incidents was observed. There was limited feedback data from nursing staff at the end of the study, but the responses received were encouraging for continued use of the instruments in practice. The pilot study fulfilled its purpose in two ways. First, it allowed staff on the unit to experience using structured instruments to support their practice. Second, it allowed an opportunity to raise awareness of potential underreporting and tolerance of aggression on the unit.

  10. Comparative analysis of hydrogen fire and explosion incidents: quarterly report No. 2, December 1, 1977--February 28, 1978

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Zalosh, R.G.; Short, T.P.

    1978-03-01

    Additional hydrogen incident reports compiled during this quarter have increased the size of the computerized data base to a current total of 280 incidents. Listings of 165 incidents that have occurred in industrial and transportation operations since 1968 are presented here. Sample case histories in six different cause categories are provided together with a discussion of common safety problems contributing to these incidents. Some of these problems are inadequate detection measures for hydrogen leaks and fires and ineffective purging with inert gas. A preliminary comparison of losses due to natural gas fires/explosions and hydrogen incidents indicates that hydrogen explosions havemore » been, on the average, four-to-six times as damaging as natural gas explosions. Some tentative explanations for this result are presented but await confirmation from a more sophisticated statistical analysis.« less

  11. 12 CFR 250.181 - Reports of change in control of bank management incident to a merger.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-01-01

    ... 12 Banks and Banking 3 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Reports of change in control of bank management... change in control of bank management incident to a merger. (a) A State member bank has inquired whether Pub. L. 88-593 (78 Stat. 940) requires reports of change in control of bank management in situations...

  12. 12 CFR 250.181 - Reports of change in control of bank management incident to a merger.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... 12 Banks and Banking 3 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Reports of change in control of bank management... change in control of bank management incident to a merger. (a) A State member bank has inquired whether Pub. L. 88-593 (78 Stat. 940) requires reports of change in control of bank management in situations...

  13. Pesticide exposure and self-reported incident depression among wives in the Agricultural Health Study.

    PubMed

    Beard, John D; Hoppin, Jane A; Richards, Marie; Alavanja, Michael C R; Blair, Aaron; Sandler, Dale P; Kamel, Freya

    2013-10-01

    Depression in women is a public health problem. Studies have reported positive associations between pesticides and depression, but few studies were prospective or presented results for women separately. We evaluated associations between pesticide exposure and incident depression among farmers' wives in the Agricultural Health Study, a prospective cohort study in Iowa and North Carolina. We used data on 16,893 wives who did not report physician-diagnosed depression at enrollment (1993-1997) and who completed a follow-up telephone interview (2005-2010). Among these wives, 1054 reported physician diagnoses of depression at follow-up. We collected information on potential confounders and on ever use of any pesticide, 11 functional and chemical classes of pesticides, and 50 specific pesticides by wives and their husbands via self-administered questionnaires at enrollment. We used inverse probability weighting to adjust for potential confounders and to account for possible selection bias induced by the death or loss of 10,639 wives during follow-up. We used log-binomial regression models to estimate risk ratios and 95% confidence intervals. After weighting for age at enrollment, state of residence, education level, diabetes diagnosis, and drop out, wives' incident depression was positively associated with diagnosed pesticide poisoning, but was not associated with ever using any pesticide. Use of individual pesticides or functional or chemical classes of pesticides was generally not associated with wives' depression. Among wives who never used pesticides, husbands' ever use of individual pesticides or functional or chemical classes of pesticides was generally not associated with wives' incident depression. Our study adds further evidence that high level pesticide exposure, such as pesticide poisoning, is associated with increased risk of depression and sets a lower bound on the level of exposure related to depression, thereby providing reassurance that the moderate levels

  14. The comparative incidence of reported concussions presenting for follow-up management in South African Rugby Union.

    PubMed

    Shuttleworth-Edwards, Ann B; Noakes, Timothy D; Radloff, Sarah E; Whitefield, Victoria J; Clark, Susan B; Roberts, Craig O; Essack, Fathima B; Zoccola, Diana; Boulind, Melissa J; Case, Stephanie E; Smith, Ian P; Mitchell, Julia L G

    2008-09-01

    The objective of this study was to compare the seasonal concussion incidence for school, university, club and provincial level Rugby Union players in South Africa. The study presents a retrospective statistical analysis of the number of reported concussions documented annually for groups of Rugby Union players as a proportion of those who received preseason neurocognitive assessment. Between 2002 and 2006, concussion management programs using computerized neuropsychological assessment were implemented for clinical and research purposes by psychologists in selected South African institutions involved in Rugby Union from school through to the professional level. The incidence figures were based on 175 concussive episodes reported for 165 athletes who were referred for neurocognitive assessment from a population of 1366 athletes who received preseason baseline testing. Concussion management routines varied according to the protocols adopted by the different psychologists and rugby organizations. It was expected that the incidence of concussion would vary significantly due to level of play and different management protocols. There was wide disparity in the manner in which concussion follow-up was managed by the various organizations. Within broadly comparable cohorts, tighter control was associated with a relatively higher concussion incidence for athletes per rugby playing season, with average institutional figures ranging from 4% to 14% at school level and 3% to 23% at adult level. This analysis suggests that concussion goes unrecognized and therefore incorrectly managed in a number of instances. Recommendations for optimal identification of concussed athletes for follow-up management are presented.

  15. Explaining the Gender Wealth Gap

    PubMed Central

    Ruel, Erin; Hauser, Robert M.

    2013-01-01

    To assess and explain the United States’ gender wealth gap, we use the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study to examine wealth accumulated by a single cohort over 50 years by gender, by marital status, and limited to the respondents who are their family’s best financial reporters. We find large gender wealth gaps between currently married men and women, and never-married men and women. The never-married accumulate less wealth than the currently married, and there is a marital disruption cost to wealth accumulation. The status-attainment model shows the most power in explaining gender wealth gaps between these groups explaining about one-third to one-half of the gap, followed by the human-capital explanation. In other words, a lifetime of lower earnings for women translates into greatly reduced wealth accumulation. A gender wealth gap remains between married men and women after controlling for the full model that we speculate may be related to gender differences in investment strategies and selection effects. PMID:23264038

  16. Direct Band Gap Wurtzite Gallium Phosphide Nanowires

    PubMed Central

    2013-01-01

    The main challenge for light-emitting diodes is to increase the efficiency in the green part of the spectrum. Gallium phosphide (GaP) with the normal cubic crystal structure has an indirect band gap, which severely limits the green emission efficiency. Band structure calculations have predicted a direct band gap for wurtzite GaP. Here, we report the fabrication of GaP nanowires with pure hexagonal crystal structure and demonstrate the direct nature of the band gap. We observe strong photoluminescence at a wavelength of 594 nm with short lifetime, typical for a direct band gap. Furthermore, by incorporation of aluminum or arsenic in the GaP nanowires, the emitted wavelength is tuned across an important range of the visible light spectrum (555–690 nm). This approach of crystal structure engineering enables new pathways to tailor materials properties enhancing the functionality. PMID:23464761

  17. He said, she said: The gender wage gap according to self and proxy reports in the Current Population Survey.

    PubMed

    Reynolds, Jeremy; Wenger, Jeffrey B

    2012-03-01

    Roughly half the labor force data in the Current Population Survey (CPS) are provided by proxy respondents, and since 1979, men's reliance on proxies has dropped dramatically while women's reliance on proxies has increased. Few authors, however, have examined how combining these first-hand and second-hand reports may influence our understanding of long-term economic trends. We exploit the outgoing rotation group structure of the CPS by matching individual records one year apart, and we find that self-reported wages are higher than proxy-reported wages even after controlling for all time invariant characteristics. Furthermore, we find that changes in the use of proxy respondents by men and women since 1979 have made current estimates of the gender wage gap larger than they would have been without changes in reporting status. This suggests that the gender wage gap has closed more than previously estimated. We recommend that researchers combine self and proxy responses with great care, especially when analyzing time trends or making gender comparisons. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  18. An Examination of Bias Incident Response at Postsecondary Institutions

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gonyer, Howard A.

    2017-01-01

    The purpose of this general inductive study was to understand how senior student affairs officers (SSAOs) have managed the response to bias on college campuses. The literature is clear about the negative effects of bias on targeted populations; however, there is a large gap in the literature when it comes to how bias incidents are managed. The…

  19. Hydrogen production by Tuning the Photonic Band Gap with the Electronic Band Gap of TiO2

    PubMed Central

    Waterhouse, G. I. N.; Wahab, A. K.; Al-Oufi, M.; Jovic, V.; Anjum, D. H.; Sun-Waterhouse, D.; Llorca, J.; Idriss, H.

    2013-01-01

    Tuning the photonic band gap (PBG) to the electronic band gap (EBG) of Au/TiO2 catalysts resulted in considerable enhancement of the photocatalytic water splitting to hydrogen under direct sunlight. Au/TiO2 (PBG-357 nm) photocatalyst exhibited superior photocatalytic performance under both UV and sunlight compared to the Au/TiO2 (PBG-585 nm) photocatalyst and both are higher than Au/TiO2 without the 3 dimensionally ordered macro-porous structure materials. The very high photocatalytic activity is attributed to suppression of a fraction of electron-hole recombination route due to the co-incidence of the PBG with the EBG of TiO2 These materials that maintain their activity with very small amount of sacrificial agents (down to 0.5 vol.% of ethanol) are poised to find direct applications because of their high activity, low cost of the process, simplicity and stability. PMID:24108361

  20. Common Causes of Pesticide Incidents

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    There are many types of pesticide incidents. EPA staff analyze pesticide incident reports involving people (including children and farm workers), pets, domestic animals, wildlife including bees and other pollinators, and the environment.

  1. Modified GAP index for prediction of acute exacerbation of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis in non-small cell lung cancer.

    PubMed

    Kobayashi, Haruki; Omori, Shota; Nakashima, Kazuhisa; Wakuda, Kazushige; Ono, Akira; Kenmotsu, Hirotsugu; Naito, Tateaki; Murakami, Haruyasu; Endo, Masahiro; Takahashi, Toshiaki

    2017-10-01

    Predicting the incidence rate of acute exacerbation (AE) of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) and its prognosis in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and IPF is difficult. The aim was to study the incidence of IPF-AE during the clinical course of the disease and its prognosis in patients with both NSCLC and IPF. In this retrospective study, we compared the incidence rate of AE during the clinical course of the disease as well as the 1-year survival rate and overall survival (OS) of patients with NSCLC and IPF using a modified gender, age and physiology (mGAP) staging system based on gender, age and percent predicted forced vital capacity. Of 43 patients with NSCLC and IPF included in the final analysis, 17 patients (40%; 95% CI: 26-54%) experienced AE during the clinical course of the disease. One-year survival and median OS were 41.9% (95% CI: 28-57%) and 9.4 months, respectively. Further analysis showed that the incidence of IPF-AE gradually increased and that the 1-year survival rate and median OS gradually decreased with increasing mGAP index score and stage. Our study suggested that mGAP index score and cancer stage may predict IPF-AE and its prognosis in patients with NSCLC and IPF. © 2017 Asian Pacific Society of Respirology.

  2. The mortality and hospitalization rates associated with the long interdialytic gap in thrice-weekly hemodialysis patients.

    PubMed

    Fotheringham, James; Fogarty, Damian G; El Nahas, Meguid; Campbell, Michael J; Farrington, Ken

    2015-09-01

    Excess mortality and hospitalization have been identified after the 2-day gap in thrice-weekly hemodialysis patients compared with 1-day intervals, although findings vary internationally. Here we aimed to identify factors associated with mortality and hospitalization events in England using an incident cohort of 5864 hemodialysis patients from years 2002 to 2006 inclusive in the UK Renal Registry linked to hospitalization data. Higher admission rates were seen after the 2-day gap irrespective of whether thrice-weekly dialysis sequence commenced on a Monday or Tuesday (2.4 per year after the 2-day gap vs. 1.4 for the rest of the week, rate ratio 1.7). The greatest differences in admission rates were seen in patients admitted with fluid overload or with conditions associated with a high risk of fluid overload. Increased mortality following the 2-day gap was similarly independent of session pattern (20.5 vs. 16.7 per 100 patient years, rate ratio 1.22), with these increases being driven by out-of-hospital death (rate ratio 1.59 vs. 1.06 for in-hospital death). Non-white patients had an overall survival advantage, with the increased mortality after the 2-day gap being found only in whites. Thus, fluid overload may increase the risk of hospital admission after the 2-day gap and that the increased out-of-hospital mortality may relate to a higher incidence of sudden death. Future work should focus on exploring interventions in these subgroups.

  3. 14 CFR 234.13 - Reports by air carriers on incidents involving animals during air transport.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... 14 Aeronautics and Space 4 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Reports by air carriers on incidents involving animals during air transport. 234.13 Section 234.13 Aeronautics and Space OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION (AVIATION PROCEEDINGS) ECONOMIC REGULATIONS AIRLINE SERVICE QUALITY PERFORMANCE...

  4. Experiences from ten years of incident reporting in health care: a qualitative study among department managers and coordinators.

    PubMed

    Carlfjord, Siw; Öhrn, Annica; Gunnarsson, Anna

    2018-02-14

    Incident reporting (IR) in health care has been advocated as a means to improve patient safety. The purpose of IR is to identify safety hazards and develop interventions to mitigate these hazards in order to reduce harm in health care. Using qualitative methods is a way to reveal how IR is used and perceived in health care practice. The aim of the present study was to explore the experiences of IR from two different perspectives, including heads of departments and IR coordinators, to better understand how they value the practice and their thoughts regarding future application. Data collection was performed in Östergötland County, Sweden, where an electronic IR system was implemented in 2004, and the authorities explicitly have advocated IR from that date. A purposive sample of nine heads of departments from three hospitals were interviewed, and two focus group discussions with IR coordinators took place. Data were analysed using qualitative content analysis. Two main themes emerged from the data: "Incident reporting has come to stay" building on the categories entitled perceived advantages, observed changes and value of the IR system, and "Remaining challenges in incident reporting" including the categories entitled need for action, encouraged learning, continuous culture improvement, IR system development and proper use of IR. After 10 years, the practice of IR is widely accepted in the selected setting. IR has helped to put patient safety on the agenda, and a cultural change towards no blame has been observed. The informants suggest an increased focus on action, and further development of the tools for reporting and handling incidents.

  5. Characteristics of Incidents and their Reporters: Quality Education Program Study. Booklet C and Booklet C Supplement.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bucks County Public Schools, Doylestown, PA.

    Summary descriptions of the samples of teachers who participated in different project activities are given. In addition, descriptions of reporters of incidents in each student behavior category are outlined. (See TM 001 375 for project description.) (MS)

  6. Enhancing Police Responses to Domestic Violence Incidents: Reports From Client Advocates in New South Wales.

    PubMed

    Goodman-Delahunty, Jane; Crehan, Anna Corbo

    2016-07-01

    In an online survey about experiences with the police complaint system, 239 client advocates described a recent incident in which a client with grounds to lodge a complaint declined to do so. Almost one third of those incidents involved domestic violence. Thematic analysis of case descriptions revealed that many police did not take domestic violence reports seriously. A typology of problematic police conduct was developed. Many officers failed to observe current procedures and appeared to lack knowledge of relevant laws. Citizens feared retaliatory victimization by police and/or perceived that complaining was futile. Implications of these findings are reviewed in light of procedural justice theory. © The Author(s) 2015.

  7. Reporting Crime Victimizations to the Police and the Incidence of Future Victimizations: A Longitudinal Study.

    PubMed

    Ranapurwala, Shabbar I; Berg, Mark T; Casteel, Carri

    2016-01-01

    Law enforcement depends on cooperation from the public and crime victims to protect citizens and maintain public safety; however, many crimes are not reported to police because of fear of repercussions or because the crime is considered trivial. It is unclear how police reporting affects the incidence of future victimization. To evaluate the association between reporting victimization to police and incident future victimization. We conducted a retrospective cohort study using National Crime Victimization Survey 2008-2012 data. Participants were 12+ years old household members who may or may not be victimized, were followed biannually for 3 years, and who completed at least one follow-up survey after their first reported victimization between 2008 and 2012. Crude and adjusted generalized linear mixed regression for survey data with Poisson link were used to compare rates of future victimization. Out of 18,657 eligible participants, 41% participants reported to their initial victimization to police and had a future victimization rate of 42.8/100 person-years (PY) (95% CI: 40.7, 44.8). The future victimization rate of those who did not report to the police (59%) was 55.0/100 PY (95% CI: 53.0, 57.0). The adjusted rate ratio comparing police reporting to not reporting was 0.78 (95%CI: 0.72, 0.84) for all future victimizations, 0.80 (95% CI: 0.72, 0.90) for interpersonal violence, 0.73 (95% CI: 0.68, 0.78) for thefts, and 0.95 (95% CI: 0.84, 1.07) for burglaries. Reporting victimization to police is associated with fewer future victimization, underscoring the importance of police reporting in crime prevention. This association may be attributed to police action and victim services provisions resulting from reporting.

  8. Reporting Crime Victimizations to the Police and the Incidence of Future Victimizations: A Longitudinal Study

    PubMed Central

    Ranapurwala, Shabbar I.; Berg, Mark T.; Casteel, Carri

    2016-01-01

    Background Law enforcement depends on cooperation from the public and crime victims to protect citizens and maintain public safety; however, many crimes are not reported to police because of fear of repercussions or because the crime is considered trivial. It is unclear how police reporting affects the incidence of future victimization. Objective To evaluate the association between reporting victimization to police and incident future victimization. Methods We conducted a retrospective cohort study using National Crime Victimization Survey 2008–2012 data. Participants were 12+ years old household members who may or may not be victimized, were followed biannually for 3 years, and who completed at least one follow-up survey after their first reported victimization between 2008 and 2012. Crude and adjusted generalized linear mixed regression for survey data with Poisson link were used to compare rates of future victimization. Results Out of 18,657 eligible participants, 41% participants reported to their initial victimization to police and had a future victimization rate of 42.8/100 person-years (PY) (95% CI: 40.7, 44.8). The future victimization rate of those who did not report to the police (59%) was 55.0/100 PY (95% CI: 53.0, 57.0). The adjusted rate ratio comparing police reporting to not reporting was 0.78 (95%CI: 0.72, 0.84) for all future victimizations, 0.80 (95% CI: 0.72, 0.90) for interpersonal violence, 0.73 (95% CI: 0.68, 0.78) for thefts, and 0.95 (95% CI: 0.84, 1.07) for burglaries. Conclusions Reporting victimization to police is associated with fewer future victimization, underscoring the importance of police reporting in crime prevention. This association may be attributed to police action and victim services provisions resulting from reporting. PMID:27466811

  9. Factors influencing recovery and restoration following a chemical incident.

    PubMed

    Peña-Fernández, A; Wyke, S; Brooke, N; Duarte-Davidson, R

    2014-11-01

    Chemicals are an important part of our society. A wide range of chemicals are discharged into the environment every day from residential, commercial and industrial sources. Many of these discharges do not pose a threat to public health or the environment. However, global events have shown that chemical incidents or accidents can have severe consequences on human health, the environment and society. It is important that appropriate tools and technical guidance are available to ensure that a robust and efficient approach to developing a remediation strategy is adopted. The purpose of remediation is to protect human health from future exposure and to return the affected area back to normal as soon as possible. There are a range of recovery options (techniques or methods for remediation) that are applicable to a broad range of chemicals and incidents. Recovery options should be evaluated according to their appropriateness and efficacy for removing contaminants from the environment; however economic drivers and social and political considerations often influence decision makers on which remedial actions are implemented during the recovery phase of a chemical incident. To date, there is limited information in the literature on remediation strategies and recovery options that have been implemented following a chemical incident, or how successful they have been. Additional factors that can affect the approach taken for recovery are not well assessed or understood by decision makers involved in the remediation and restoration of the environment following a chemical incident. The identification of this gap has led to the development of the UK Recovery Handbook for Chemical Incidents to provide a framework for choosing an effective recovery strategy. A compendium of practical evidence-based recovery options (techniques or methods for remediation) for inhabited areas, food production systems and water environments has also been developed and is included in the chemical

  10. [Report of Cancer Incidence and Mortality in China, 2014].

    PubMed

    Chen, W Q; Li, H; Sun, K X; Zheng, R S; Zhang, S W; Zeng, H M; Zou, X N; Gu, X Y; He, J

    2018-01-23

    Objective: The registration data of local cancer registries in 2014 were collected by National Central Cancer Registry (NCCR)in 2017 to estimate the cancer incidence and mortality in China. Methods: The data submitted from 449 registries were checked and evaluated, and the data of 339 registries out of them were qualified and selected for the final analysis. Cancer incidence and mortality were stratified by area, gender, age group and cancer type, and combined with the population data of 2014 to estimate cancer incidence and mortality in China. The age composition of standard population of Chinese census in 2000 and Segi's population were used for age-standardized incidence and mortality in China and worldwide, respectively. Results: Total covered population of 339 cancer registries (129 in urban and 210 in rural) in 2014 were 288 243 347 (144 061 915 in urban and 144 181 432 in rural areas). The mortality verified cases (MV%) were 68.01%. Among them, 2.19% cases were identified through death certifications only (DCO%), and the mortality to incidence ratio was 0.61. There were about 3, 804, 000 new cases diagnosed as malignant cancer and 2, 296, 000 cases dead in 2014 in the whole country. The incidence rate was 278.07/100, 000 (males 301.67/100, 000, females 253.29/100, 000) in China, age-standardized incidence rates by Chinese standard population (ASIRC) and by world standard population were 190.63/100, 000 and 186.53/100, 000, respectively, and the cumulative incidence rate (0-74 age years old) was 21.58%. The cancer incidence and ASIRC in urban areas were 302.13/100, 000 and 196.58/100, 000, respectively, whereas in rural areas, those were 248.94/100, 000 and 182.64/100, 000, respectively. The cancer mortality in China was 167.89/100, 000 (207.24/100, 000 in males and 126.54/100, 000 in females), age-standardized mortality rates by Chinese standard population (ASMRC) and by world standard population were 106.98/100, 000 and 106.09/100, 000, respectively. And

  11. Challenge the Gap: Evaluation Report and Executive Summary

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    West, Mel; Ainscow, Mel; Wigelsworth, Michael; Troncoso, Patricio

    2017-01-01

    Challenge the Gap (CtG) is a school collaboration programme designed by Challenge Partners that aims to break the link between disadvantage and attainment. The main components of CtG are: (1) after-school workshops drawing on published research and evidenced practice; (2) focused in-school interventions with a selected cohort of disadvantaged…

  12. Closing the Gap Clearinghouse: Annual Report, 2009-10

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2011

    2011-01-01

    The Council of Australian Governments (COAG) has made a range of commitments to improve the lives of Indigenous Australians and in particular provide for a better future for Indigenous children. These commitments have re-focused the efforts of everyone working for a better future for Australia's Indigenous people. The Closing the Gap Clearinghouse…

  13. WHO Mental Health Gap Action Programme (mhGAP) Intervention Guide: a systematic review of evidence from low and middle-income countries.

    PubMed

    Keynejad, Roxanne C; Dua, Tarun; Barbui, Corrado; Thornicroft, Graham

    2018-02-01

    Despite mental, neurological and substance use (MNS) disorders being highly prevalent, there is a worldwide gap between service need and provision. WHO launched its Mental Health Gap Action Programme (mhGAP) in 2008, and the Intervention Guide (mhGAP-IG) in 2010. mhGAP-IG provides evidence-based guidance and tools for assessment and integrated management of priority MNS disorders in low and middle-income countries (LMICs), using clinical decision-making protocols. It targets a non-specialised primary healthcare audience, but has also been used by ministries, non-governmental organisations and academics, for mental health service scale-up in 90 countries. This review aimed to identify evidence to date for mhGAP-IG implementation in LMICs. We searched MEDLINE, Embase, PsycINFO, Web of Knowledge/Web of Science, Scopus, CINAHL, LILACS, SciELO/Web of Science, Cochrane, Pubmed databases and Google Scholar for studies reporting evidence, experience or evaluation of mhGAP-IG in LMICs, in any language. Data were extracted from included papers, but heterogeneity prevented meta-analysis. We conducted a systematic review of evidence to date, of mhGAP-IG implementation and evaluation in LMICs. Thirty-three included studies reported 15 training courses, 9 clinical implementations, 3 country contextualisations, 3 economic models, 2 uses as control interventions and 1 use to develop a rating scale. Our review identified the importance of detailed reports of contextual challenges in the field, alongside detailed protocols, qualitative studies and randomised controlled trials. The mhGAP-IG literature is substantial, relative to other published evaluations of clinical practice guidelines: an important contribution to a neglected field. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2018. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

  14. Extension of photonic band gap in one-dimensional ternary metal-dielectric photonic crystal

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Pandey, G. N.; Thapa, Khem B.

    2018-05-01

    In this paper, the photonic band gap structure in the visible and near infrared for a ternary metal dielectric photonic crystal has been theoretically investigated. At the normal incidence, the high reflectance range can be significantly enlarged at a thicker metal film. The transmission of the structure containing Cu has large compared to the other metals like Al and Ag metals. The transmission properties of the metal are dependent upon the value of the plasma frequency. In this paper we consider the effect of the variation of the thickness of the metal on the reflection bands of ternary metallic-dielectric photonic crystal (MDPC). Finally we find that the enlargement of band gap in MDPC is due to the addition of increase of the thickness of metallic film at normal incidence. All the theoretical calculations are made based on the transfer matrix method together with the Drude model of metal.

  15. The Gamma Gap and All-Cause Mortality

    PubMed Central

    Juraschek, Stephen P.; Moliterno, Alison R.; Checkley, William; Miller, Edgar R.

    2015-01-01

    Background The difference between total serum protein and albumin, i.e. the gamma gap, is a frequently used clinical screening measure for both latent infection and malignancy. However, there are no studies defining a positive gamma gap. Further, whether it is an independent risk factor of mortality is unknown. Methods and Findings This study examined the association between gamma gap, all-cause mortality, and specific causes of death (cardiovascular, cancer, pulmonary, or other) in 12,260 participants of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) from 1999–2004. Participants had a comprehensive metabolic panel measured, which was linked with vital status data from the National Death Index. Cause of death was based on ICD10 codes from death certificates. Analyses were performed with Cox proportional hazards models adjusted for mortality risk factors. The mean (SE) age was 46 (0.3) years and the mean gamma gap was 3.0 (0.01) g/dl. The population was 52% women and 10% black. During a median follow-up period of 4.8 years (IQR: 3.3 to 6.2 years), there were 723 deaths. The unadjusted 5-year cumulative incidences across quartiles of the gamma gap (1.7–2.7, 2.8–3.0, 3.1–3.2, and 3.3–7.9 g/dl) were 5.7%, 4.2%, 5.5%, and 7.8%. After adjustment for risk factors, participants with a gamma gap of ≥3.1 g/dl had a 30% higher risk of death compared to participants with a gamma gap <3.1 g/dl (HR: 1.30; 95%CI: 1.08, 1.55; P = 0.006). Gamma gap (per 1.0 g/dl) was most strongly associated with death from pulmonary causes (HR 2.22; 95%CI: 1.19, 4.17; P = 0.01). Conclusions The gamma gap is an independent risk factor for all-cause mortality at values as low as 3.1 g/dl (in contrast to the traditional definition of 4.0 g/dl), and is strongly associated with death from pulmonary causes. Future studies should examine the biologic pathways underlying these associations. PMID:26629820

  16. Analysis of Aviation Safety Reporting System Incident Data Associated with the Technical Challenges of the Atmospheric Environment Safety Technology Project

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Withrow, Colleen A.; Reveley, Mary S.

    2014-01-01

    This study analyzed aircraft incidents in the NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (ASRS) that apply to two of the three technical challenges (TCs) in NASA's Aviation Safety Program's Atmospheric Environment Safety Technology Project. The aircraft incidents are related to airframe icing and atmospheric hazards TCs. The study reviewed incidents that listed their primary problem as weather or environment-nonweather between 1994 and 2011 for aircraft defined by Federal Aviation Regulations (FAR) Parts 121, 135, and 91. The study investigated the phases of flight, a variety of anomalies, flight conditions, and incidents by FAR part, along with other categories. The first part of the analysis focused on airframe-icing-related incidents and found 275 incidents out of 3526 weather-related incidents over the 18-yr period. The second portion of the study focused on atmospheric hazards and found 4647 incidents over the same time period. Atmospheric hazards-related incidents included a range of conditions from clear air turbulence and wake vortex, to controlled flight toward terrain, ground encounters, and incursions.

  17. Closing the Gender Gap: Act Now

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    OECD Publishing (NJ3), 2012

    2012-01-01

    Gender gaps are pervasive in all walks of economic life and imply large losses in terms of foregone productivity and living standards to the individuals concerned and the economy. This new OECD report focuses on how best to close these gender gaps under four broad headings: (1) Gender equality, social norms and public policies; and gender equality…

  18. A Study of Gaps in Network Knowledge Synthesis

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2016-10-14

    Lincoln Laboratory MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY LEXINGTON, MASSACHUSETTS Technical Report 1195 A Study of Gaps in Network...unlimited. This report is the result of studies performed at Lincoln Laboratory, a federally funded research and development center operated...specifically authorized by the U.S. Government may violate any copyrights that exist in this work. A Study of Gaps in Network Knowledge Synthesis

  19. Change in Reported Lyme Disease Incidence in the Northeast and Upper Midwest, 1991-2014

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This indicator shows how reported Lyme disease incidence has changed by state since 1991, based on the number of new cases per 100,000 people. The total change has been estimated from the average annual rate of change in each state. This map is limited to the 14 states where Lyme disease is most common, where annual rates are consistently above 10 cases per 100,000. Connecticut, New York, and Rhode Island had too much year-to-year variation in reporting practices to allow trend calculation. For more information: www.epa.gov/climatechange/science/indicators

  20. What Happened, and Why: Toward an Understanding of Human Error Based on Automated Analyses of Incident Reports. Volume 2

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Ferryman, Thomas A.; Posse, Christian; Rosenthal, Loren J.; Srivastava, Ashok N.; Statler, Irving C.

    2006-01-01

    The objective of the Aviation System Monitoring and Modeling project of NASA's Aviation Safety and Security Program was to develop technologies to enable proactive management of safety risk, which entails identifying the precursor events and conditions that foreshadow most accidents. Information about what happened can be extracted from quantitative data sources, but the experiential account of the incident reporter is the best available source of information about why an incident happened. In Volume I, the concept of the Scenario was introduced as a pragmatic guide for identifying similarities of what happened based on the objective parameters that define the Context and the Outcome of a Scenario. In this Volume II, that study continues into the analyses of the free narratives to gain understanding as to why the incident occurred from the reporter s perspective. While this is just the first experiment, the results of our approach are encouraging and indicate that it will be possible to design an automated analysis process guided by the structure of the Scenario that can achieve the level of consistency and reliability of human analysis of narrative reports.

  1. Scanning secondary derived crashes from disabled and abandoned vehicle incidents on uninterrupted flow highways.

    PubMed

    Chimba, Deo; Kutela, Boniphace

    2014-09-01

    Extent of secondary crashes derived from primary incidents involving abandoned and disabled vehicles are presented in this paper. Using years 2004 to 2010 incident and crash data on selected Tennessee freeways, the study identified secondary crashes that resulted from disabled and abandoned vehicle primary incidents. The relationship between time and distance gaps before the secondary crash with respect to individual incident characteristics were evaluated through descriptive statistics and linear regression. The time and distance gap analysis indicated that a large portion of secondary crashes occurred within 20 min after the primary incidents and within a distance of 0.5 miles upstream. While 76% of incidents involved shoulder, most secondary crashes were related to the closing of right lanes. Overall, 58% of the secondary crashes occurred within 30 min after the occurrence of the primary incidents. Most of the vehicles in the incidents that involved towing and caused secondary crashes were towed or removed out of the travel way within 60 min from the time of occurrence. The study found that most (95%) secondary crashes were property damage only (PDO), while 49% were rear-end crashes. The negative binomial model was used to evaluate the impact of roadway geometry and traffic factors associated with frequency of these secondary crashes. It was found that the posted speed limit, congested segments, segments with high percentages of trucks, and peak hour volumes increased the likelihood of secondary crash occurrence. Roadway segments with wider medians, shoulders, and multilanes decrease the likelihood of secondary crashes caused by abandoned and disabled vehicles as the primary incidents. Practical applications The paper recommends that wider shoulders be provided on any section of freeway to accommodate abandoned or disabled vehicles to avoid blocking of travel lane(s). Copyright © 2014 National Safety Council and Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  2. Technology of fast spark gaps

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Standler, Ronald B.

    1989-09-01

    To protect electronic systems from the effects of electromagnetic pulse (EMP) form nuclear weapons and high-power microwave (HPM) weapons, it is desirable to have fast responding protection components. The gas-filled spark gap appears to be an attractive protection component, except that it can be slow to conduct under certain conditions. This report reviews the literature and presents ideas for construction of a spark gap that will conduct in less than one nanosecond. The key concept to making a fast-responding spark gap is to produce a large number of free electrons quickly. Seven different mechanisms for production of free electrons are reviewed, and several that are relevant to miniature spark gaps for protective applications are discussed in detail. These mechanisms include: inclusion of radioactive materials, photoelectric effect, secondary electrode emission from the anode, and field emission from the cathode.

  3. Progressive age-dependence and frequency difference in the effect of gap junctions on active cochlear amplification and hearing.

    PubMed

    Zong, Liang; Chen, Jin; Zhu, Yan; Zhao, Hong-Bo

    2017-07-22

    Mutations of Connexin 26 (Cx26, GJB2), which is a predominant gap junction isoform in the cochlea, can induce high incidence of nonsyndromic hearing loss. We previously found that targeted-deletion of Cx26 in supporting Deiters cells and outer pillar cells in the cochlea can influence outer hair cell (OHC) electromotility and reduce active cochlear amplification leading to hearing loss, even though there are no gap junction connexin expressions in the auditory sensory hair cells. Here, we further report that hearing loss and the reduction of active amplification in the Cx26 targeted-deletion mice are progressive and different at high and low frequency regions, first occurring in the high frequency region and then progressively extending to the middle and low frequency regions with mouse age increased. The speed of hearing loss extending was fast in the basal high frequency region and slow in the apical low frequency region, showing a logarithmic function with mouse age. Before postnatal day 25, there were no significant hearing loss and the reduction of active cochlear amplification in the low frequency region. Hearing loss and the reduction of active cochlear amplification also had frequency difference, severe and large in the high frequency regions. These new data indicate that the effect of gap junction on active cochlear amplification is progressive, but, consistent with our previous report, exists in both high and low frequency regions in adulthood. These new data also suggest that cochlear gap junctions may have an important role in age-related hearing loss. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  4. A Polarization-Dependent Normal Incident Quantum Cascade Detector Enhanced Via Metamaterial Resonators.

    PubMed

    Wang, Lei; Zhai, Shen-Qiang; Wang, Feng-Jiao; Liu, Jun-Qi; Liu, Shu-Man; Zhuo, Ning; Zhang, Chuan-Jin; Wang, Li-Jun; Liu, Feng-Qi; Wang, Zhan-Guo

    2016-12-01

    The design, fabrication, and characterization of a polarization-dependent normal incident quantum cascade detector coupled via complementary split-ring metamaterial resonators in the infrared regime are presented. The metamaterial structure is designed through three-dimensional finite-difference time-domain method and fabricated on the top metal contact, which forms a double-metal waveguide together with the metallic ground plane. With normal incidence, significant enhancements of photocurrent response are obtained at the metamaterial resonances compared with the 45° polished edge coupling device. The photocurrent response enhancements exhibit clearly polarization dependence, and the largest response enhancement factor of 165% is gained for the incident light polarized parallel to the split-ring gap.

  5. Incidence of Self-Reported Interpersonal Violence Related Physical Injury in Iran

    PubMed Central

    Salamati, Payman; Rahimi-Movaghar, Afarin; Motevalian, Seyed Abbas; Amin-Esmaeili, Masoumeh; Sharifi, Vandad; Hajebi, Ahmad; Rad Goodarzi, Reza; Hefazi, Mitra; Naji, Zohrehsadat; Saadat, Soheil; Rahimi-Movaghar, Vafa

    2015-01-01

    Background: Violence is the cause of death for 1.5 million people in a year. Objectives: Our study aimed to estimate the incidence rate of self-reported interpersonal violence related physical injury (VRPI) and its associated factors in Iran. Patients and Methods: The sample included people ranged from 15 to 64 years old who were residing in Iran. A total of 1525 clusters were selected from the whole country. Six families were selected from each cluster via a systematic random sampling method. Then, the residential units were identified and the interviewers contacted the inhabitants. In the next step, one of the family members was selected by using Kish grid method. The instrument was a researcher-made questionnaire and consisted of two sections; demographics and project related data. Face validity and content validity of our questionnaire were investigated based on expert opinions and the reliability was confirmed by a pilot study, as well. The inclusion criteria were considered for choosing the interviewers. An interviewer was assigned for each 42 participants (7 clusters). An educational seminar was held for the administrative managers (54 persons) and interviewers (230 persons) for a week. The field work was distributed among all 46 Medical Sciences universities in Iran. In each university, administrative issues were related to an executive director. Mann-Whitney U test and odds ratio were used to analyze the data with 95% confidence interval. α value was considered less than 5%. Results: The frequency of VRPI among 7886 participants was 24 during the last three months. The incidence rate of interpersonal VRPI was estimated at 3.04 per 1000 population (95% CI: 2.66-3.42) during a three-month interval in Iran. The incidence was 4.72 per 1000 population (95% CI: 4.01-5.43) for males and 1.78 per 1000 population (95% CI: 1.39-2.17) for females during a three-month interval. The mean (SD) of age of the participants with and without a history of VRPI were 26.5 (7

  6. Estimation of photonic band gap in the hollow core cylindrical multilayer structure

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Chourasia, Ritesh Kumar; Singh, Vivek

    2018-04-01

    The propagation characteristic of two hollow core cylindrical multilayer structures having high and low refractive index contrast of cladding regions have been studied and compared at two design wavelengths i.e. 1550 nm and 632.8 nm. With the help of transfer matrix method a relation between the incoming light wave and outgoing light wave has been developed using the boundary matching technique. In high refractive index contrast, small numbers of layers are sufficient to provide perfect band gap in both design wavelengths. The spectral position and width of band gap is highly depending on the optical path of incident light in all considered cases. For sensing application, the sensitivity of waveguide can be obtained either by monitoring the width of photonic band gap or by monitoring the spectral shift of photonic band gap. Change in the width of photonic band gap with the core refractive index is larger in high refractive index contrast of cladding materials. However, in the case of monitoring the spectral shift of band gap, the obtained sensitivity is large for low refractive index contrast of cladding materials and further it increases with increase of design wavelength.

  7. Mind the Gap: Evaluation Report and Executive Summary

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Dorsett, Richard; Rienzo, Cinzia; Rolfe, Heather; Burns, Helen; Robertson, Barbara-Anne; Thorpe, Benjamin; Wall, Kate

    2014-01-01

    Mind the Gap sought to improve the metacognition and academic attainment of pupils in Year 4. There were two aspects to the intervention. The first involved training teachers in how to embed metacognitive approaches in their work, and how to continue to effectively and strategically involve parents. This training took place over a day and was…

  8. Implications from Under-reporting at Lifetime, Death Certificate Notifications and Trace-back on the Recorded Incidence of a "Newly" Established Population-based Cancer Registry.

    PubMed

    Holleczek, B; Brenner, H

    2016-01-01

    Population-based cancer registries (CRs) are powerful tools for measuring cancer burden and progress against cancer. The study's objective was to investigate the effects of under-reporting at lifetime, death certificate notifications, and trace-back on the incidence a newly established population-based CR may record during its initial 15 years of operation. Using cancer data of nine CRs of the SEER programme we performed model calculations to investigate temporal trends of the recorded incidence that might be expected if registration started in 1995 with gradually increasing proportions of cancers reported to the CR. It was assumed that the CR obtains all death certificates providing cancer as the underlying cause of death. Different scenarios with regard to the development of the proportions of cancers reported to the CR and the use of trace-back were evaluated. Our model calculations demonstrated that the inclusion of cancers notified from death certificates which were diagnosed prior to the start of registration and which attribute to the incidence estimates of the year of death ('prevalent' cases) may compensate under-reporting typically observed right after the start of a CR. The recorded incidence may even be overestimated during the first years of registration, if large amounts of prevalent cancers are notified from death certificates (e.g. overestimation of lung cancer incidence by 8% and 21% in the first year of registration, if the proportions of cases reported were 50% and 70% in that year, overestimation of myeloma incidence still exceeding 5% after eight years of registration, if the proportion of cases reported to the CR had reached 97.5% after six years). Trace-back may effectively reduce the recorded surplus cancer cases. During the initial years of registration, the inclusion of prevalent cancers from death certificates may compensate the higher amount of underreporting right after the start of a CR. Accurate incidence estimates may nevertheless be

  9. Using Critical Incident Reporting to Promote Objectivity and Self-Knowledge in Pre-Service School Psychologists

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Griffin, Maureen L.; Scherr, Tracey G.

    2010-01-01

    This longitudinal project consisted of exploring the usefulness of Critical Incident Reporting (CIR) as an instructional tool (Griffin, 2003) to first increase objectivity and self-knowledge among practicum students and then to guide practices when those students became interns the following academic year. Analysis included 120 CIRs written by 15…

  10. The New State Achievement Gap: How Federal Waivers Could Make It Worse--or Better. Education Sector Reports

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Chubb, John; Clark, Constance

    2013-01-01

    With the adoption of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) in 2002, the federal government signaled its intention to close achievement gaps in K-12 education, particularly for minority students. While there has been surprising progress in educating disadvantaged students since the law was passed, according to a new report released today by Education…

  11. Analysis of Aviation Safety Reporting System Incident Data Associated with the Technical Challenges of the System-Wide Safety and Assurance Technologies Project

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Withrow, Colleen A.; Reveley, Mary S.

    2015-01-01

    The Aviation Safety Program (AvSP) System-Wide Safety and Assurance Technologies (SSAT) Project asked the AvSP Systems and Portfolio Analysis Team to identify SSAT-related trends. SSAT had four technical challenges: advance safety assurance to enable deployment of NextGen systems; automated discovery of precursors to aviation safety incidents; increasing safety of human-automation interaction by incorporating human performance, and prognostic algorithm design for safety assurance. This report reviews incident data from the NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (ASRS) for system-component-failure- or-malfunction- (SCFM-) related and human-factor-related incidents for commercial or cargo air carriers (Part 121), commuter airlines (Part 135), and general aviation (Part 91). The data was analyzed by Federal Aviation Regulations (FAR) part, phase of flight, SCFM category, human factor category, and a variety of anomalies and results. There were 38 894 SCFM-related incidents and 83 478 human-factorrelated incidents analyzed between January 1993 and April 2011.

  12. Evaluation of Incident Detection Methodologies

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    1999-10-01

    Original Report Date: October 1998. The detection of freeway incidents is an essential element of an area's traffic management system. Incidents need to be detected and handled as promptly as possible to minimize delay to the public. Various algorith...

  13. Childhood cancer incidence patterns by race, sex and age for 2000-2006: a report from the South African National Cancer Registry.

    PubMed

    Erdmann, Friederike; Kielkowski, Danuta; Schonfeld, Sara J; Kellett, Patricia; Stanulla, Martin; Dickens, Caroline; Kaatsch, Peter; Singh, Elvira; Schüz, Joachim

    2015-06-01

    Higher childhood cancer incidence rates are generally reported for high income countries although high quality information on descriptive patterns of childhood cancer incidence for low or middle income countries is limited, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa. There is a need to quantify global differences by cancer types, and to investigate whether they reflect true incidence differences or can be attributed to under-diagnosis or under-reporting. For the first time, we describe childhood cancer data reported to the pathology report-based National Cancer Registry of South Africa in 2000-2006 and compare our results to incidence data from Germany, a high income country. The overall age-standardized incidence rate (ASR) for South Africa in 2000-2006 was 45.7 per million children. We observed substantial differences by cancer types within South Africa by racial group; ASRs tended to be 3-4-fold higher in South African Whites compared to Blacks. ASRs among both Black and White South Africans were generally lower than those from Germany with the greatest differences observed between the Black population in South Africa and Germany, although there was marked variation between cancer types. Age-specific rates were particularly low comparing South African Whites and Blacks with German infants. Overall, patterns across South African population groups and in comparison to Germans were similar for boys and girls. Genetic and environmental reasons may probably explain rather a small proportion of the observed differences. More research is needed to understand the extent to which under-ascertainment and under-diagnosis of childhood cancers drives differences in observed rates. © 2014 UICC.

  14. The subsidiary gap as a means for improving ignition

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Gorton, W S

    1920-01-01

    This report was prepared at the Bureau of Standards for the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics. Additional or subsidiary gaps have frequently been used in jump-spark ignition systems, in order to cause the resumption of sparking in fouled spark plugs. The series gap, to which the greater part of this report is devoted, is a subsidiary gap in the connection between the high tension terminal of the plug and that of the magneto or coil. A brief account is given of the use of this gap up to the present time and also of the statements concerning it which have gained some currency, most of which are shown to be erroneous. The simple theory of the action of the series gap is discussed and a detailed account given of the effect upon the sparking ability of the plug produced by changes in the values of the electrical resistance of the fouling and of the capacities in parallel with the plug and with the magneto or coil. This report presents the results of an investigation into the utility, action, and design of the auxiliary spark gap as a means for insuring freedom from spark plug failure due to fouling, and also to enable the restarting of fouled plugs.

  15. Tunable sub-gap radiation detection with superconducting resonators

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Dupré, O.; Benoît, A.; Calvo, M.; Catalano, A.; Goupy, J.; Hoarau, C.; Klein, T.; Le Calvez, K.; Sacépé, B.; Monfardini, A.; Levy-Bertrand, F.

    2017-04-01

    We have fabricated planar amorphous indium oxide superconducting resonators ({T}{{c}}˜ 2.8 K) that are sensitive to frequency-selective radiation in the range of 7-10 GHz. Those values lay far below twice the superconducting gap that is worth about 200 GHz. The photon detection consists in a shift of the fundamental resonance frequency. We show that the detected frequency can be adjusted by modulating the total length of the superconducting resonator. We attribute those observations to the excitation of higher-order resonance modes. The coupling between the fundamental lumped and the higher order distributed resonance is due to the kinetic inductance nonlinearity with current. These devices, that we have called sub-gap kinetic inductance detectors, are to be distinguished from the standard kinetic inductance detectors in which quasi-particles are generated when incident light breaks down Cooper pairs.

  16. Incidence of bruxism in TMD population.

    PubMed

    Chandwani, Briesh; Ceneviz, Caroline; Mehta, Noshir; Scrivani, Steven

    2011-01-01

    The objective of the study presented here was to examine the incidence of bruxism in patients suffering from temporomandibular disorders. Two cohorts of patients suffering from temporomandibular disorders were evaluated. One group, composed of 163 patients, was asked specifically about the occurrence of bruxism, while the other group, composed of 200 patients, was not specifically asked about bruxism (self-reporting). The incidence of bruxism was only 20.5% for the group that only self-reported bruxism, while the incidence was 65% when asked specifically about bruxism. It is critical to ask specifically about bruxism. Patients are more likely to report bruxism when asked specifically about it. It is important to incorporate this as part of a TMD evaluation.

  17. Temporal Trends in Sex Differences With Regard to Stroke Incidence: The Dijon Stroke Registry (1987-2012).

    PubMed

    Giroud, Marie; Delpont, Benoit; Daubail, Benoit; Blanc, Christelle; Durier, Jérôme; Giroud, Maurice; Béjot, Yannick

    2017-04-01

    We evaluated temporal trends in stroke incidence between men and women to determine whether changes in the distribution of vascular risk factors have influenced sex differences in stroke epidemiology. Patients with first-ever stroke including ischemic stroke, spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage, subarachnoid hemorrhage, and undetermined stroke between 1987 and 2012 were identified through the population-based registry of Dijon, France. Incidence rates were calculated for age groups, sex, and stroke subtypes. Sex differences and temporal trends (according to 5-year time periods) were evaluated by calculating incidence rate ratios (IRRs) with Poisson regression. Four thousand six hundred and fourteen patients with a first-ever stroke (53.1% women) were recorded. Incidence was lower in women than in men (112 versus 166 per 100 000/y; IRR, 0.68; P <0.001), especially in age group 45 to 84 years, and for both ischemic stroke and intracerebral hemorrhage. From 1987 to 2012, the lower incidence of overall stroke in women was stable (IRR ranging between 0.63 and 0.72 according to study periods). When considering stroke subtype, a slight increase in the incidence of ischemic stroke was observed in both men (IRR, 1.011; 95% confidence interval, 1.005-1.016; P =0.001) and women (IRR, 1.013; 95% confidence interval, 1.007-1.018; P =0.001). The sex gap in incidence remained unchanged in ischemic stroke and intracerebral hemorrhage. Conversely, the lower subarachnoid hemorrhage incidence in women vanished with time because of an increasing incidence. The sex gap in stroke incidence did not change with time except for subarachnoid hemorrhage. Despite lower rates, more women than men experience an incident stroke each year because of a longer life expectancy. © 2017 American Heart Association, Inc.

  18. Workplace interpersonal conflicts among the healthcare workers: Retrospective exploration from the institutional incident reporting system of a university-affiliated medical center.

    PubMed

    Jerng, Jih-Shuin; Huang, Szu-Fen; Liang, Huey-Wen; Chen, Li-Chin; Lin, Chia-Kuei; Huang, Hsiao-Fang; Hsieh, Ming-Yuan; Sun, Jui-Sheng

    2017-01-01

    There have been concerns about the workplace interpersonal conflict (WIC) among healthcare workers. As healthcare organizations have applied the incident reporting system (IRS) widely for safety-related incidents, we proposed that this system might provide a channel to explore the WICs. We retrospectively reviewed the reports to the IRS from July 2010 to June 2013 in a medical center. We identified the WICs and typed these conflicts according to the two foci (task content/process and interpersonal relationship) and the three properties (disagreement, interference, and negative emotion), and analyzed relevant data. Of the 147 incidents with WIC, the most common related processes were patient transfer (20%), laboratory tests (17%), surgery (16%) and medical imaging (16%). All of the 147 incidents with WIC focused on task content or task process, but 41 (27.9%) also focused on the interpersonal relationship. We found disagreement, interference, and negative emotion in 91.2%, 88.4%, and 55.8% of the cases, respectively. Nurses (57%) were most often the reporting workers, while the most common encounter was the nurse-doctor interaction (33%), and the majority (67%) of the conflicts were experienced concurrently with the incidents. There was a significant difference in the distribution of worker job types between cases focused on the interpersonal relationship and those without (p = 0.0064). The doctors were more frequently as the reporter when the conflicts focused on the interpersonal relationship (34.1%) than not on it (17.0%). The distributions of worker job types were similar between those with and without negative emotion (p = 0.125). The institutional IRS is a useful place to report the workplace interpersonal conflicts actively. The healthcare systems need to improve the channels to communicate, manage and resolve these conflicts.

  19. Workplace interpersonal conflicts among the healthcare workers: Retrospective exploration from the institutional incident reporting system of a university-affiliated medical center

    PubMed Central

    Huang, Szu-Fen; Liang, Huey-Wen; Chen, Li-Chin; Lin, Chia-Kuei; Huang, Hsiao-Fang; Hsieh, Ming-Yuan; Sun, Jui-Sheng

    2017-01-01

    Objective There have been concerns about the workplace interpersonal conflict (WIC) among healthcare workers. As healthcare organizations have applied the incident reporting system (IRS) widely for safety-related incidents, we proposed that this system might provide a channel to explore the WICs. Methods We retrospectively reviewed the reports to the IRS from July 2010 to June 2013 in a medical center. We identified the WICs and typed these conflicts according to the two foci (task content/process and interpersonal relationship) and the three properties (disagreement, interference, and negative emotion), and analyzed relevant data. Results Of the 147 incidents with WIC, the most common related processes were patient transfer (20%), laboratory tests (17%), surgery (16%) and medical imaging (16%). All of the 147 incidents with WIC focused on task content or task process, but 41 (27.9%) also focused on the interpersonal relationship. We found disagreement, interference, and negative emotion in 91.2%, 88.4%, and 55.8% of the cases, respectively. Nurses (57%) were most often the reporting workers, while the most common encounter was the nurse-doctor interaction (33%), and the majority (67%) of the conflicts were experienced concurrently with the incidents. There was a significant difference in the distribution of worker job types between cases focused on the interpersonal relationship and those without (p = 0.0064). The doctors were more frequently as the reporter when the conflicts focused on the interpersonal relationship (34.1%) than not on it (17.0%). The distributions of worker job types were similar between those with and without negative emotion (p = 0.125). Conclusions The institutional IRS is a useful place to report the workplace interpersonal conflicts actively. The healthcare systems need to improve the channels to communicate, manage and resolve these conflicts. PMID:28166260

  20. The incidence of prostate cancer in Iran: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

    PubMed

    Hassanipour, Soheil; Fathalipour, Mohammad; Salehiniya, Hamid

    2018-06-01

    Prostate cancer is one of the most common cancers among men. There are various estimates of prostate cancer incidence from different geographical areas in Iran. In addition, no systematic reviews are available regarding the incidence rate of prostate cancer in Iran. Therefore, the present systematic review aimed to address this epidemiological gap. This systematic review was performed based on the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses in July 2017. In doing so, the researchers searched Medline/PubMed, Scopus, Embase, ScienceDirect, and Google Scholar for international articles and four Iranian databases (Scientific Information Database, MagIran, IranMedex, and IranDoc) for Persian articles. A total of 274 titles were retrieved in the initial search of the databases. Further refinement and screening of the retrieved studies produced a total of 21 studies. Based on the random-effect model, the age-standardized rate of prostate cancer was 9.11 and 95% confidence interval was 8.19-10.04. Besides, the results of Cochran's test indicated the heterogeneity of the studies (Q = 1457.8, df = 46.0, I 2  = 96.8%, P  < 0.001). The incidence of prostate cancer was lower in Iran than in the other parts of the world. Yet, establishing cancer registries covering a broader perspective of the population and conducting further studies are required to map out the exact incidence rate and trend of prostate cancer in Iran.

  1. Incident reporting to BfArM - regulatory framework, results and challenges.

    PubMed

    Seidel, Robin; Stößlein, Ekkehard; Lauer, Wolfgang

    2016-04-01

    Medical devices are manifold and one of the most innovative fields of technology. As technologies advance, former limits cease to exist and complex devices become reality. Medical devices represent a very dynamic field with high economic relevance. The manufacturer of a medical device is obliged to minimize product-related risks as well as to demonstrate compliance with the so-called "essential requirements" regarding safety and performance before placing the device on the market. Any critical incident in relation to the application of a medical device has to be reported to the competent authority for risk assessment, which in Germany is either the Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices (BfArM) or the Paul Ehrlich Institute (PEI) depending on the type of device. In this article, the German regulatory framework for medical devices and the resulting tasks for BfArM are described as well as the topics of its recently installed research and development group on prospective risk identification and application safety for medical devices. Results of failure mode and root cause analyses of incident data are presented as well as further data on cases with the result "root-cause analysis not possible". Finally an outlook is given on future challenges regarding risk assessment for medical devices.

  2. Masking in reports of "most serious" events: bias in estimators of sports injury incidence in Canadian children.

    PubMed

    Gupta, A; Davidson, C M; McIsaac, M A

    2016-08-01

    Surveys that collect information on injuries often focus on the single "most serious" event to help limit recall error and reduce survey length. However, this can mask less serious injuries and result in biased incidence estimates for specific injury subcategories. Data from the 2002 Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) survey and from the Canadian Hospitals Injury Reporting and Prevention Program (CHIRPP) were used to compare estimates of sports injury incidence in Canadian children. HBSC data indicate that 6.7% of children report sustaining a sports injury that required an emergency department (ED) visit. However, details were only collected on a child's "most serious" injury, so children who had multiple injuries requiring an ED visit may have had sports injuries that went unreported. The rate of 6.7% can be seen to be an underestimate by as much as 4.3%. Corresponding CHIRPP surveillance data indicate an incidence of 9.9%. Potential masking bias is also highlighted in our analysis of injuries attended by other health care providers. The "one most serious injury" line of questioning induces potentially substantial masking bias in the estimation of sports injury incidence, which limits researchers' ability to quantify the burden of sports injury. Longer survey recall periods naturally lead to greater masking. The design of future surveys should take these issues into account. In order to accurately inform policy decisions and the direction of future research, researchers must be aware of these limitations.

  3. Tuberculosis DALY-Gap: Spatial and Quantitative Comparison of Disease Burden Across Urban Slum and Non-slum Census Tracts.

    PubMed

    Marlow, Mariel A; Maciel, Ethel Leonor Noia; Sales, Carolina Maia Martins; Gomes, Teresa; Snyder, Robert E; Daumas, Regina Paiva; Riley, Lee W

    2015-08-01

    To quantitatively assess disease burden due to tuberculosis between populations residing in and outside of urban informal settlements in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, we compared disability-adjusted life years (DALYs), or "DALY-gap." Using the 2010 Brazilian census definition of informal settlements as aglomerados subnormais (AGSN), we allocated tuberculosis (TB) DALYs to AGSN vs non-AGSN census tracts based on geocoded addresses of TB cases reported to the Brazilian Information System for Notifiable Diseases in 2005 and 2010. DALYs were calculated based on the 2010 Global Burden of Disease methodology. DALY-gap was calculated as the difference between age-adjusted DALYs/100,000 population between AGSN and non-AGSN. Total TB DALY in Rio in 2010 was 16,731 (266 DALYs/100,000). DALYs were higher in AGSN census tracts (306 vs 236 DALYs/100,000), yielding a DALY-gap of 70 DALYs/100,000. Attributable DALY fraction for living in an AGSN was 25.4%. DALY-gap was highest for males 40-59 years of age (501 DALYs/100,000) and in census tracts with <60% electricity (12,327 DALYs/100,000). DALY-gap comparison revealed spatial and quantitative differences in TB burden between slum vs non-slum census tracts that were not apparent using traditional measures of incidence and mortality. This metric could be applied to compare TB burden or burden for other diseases in mega-cities with large informal settlements for more targeted resource allocation and evaluation of intervention programs.

  4. Closing the mycetoma knowledge gap.

    PubMed

    van de Sande, Wendy; Fahal, Ahmed; Ahmed, Sarah Abdalla; Serrano, Julian Alberto; Bonifaz, Alexandro; Zijlstra, Ed

    2018-04-01

    On 28th May 2016, mycetoma was recognized as a neglected tropical disease by the World Health Organization. This was the result of a 4-year journey starting in February 2013 with a meeting of global mycetoma experts. Knowledge gaps were identified and included the incidence, prevalence, and mapping of mycetoma; the mode of transmission; the development of methods for early diagnosis; and better treatment. In this review, we review the road to recognition, the ISHAM working group meeting in Argentina, and we address the progress made in closing the knowledge gaps since 2013. Progress included adding another 9000 patients to the literature, which allowed us to update the prevalence map on mycetoma. Furthermore, based on molecular phylogeny, species names were corrected and four novel mycetoma causative agents were identified. By mapping mycetoma causative agents an association with Acacia trees was found. For early diagnosis, three different isothermal amplification techniques were developed, and novel antigens were discovered. To develop better treatment strategies for mycetoma patients, in vitro susceptibility tests for the coelomycete agents of black grain mycetoma were developed, and the first randomized clinical trial for eumycetoma started early 2017.

  5. Retreatment with Pegloticase after a Gap in Therapy in Patients with Gout: A Report of Four Cases.

    PubMed

    Morton, Allan H; Hosey, Tony; LaMoreaux, Brian

    2018-05-03

    Pegloticase, a potent uricolytic biologic enzyme, has been shown to be an effective therapeutic option in patients with uncontrolled gout. However, there are limited data on clinical response after a gap in therapy and retreatment with pegloticase. This report describes four patients with chronic gout who were successfully managed with pegloticase and were retreated following a gap in therapy. Patient charts from a practice-based rheumatology clinic were retrospectively analyzed; four male patients, aged 70-75 years, with chronic gout and a more than 4-week gap in pegloticase therapy were reviewed. Before pegloticase treatment, patients had received allopurinol or febuxostat, but they continued exhibiting symptoms, including visible tophi and serum uric acid (SUA) levels of 5.2-10.2 mg/dL (309-607 μmol/L), despite oral urate-lowering therapy. The first pegloticase treatment (8-mg infusion every 2 weeks) lasted 22-124 weeks. Pegloticase resolved tophi and improved SUA to below 1.5 mg/dL (less than 89 μmol/L); however, patients discontinued pegloticase because of symptom resolution, poor adherence, or personal reasons. Following treatment gaps (12-156 weeks), symptoms and SUA levels increased and patients were retreated with pegloticase (4-147 weeks). In three of four patients, reinitiating pegloticase lowered SUA levels to below 1.0 mg/dL (less than 59 μmol/L) and resolved symptoms. One patient experienced an infusion reaction and discontinued; no infusion reactions, gout flares, or adverse events occurred among the other three patients. Retreatment with pegloticase after a gap in therapy appears to be an effective and tolerated option in prior responders. Horizon Pharma.

  6. [Which definition and taxonomy of incident to use for a French reporting system in primary care settings?].

    PubMed

    Keriel-Gascou, M; Brami, J; Chanelière, M; Haeringer-Cholet, A; Larrieu, C; Villebrun, F; Robert, T; Michel, P

    2014-02-01

    There is no widely accepted definition of incident for primary care doctors in France and no taxonomic classification system for epidemiological use. In preparation for a future epidemiological study on primary care incidents in France (the ESPRIT study), this work was designed to identify the definitions and taxonomic classifications used internationally along with the usual methods and results in terms of frequency in the literature. The goal was to determine a French definition and taxonomy. Systematic review of the literature and consensus methods. An exhaustive search of epidemiological surveys was performed. A structured grid was used. After having identified the definitions used in the literature, a definition was chosen using the focus groups method. Taxonomies identified in the literature were classified by relationship, architecture, code number, and number of studies published. Subsequently, a consensus among experts, who independently tested these taxonomies on six incidents, was reached for choosing the most appropriate for epidemiological data collection (little information on a large number of cases). Twenty-four papers reporting 17 studies were selected among 139 articles. Five definitions and eight taxonomies were found. The chosen definition of incident was based on the WHO definition "A patient safety incident is an event or circumstance that could have resulted, or did result, in harm to a patient, and whose wish it is not repeated again". The test of incidents resulted in the choice of the TAPS version of the International Taxonomy of Medical Error in Primary Care for a reproducible and internationally recognized codification and the tempos method for its current use in French general practice. The definitions, taxonomies, data collection characteristics and frequency of incidents results in the international literature on incidents in primary care are key components for the preparation of an epidemiological survey on incidents in primary care

  7. International recommendations for national patient safety incident reporting systems: an expert Delphi consensus-building process.

    PubMed

    Howell, Ann-Marie; Burns, Elaine M; Hull, Louise; Mayer, Erik; Sevdalis, Nick; Darzi, Ara

    2017-02-01

    Patient safety incident reporting systems (PSRS) have been established for over a decade, but uncertainty remains regarding the role that they can and ought to play in quantifying healthcare-related harm and improving care. To establish international, expert consensus on the purpose of PSRS regarding monitoring and learning from incidents and developing recommendations for their future role. After a scoping review of the literature, semi-structured interviews with experts in PSRS were conducted. Based on these findings, a survey-based questionnaire was developed and subsequently completed by a larger expert panel. Using a Delphi approach, consensus was reached regarding the ideal role of PSRSs. Recommendations for best practice were devised. Forty recommendations emerged from the Delphi procedure on the role and use of PSRS. Experts agreed reporting system should not be used as an epidemiological tool to monitor the rate of harm over time or to appraise the relative safety of hospitals. They agreed reporting is a valuable mechanism for identifying organisational safety needs. The benefit of a national system was clear with respect to medication error, device failures, hospital-acquired infections and never events as these problems often require solutions at a national level. Experts recommended training for senior healthcare professionals in incident investigation. Consensus recommendation was for hospitals to take responsibility for creating safety solutions locally that could be shared nationally. We obtained reasonable consensus among experts on aims and specifications of PSRS. This information can be used to reflect on existing and future PSRS, and their role within the wider patient safety landscape. The role of PSRS as instruments for learning needs to be elaborated and developed further internationally. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/.

  8. Strategies for Closing the ITRS Funding Gap

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2008-08-01

    The semiconductor industry needs to find creative ways to close the $1.1 – 1.5B research gap , first noted in 2003, between the funding being...2008 2. REPORT TYPE 3. DATES COVERED 00-00-2008 to 00-00-2008 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE Strategies for Closing the ITRS Funding Gap 5a. CONTRACT...Rev. 8-98) Prescribed by ANSI Std Z39-18 STRATEGIES FOR CLOSING THE ITRS FUNDING GAP # Yaw S. Obeng, Stephen Knight, and Joaquin V. Martinez de

  9. Comparing Electronic News Media Reports of Potential Bioterrorism-Related Incidents Involving Unknown White Powder to Reports Received by the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Federal Bureau of Investigation: USA, 2009–2011

    PubMed Central

    Fajardo, Geroncio C.; Posid, Joseph; Papagiotas, Stephen; Lowe, Luis

    2015-01-01

    There have been periodic electronic news media reports of potential bioterrorism-related incidents involving unknown substances (often referred to as “white powder”) since the 2001 intentional dissemination of Bacillus anthracis through the US Postal System. This study reviewed the number of unknown “white powder” incidents reported online by the electronic news media and compared them with unknown “white powder” incidents reported to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) during a two-year period from June 1, 2009 and May 31, 2011. Results identified 297 electronic news media reports, 538 CDC reports, and 384 FBI reports of unknown “white powder.” This study showed different unknown “white powder” incidents captured by each of the three sources. However, the authors could not determine the public health implications of this discordance. PMID:25420771

  10. Changes in reports and incidence of child abuse following natural disasters.

    PubMed

    Curtis, T; Miller, B C; Berry, E H

    2000-09-01

    The aim of this research was to investigate if there is a higher incidence of child abuse following major natural disasters. Child abuse reports and substantiations were analyzed, by county, for 1 year before and after Hurricane Hugo, the Loma Prieta Earthquake. and Hurricane Andrew. Counties were included if damage was widespread, the county was part of a presidential disaster declaration, and if there was a stable data collection system in place. Based on analyses of numbers, rates, and proportions, child abuse reports were disproportionately higher in the quarter and half year following two of the three disaster events (Hurricane Hugo and Loma Prieta Earthquake). Most, but not all, of the evidence presented indicates that child abuse escalates after major disasters. Conceptual and methodological issues need to be resolved to more conclusively answer the question about whether or not child abuse increases in the wake of natural disasters. Replications of this research are needed based on more recent disaster events.

  11. Post-incident monitoring to evaluate environmental damage from shipping incidents: chemical and biological assessments.

    PubMed

    Radović, Jagoš R; Rial, Diego; Lyons, Brett P; Harman, Christopher; Viñas, Lucia; Beiras, Ricardo; Readman, James W; Thomas, Kevin V; Bayona, Josep M

    2012-10-30

    Oil and chemical spills in the marine environment are an issue of growing concern. Oil exploration and exploitation is moving from the continental shelf to deeper waters, and to northern latitudes where the risk of an oil spill is potentially greater and may affect pristine ecosystems. Moreover, a growing number of chemical products are transported by sea and maritime incidents of hazardous and noxious substances (HNS) are expected to increase. Consequently, it seems timely to review all of the experience gained from past spills to be able to cope with appropriate response and mitigation strategies to combat future incidents. Accordingly, this overview is focused on the dissemination of the most successful approaches to both detect and assess accidental releases using chemical as well as biological approaches for spills of either oil or HNS in the marine environment. Aerial surveillance, sampling techniques for water, suspended particles, sediments and biota are reviewed. Early warning bioassays and biomarkers to assess spills are also presented. Finally, research needs and gaps in knowledge are discussed. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  12. Incidence and trends of central line associated pneumothorax using radiograph report text search versus administrative database codes.

    PubMed

    Reeson, Marc; Forster, Alan; van Walraven, Carl

    2018-05-25

    Central line associated pneumothorax (CLAP) could be a good quality of care indicator because they are objectively measured, clearly undesirable and possibly avoidable. We measured the incidence and trends of CLAP using radiograph report text search with manual review and compared them with measures using routinely collected health administrative data. For each hospitalisation to a tertiary care teaching hospital between 2002 and 2015, we searched all chest radiography reports for a central line with a sensitive computer algorithm. Screen positive reports were manually reviewed to confirm central lines. The index and subsequent chest radiography reports were screened for pneumothorax followed by manual confirmation. Diagnostic and procedural codes were used to identify CLAP in administrative data. In 685 044 hospitalisations, 10 819 underwent central line insertion (1.6%) with CLAP occurring 181 times (1.7%). CLAP risk did not change over time. Codes for CLAP were inaccurate (sensitivity 13.8%, positive predictive value 6.6%). However, overall code-based CLAP risk (1.8%) was almost identical to actual values possibly because patient strata with inflated CLAP risk were balanced by more common strata having underestimated CLAP risk. Code-based methods inflated central line incidence 2.2 times and erroneously concluded that CLAP risk decreased significantly over time. Using valid methods, CLAP incidence was similar to those in the literature but has not changed over time. Although administrative database codes for CLAP were very inaccurate, they generated CLAP risks very similar to actual values because of offsetting errors. In contrast to those from radiograph report text search with manual review, CLAP trends decreased significantly using administrative data. Hospital CLAP risk should not be measured using administrative data. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2018. All rights reserved. No commercial

  13. Cancer Incidence in Appalachia, 2004-2011.

    PubMed

    Wilson, Reda J; Ryerson, A Blythe; Singh, Simple D; King, Jessica B

    2016-02-01

    Limited literature is available about cancer in the Appalachian Region. This is the only known analysis of all cancers for Appalachia and non-Appalachia covering 100% of the US population. Appalachian cancer incidence and trends were evaluated by state, sex, and race and compared with those found in non-Appalachian regions. US counties were identified as Appalachian or non-Appalachian. Age-adjusted cancer incidence rates, standard errors, and confidence intervals were calculated using the most recent data from the United States Cancer Statistics for 2004 to 2011. Generally, Appalachia carries a higher cancer burden compared with non-Appalachia, particularly for tobacco-related cancers. For all cancer sites combined, Appalachia has higher rates regardless of sex, race, or region. The Appalachia and non-Appalachia cancer incidence gap has narrowed, with the exception of oral cavity and pharynx, larynx, lung and bronchus, and thyroid cancers. Higher cancer incidence continues in Appalachia and appears at least in part to reflect high tobacco use and potential differences in socioeconomic status, other risk factors, patient health care utilization, or provider practices. It is important to continue to evaluate this population to monitor results from screening and early detection programs, understand behavioral risk factors related to cancer incidence, increase efforts to reduce tobacco use and increase cancer screening, and identify other areas where effective interventions may mediate disparities. Surveillance and evaluation of special populations provide means to monitor screening and early detection programs, understand behavioral risk factors, and increase efforts to reduce tobacco use to mediate disparities. ©2016 American Association for Cancer Research.

  14. A well-designed online transfusion reaction reporting system improves the estimation of transfusion reaction incidence and quality of care in transfusion practice.

    PubMed

    Yeh, Su-Peng; Chang, Ci-Wen; Chen, Ju-Chuan; Yeh, Wan-Chen; Chen, Pei-Chi; Chuang, Su-Jung; Lin, Chiou-Ping; Hsu, Ling-Nu; Chen, Han-Mih; Lu, Jang-Jih; Peng, Ching-Tien

    2011-12-01

    Recognizing and reporting a transfusion reaction is important in transfusion practice. However, the actual incidence of transfusion reactions is frequently underestimated. We designed an online transfusion reaction reporting system for nurses who take care of transfusion recipients. The common management before and after transfusion and the 18 most common transfusion reactions were itemized as tick boxes. We found the overall documented incidence of transfusion reaction increased dramatically, from 0.21% to 0.61% per unit of blood, after we started using an online reporting system. Overall, 94% (30/32) of nurses took only 1 week to become familiar with the new system, and 88% (28/32) considered the new system helpful in improving the quality of clinical transfusion care. By using an intranet connection, blood bank physicians can also identify patients who are having a reaction and provide appropriate recommendations immediately. A well-designed online reporting system may improve the ability to estimate the incidence of transfusion reactions and the quality of transfusion care.

  15. Professional monitoring and critical incident reporting using personal digital assistants.

    PubMed

    Bent, Paul D; Bolsin, Stephen N; Creati, Bernie J; Patrick, Andrew J; Colson, Mark E

    2002-11-04

    To assess the practicality of using personal digital assistants (PDAs) for the collection of logbook data, procedural performance data and critical incident reports in anaesthetic trainees. Pilot study. Two tertiary referral centres (in Victoria and New Zealand) and a large district hospital in Queensland. Six accredited Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists (ANZCA) registrars and their ANZCA training supervisors. Registrars and supervisors underwent initial training for one hour, and supervisors were provided with ongoing support. Reliable use of the program, average time for data entry and number of procedures logged. ANZCA trainees reliably enter data into PDAs. The data can be transferred to a central database, where they can be remotely analysed before results are fed back to trainees. This technology can be used to monitor professional performance in ANZCA trainees.

  16. Hip fracture incidence is decreasing in the high incidence area of Oslo, Norway.

    PubMed

    Støen, R O; Nordsletten, L; Meyer, H E; Frihagen, J F; Falch, J A; Lofthus, C M

    2012-10-01

    This study reports a significant decrease in age-adjusted incidence rates of hip fracture for women in Oslo, Norway, even compared with data from 1978/1979. Use of bisphosphonate may explain up to one third of the decline in the incidence. The aims of the present study were to report the current incidence of hip fractures in Oslo and to estimate the influence of bisphosphonates on the current incidence. Using the electronic diagnosis registers and lists from the operating theaters of the hospitals of Oslo, all patients with ICD-10 codes S72.0 and S72.1 (hip fracture) in 2007 were identified. Medical records of all identified patients were reviewed to verify the diagnosis. Age- and gender-specific annual incidence rates were calculated using the population of Oslo on January 1, 2007 as the population at risk. Data on the use of bisphosphonates were obtained from official registers. A total number of 1,005 hip fractures, 712 (71%) in women, were included. The age-adjusted fracture rates per 10,000 for the age group >50 years were 82.0 for women and 39.1 for men in 2007, compared with 110.8 and 41.4 in 1996/1997, 116.5 and 42.9 in 1988/1989, and 97.5 and 34.5 in 1978/1979, respectively. It was estimated that the use of bisphosphonates may explain up to 13% of the decline in incidence in women aged 60-69 years and up to 34% in women aged 70-79 years. The incidence of hip fractures in women in Oslo has decreased significantly during the last decade and is now at a lower level than in 1978/1979. This reduction was not evident in men. The incidence of hip fractures in Oslo is, however, still the highest in the world.

  17. ABORT GAP CLEANING IN RHIC.

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    DREES,A.; AHRENS,L.; III FLILLER,R.

    2002-06-03

    During the RHIC Au-run in 2001 the 200 MHz storage cavity system was used for the first time. The rebucketing procedure caused significant beam debunching in addition to amplifying debunching due to other mechanisms. At the end of a four hour store, debunched beam could account for approximately 30%-40% of the total beam intensity. Some of it will be in the abort gap. In order to minimize the risk of magnet quenching due to uncontrolled beam losses at the time of a beam dump, a combination of a fast transverse kicker and copper collimators were used to clean the abortmore » gap. This report gives an overview of the gap cleaning procedure and the achieved performance.« less

  18. Trials and tribulations: how we established a major incident database.

    PubMed

    Hardy, S E J; Fattah, S

    2017-01-25

    We describe the process of setting up a database of major incident reports and its potential future application. A template for reporting on major incidents was developed using a consensus-based process involving a team of experts in the field. A website was set up as a platform from which to launch the template and as a database of submitted reports. This paper describes the processes involved in setting up a major incident reporting database. It describes how specific difficulties have been overcome and anticipates challenges for the future. We have successfully set up a major incident database, the main purpose of which is to have a repository of standardised major incident reports that can be analysed and compared in order to learn from them.

  19. Reported incidence and precipitating factors of work-related stress and mental ill-health in the United Kingdom (1996-2001).

    PubMed

    Cherry, Nicola M; Chen, Yiqun; McDonald, J Corbett

    2006-09-01

    Work-related mental ill-health appears to be increasing. Population-based data on incidence are scarce but in the United Kingdom occupational physicians and psychiatrists report these conditions to voluntary surveillance schemes. To estimate the incidence of work-related stress and mental illness reported 1996-2001 by occupational physicians and 1999-2001 by psychiatrists. Estimated annual average incidence rates were calculated by sex, occupation and industry against appropriate populations at risk. An in-house coding scheme was used to classify and analyse data on precipitating events. An estimated annual average of 3,624 new cases were reported by psychiatrists, and 2,718 by occupational physicians; the rates were higher for men in reports based on the former and for women on the latter. Most diagnoses were of anxiety/depression or work-related stress, with post-traumatic stress accounting for approximately 10% of cases reported by psychiatrists. High rates of ill-health were seen among professional and associated workers and in those in personal and protective services. Factors (such as work overload) intrinsic to the job and issues with interpersonal relations were the most common causes overall. The steep increase in new cases of work-related mental ill-health reported by occupational physicians since 1996 may reflect a greater willingness by workers to seek help but may also signify an increasing dissonance between workers' expectations and the work environment. Greater expertise is needed to improve the workplace by adjustment of job demands, improvement of working relations, increasing workers' capacities and management of organizational change.

  20. Chewing gum in the preoperative fasting period: an analysis of de-identified incidents reported to webAIRS.

    PubMed

    Shanmugam, S; Goulding, G; Gibbs, N M; Taraporewalla, K; Culwick, M

    2016-03-01

    The role of preoperative fasting is well established in current anaesthetic practice with different guidelines for clear fluids and food. However, chewing gum may not be categorised as either food or drink by some patients, and may not always be specified in instructions given to patients about preoperative fasting. The aim of this paper was to review anaesthesia incidents involving gum chewing reported to webAIRS to obtain information on the risks, if any, of gum chewing during the preoperative fasting period. There were nine incidents involving chewing gum reported between late 2009 and early 2015. There were no adverse outcomes from the nine incidents other than postponement of surgery in three cases and cancellation in one. In particular, there were no reports of aspiration or airway obstruction. Nevertheless, there were five cases in which the gum was not detected preoperatively and was found in the patient's mouth either intraoperatively or postoperatively. These cases of undetected gum occurred despite patient and staff compliance with their current preoperative checklists. While the risk of increased gastric secretions related to chewing gum preoperatively are not known, the potential for airway obstruction if the gum is not detected and removed preoperatively is very real. We recommend that patients should be specifically advised to avoid gum chewing once fasting from clear fluids is commenced, and that a specific question regarding the presence of chewing gum should be added to all preoperative checklists.

  1. Capability Gap Assessment - Blending Warfighter Experience with Science

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2013-02-15

    This technical report describes the gap assessment method and the results of using it. 15. SUBJECT TERMS capability gap assessment, operational risk ...29 Challenges ...approach that blends warfighter experience with science. This paper describes the process, challenges , and opportunities associated with this technique

  2. GAP-43 Gene Expression Regulates Information Storage

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Holahan, Matthew R.; Honegger, Kyle S.; Tabatadze, Nino; Routtenberg, Aryeh

    2007-01-01

    Previous reports have shown that overexpression of the growth- and plasticity-associated protein GAP-43 improves memory. However, the relation between the levels of this protein to memory enhancement remains unknown. Here, we studied this issue in transgenic mice (G-Phos) overexpressing native, chick GAP-43. These G-Phos mice could be divided at…

  3. The child sexual abuse epidemic in addis ababa: some reflections on reported incidents, psychosocial consequences and implications.

    PubMed

    Jemal, Jibril

    2012-03-01

    Though child sexual abuse is a universal phenomenon, only reported cases of the incidence are common source of information to get insight on how to understand the problem. Besides, investigating complaints presented by victims themselves would be a stepping stone for designing prevention and rehabilitation programs. The objective of this study was to identify the nature of sexual incidence and experience victims face. The research was conducted by collecting reported child sexual abuse cases from Child Protection Units of Addis Ababa Police Commission and three selected non-governmental organizations working for the welfare of sexually abused children in Addis Ababa. 64 selected samples of victim children were included from the three organizations. They completed a semi-structured questionnaire and data were analyzed. Of the total reported crime cases committed against children (between July 2005 and December 2006), 23% of them were child sexual victimization. On average, 21 children were reported to be sexually abused each month where majority of the sexual abuse incidence were committed against female children in their own home by someone they closely know. The psychological trauma and physical complaints presented by victims include symptoms of anxiety and depression. It was found out that child sexual abuse cases presented to the legal office was not properly managed. Female children appear to be more prone to sexual abuse than their male counterparts. By virtue of their nature, many children are at risk of sexual victimization by people they truest. Based on the findings, several implications are made, which includes the importance of nation-wide study to formulate a comprehensive policy guideline for protection and criminalization of child sexual abuse in Ethiopia.

  4. 49 CFR 225.19 - Primary groups of accidents/incidents.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-10-01

    ... 49 Transportation 4 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false Primary groups of accidents/incidents. 225.19... INVESTIGATIONS § 225.19 Primary groups of accidents/incidents. (a) For reporting purposes reportable railroad accidents/incidents are divided into three groups: Group I—Highway-Rail Grade Crossing; Group II—Rail...

  5. 49 CFR 225.19 - Primary groups of accidents/incidents.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-10-01

    ... 49 Transportation 4 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false Primary groups of accidents/incidents. 225.19... INVESTIGATIONS § 225.19 Primary groups of accidents/incidents. (a) For reporting purposes reportable railroad accidents/incidents are divided into three groups: Group I—Highway-Rail Grade Crossing; Group II—Rail...

  6. Stroke incidence and 30-day and six-month case fatality rates in Udine, Italy: a population-based prospective study.

    PubMed

    Janes, Francesco; Gigli, Gian Luigi; D'Anna, Lucio; Cancelli, Iacopo; Perelli, Anna; Canal, Giessica; Russo, Valentina; Zanchettin, Barbara; Valente, Mariarosaria

    2013-10-01

    Stroke incidence in high-income countries is reported to decrease, and new data on stroke incidence and outcome are needed to design stroke services and to ameliorate stroke management. This study is part of a two-year prospective community-based registry of all cerebrovascular events in the district of Udine (153,312 inhabitants), Friuli-Venezia Giulia region, northeast of Italy, between 1 April 2007 and 31 March 2009. Overlapping sources for case finding were used, combining hot and cold pursuit. We identified 784 stroke cases, 640 (81.6%) incident. The crude overall annual incidence rate per 100,000 residents was 256 (95% confidence interval 241-271) for all strokes and 209 (95% confidence interval 195-223) for first-ever strokes. Incidence rate for first-ever strokes was 181 (95% confidence interval 155-211) after adjustment to the 2007 Italian population and 104 (95% confidence interval 88-122) compared with the European standard population. Incidence rates for first-ever strokes was 215 (196-235) for women, 202 (183-223) for men. Crude annual incidence rates per 100,000 population were 167 (153-178) for ischemic stroke, 31 (26-37) for intracerebral hemorrhage, 8.1 (5.7-11.4) for sub-arachnoid hemorrhage, and 4.6 (2.8-7.1) for undetermined stroke. Overall case fatality rates for first-ever stroke were 20.6% at 28 days and 30.2% at 180 days. Our study shows incidence rates higher than previously reported in our region but not supporting the view of higher incidence rates in Northern than in Southern Italy. Results contribute to time-trends analysis on epidemiology, useful for dimensioning services in Italy and show the persistence of a gap between the outcome of stroke in Italy and that of the best performing European countries, urging to adopt better stroke management plans. © 2013 The Authors. International Journal of Stroke © 2013 World Stroke Organization.

  7. Comparative Incidence of Conformational, Neurodegenerative Disorders

    PubMed Central

    de Pedro-Cuesta, Jesús; Rábano, Alberto; Martínez-Martín, Pablo; Ruiz-Tovar, María; Alcalde-Cabero, Enrique; Almazán-Isla, Javier; Avellanal, Fuencisla; Calero, Miguel

    2015-01-01

    Background The purpose of this study was to identify incidence and survival patterns in conformational neurodegenerative disorders (CNDDs). Methods We identified 2563 reports on the incidence of eight conditions representing sporadic, acquired and genetic, protein-associated, i.e., conformational, NDD groups and age-related macular degeneration (AMD). We selected 245 papers for full-text examination and application of quality criteria. Additionally, data-collection was completed with detailed information from British, Swedish, and Spanish registries on Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) forms, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and sporadic rapidly progressing neurodegenerative dementia (sRPNDd). For each condition, age-specific incidence curves, age-adjusted figures, and reported or calculated median survival were plotted and examined. Findings Based on 51 valid reported and seven new incidence data sets, nine out of eleven conditions shared specific features. Age-adjusted incidence per million person-years increased from ≤1.5 for sRPNDd, different CJD forms and Huntington's disease (HD), to 1589 and 2589 for AMD and Alzheimer's disease (AD) respectively. Age-specific profiles varied from (a) symmetrical, inverted V-shaped curves for low incidences to (b) those increasing with age for late-life sporadic CNDDs and for sRPNDd, with (c) a suggested, intermediate, non-symmetrical inverted V-shape for fronto-temporal dementia and Parkinson's disease. Frequently, peak age-specific incidences from 20–24 to ≥90 years increased with age at onset and survival. Distinct patterns were seen: for HD, with a low incidence, levelling off at middle age, and long median survival, 20 years; and for sRPNDd which displayed the lowest incidence, increasing with age, and a short median disease duration. Interpretation These results call for a unified population view of NDDs, with an age-at-onset-related pattern for acquired and sporadic CNDDs. The pattern linking age at onset to

  8. Engineering risk assessment for emergency disposal projects of sudden water pollution incidents.

    PubMed

    Shi, Bin; Jiang, Jiping; Liu, Rentao; Khan, Afed Ullah; Wang, Peng

    2017-06-01

    Without an engineering risk assessment for emergency disposal in response to sudden water pollution incidents, responders are prone to be challenged during emergency decision making. To address this gap, the concept and framework of emergency disposal engineering risks are reported in this paper. The proposed risk index system covers three stages consistent with the progress of an emergency disposal project. Fuzzy fault tree analysis (FFTA), a logical and diagrammatic method, was developed to evaluate the potential failure during the process of emergency disposal. The probability of basic events and their combination, which caused the failure of an emergency disposal project, were calculated based on the case of an emergency disposal project of an aniline pollution incident in the Zhuozhang River, Changzhi, China, in 2014. The critical events that can cause the occurrence of a top event (TE) were identified according to their contribution. Finally, advices on how to take measures using limited resources to prevent the failure of a TE are given according to the quantified results of risk magnitude. The proposed approach could be a potential useful safeguard for the implementation of an emergency disposal project during the process of emergency response.

  9. The Use of Categorized Time-Trend Reporting of Radiation Oncology Incidents: A Proactive Analytical Approach to Improving Quality and Safety Over Time

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Arnold, Anthony, E-mail: anthony.arnold@sesiahs.health.nsw.gov.a; Delaney, Geoff P.; Cassapi, Lynette

    Purpose: Radiotherapy is a common treatment for cancer patients. Although incidence of error is low, errors can be severe or affect significant numbers of patients. In addition, errors will often not manifest until long periods after treatment. This study describes the development of an incident reporting tool that allows categorical analysis and time trend reporting, covering first 3 years of use. Methods and Materials: A radiotherapy-specific incident analysis system was established. Staff members were encouraged to report actual errors and near-miss events detected at prescription, simulation, planning, or treatment phases of radiotherapy delivery. Trend reporting was reviewed monthly. Results: Reportsmore » were analyzed for the first 3 years of operation (May 2004-2007). A total of 688 reports was received during the study period. The actual error rate was 0.2% per treatment episode. During the study period, the actual error rates reduced significantly from 1% per year to 0.3% per year (p < 0.001), as did the total event report rates (p < 0.0001). There were 3.5 times as many near misses reported compared with actual errors. Conclusions: This system has allowed real-time analysis of events within a radiation oncology department to a reduced error rate through focus on learning and prevention from the near-miss reports. Plans are underway to develop this reporting tool for Australia and New Zealand.« less

  10. Practice gaps in the care of mitral valve regurgitation: Insights from the American College of Cardiology mitral regurgitation gap analysis and advisory panel.

    PubMed

    Wang, Andrew; Grayburn, Paul; Foster, Jill A; McCulloch, Marti L; Badhwar, Vinay; Gammie, James S; Costa, Salvatore P; Benitez, Robert Michael; Rinaldi, Michael J; Thourani, Vinod H; Martin, Randolph P

    2016-02-01

    The revised 2014 American College of Cardiology (ACC)/American Heart Association valvular heart disease guidelines provide evidenced-based recommendations for the management of mitral regurgitation (MR). However, knowledge gaps related to our evolving understanding of critical MR concepts may impede their implementation. The ACC conducted a multifaceted needs assessment to characterize gaps, practice patterns, and perceptions related to the diagnosis and treatment of MR. A key project element was a set of surveys distributed to primary care and cardiovascular physicians (cardiologists and cardiothoracic surgeons). Survey and other gap analysis findings were presented to a panel of 10 expert advisors from specialties of general cardiology, cardiac imaging, interventional cardiology, and cardiac surgeons with expertise in valvular heart disease, especially MR, and cardiovascular education. The panel was charged with assessing the relative importance and potential means of remedying identified gaps to improve care for patients with MR. The survey results identified several knowledge and practice gaps that may limit implementation of evidence-based recommendations for MR care. Specifically, half of primary care physicians reported uncertainty regarding timing of intervention for patients with severe primary or functional MR. Physicians in all groups reported that quantitative indices of MR severity were frequently not reported in clinical echocardiographic interpretations, and that these measurements were not consistently reviewed when provided in reports. In the treatment of MR, nearly 30% of primary care physician and general cardiologists did not know the volume of mitral valve repair surgeries by their reference cardiac surgeons and did not have a standard source to obtain this information. After review of the survey results, the expert panel summarized practice gaps into 4 thematic areas and offered proposals to address deficiencies and promote better alignment

  11. Momentum dependence of the superconducting gap and in-gap states in MgB 2 multiband superconductor

    DOE PAGES

    Mou, Daixiang; Jiang, Rui; Taufour, Valentin; ...

    2015-06-29

    We use tunable laser-based angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy to study the electronic structure of the multiband superconductor MgB 2. These results form the baseline for detailed studies of superconductivity in multiband systems. We find that the magnitude of the superconducting gap on both σ bands follows a BCS-like variation with temperature with Δ 0 ~ 7meV. Furthermore, the value of the gap is isotropic within experimental uncertainty and in agreement with a pure s-wave pairing symmetry. We observe in-gap states confined to k F of the σ band that occur at some locations of the sample surface. As a result, themore » energy of this excitation, ~ 3 meV, was found to be somewhat larger than the previously reported gap on π Fermi sheet and therefore we cannot exclude the possibility of interband scattering as its origin.« less

  12. The role of patient simulation and incident reporting in the development and evaluation of medical devices and the training of their users.

    PubMed

    Dieckmann, P; Rall, M; Ostergaard, D

    2009-01-01

    We describe how simulation and incident reporting can be used in combination to make the interaction between people, (medical) technology and organisation safer for patients and users. We provide the background rationale for our conceptual ideas and apply the concepts to the analysis of an actual incident report. Simulation can serve as a laboratory to analyse such cases and to create relevant and effective training scenarios based on such analyses. We will describe a methodological framework for analysing simulation scenarios in a way that allows discovering and discussing mismatches between conceptual models of the device design and mental models users hold about the device and its use. We further describe how incident reporting systems can be used as one source of data to conduct the necessary needs analyses - both for training and further needs for closer analysis of specific devices or some of their special features or modes during usability analyses.

  13. How Effective Are Incident-Reporting Systems for Improving Patient Safety? A Systematic Literature Review

    PubMed Central

    Stavropoulou, Charitini; Doherty, Carole; Tosey, Paul

    2015-01-01

    Context Incident-reporting systems (IRSs) are used to gather information about patient safety incidents. Despite the financial burden they imply, however, little is known about their effectiveness. This article systematically reviews the effectiveness of IRSs as a method of improving patient safety through organizational learning. Methods Our systematic literature review identified 2 groups of studies: (1) those comparing the effectiveness of IRSs with other methods of error reporting and (2) those examining the effectiveness of IRSs on settings, structures, and outcomes in regard to improving patient safety. We used thematic analysis to compare the effectiveness of IRSs with other methods and to synthesize what was effective, where, and why. Then, to assess the evidence concerning the ability of IRSs to facilitate organizational learning, we analyzed studies using the concepts of single-loop and double-loop learning. Findings In total, we identified 43 studies, 8 that compared IRSs with other methods and 35 that explored the effectiveness of IRSs on settings, structures, and outcomes. We did not find strong evidence that IRSs performed better than other methods. We did find some evidence of single-loop learning, that is, changes to clinical settings or processes as a consequence of learning from IRSs, but little evidence of either improvements in outcomes or changes in the latent managerial factors involved in error production. In addition, there was insubstantial evidence of IRSs enabling double-loop learning, that is, a cultural change or a change in mind-set. Conclusions The results indicate that IRSs could be more effective if the criteria for what counts as an incident were explicit, they were owned and led by clinical teams rather than centralized hospital departments, and they were embedded within organizations as part of wider safety programs. PMID:26626987

  14. SBAR improves communication and safety climate and decreases incident reports due to communication errors in an anaesthetic clinic: a prospective intervention study.

    PubMed

    Randmaa, Maria; Mårtensson, Gunilla; Leo Swenne, Christine; Engström, Maria

    2014-01-21

    We aimed to examine staff members' perceptions of communication within and between different professions, safety attitudes and psychological empowerment, prior to and after implementation of the communication tool Situation-Background-Assessment-Recommendation (SBAR) at an anaesthetic clinic. The aim was also to study whether there was any change in the proportion of incident reports caused by communication errors. A prospective intervention study with comparison group using preassessments and postassessments. Questionnaire data were collected from staff in an intervention (n=100) and a comparison group (n=69) at the anaesthetic clinic in two hospitals prior to (2011) and after (2012) implementation of SBAR. The proportion of incident reports due to communication errors was calculated during a 1-year period prior to and after implementation. Anaesthetic clinics at two hospitals in Sweden. All licensed practical nurses, registered nurses and physicians working in the operating theatres, intensive care units and postanaesthesia care units at anaesthetic clinics in two hospitals were invited to participate. Implementation of SBAR in an anaesthetic clinic. The primary outcomes were staff members' perception of communication within and between different professions, as well as their perceptions of safety attitudes. Secondary outcomes were psychological empowerment and incident reports due to error of communication. In the intervention group, there were statistically significant improvements in the factors 'Between-group communication accuracy' (p=0.039) and 'Safety climate' (p=0.011). The proportion of incident reports due to communication errors decreased significantly (p<0.0001) in the intervention group, from 31% to 11%. Implementing the communication tool SBAR in anaesthetic clinics was associated with improvement in staff members' perception of communication between professionals and their perception of the safety climate as well as with a decreased proportion of

  15. 49 CFR 225.12 - Rail Equipment Accident/Incident Reports alleging employee human factor as cause; Employee Human...

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-10-01

    ... employee human factor as cause; Employee Human Factor Attachment; notice to employee; employee supplement..., AND INVESTIGATIONS § 225.12 Rail Equipment Accident/Incident Reports alleging employee human factor as cause; Employee Human Factor Attachment; notice to employee; employee supplement. (a) Rail Equipment...

  16. 49 CFR 225.12 - Rail Equipment Accident/Incident Reports alleging employee human factor as cause; Employee Human...

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-10-01

    ... employee human factor as cause; Employee Human Factor Attachment; notice to employee; employee supplement..., AND INVESTIGATIONS § 225.12 Rail Equipment Accident/Incident Reports alleging employee human factor as cause; Employee Human Factor Attachment; notice to employee; employee supplement. (a) Rail Equipment...

  17. Energy loss in spark gap switches

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Oreshkin, V. I., E-mail: oreshkin@ovpe.hcei.tsc.ru; Lavrinovich, I. V.; National Research Tomsk Polytechnic University, Lenin Avenue 30, 634050 Tomsk

    2014-04-15

    The paper reports on numerical study of the energy loss in spark gap switches. The operation of the switches is analyzed using the Braginsky model which allows calculation of the time dependence of the spark channel resistance. The Braginsky equation is solved simultaneously with generator circuit equations for different load types. Based on the numerical solutions, expressions which determine both the energy released in a spark gap switch and the switching time are derived.

  18. Critical steps in learning from incidents: using learning potential in the process from reporting an incident to accident prevention.

    PubMed

    Drupsteen, Linda; Groeneweg, Jop; Zwetsloot, Gerard I J M

    2013-01-01

    Many incidents have occurred because organisations have failed to learn from lessons of the past. This means that there is room for improvement in the way organisations analyse incidents, generate measures to remedy identified weaknesses and prevent reoccurrence: the learning from incidents process. To improve that process, it is necessary to gain insight into the steps of this process and to identify factors that hinder learning (bottlenecks). This paper presents a model that enables organisations to analyse the steps in a learning from incidents process and to identify the bottlenecks. The study describes how this model is used in a survey and in 3 exploratory case studies in The Netherlands. The results show that there is limited use of learning potential, especially in the evaluation stage. To improve learning, an approach that considers all steps is necessary.

  19. Comparing electronic news media reports of potential bioterrorism-related incidents involving unknown white powder to reports received by the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Federal Bureau of Investigation: U.S.A., 2009-2011.

    PubMed

    Fajardo, Geroncio C; Posid, Joseph; Papagiotas, Stephen; Lowe, Luis

    2015-01-01

    There have been periodic electronic news media reports of potential bioterrorism-related incidents involving unknown substances (often referred to as "white powder") since the 2001 intentional dissemination of Bacillus anthracis through the U.S. Postal System. This study reviewed the number of unknown "white powder" incidents reported online by the electronic news media and compared them with unknown "white powder" incidents reported to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) during a 2-year period from June 1, 2009 and May 31, 2011. Results identified 297 electronic news media reports, 538 CDC reports, and 384 FBI reports of unknown "white powder." This study showed different unknown "white powder" incidents captured by each of the three sources. However, the authors could not determine the public health implications of this discordance. Published 2014. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.

  20. Assessment of reportable disease incidence after Hurricane Sandy, New York City, 2012.

    PubMed

    Greene, Sharon K; Wilson, Elisha L; Konty, Kevin J; Fine, Annie D

    2013-10-01

    Hurricane Sandy's October 29, 2012 arrival in New York City caused flooding, power disruption, and population displacement. Infectious disease risk may have been affected by floodwater exposure, residence in emergency shelters, overcrowding, and lack of refrigeration or heating. For 42 reportable diseases that could have been affected by hurricane-related exposures, we developed methods to assess whether hurricane-affected areas had higher disease incidence than other areas of NYC. We identified post-hurricane cases as confirmed, probable, or suspected cases with onset or diagnosis between October 30 and November 26 that were reported via routine passive surveillance. Pre-hurricane cases for the same 4-week period were identified in 5 prior years, 2007-2011. Cases were geocoded to the census tract of residence. Using data compiled by the NYC Office of Emergency Management, we determined (1) the proportion of the population in each census tract living in a flooded block and (2) the subset of flooded tracts severely "impacted", e.g., by prolonged service outages or physical damage. A separate multivariable regression model was constructed for each disease, modeling the outcome of case counts using a negative binomial distribution. Independent variables were: neighborhood poverty; whether cases were pre- or post-hurricane (time); the proportion of the population flooded in impacted and not impacted tracts; and interaction terms between the flood/impact variables and time. Models used repeated measures to adjust for correlated observations from the same tract and an offset term of the log of the population size. Sensitivity analyses assessed the effects of case count fluctuations and accounted for variations in reporting volume by using an offset term of the log of total cases. Only legionellosis was statistically significantly associated with increased occurrence in flooded/impacted areas post-hurricane, adjusting for baseline differences (P = .04). However, there was

  1. A Grazing Incidence Spectrograph as Applied to Vacuum Ultraviolet, Soft X-Ray, Pulsed Plasma Sources.

    DTIC Science & Technology

    A 2.2-meter variable angle of incidence grazing incidence spectrograph is described for photographic recording of spectra down to 10A. Also a method for determining the absolute total fluence from a pulsed plasma source, knowing the absolute sensitivity of the instrument, is described. Spectra are presented from a low-inductance sliding spark gap and a 20-kj dense plasma focus . A program for spectram analysis is included. (Modified author abstract)

  2. Terahertz radiation-induced sub-cycle field electron emission across a split-gap dipole antenna

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Zhang, Jingdi; Averitt, Richard D., E-mail: xinz@bu.edu, E-mail: raveritt@ucsd.edu; Department of Physics, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts 02215

    We use intense terahertz pulses to excite the resonant mode (0.6 THz) of a micro-fabricated dipole antenna with a vacuum gap. The dipole antenna structure enhances the peak amplitude of the in-gap THz electric field by a factor of ∼170. Above an in-gap E-field threshold amplitude of ∼10 MV/cm{sup −1}, THz-induced field electron emission is observed as indicated by the field-induced electric current across the dipole antenna gap. Field emission occurs within a fraction of the driving THz period. Our analysis of the current (I) and incident electric field (E) is in agreement with a Millikan-Lauritsen analysis where log (I) exhibits amore » linear dependence on 1/E. Numerical estimates indicate that the electrons are accelerated to a value of approximately one tenth of the speed of light.« less

  3. The contribution of cancer incidence, stage at diagnosis and survival to racial differences in years of life expectancy.

    PubMed

    Wong, Mitchell D; Ettner, Susan L; Boscardin, W John; Shapiro, Martin F

    2009-04-01

    African Americans have higher cancer mortality rates than whites. Understanding the relative contribution of cancer incidence, stage at diagnosis and survival after diagnosis to the racial gap in life expectancy has important implications for directing future health disparity interventions toward cancer prevention, screening and treatment. We estimated the degree to which higher cancer mortality among African Americans is due to higher incidence rates, later stage at diagnosis or worse survival after diagnosis. Stochastic model of cancer incidence and survival after diagnosis. Surveillance and Epidemiology End Result cancer registry and National Health Interview Survey data. Life expectancy if African Americans had the same cancer incidence, stage and survival after diagnosis as white adults. African-American men and women live 1.47 and 0.91 fewer years, respectively, than whites as the result of all cancers combined. Among men, racial differences in cancer incidence, stage at diagnosis and survival after diagnosis account for 1.12 (95% CI: 0.52 to 1.36), 0.17 (95% CI: -0.03 to 0.33) and 0.21 (95% CI: 0.05 to 0.34) years of the racial gap in life expectancy, respectively. Among women, incidence, stage and survival after diagnosis account for 0.41 (95% CI: -0.29 to 0.60), 0.26 (95% CI: -0.06 to 0.40) and 0.31 (95% CI: 0.05 to 0.40) years, respectively. Differences in stage had a smaller impact on the life expectancy gap compared with the impact of incidence. Differences in cancer survival after diagnosis had a significant impact for only two cancers-breast (0.14 years; 95% CI: 0.05 to 0.16) and prostate (0.05 years; 95% CI 0.01 to 0.09). In addition to breast and colorectal cancer screening, national efforts to reduce disparities in life expectancy should also target cancer prevention, perhaps through smoking cessation, and differences in survival after diagnosis among persons with breast and prostate cancer.

  4. Real-time incident detection using social media data.

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    2016-05-09

    The effectiveness of traditional incident detection is often limited by sparse sensor coverage, and reporting incidents to emergency response systems : is labor-intensive. This research project mines tweet texts to extract incident information on bot...

  5. 49 CFR 225.12 - Rail Equipment Accident/Incident Reports alleging employee human factor as cause; Employee Human...

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... employee human factor as cause; Employee Human Factor Attachment; notice to employee; employee supplement... cause; Employee Human Factor Attachment; notice to employee; employee supplement. (a) Rail Equipment... Attachment. If, in reporting a rail equipment accident/incident to FRA, a railroad cites an employee human...

  6. 49 CFR 225.12 - Rail Equipment Accident/Incident Reports alleging employee human factor as cause; Employee Human...

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... employee human factor as cause; Employee Human Factor Attachment; notice to employee; employee supplement... cause; Employee Human Factor Attachment; notice to employee; employee supplement. (a) Rail Equipment... Attachment. If, in reporting a rail equipment accident/incident to FRA, a railroad cites an employee human...

  7. The incidence of the healthcare costs of smoking.

    PubMed

    Cowan, Benjamin; Schwab, Benjamin

    2011-09-01

    Smokers earn less than non-smokers, but much is still unknown about the source(s) of the smoker's wage gap. We build on the work of Bhattacharya and Bundorf (2009), who provide evidence that obese workers receive lower wages on account of their higher expected healthcare costs. Similarly, we find that smokers who hold employer-sponsored health insurance (ESI) receive significantly lower wages than their non-smoking peers, while smokers who are not insured through their employer endure no such wage penalty. Our results have two implications: first, the incidence of smokers' elevated medical costs appears to be borne by smokers themselves in the form of lower wages. Second, differences in healthcare costs between smokers and non-smokers are a significant source of the smoker's wage gap. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  8. GapBlaster-A Graphical Gap Filler for Prokaryote Genomes.

    PubMed

    de Sá, Pablo H C G; Miranda, Fábio; Veras, Adonney; de Melo, Diego Magalhães; Soares, Siomar; Pinheiro, Kenny; Guimarães, Luis; Azevedo, Vasco; Silva, Artur; Ramos, Rommel T J

    2016-01-01

    The advent of NGS (Next Generation Sequencing) technologies has resulted in an exponential increase in the number of complete genomes available in biological databases. This advance has allowed the development of several computational tools enabling analyses of large amounts of data in each of the various steps, from processing and quality filtering to gap filling and manual curation. The tools developed for gap closure are very useful as they result in more complete genomes, which will influence downstream analyses of genomic plasticity and comparative genomics. However, the gap filling step remains a challenge for genome assembly, often requiring manual intervention. Here, we present GapBlaster, a graphical application to evaluate and close gaps. GapBlaster was developed via Java programming language. The software uses contigs obtained in the assembly of the genome to perform an alignment against a draft of the genome/scaffold, using BLAST or Mummer to close gaps. Then, all identified alignments of contigs that extend through the gaps in the draft sequence are presented to the user for further evaluation via the GapBlaster graphical interface. GapBlaster presents significant results compared to other similar software and has the advantage of offering a graphical interface for manual curation of the gaps. GapBlaster program, the user guide and the test datasets are freely available at https://sourceforge.net/projects/gapblaster2015/. It requires Sun JDK 8 and Blast or Mummer.

  9. Efficient Computation of Info-Gap Robustness for Finite Element Models

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Stull, Christopher J.; Hemez, Francois M.; Williams, Brian J.

    2012-07-05

    A recent research effort at LANL proposed info-gap decision theory as a framework by which to measure the predictive maturity of numerical models. Info-gap theory explores the trade-offs between accuracy, that is, the extent to which predictions reproduce the physical measurements, and robustness, that is, the extent to which predictions are insensitive to modeling assumptions. Both accuracy and robustness are necessary to demonstrate predictive maturity. However, conducting an info-gap analysis can present a formidable challenge, from the standpoint of the required computational resources. This is because a robustness function requires the resolution of multiple optimization problems. This report offers anmore » alternative, adjoint methodology to assess the info-gap robustness of Ax = b-like numerical models solved for a solution x. Two situations that can arise in structural analysis and design are briefly described and contextualized within the info-gap decision theory framework. The treatments of the info-gap problems, using the adjoint methodology are outlined in detail, and the latter problem is solved for four separate finite element models. As compared to statistical sampling, the proposed methodology offers highly accurate approximations of info-gap robustness functions for the finite element models considered in the report, at a small fraction of the computational cost. It is noted that this report considers only linear systems; a natural follow-on study would extend the methodologies described herein to include nonlinear systems.« less

  10. Estimating the incidence reporting rates of new influenza pandemics at an early stage using travel data from the source country.

    PubMed

    Chong, K C; Fong, H F; Zee, C Y

    2014-05-01

    During the surveillance of influenza pandemics, underreported data are a public health challenge that complicates the understanding of pandemic threats and can undermine mitigation efforts. We propose a method to estimate incidence reporting rates at early stages of new influenza pandemics using 2009 pandemic H1N1 as an example. Routine surveillance data and statistics of travellers arriving from Mexico were used. Our method incorporates changes in reporting rates such as linearly increasing trends due to the enhanced surveillance. From our results, the reporting rate was estimated at 0·46% during early stages of the pandemic in Mexico. We estimated cumulative incidence in the Mexican population to be 0·7% compared to 0·003% reported by officials in Mexico at the end of April. This method could be useful in estimation of actual cases during new influenza pandemics for policy makers to better determine appropriate control measures.

  11. Gaps in tuberculosis knowledge among primary health care physicians in Croatia: epidemiological study.

    PubMed

    Jurcev Savicević, Anamarija

    2009-06-01

    High level of tuberculosis (TB) knowledge among physicians is important in order to achieve high case-finding and efficient case-management. Few attempts on how to measure physicians' TB knowledge and understanding of national TB guidelines in middle-TB incidence countries such as Croatia have been reported. Related surveys were carried out mostly in high or low incidence countries. The aim of this study was to investigate TB knowledge among general practitioners (GPs) and paediatricians in Split and Dalmatian County, Croatia and need for TB education through cross-sectional survey based on anonymous questionnaire sent to all of them and completed by 160 (60.8%) subjects. Although the median percentage of correct responses was not low (70.3%), several areas of concern were revealed. Particularly low knowledge about normal breathing as usual physical chest examination finding in pulmonary TB (43.1%), proper drugs combination in initial phase of treatment (35%), and duration of treatment (61.9%) were found. Need for education in TB control was reported in 87.9% of physicians. TB knowledge score was obtained by the number of correct answers to 14 selected questions and it was 8.18 +/- 1.84. Scores according to years of experience, number of treated TB patients and need for education, were not different from each other. Higher score was correlated with paediatricians (p = 0.025) and familiarity with existence of National guidelines (p = 0.002). This study showed gaps in knowledge among physicians being the cornerstone of TB control in Croatia. Given that the most successful intervention in TB control is early detection and early and appropriate treatment, efforts should be done to increase TB knowledge. Majority of participants were willing to take a part in education. This could be a good starting point for organisation of education activities as one of the approaches to reduce tuberculosis burden in middle incidence countries.

  12. Depression in later life: A closer look at the gender gap.

    PubMed

    Acciai, Francesco; Hardy, Melissa

    2017-11-01

    Gender differences in depressive symptoms have been extensively documented, with women reporting a higher number of depressive symptoms than men. However, studies offer different explanations for why such a gap exists. The goal of the current paper is to analyze how much of the observed gender gap in depression may be attributed to (1) compositional versus (2) reporting differences or (3) differences in reactivity to adversities. We contribute to this literature by testing, net of compositional differences, whether the relationship between reporting behavior and depressive symptoms is gendered and whether accounting for the possibility of gender-specific reactivity alters the structure of the gender gap at older ages. Our results show that the observed gender gap in depression (1) only partially derives from compositional differences; (2) is not an artifact of a gender-specific reporting style; and remarkably (3) men appear more sensitive to adversities. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  13. What have we learned from reporting safety incidents in the Surgical Block?: Cross-sectional descriptive study of two-years of activity of a multidisciplinary analytical group.

    PubMed

    Caba Barrientos, F; Rodríguez Morillo, A; Galisteo Domínguez, R; Del Nozal Nalda, M; Almeida González, C V; Echevarría Moreno, M

    2018-05-01

    Incident Reporting Systems (IRS) are considered a tool that facilitates learning and safety culture. Using the experience gained with SENSAR, we evaluated the feasibility and the activity of a multidisciplinary group analyzing incidents in the surgical patient notified to a general community system, that of the Observatory for Patient Safety (OPS). Cross-sectional observational study planned for two years. After training in the analysis, a multidisciplinary group was created in terms of specialties and professional categories, which would analyze the incidents in the surgical patient notified to the OPS. Incidents are classified and their circumstances analyzed. Between March 2015 and 2017, 95 incidents were reported (4 by non-professionals). Doctors reported more than nurses, at 54 (56.84%) vs. 37 (38.94%). The anaesthesia unit reported most at 46 (48.42%) (P=.025). The types of incidents mainly related to the care procedure (30.52%); to the preoperative period (42.10%); and to the place, the surgical area (48.42%). Significant differences were detected according to the origin of the notifier (P=.03). No harm, or minor morbidity, constituted 88% of the incidents. Errors were identified in 79%. The analysis of the incidents directed the measures to be taken. The activity undertaken by the multidisciplinary analytical group during the period of study facilitated knowledge of the system among the professionals and enabled the identification of areas for improvement in the Surgical Block at different levels. Copyright © 2017 Sociedad Española de Anestesiología, Reanimación y Terapéutica del Dolor. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

  14. Conflicting calculations of pelvic incidence and pelvic tilt secondary to transitional lumbosacral anatomy (lumbarization of S-1): case report.

    PubMed

    Crawford, Charles H; Glassman, Steven D; Gum, Jeffrey L; Carreon, Leah Y

    2017-01-01

    Advancements in the understanding of adult spinal deformity have led to a greater awareness of the role of the pelvis in maintaining sagittal balance and alignment. Pelvic incidence has emerged as a key radiographic measure and should closely match lumbar lordosis. As proper measurement of the pelvic incidence requires accurate identification of the S-1 endplate, lumbosacral transitional anatomy may lead to errors. The purpose of this study is to demonstrate how lumbosacral transitional anatomy may lead to errors in the measurement of pelvic parameters. The current case highlights one of the potential complications that can be avoided with awareness. The authors report the case of a 61-year-old man who had undergone prior lumbar surgeries and then presented with symptomatic lumbar stenosis and sagittal malalignment. Radiographs showed a lumbarized S-1. Prior numbering of the segments in previous surgical and radiology reports led to a pelvic incidence calculation of 61°. Corrected numbering of the segments using the lumbarized S-1 endplate led to a pelvic incidence calculation of 48°. Without recognition of the lumbosacral anatomy, overcorrection of the lumbar lordosis might have led to negative sagittal balance and the propensity to develop proximal junction failure. This case illustrates that improper identification of lumbosacral transitional anatomy may lead to errors that could affect clinical outcome. Awareness of this potential error may help improve patient outcomes.

  15. Interaction of the Bragg gap with polaritonic gap in opal photonic crystals

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Nayer, Eradat; Sivachenko, Andrey Yu; Li, Sergey; Raikh, Mikhail E.; Valy Vardeny, Z.

    2001-03-01

    Photonic crystals (PC) are a class of artificial structures with a periodic dielectric function. PCs can be a laboratory for testing fundamental processes involving interactions of radiation with matter in novel conditions. We have studied the optical properties of opal PCs that are infiltrated with highly polarizable media such as j-aggregates of cyanine dyes. Opals are self- assembled structures of silica (SiO_2) spheres. We report our studies on clarifying the relationship between a polaritonic gap and a photonic stop band (Bragg gap) when they resonantly coexist in the same structure. Infiltration of opal with polarizable molecules combines the polaritonic and Bragg diffractive effects. Both effects exist independently when the Bragg (at ω=ω_B) and polaritonic (at ω=ω_T) resonances are well separated in frequency. A completely different situation occurs when ωT =ω_B. Such a condition was achieved in opals that were infiltrated with J-aggregates of cyanine dyes that have large Rabi frequency. Our measurements show some dramatic changes in the shape of the reflectivity plateaus, which are due to the interplay between the photonic band gap and the polaritonic gap. The experimental results on reflectivity and its dependence on the light propagation angle and concentration of the cyanie dyes are in agreement with the theoretical calculations. (The work was supported in part by Army Research office DAAD19-00-1-0406.)

  16. International Cyber Incident Repository System: Information Sharing on a Global Scale

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Joyce, Amanda L.; Evans, PhD, Nathaniel; Tanzman, Edward A.

    According to the 2016 Internet Security Threat Report, the largest number of cyber attacks were recorded last year (2015), reaching a total of 430 million incidents throughout the world. As the number of cyber incidents increases, the need for information and intelligence sharing increases, as well. This fairly large increase in cyber incidents is driving the need for an international cyber incident data reporting system. The goal of the cyber incident reporting system is to make available shared and collected information about cyber events among participating international parties. In its 2014 report, Insurance Industry Working Session Readout Report-Insurance for CyberRelatedmore » Critical Infrastructure Loss: Key Issues, on the outcomes of a working session on cyber insurance, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security observed that “many participants cited the need for a secure method through which organizations could pool and share cyber incident information” and noted that one underwriter emphasized the importance of internationally harmonized data taxonomies. This cyber incident data reporting system could benefit all nations that take part in reporting incidents to provide a more common operating picture. In addition, this reporting system could allow for trending and anticipated attacks and could potentially benefit participating members by enabling them to get in front of potential attacks. The purpose of this paper is to identify options for consideration for such a system in fostering cooperative cyber defense.« less

  17. In Peru, reporting male sex partners imparts significant risk of incident HIV/sexually transmitted infection: all men Engaging in same-sex behavior need prevention services.

    PubMed

    Konda, Kelika A; Lescano, Andres G; Celentano, David D; Hall, Eric; Montano, Silvia M; Kochel, Tadeusz J; Coates, Thomas J; Cáceres, Carlos F

    2013-07-01

    Detailed information on the sexual behavior of bisexual, non-gay-identified men and the relationship between same-sex behavior and HIV/sexually transmitted infection (STI) incidence is limited. This study provides information on the sexual behavior with male partners of non-gay-identified men in urban, coastal Peru and the relationship of this behavior with HIV/STI incidence. We analyzed data from 2146 non-gay-identified men with a baseline and then 2 years of annual follow-up, including detailed information on sexual behavior with up to 5 sex partners, to determine the characteristics associated with bisexual behavior. Discrete time proportional hazards models were used to determine the effect of self-reported sex with men on subsequent HIV/STI incidence. Over the 3 study visits, sex with a man was reported by 18.9% of men, 90% of whom also reported sex with a female partner. At baseline, reported bisexual behavior was associated with other sexual risk behaviors such as exchanging sex for money and increased risk of HIV, herpes simplex virus type 2, and gonorrhea. The number of study visits in which recent sex with men was reported was positively correlated with risk of other sexual risk behaviors and incident HIV, herpes simplex virus type 2, and gonorrhea. Recent sex with a man was associated with increased HIV/STI incidence (hazard ratio, 1.79; confidence interval, 1.19-2.70), after adjusting for sociodemographics and other sexual risk behaviors. Given the prevalence of recent sex with men and the relationship of this behavior with HIV/STI incidence, interventions with non-gay-identified men who have sex with men and their partners are warranted.

  18. Gastrointestinal illness linked to incidents in drinking water distribution networks in Sweden.

    PubMed

    Säve-Söderbergh, Melle; Bylund, John; Malm, Annika; Simonsson, Magnus; Toljander, Jonas

    2017-10-01

    During recent years, knowledge gaps on drinking water-related gastrointestinal illness have been identified, especially for non-epidemic cases. Pathogen contamination of drinking water during distribution has been suggested to contribute to these cases, but the risk factors are not yet fully understood. During 2014-2015, we conducted an epidemiological study in five municipalities in Sweden, to assess whether incidents in the drinking water distribution system influence the risk of gastrointestinal illness. Telephone interviews were conducted in the affected areas and in reference areas 7-14 days after a reported incident. Symptoms of gastrointestinal illness occurring during the period were documented for each household member. The results showed a significantly elevated risk of vomiting and acute gastrointestinal illness (AGI) in the affected areas, compared to the reference areas (OR vom.  = 2.0, 95% CI: 1.2-3.3; OR AGI  = 1.9, 95% CI: 1.2-3.0). Certain conditions, or risk factors, during the incidents, such as sewage and drinking water pipelines at the same level in the trench, were associated with an elevated risk of AGI and vomiting. Safety measures taken during repair work, like flushing, were also associated with an elevated risk of AGI and vomiting. These results show that incidents in the drinking water distribution network contribute to endemic gastrointestinal illness, especially AGI and vomiting, and that external pathogen contamination of the drinking water is a likely cause of these cases of gastrointestinal illness. The results also indicate that safety measures used today may not be sufficient for eliminating the risk of gastrointestinal illness. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

  19. Detection thresholds for gaps, overlaps, and no-gap-no-overlaps.

    PubMed

    Heldner, Mattias

    2011-07-01

    Detection thresholds for gaps and overlaps, that is acoustic and perceived silences and stretches of overlapping speech in speaker changes, were determined. Subliminal gaps and overlaps were categorized as no-gap-no-overlaps. The established gap and overlap detection thresholds both corresponded to the duration of a long vowel, or about 120 ms. These detection thresholds are valuable for mapping the perceptual speaker change categories gaps, overlaps, and no-gap-no-overlaps into the acoustic domain. Furthermore, the detection thresholds allow generation and understanding of gaps, overlaps, and no-gap-no-overlaps in human-like spoken dialogue systems. © 2011 Acoustical Society of America

  20. Pure wurtzite GaP nanowires grown on zincblende GaP substrates by selective area vapor liquid solid epitaxy

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Halder, Nripendra N.; Kelrich, Alexander; Cohen, Shimon; Ritter, Dan

    2017-11-01

    We report on the growth of single phase wurtzite (WZ) GaP nanowires (NWs) on GaP (111) B substrates by metal organic molecular beam epitaxy following the selective area vapor-liquid-solid (SA-VLS) approach. During the SA-VLS process, precursors are supplied directly to the NW sidewalls, and the short diffusion length of gallium (or its precursors) does not significantly limit axial growth. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images reveal that no stacking faults are present along a 600 nm long NW. The lattice constants of the pure WZ GaP obtained from the TEM images agree with values determined previously by x-ray diffraction from non-pure NW ensembles.

  1. Pure wurtzite GaP nanowires grown on zincblende GaP substrates by selective area vapor liquid solid epitaxy.

    PubMed

    Halder, Nripendra N; Kelrich, Alexander; Cohen, Shimon; Ritter, Dan

    2017-11-17

    We report on the growth of single phase wurtzite (WZ) GaP nanowires (NWs) on GaP (111) B substrates by metal organic molecular beam epitaxy following the selective area vapor-liquid-solid (SA-VLS) approach. During the SA-VLS process, precursors are supplied directly to the NW sidewalls, and the short diffusion length of gallium (or its precursors) does not significantly limit axial growth. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images reveal that no stacking faults are present along a 600 nm long NW. The lattice constants of the pure WZ GaP obtained from the TEM images agree with values determined previously by x-ray diffraction from non-pure NW ensembles.

  2. Contact Sport Concussion Incidence

    PubMed Central

    Tommasone, Beth A; Valovich McLeod, Tamara C

    2006-01-01

    Reference/Citation: Koh JO, Cassidy JD, Watkinson EJ. Incidence of concussion in contact sports: a systematic review of the evidence. Brain Inj.20031790191712963556. Clinical Question: What is the incidence of concussion in various contact sports? Data Sources: Studies for the review were found through a MEDLINE search (1985–2000) and by gathering and reviewing older articles referenced in the searched articles. The main terms that were included in the search were brain injuries, brain concussion, and incidence. Text words that were also included were mild traumatic brain injury, concussion, incidence, injury, and head injury, along with the names of 8 contact sports ( American football, boxing, ice hockey, judo, karate, tae kwon do, rugby, and soccer). Study Selection: For this review, concussion was defined as “a mild brain injury resulting from a direct blow to the head resulting in physiological changes in brain function.” Cohort studies with documented incidence of concussion in athletes from 8 identified contact sports were the target of the search. All studies of male and female athletes in any of the 8 contact sports, including practices and games and regardless of level of competition, were included in the study search. Possible articles for review were identified through a 3-step screening process. Article titles were initially screened by one of the authors. If the title seemed to be relevant to the purpose of the review, the abstract of the article was then screened for inclusion/exclusion criteria as the second step. To be included, studies had to relate to the incidence of injury to the head and brain, report results relevant to concussion, involve 1 of the 8 identified contact sports, and be published between 1985 and 2000. All systematic reviews about mild traumatic brain injury (TBI) or concussion were also included. Studies were excluded if they discussed concussion due to whiplash injury or concussion associated with spinal cord injury

  3. Lyme disease ecology in a changing world: Consensus, uncertainty and critical gaps for improving control

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Kilpatrick, A. Marm; Dobson, Andrew D.M.; Levi, Taal; Salkeld, Daniel J.; Swei, Andrea; Ginsberg, Howard; Kjemtrup, Anne; Padgett, Kerry A.; Jensen, Per A.; Fish, Durland; Ogden, Nick H.; Diuk-Wasser, Maria A.

    2017-01-01

    Lyme disease is the most common tick-borne disease in temperate regions of North America, Europe and Asia, and the number of reported cases has increased in many regions as landscapes have been altered. Although there has been extensive work on the ecology and epidemiology of this disease in both Europe and North America, substantial uncertainty exists about fundamental aspects that determine spatial and temporal variation in both disease risk and human incidence, which hamper effective and efficient prevention and control. Here we describe areas of consensus that can be built on, identify areas of uncertainty and outline research needed to fill these gaps to facilitate predictive models of disease risk and the development of novel disease control strategies. Key areas of uncertainty include: (i) the precise influence of deer abundance on tick abundance, (ii) how tick populations are regulated, (iii) assembly of host communities and tick-feeding patterns across different habitats, (iv) reservoir competence of host species, and (v) pathogenicity for humans of different genotypes of Borrelia burgdorferi. Filling these knowledge gaps will improve Lyme disease prevention and control and provide general insights into the drivers and dynamics of this emblematic multi-host–vector-borne zoonotic disease.

  4. Prevalence and incidence of dyslipidaemia among adults in Africa: a systematic review and meta-analysis protocol.

    PubMed

    Noubiap, Jean Jacques N; Nansseu, Jobert Richie N; Bigna, Jean Joel R; Jingi, Ahmadou M; Kengne, André Pascal

    2015-03-17

    Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death globally and disproportionately affects low-income and middle-income countries. Dyslipidaemia is an important modifiable risk factor for CVD. There are important knowledge gaps regarding the population levels of lipid variables and frequency of non-optimal levels in populations within Africa. We propose to conduct a systematic review to determine the prevalence and occurrence of dyslipidaemia in adult populations within countries in Africa. We will perform a comprehensive search to identify all possible published and unpublished studies on the prevalence or incidence of dyslipidaemia in Africa reported from 1 January 1980, without language restriction. The scientific databases PubMed MEDLINE, EMBASE and ISI Web of Science will be searched, as well as Grey literature. Following study selection, full-text papers acquisition, and data extraction and synthesis, we will appraise the quality of studies and risk of bias, and assess heterogeneity. Prevalence/incidence data will be summarised by country and geographic regions and a meta-analysis will be conducted for variables defined identically across studies. Variance stabilising transformations will be applied as appropriate to the row data before meta-analysis. This systematic review will be reported according to the MOOSE Guidelines for Meta-Analyses and Systematic Reviews of Observational Studies. The current study is based on published data and as such ethics consideration is not a requirement. This review is expected to provide relevant data to help in quantifying the magnitude of dyslipidaemia in African populations, to emphasise the need for appropriate prevention and control strategies, and to identify research gaps and remaining challenges. The final report of the systematic review in the form of a scientific paper will be published in peer-reviewed journals. Findings will further be presented at conferences and submitted to relevant health authorities

  5. Self-reported snoring frequency and incidence of cardiovascular disease: the Circulatory Risk in Communities Study (CIRCS).

    PubMed

    Nagayoshi, Mako; Tanigawa, Takeshi; Yamagishi, Kazumasa; Sakurai, Susumu; Kitamura, Akihiko; Kiyama, Masahiko; Okada, Takeo; Maeda, Kenji; Ohira, Tetsuya; Imano, Hironori; Sato, Shinichi; Iso, Hiroyasu

    2012-01-01

    Although associations between snoring and cardiovascular disease have been reported in several prospective studies, there is limited evidence from Asian populations. The objective of this study was to determine if there is an association between self-reported snoring frequency and the incidence of cardiovascular disease in Japanese. The subjects were 2350 men and 4163 women aged 40 to 69 years who lived in 3 communities in Japan. All subjects were participants in the Circulatory Risk in Communities Study (CIRCS) and were followed for 6 years. Incidence of cardiovascular disease during the follow-up period comprised events of myocardial infarction, angina pectoris, sudden cardiac death and stroke. During the 6-year follow-up period, 97 participants (56 men and 41 women) had cardiovascular events. After adjustment for potential confounding factors, self-reported snoring frequency was associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular events among women but not men. The hazard ratios (95% CI) for cardiovascular events were 0.9 (0.4-2.0) for sometimes snoring and 2.5 (1.0-6.1) for everyday snoring in women and 0.7 (0.3-1.3) and 1.0 (0.5-2.1), respectively, in men. Further adjustment for body mass index attenuated the association in women; the respective hazard ratios for cardiovascular events were 0.9 (0.4-1.9) and 2.1 (0.9-5.4). Self-reported habitual snoring was associated with increased risk of cardiovascular events among Japanese women. Overweight may partly mediate this association.

  6. 40 CFR 68.81 - Incident investigation.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... 40 Protection of Environment 15 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Incident investigation. 68.81 Section 68.81 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) AIR PROGRAMS (CONTINUED... appropriate knowledge and experience to thoroughly investigate and analyze the incident. (d) A report shall be...

  7. Columbia River Component Data Gap Analysis

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    L. C. Hulstrom

    2007-10-23

    This Data Gap Analysis report documents the results of a study conducted by Washington Closure Hanford (WCH) to compile and reivew the currently available surface water and sediment data for the Columbia River near and downstream of the Hanford Site. This Data Gap Analysis study was conducted to review the adequacy of the existing surface water and sediment data set from the Columbia River, with specific reference to the use of the data in future site characterization and screening level risk assessments.

  8. Early Gender Test Score Gaps across OECD Countries

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bedard, Kelly; Cho, Insook

    2010-01-01

    The results reported in this paper contribute to the debate about gender skill gaps in at least three ways. First, we document the large differences in early gender gaps across developed countries using a large scale, modern, representative data source. Second, we show that countries with pro-female sorting, countries that place girls in classes…

  9. Status Update on the NCRP Scientific Committee SC 5-1 Report: Decision Making for Late-Phase Recovery from Nuclear or Radiological Incidents - 13450

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Chen, S.Y.

    2013-07-01

    In August 2008, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued its final Protective Action Guide (PAG) for radiological dispersal device (RDD) and improvised nuclear device (IND) incidents. This document specifies protective actions for public health during the early and intermediate phases and cleanup guidance for the late phase of RDD or IND incidents, and it discusses approaches to implementing the necessary actions. However, while the PAG provides specific guidance for the early and intermediate phases, it prescribes no equivalent guidance for the late-phase cleanup actions. Instead, the PAG offers a general description of a complex process using a site-specificmore » optimization approach. This approach does not predetermine cleanup levels but approaches the problem from the factors that would bear on the final agreed-on cleanup levels. Based on this approach, the decision-making process involves multifaceted considerations including public health, the environment, and the economy, as well as socio-political factors. In an effort to fully define the process and approach to be used in optimizing late-phase recovery and site restoration following an RDD or IND incident, DHS has tasked the NCRP with preparing a comprehensive report addressing all aspects of the optimization process. Preparation of the NCRP report is a three-year (2010-2013) project assigned to a scientific committee, the Scientific Committee (SC) 5-1; the report was initially titled, Approach to Optimizing Decision Making for Late- Phase Recovery from Nuclear or Radiological Terrorism Incidents. Members of SC 5-1 represent a broad range of expertise, including homeland security, health physics, risk and decision analysis, economics, environmental remediation and radioactive waste management, and communication. In the wake of the Fukushima nuclear accident of 2011, and guided by a recent process led by the White House through a Principal Level Exercise (PLE), the optimization approach has

  10. Discrimination, Harassment, and Gendered Health Inequalities: Do Perceptions of Workplace Mistreatment Contribute to the Gender Gap in Self-reported Health?

    PubMed

    Harnois, Catherine E; Bastos, João L

    2018-06-01

    This study examines the extent to which discrimination and harassment contribute to gendered health disparities. Analyzing data from the 2006, 2010, and 2014 General Social Surveys ( N = 3,724), we ask the following: (1) To what extent are perceptions of workplace gender discrimination and sexual harassment associated with self-reported mental and physical health? (2) How do multiple forms of workplace mistreatment (e.g., racism, ageism, and sexism) combine to structure workers' self-assessed health? and (3) To what extent do perceptions of mistreatment contribute to the gender gap in self-assessed health? Multivariate analyses show that among women, but not men, perceptions of workplace gender discrimination are negatively associated with poor mental health, and perceptions of sexual harassment are associated with poor physical health. Among men and women, perceptions of multiple forms of mistreatment are associated with worse mental health. Gender discrimination partially explains the gender gap in self-reported mental health.

  11. Incidence of hyperthyroidism in Sweden.

    PubMed

    Abraham-Nordling, Mirna; Byström, Kristina; Törring, Ove; Lantz, Mikael; Berg, Gertrud; Calissendorff, Jan; Nyström, Helena Filipsson; Jansson, Svante; Jörneskog, Gun; Karlsson, F Anders; Nyström, Ernst; Ohrling, Hans; Orn, Thomas; Hallengren, Bengt; Wallin, Göran

    2011-12-01

    The incidence of hyperthyroidism has been reported in various countries to be 23-93/100,000 inhabitants per year. This extended study has evaluated the incidence for ~40% of the Swedish population of 9 million inhabitants. Sweden is considered to be iodine sufficient country. All patients including children, who were newly diagnosed with overt hyperthyroidism in the years 2003-2005, were prospectively registered in a multicenter study. The inclusion criteria are as follows: clinical symptoms and/or signs of hyperthyroidism with plasma TSH concentration below 0.2 mIE/l and increased plasma levels of free/total triiodothyronine and/or free/total thyroxine. Patients with relapse of hyperthyroidism or thyroiditis were not included. The diagnosis of Graves' disease (GD), toxic multinodular goiter (TMNG) and solitary toxic adenoma (STA), smoking, initial treatment, occurrence of thyroid-associated eye symptoms/signs, and demographic data were registered. A total of 2916 patients were diagnosed with de novo hyperthyroidism showing the total incidence of 27.6/100,000 inhabitants per year. The incidence of GD was 21.0/100,000 and toxic nodular goiter (TNG=STA+TMNG) occurred in 692 patients, corresponding to an annual incidence of 6.5/100,000. The incidence was higher in women compared with men (4.2:1). Seventy-five percent of the patients were diagnosed with GD, in whom thyroid-associated eye symptoms/signs occurred during diagnosis in every fifth patient. Geographical differences were observed. The incidence of hyperthyroidism in Sweden is in a lower range compared with international reports. Seventy-five percent of patients with hyperthyroidism had GD and 20% of them had thyroid-associated eye symptoms/signs during diagnosis. The observed geographical differences require further studies.

  12. Organometallic chemical vapor deposition and characterization of ZnGeP2/GaP multiple heterostructures on GaP substrates

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Xing, G. C.; Bachmann, Klaus J.

    1993-01-01

    The growth of ZnGeP2/GaP double and multiple heterostructures on GaP substrates by organometallic chemical vapor deposition is reported. These epitaxial films were deposited at a temperature of 580 C using dimethylzinc, trimethylgallium, germane, and phosphine as source gases. With appropriate deposition conditions, mirror smooth epitaxial GaP/ZnGeP2 multiple heterostructures were obtained on (001) GaP substrates. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS) studies of the films showed that the interfaces are sharp and smooth. Etching study of the films showed dislocation density on the order of 5x10(exp 4)cm(sup -2). The growth rates of the GaP layers depend linearly on the flow rates of trimethylgallium. While the GaP layers crystallize in zinc-blende structure, the ZnGeP2 layers crystallize in the chalcopyrite structure as determined by (010) electron diffraction pattern. This is the first time that multiple heterostructures combining these two crystal structures were made.

  13. Laboratory medicine handoff gaps experienced by primary care practices: A report from the shared networks of collaborative ambulatory practices and partners (SNOCAP).

    PubMed

    West, David R; James, Katherine A; Fernald, Douglas H; Zelie, Claire; Smith, Maxwell L; Raab, Stephen S

    2014-01-01

    The majority of errors in laboratory medicine testing are thought to occur in the pre- and postanalytic testing phases, and a large proportion of these errors are secondary to failed handoffs. Because most laboratory tests originate in ambulatory primary care, understanding the gaps in handoff processes within and between laboratories and practices is imperative for patient safety. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to understand, based on information from primary care practice personnel, the perceived gaps in laboratory processes as a precursor to initiating process improvement activities. A survey was used to assess perceptions of clinicians, staff, and management personnel of gaps in handoffs between primary care practices and laboratories working in 21 Colorado primary care practices. Data were analyzed to determine statistically significant associations between categorical variables. In addition, qualitative analysis of responses to open-ended survey questions was conducted. Primary care practices consistently reported challenges and a desire/need to improve their efforts to systematically track laboratory test status, confirm receipt of laboratory results, and report results to patients. Automated tracking systems existed in roughly 61% of practices, and all but one of those had electronic health record-based tracking systems in place. One fourth of these electronic health record-enabled practices expressed sufficient mistrust in these systems to warrant the concurrent operation of an article-based tracking system as backup. Practices also reported 12 different procedures used to notify patients of test results, varying by test result type. The results highlight the lack of standardization and definition of roles in handoffs in primary care laboratory practices for test ordering, monitoring, and receiving and reporting test results. Results also identify high-priority gaps in processes and the perceptions by practice personnel that practice improvement

  14. Incidence and public health burden of sunburn among ...

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    Sunburn, a preventable skin condition, is a major risk factor for skin cancer. Severe burns can result in emergency department visits and in some cases hospitalization. Many people spend hours in direct sunlight while at the beach, which could lead to sunburn. We pooled data from 13 prospective cohorts of beachgoers in the United States (n=84,411) to describe incidence of sunburn, risk factors associated with an increased risk of sunburn, and the health burden resulting from time lost from work or school, visits to the doctor, and medication use. The incidence of sunburn in this population in the 10-12 days after the beach visit was 14% (n=9,882), excluding those with sunburn at enrollment. Sunburn incidence increased with greater time spent in the sun. Approximately 8% of beachgoers only exposed for <1 hour reported sunburn, whereas almost 20% spending ≥5 hours in the sun reported sunburn (p<0.001). Those with any water contact were also more likely to report sunburn (15% versus 11%, p<0.001). Among all participants, 66% applied sunblock. When skin type was considered, the highest incidence was noted among those who report repeated sunburns (17%) or freckles when in the sun (13%) compared to 11% who typically get dark tans. The incidence of sunburn varied considerably by age group. Children ages <1 year had the lowest incidence of sunburn (2%) whereas adults between the ages of 19-35 had the highest incidence of sunburn (18%). Preliminary analyses indicate t

  15. A Meta-Analysis of the Incidence of Patient-Reported Dysphagia After Anterior Cervical Decompression and Fusion with the Zero-Profile Implant System.

    PubMed

    Yang, Yi; Ma, Litai; Liu, Hao; Xu, MangMang

    2016-04-01

    Dysphagia is a well-known complication following anterior cervical surgery. It has been reported that the Zero-profile Implant System can decrease the incidence of dysphagia following surgery, however, dysphagia after anterior cervical decompression and fusion (ACDF) with the Zero-profile Implant System remains controversial. Previous studies only focus on small sample sizes. The objective of this study was to determine the incidence of dysphagia after ACDF with the Zero-profile Implant System. Studies were collected from PubMed, EMBASE, the Cochrane library and the China Knowledge Resource Integrated Database using the keywords "Zero-profile OR Zero-p) AND (dysphagia OR [swallowing dysfunction]". The software STATA (Version 13.0) was used for statistical analysis. Statistical heterogeneity across the various trials, a test of publication bias and sensitivity analysis was performed. 30 studies with a total of 1062 patients were included in this meta-analysis. The occurrence of post-operative transient dysphagia ranged from 0 to 76 % whilst the pooled incidence was 15.6 % (95 % CI, 12.6, 18.5 %). 23 studies reported no persistent dysphagia whilst seven studies reported persistent dysphagia ranging from 1 to 7 %). In summary, the present study observed a low incidence of both transient and persistent dysphagia after ACDF using the Zero-profile Implant System. Most of the dysphagia was mild and gradually decreased during the following months. Moderate or severe dysphagia was uncommon. Future randomized controlled multi-center studies and those focusing on the mechanisms of dysphagia and methods to reduce its incidence are required.

  16. Relating the defect band gap and the density functional band gap

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Schultz, Peter; Edwards, Arthur

    2014-03-01

    Density functional theory (DFT) is an important tool to probe the physics of materials. The Kohn-Sham (KS) gap in DFT is typically (much) smaller than the observed band gap for materials in nature, the infamous ``band gap problem.'' Accurate prediction of defect energy levels is often claimed to be a casualty--the band gap defines the energy scale for defect levels. By applying rigorous control of boundary conditions in size-converged supercell calculations, however, we compute defect levels in Si and GaAs with accuracies of ~0.1 eV, across the full gap, unhampered by a band gap problem. Using GaAs as a theoretical laboratory, we show that the defect band gap--the span of computed defect levels--is insensitive to variations in the KS gap (with functional and pseudopotential), these KS gaps ranging from 0.1 to 1.1 eV. The defect gap matches the experimental 1.52 eV gap. The computed defect gaps for several other III-V, II-VI, I-VII, and other compounds also agree with the experimental gap, and show no correlation with the KS gap. Where, then, is the band gap problem? This talk presents these results, discusses why the defect gap and the KS gap are distinct, implying that current understanding of what the ``band gap problem'' means--and how to ``fix'' it--need to be rethought. Sandia National Laboratories is a multi-program laboratory managed and operated by Sandia Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Lockheed Martin Company, for the U.S. Department of Energy's NNSA under contract DE-AC04-94AL85000.

  17. Computer Security Incident Response Team Effectiveness: A Needs Assessment

    PubMed Central

    Van der Kleij, Rick; Kleinhuis, Geert; Young, Heather

    2017-01-01

    Computer security incident response teams (CSIRTs) respond to a computer security incident when the need arises. Failure of these teams can have far-reaching effects for the economy and national security. CSIRTs often have to work on an ad hoc basis, in close cooperation with other teams, and in time constrained environments. It could be argued that under these working conditions CSIRTs would be likely to encounter problems. A needs assessment was done to see to which extent this argument holds true. We constructed an incident response needs model to assist in identifying areas that require improvement. We envisioned a model consisting of four assessment categories: Organization, Team, Individual and Instrumental. Central to this is the idea that both problems and needs can have an organizational, team, individual, or technical origin or a combination of these levels. To gather data we conducted a literature review. This resulted in a comprehensive list of challenges and needs that could hinder or improve, respectively, the performance of CSIRTs. Then, semi-structured in depth interviews were held with team coordinators and team members of five public and private sector Dutch CSIRTs to ground these findings in practice and to identify gaps between current and desired incident handling practices. This paper presents the findings of our needs assessment and ends with a discussion of potential solutions to problems with performance in incident response. PMID:29312051

  18. Computer Security Incident Response Team Effectiveness: A Needs Assessment.

    PubMed

    Van der Kleij, Rick; Kleinhuis, Geert; Young, Heather

    2017-01-01

    Computer security incident response teams (CSIRTs) respond to a computer security incident when the need arises. Failure of these teams can have far-reaching effects for the economy and national security. CSIRTs often have to work on an ad hoc basis, in close cooperation with other teams, and in time constrained environments. It could be argued that under these working conditions CSIRTs would be likely to encounter problems. A needs assessment was done to see to which extent this argument holds true. We constructed an incident response needs model to assist in identifying areas that require improvement. We envisioned a model consisting of four assessment categories: Organization, Team, Individual and Instrumental. Central to this is the idea that both problems and needs can have an organizational, team, individual, or technical origin or a combination of these levels. To gather data we conducted a literature review. This resulted in a comprehensive list of challenges and needs that could hinder or improve, respectively, the performance of CSIRTs. Then, semi-structured in depth interviews were held with team coordinators and team members of five public and private sector Dutch CSIRTs to ground these findings in practice and to identify gaps between current and desired incident handling practices. This paper presents the findings of our needs assessment and ends with a discussion of potential solutions to problems with performance in incident response.

  19. Symptom-based categorization of in-flight passenger medical incidents.

    PubMed

    Mahony, Paul H; Myers, Julia A; Larsen, Peter D; Powell, David M C; Griffiths, Robin F

    2011-12-01

    The majority of in-flight passenger medical events are managed by cabin crew. Our study aimed to evaluate the reliability of cabin crew reports of in-flight medical events and to develop a symptom-based categorization system. All cabin crew in-flight passenger medical incident reports for an airline over a 9-yr period were examined retrospectively. Validation of incident descriptions were undertaken on a sample of 162 cabin crew reports where medically trained persons' reports were available for comparison using a three Round Delphi technique and testing concordance using Cohen's Kappa. A hierarchical symptom-based categorization system was designed and validated. The rate was 159 incidents per 106 passengers carried, or 70.4/113.3 incidents per 106 revenue passenger kilometres/miles, respectively. Concordance between cabin crew and medical reports was 96%, with a high validity rating (mean 4.6 on a 1-5 scale) and high Cohen's Kappa (0.94). The most common in-flight medical events were transient loss of consciousness (41%), nausea/vomiting/diarrhea (19.5%), and breathing difficulty (16%). Cabin crew records provide reliable data regarding in-flight passenger medical incidents, complementary to diagnosis-based systems, and allow the use of currently underutilized data. The categorization system provides a means for tracking passenger medical incidents internationally and an evidence base for cabin crew first aid training.

  20. Integration of the incident command system (ICS) protocol for effective coordination of multi-agency response to traffic incidents : final report.

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    2017-06-13

    In recent years, there has been an increased focus on Traffic Incident Management (TIM) and : incorporation of the Incident Command System (ICS) to reduce traffic congestion on the nation's : Interstates. In fact, studies show that for every minute a...

  1. Self-Reported Periodontitis and Incident Type 2 Diabetes among Male Workers from a 5-Year Follow-Up to MY Health Up Study

    PubMed Central

    Miyawaki, Atsushi; Toyokawa, Satoshi; Inoue, Kazuo; Miyoshi, Yuji; Kobayashi, Yasuki

    2016-01-01

    Aims The purpose of this study was to examine whether periodontitis is associated with incident type 2 diabetes in a Japanese male worker cohort. Methods The study participants were Japanese men, aged 36–55 years, without diabetes. Data were extracted from the MY Health Up study, consisting of self-administered questionnaire surveys at baseline and following annual health examinations for an insurance company in Japan. The oral health status of the participants was classified by two self-reported indicators: (1) gingival hemorrhage and (2) tooth loosening. Type 2 diabetes incidence was determined by self-reporting or blood test data. Modified Poisson regression approach was used to estimate the relative risks and the 95% confidence intervals of incident diabetes with periodontitis. Covariates included age, body mass index, family history of diabetes, hypertension, current smoking habits, alcohol use, dyslipidemia, and exercise habits. Results Of the 2895 candidates identified at baseline in 2004, 2469 men were eligible for follow-up analysis, 133 of whom were diagnosed with diabetes during the 5-year follow-up period. Tooth loosening was associated with incident diabetes [adjusted relative risk = 1.73, 95% confidence interval = 1.14–2.64] after adjusting for other confounding factors. Gingival hemorrhage displayed a similar trend but was not significantly associated with incident diabetes [adjusted relative risk = 1.32, 95% confidence interval = 0.95–1.85]. Conclusions Tooth loosening is an independent predictor of incident type 2 diabetes in Japanese men. PMID:27115749

  2. Effects of gap width on droplet transfer behavior in ultra-narrow gap laser welding of high strength aluminum alloys

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Song, Chaoqun; Dong, Shiyun; Yan, Shixing; He, Jiawu; Xu, Binshi; He, Peng

    2017-10-01

    Ultra-narrow gap laser welding is a novel method for thick high strength aluminum alloy plate for its lower heat input, less deformation and higher efficiency. To obtain a perfect welding quality, it is vital to control the more complex droplet transfer behavior under the influence of ultra-narrow gap groove. This paper reports the effects of gap width of groove on droplet transfer behavior in ultra-narrow gap laser welding of 7A52 aluminum alloy plates by a high speed camera, using an ER 5356 filler wire. The results showed that the gap width had directly effects on droplet transfer mode and droplet shape. The droplet transfer modes were, in order, both-sidewall transfer, single-sidewall transfer, globular droplet transfer and bridging transfer, with different droplet shape and transition period, as the gap width increased from 2 mm to 3.5mm. The effect of gap width on lack of fusion was also studied to analyze the cause for lack of fusion at the bottom and on the sidewall of groove. Finally, with a 2.5 mm U-type parallel groove, a single-pass joint with no lack of fusion and other macro welding defects was successfully obtained in a single-sidewall transfer mode.

  3. Patella position is not a determinant for anterior knee pain 10 years after balanced gap total knee arthroplasty.

    PubMed

    van Houten, Albert H; Heesterbeek, Petra J C; Wymenga, Ate B

    2016-08-01

    Incidence of anterior knee pain after total knee arthroplasty (TKA) is reported to be between 4 and 49 %. The incidence of AKP at long-term follow-up and possible determinants after cruciate cruciate-retaining TKA were investigated. A 10-year follow-up of a cohort of 55 patients (63 TKAs), who received the balanSys™ cruciate-retaining total knee system (Mathys Ltd, Bettlach, Switzerland) between 1999 and 2002, was performed. Patients had undergone the balanced gap technique, with either a fixed bearing or an AP-glide bearing. Standardised diagnostic questions regarding AKP were collected and categorised into two groups: those with and without AKP. The lateral patellar tilt, patellar displacement measurement and modified Insall-Salvati ratio were used for patella position evaluation on skyline radiographs. The Knee Society Score (KSS), the Knee Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS) and Numerical Rating Scales (NRS) for pain and satisfaction were obtained at follow-up. Sixteen patients in the study population experienced AKP. Incidence of AKP (fixed bearing 13/44; AP-glide bearing baring 3/17) was not dependent on type of insert (n.s.). There were no statistical differences in patella position and tibiofemoral contact point between the AKP group and the no AKP group (n.s.). KSS, KOOS, NRS-pain and NRS-satisfaction were significantly lower for the patients with AKP (all p < 0.05). Twenty-six percentage of the patients experienced AKP 10 years after balanced gap TKA. Postoperative patella positioning was not found to be a determinant for anterior knee pain after TKA. However, patellar displacement does not seem completely favourable. Moreover, type of bearing was not found a determinant for AKP at long-term follow-up. Lower quality prospective cohort study (<80 % follow-up, patients enrolled at different time points in disease), Level II.

  4. 18 CFR 12.10 - Reporting safety-related incidents.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-04-01

    ...-related incidents. 12.10 Section 12.10 Conservation of Power and Water Resources FEDERAL ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION, DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY REGULATIONS UNDER THE FEDERAL POWER ACT SAFETY OF WATER POWER PROJECTS AND... providing a copy of a clipping from a newspaper article, if available. (4) For the purposes of this...

  5. Gapped electronic structure of epitaxial stanene on InSb(111)

    DOE PAGES

    Xu, Cai-Zhi; Chan, Yang-Hao; Chen, Peng; ...

    2018-01-11

    We report that stanene (single-layer gray tin), with an electronic structure akin to that of graphene but exhibiting a much larger spin-orbit gap, offers a promising platform for room-temperature electronics based on the quantum spin Hall (QSH) effect. This material has received much theoretical attention, but a suitable substrate for stanene growth that results in an overall gapped electronic structure has been elusive; a sizable gap is necessary for room-temperature applications. Here, we report a study of stanene, epitaxially grown on the (111)B-face of indium antimonide (InSb). Angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy measurements reveal a gap of 0.44 eV, in agreement withmore » our first-principles calculations. Lastly, the results indicate that stanene on InSb(111) is a strong contender for electronic QSH applications.« less

  6. Gapped electronic structure of epitaxial stanene on InSb(111)

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Xu, Cai-Zhi; Chan, Yang-Hao; Chen, Peng

    We report that stanene (single-layer gray tin), with an electronic structure akin to that of graphene but exhibiting a much larger spin-orbit gap, offers a promising platform for room-temperature electronics based on the quantum spin Hall (QSH) effect. This material has received much theoretical attention, but a suitable substrate for stanene growth that results in an overall gapped electronic structure has been elusive; a sizable gap is necessary for room-temperature applications. Here, we report a study of stanene, epitaxially grown on the (111)B-face of indium antimonide (InSb). Angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy measurements reveal a gap of 0.44 eV, in agreement withmore » our first-principles calculations. Lastly, the results indicate that stanene on InSb(111) is a strong contender for electronic QSH applications.« less

  7. Coherent perfect absorption mediated enhancement of transverse spin in a gap plasmon guide

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Mukherjee, Samyobrata; Dutta Gupta, Subhasish

    2017-01-01

    We consider a symmetric gap plasmon guide (a folded Kretschmann configuration) supporting both symmetric and antisymmetric coupled surface plasmons. We calculate the transverse spin under illumination from both the sides like in coherent perfect absorption (CPA), whereby all the incident light can be absorbed to excite one of the modes of the structure. Significant enhancement in the transverse spin is shown to be possible when the CPA dip and the mode excitation are at the same frequency. The enhancement results from CPA-mediated total transfer of the incident light to either of the coupled modes and the associated large local fields. The effect is shown to be robust against small deviations from the symmetric structure. The transverse spin is localized in the structure since in the ambient dielectric there are only incident plane waves lacking any structure.

  8. Modification in band gap of zirconium complexes

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Sharma, Mayank, E-mail: mayank30134@gmail.com; Singh, J.; Chouhan, S.

    2016-05-06

    The optical properties of zirconium complexes with amino acid based Schiff bases are reported here. The zirconium complexes show interesting stereo chemical features, which are applicable in organometallic and organic synthesis as well as in catalysis. The band gaps of both Schiff bases and zirconium complexes were obtained by UV-Visible spectroscopy. It was found that the band gap of zirconium complexes has been modified after adding zirconium compound to the Schiff bases.

  9. Clinical Framework and Medical Countermeasure Use During an Anthrax Mass-Casualty Incident.

    PubMed

    Bower, William A; Hendricks, Katherine; Pillai, Satish; Guarnizo, Julie; Meaney-Delman, Dana

    2015-12-04

    In 2014, CDC published updated guidelines for the prevention and treatment of anthrax (Hendricks KA, Wright ME, Shadomy SV, et al. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention expert panel meetings on prevention and treatment of anthrax in adults. Emerg Infect Dis 2014;20[2]. Available at http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/20/2/13-0687_article.htm). These guidelines provided recommended best practices for the diagnosis and treatment of persons with naturally occurring or bioterrorism-related anthrax in conventional medical settings. An aerosolized release of Bacillus anthracis spores over densely populated areas could become a mass-casualty incident. To prepare for this possibility, the U.S. government has stockpiled equipment and therapeutics (known as medical countermeasures [MCMs]) for anthrax prevention and treatment. However, previously developed, publicly available clinical recommendations have not addressed the use of MCMs or clinical management during an anthrax mass-casualty incident, when the number of patients is likely to exceed the ability of the health care infrastructure to provide conventional standards of care and supplies of MCMs might be inadequate to meet the demand required. To address this gap, in 2013, CDC conducted a series of systematic reviews of the scientific literature on anthrax to identify evidence that could help clinicians and public health authorities set guidelines for intravenous antimicrobial and antitoxin use, diagnosis of anthrax meningitis, and management of common anthrax-specific complications in the setting of a mass-casualty incident. Evidence from these reviews was presented to professionals with expertise in anthrax, critical care, and disaster medicine during a series of workgroup meetings that were held from August 2013 through March 2014. In March 2014, a meeting was held at which 102 subject matter experts discussed the evidence and adapted the existing best practices guidance to a clinical use framework for the

  10. Rodenticide incidents of exposure and adverse effects on non-raptor birds

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Vyas, Nimish B.

    2017-01-01

    Interest in the adverse effects of rodenticides on birds has focused primarily on raptors. However, non-raptor birds are also poisoned (rodenticide exposure resulting in adverse effects including mortality) by rodenticides through consumption of the rodenticide bait and contaminated prey. A literature search for rodenticide incidents (evidence of exposure to a rodenticide, adverse effects, or exposure to placebo baits) involving non-raptor birds returned 641 records spanning the years 1931 to 2016. The incidents included 17 orders, 58 families, and 190 non-raptor bird species. Nineteen anticoagulant and non-anticoagulant rodenticide active ingredients were associated with the incidents. The number of incidents and species detected were compared by surveillance method. An incident was considered to have been reported through passive surveillance if it was voluntarily reported to the authorities whereas the report of an incident found through field work that was conducted with the objective of documenting adverse effects on birds was determined to be from active surveillance. More incidents were reported from passive surveillance than with active surveillance but a significantly greater number of species were detected in proportion to the number of incidents found through active surveillance than with passive surveillance (z = 7.61, p < 0.01). Results suggest that reliance on only one surveillance method can underestimate the number of incidents that have occurred and the number of species that are affected. Although rodenticides are used worldwide, incident records were found from only 15 countries. Therefore, awareness of the breadth of species diversity of non-raptor bird poisonings from rodenticides may increase incident reportings and can strengthen the predictions of harm characterized by risk assessments.

  11. Mind the gap - tip leakage vortex in axial turbines

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Dreyer, M.; Decaix, J.; Münch-Alligné, C.; Farhat, M.

    2014-03-01

    The tendency of designing large Kaplan turbines with a continuous increase of output power is bringing to the front the cavitation erosion issue. Due to the flow in the gap between the runner and the discharge ring, axial turbine blades may develop the so called tip leakage vortex (TLV) cavitation with negative consequences. Such vortices may interact strongly with the wake of guide vanes leading to their multiple collapses and rebounds. If the vortex trajectory remains close to the blade tip, these collapses may lead to severe erosion. One is still unable today to predict its occurrence and development in axial turbines with acceptable accuracy. Numerical flow simulations as well as the actual scale-up rules from small to large scales are unreliable. The present work addresses this problematic in a simplified case study representing TLV cavitation to better understand its sensitivity to the gap width. A Naca0009 hydrofoil is used as a generic blade in the test section of EPFL cavitation tunnel. A sliding mounting support allowing an adjustable gap between the blade tip and wall was manufactured. The vortex trajectory is visualized with a high speed camera and appropriate lighting. The three dimensional velocity field induced by the TLV is investigated using stereo particle image velocimetry. We have taken into account the vortex wandering in the image processing to obtain accurate measurements of the vortex properties. The measurements were performed in three planes located downstream of the hydrofoil for different values of the flow velocity, the incidence angle and the gap width. The results clearly reveal a strong influence of the gap width on both trajectory and intensity of the tip leakage vortex.

  12. Closing the gap between glia and neuroblast proliferation.

    PubMed

    Limmer, Stefanie; Klämbt, Christian

    2014-08-11

    Reporting in this issue of Developmental Cell, Spéder and Brand (2014) show that gap junctions are required in blood-brain barrier glial cells to reactivate proliferation of quiescent neuroblasts. Gap junctions allow synchronous Ca(2+) waves and control insulin-like protein Dipl6 expression and secretion to trigger neuroblast division. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  13. Self-Reported Sleep Duration, Napping, and Incident Heart Failure: Prospective Associations in the British Regional Heart Study.

    PubMed

    Wannamethee, S Goya; Papacosta, Olia; Lennon, Lucy; Whincup, Peter H

    2016-09-01

    To examine the associations between self-reported nighttime sleep duration and daytime sleep and incident heart failure (HF) in men with and without preexisting cardiovascular disease (CVD). Population-based prospective study. General practices in 24 British towns. Men aged 60-79 without prevalent HF followed for 9 years (N = 3,723). Information on incident HF cases was obtained from primary care records. Assessment of sleep was based on self-reported sleep duration at night and daytime napping. Self-reported short nighttime sleep duration and daytime sleep of longer than 1 hour were associated with preexisting CVD, breathlessness, depression, poor health, physical inactivity, and manual social class. In all men, self-reported daytime sleep of longer than 1 hour duration was associated with significantly greater risk of HF after adjustment for potential confounders (adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) = 1.69, 95% CI = 1.06-2.71) than in those who reported no daytime napping. Self-reported nighttime sleep duration was not associated with HF risk except in men with preexisting CVD (<6 hours: aHR = 2.91, 95% CI = 1.31-6.45; 6 hours: aHR = 1.89, 95% CI = 0.89-4.03; 8 hours: aHR = 1.29, 95% CI = 0.61-2.71; ≥9 hours: aHR = 1.80, 905% CI = 0.71-4.61 vs nighttime sleep of 7 hours). Snoring was not associated with HF risk. Self-reported daytime napping of longer than 1 hour is associated with greater risk of HF in older men. Self-reported short sleep (<6 hours) in men with CVD is associated with particularly high risk of developing HF. © 2016 The Authors. The Journal of the American Geriatrics Society published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of The American Geriatrics Society.

  14. Self-Reported Snoring Frequency and Incidence of Cardiovascular Disease: The Circulatory Risk in Communities Study (CIRCS)

    PubMed Central

    Nagayoshi, Mako; Tanigawa, Takeshi; Yamagishi, Kazumasa; Sakurai, Susumu; Kitamura, Akihiko; Kiyama, Masahiko; Okada, Takeo; Maeda, Kenji; Ohira, Tetsuya; Imano, Hironori; Sato, Shinichi; Iso, Hiroyasu

    2012-01-01

    Background Although associations between snoring and cardiovascular disease have been reported in several prospective studies, there is limited evidence from Asian populations. The objective of this study was to determine if there is an association between self-reported snoring frequency and the incidence of cardiovascular disease in Japanese. Methods The subjects were 2350 men and 4163 women aged 40 to 69 years who lived in 3 communities in Japan. All subjects were participants in the Circulatory Risk in Communities Study (CIRCS) and were followed for 6 years. Incidence of cardiovascular disease during the follow-up period comprised events of myocardial infarction, angina pectoris, sudden cardiac death and stroke. Results During the 6-year follow-up period, 97 participants (56 men and 41 women) had cardiovascular events. After adjustment for potential confounding factors, self-reported snoring frequency was associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular events among women but not men. The hazard ratios (95% CI) for cardiovascular events were 0.9 (0.4–2.0) for sometimes snoring and 2.5 (1.0–6.1) for everyday snoring in women and 0.7 (0.3–1.3) and 1.0 (0.5–2.1), respectively, in men. Further adjustment for body mass index attenuated the association in women; the respective hazard ratios for cardiovascular events were 0.9 (0.4–1.9) and 2.1 (0.9–5.4). Conclusions Self-reported habitual snoring was associated with increased risk of cardiovascular events among Japanese women. Overweight may partly mediate this association. PMID:22447210

  15. Characteristics of health IT outage and suggested risk management strategies: an analysis of historical incident reports in China.

    PubMed

    Lei, Jianbo; Guan, Pengcheng; Gao, Kaihua; Lu, Xueqin; Chen, Yunan; Li, Yuefeng; Meng, Qun; Zhang, Jiajie; Sittig, Dean F; Zheng, Kai

    2014-02-01

    The healthcare industry has become increasingly dependent on using information technology (IT) to manage its daily operations. Unexpected downtime of health IT systems could therefore wreak havoc and result in catastrophic consequences. Little is known, however, regarding the nature of failures of health IT. To analyze historical health IT outage incidents as a means to better understand health IT vulnerabilities and inform more effective prevention and emergency response strategies. We studied news articles and incident reports publicly available on the internet describing health IT outage events that occurred in China. The data were qualitatively analyzed using a deductive grounded theory approach based on a synthesized IT risk model developed in the domain of information systems. A total of 116 distinct health IT incidents were identified. A majority of them (69.8%) occurred in the morning; over 50% caused disruptions to the patient registration and payment collection functions of the affected healthcare facilities. The outpatient practices in tertiary hospitals seem to be particularly vulnerable to IT failures. Software defects and overcapacity issues, followed by malfunctioning hardware, were among the principal causes. Unexpected health IT downtime occurs more and more often with the widespread adoption of electronic systems in healthcare. Risk identification and risk assessments are essential steps to developing preventive measures. Equally important is institutionalization of contingency plans as our data show that not all failures of health IT can be predicted and thus effectively prevented. The results of this study also suggest significant future work is needed to systematize the reporting of health IT outage incidents in order to promote transparency and accountability. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  16. Design, Construction, Demonstration and Delivery of an Automated Narrow Gap Welding System.

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1983-03-31

    evaluated on the Narrow Gap welding system. By using the combinational qas shielding assembly, it is now possible to reduce the gas flow rates to a value...AD-A145 496 DESIGN CONSTRUCTION DEMONSTRATION AND DE IVER OF AN AUTOMATED NARROW GAP WELDING SYSTEM(U) CRC AUTOMATIC WELDING CO HODSTON SX 31 MAR 83...STANDARDS-963 - A CRC REPORT NO. NAV A/W 7 0PHASE 3 REPORT ON SDESIGN, CONSTRUCTION, DEMONSTRATION AND DELIVERY OF AN AUTOMATED NARROW GAP WELDING

  17. The incidence and aetiology of acute pancreatitis across Europe.

    PubMed

    Roberts, Stephen E; Morrison-Rees, Sian; John, Ann; Williams, John G; Brown, Tim H; Samuel, David G

    Acute pancreatitis is increasingly one of the most important acute gastrointestinal conditions throughout much of the world, although incidence and aetiology varies across countries and regions. This study investigated regional and national patterns in the incidence and aetiology of acute pancreatitis, demographic patterns in incidence and trends over time in incidence across Europe. A structured review of acute pancreatitis incidence and aetiology from studies of hospitalised patient case series, cohort studies or other population based studies from 1989 to 2015 and a review of trends in incidence from 1970 to 2015 across all 51 European states. The incidence of acute pancreatitis was reported from 17 countries across Europe and ranged from 4.6 to 100 per 100 000 population. Incidence was usually highest in eastern or northern Europe, although reported rates often varied according to case ascertainment criteria. Of 20 studies that reported on trends in incidence, all but three show percentage increases over time (overall median increase = 3.4% per annum; range = -0.4%-73%). The highest ratios of gallstone to alcohol aetiologies were identified in southern Europe (Greece, Turkey, Italy and Croatia) with lowest ratios mainly in eastern Europe (Latvia, Finland, Romania, Hungary, Russia and Lithuania). The incidence of acute pancreatitis varies across Europe. Gallstone is the dominant aetiology in southern Europe and alcohol in eastern Europe with intermediate ratios in northern and western Europe. Acute pancreatitis continues to increase throughout most of Europe. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.

  18. Evidence of an excessive gender gap in the risk of psychotic disorder among North African immigrants in Europe: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

    PubMed

    van der Ven, E; Veling, W; Tortelli, A; Tarricone, I; Berardi, D; Bourque, F; Selten, J P

    2016-12-01

    Epidemiological studies in the Netherlands have reported an excessive gender gap in the risk for non-affective psychotic disorder (NAPD) among immigrants from Morocco with a higher risk elevation in males compared to females. We examined the consistency of these findings and their generalizability to immigrants from the Maghreb (Mauritania, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Libya) in other European countries. Systematic review and meta-analysis. Medline, PsychINFO and EMBASE databases were searched for publications in the period from January 1970 to April 2014. We included incidence and prevalence studies of non-affective psychotic disorder (NAPD) among migrants from the Maghreb in Europe and studies of subclinical psychotic symptoms (SPS) in representative samples. A meta-analysis was performed on the subgroup of incidence studies. Five incidence and three prevalence studies of NAPD, and two prevalence studies of SPS, conducted in the Netherlands (n=7), Belgium (n=1), France (n=1) and Italy (n=1) met our inclusion criteria. Across all research designs, the risks of NAPD and SPS were consistently increased among male, not female immigrants from the Maghreb. The meta-analysis of incidence studies of NAPD yielded male-to-female risk ratios of 5.1 [95 % confidence interval (CI) 3.1-8.4] for migrants from the Maghreb, 2.0 (95 % CI 1.6-2.5) for other migrant groups, and 1.8 (95 % CI 1.3-2.5) for non-migrant Europeans. The marked gender gap in psychosis risk among migrants from the Maghreb appears a consistent finding, foremost among the Moroccan-Dutch. The small number of studies limits the strength of conclusions that can be drawn about countries other than the Netherlands. Achievement-expectation mismatch, social marginalization and an increased prevalence of illicit drug use are possible explanations.

  19. Adolescent chronic fatigue syndrome: prevalence, incidence, and morbidity.

    PubMed

    Nijhof, Sanne L; Maijer, Kimberley; Bleijenberg, Gijs; Uiterwaal, Cuno S P M; Kimpen, Jan L L; van de Putte, Elise M

    2011-05-01

    To determine nationwide general practitioner (GP)-diagnosed prevalence and pediatrician-diagnosed incidence rates of adolescent chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), and to assess CFS morbidity. We collected data from a cross-sectional national sample among GPs and prospective registration of new patients with CFS in all pediatric hospital departments in the Netherlands. Study participants were adolescents aged 10 to 18 years. A representative sample of GPs completed questionnaires on the prevalence of CFS in their adolescent patients. Pediatric hospital departments prospectively reported new cases of CFS in adolescent patients. For every new reported case, a questionnaire was sent to the reporting pediatrician and the reported patient to assess CFS morbidity. Prevalence was estimated through the data from GP questionnaires and incidence was estimated on the basis of cases newly reported by pediatricians from January to December 2008. Prevalence was calculated as 111 per 100 000 adolescents and incidence as 12 per 100 000 adolescents per year. Of newly reported patients with CFS, 91% scored at or above cutoff points for severe fatigue and 93% at or above the cutoff points for physical impairment. Forty-five percent of patients with CFS reported >50% school absence during the previous 6 months. Clinically diagnosed incidence and prevalence rates show that adolescent CFS is uncommon compared with chronic fatigue. The primary adverse impact of CFS is extreme disability associated with considerable school absence.

  20. NEIGHBORHOOD CONTEXT AND THE GENDER GAP IN ADOLESCENT VIOLENT CRIME.

    PubMed

    Zimmerman, Gregory M; Messner, Steven F

    2010-12-01

    Although researchers consistently demonstrate that females engage in less criminal behavior than males across the life course, research on the variability of the gender gap across contexts is sparse. To address this issue, we examine the gender gap in self-reported violent crime among adolescents across neighborhoods. Multilevel models using data from the Project of Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods (PHDCN) indicate that the gender gap in violent crime decreases as levels of neighborhood disadvantage increase. Further, the narrowing of the gender gap is explained by gender differences in peer influence on violent offending. Neighborhood disadvantage increases exposure to peer violence for both sexes, but peer violence has a stronger impact on violent offending for females than for males, producing the reduction in the gender gap at higher levels of disadvantage. We also find that the gender difference in the relationship between peer violence and offending is explained, in part, by (1) the tendency for females to have more intimate friendships than males, and (2) the moderating effect of peer intimacy on the relationship between peer violence and self-reported violent behavior.

  1. Lessons learnt from the development of the Patient Safety Incidents Reporting an Learning System for the Spanish National Health System: SiNASP.

    PubMed

    Vallejo-Gutiérrez, Paula; Bañeres-Amella, Joaquim; Sierra, Eduardo; Casal, Jesús; Agra, Yolanda

    2014-01-01

    To describe the development process and characteristics of a patient safety incidents reporting system to be implemented in the Spanish National Health System, based on the context and the needs of the different stakeholders. Literature review and analysis of most relevant reporting systems, identification of more than 100 stakeholder's (patients, professionals, regional governments representatives) expectations and requirements, analysis of the legal context, consensus of taxonomy, development of the software and pilot test. Patient Safety Events Reporting and Learning system (Sistema de Notificación y Aprendizajepara la Seguridad del Paciente, SiNASP) is a generic reporting system for all types of incidents related to patient safety, voluntary, confidential, non punitive, anonymous or nominative with anonimization, system oriented, with local analysis of cases and based on the WHO International Classification for Patient Safety. The electronic program has an on-line form for reporting, a software to manage the incidents and improvement plans, and a scoreboard with process indicators to monitor the system. The reporting system has been designed to respond to the needs and expectations identified by the stakeholders, taking into account the lessons learned from the previous notification systems, the characteristics of the National Health System and the existing legal context. The development process presented and the characteristics of the system provide a comprehensive framework that can be used for future deployments of similar patient safety systems. Copyright © 2013 SECA. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.

  2. [Critical incidents].

    PubMed

    Scheidegger, D

    2005-03-01

    In medicine real severe mishaps are rare. On the other hand critical incidents are frequent. Anonymous critical incident reporting systems allow us to learn from these mishaps. This learning process will make our daily clinical work safer Unfortunately, before these systems can be used efficiently our professional culture has to be changed. Everyone in medicine has to admit that errors do occur to see the need for an open discussion. If we really want to learn from errors, we cannot punish the individual, who reported his or her mistake. The interest is primarily in what has happened and why it has happened and not who has committed this mistake. The cause for critical incidents in medicine is in over 80% the human factor Poor communication, work under enormous stress, conflicts and hierarchies are the main cause. This has been known for many years, therefore have already 15 years ago high-tech industries, like e.g. aviation, started to invest in special courses on team training. Medicine is a typical profession were until now only the individual performance decided about the professional career Communication, conflict management, stress management, decision making, risk management, team and team resource management were subjects that have never been taught during our preor postgraduate education. These points are the most important ones for an optimal teamwork. A multimodular course designed together with Swissair (Human Aspect Development medical, HADmedical) helps to cover, as in aviation, the soft factor and behavioural education in medicine and to prepare professionals in health care to work as a real team.

  3. Bridging the Gap: Who Takes a Gap Year and Why? Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth. Research Report

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Curtis, David D.; Mlotkowski, Peter; Lumsden, Marilyn

    2012-01-01

    Taking a break between completing high school and entering university is common overseas, and is becoming more popular in Australia. There are many reasons why young people take a gap year. It may be to travel, to take a break, to study, or to work. The authors' definition of a "gapper" is a young person who commenced university one to…

  4. Invasive cancer incidence - Puerto Rico, 2007-2011.

    PubMed

    O'Neil, Mary Elizabeth; Henley, S Jane; Singh, Simple D; Wilson, Reda J; Ortiz-Ortiz, Karen J; Ríos, Naydi Pérez; Torres Cintrón, Carlos R; Luna, Guillermo Tortolero; Zavala Zegarra, Diego E; Ryerson, A Blythe

    2015-04-17

    Cancer is a leading cause of morbidity and death in Puerto Rico. To set a baseline for identifying new trends and patterns of cancer incidence, Puerto Rico Central Cancer Registry staff and CDC analyzed data from Puerto Rico included in U.S. Cancer Statistics (USCS) for 2007-2011, the most recent data available. This is the first report of invasive cancer incidence rates for 2007-2011 among Puerto Rican residents by sex, age, cancer site, and municipality. Cancer incidence rates in Puerto Rico were compared with those in the U.S. population for 2011. A total of 68,312 invasive cancers were diagnosed and reported in Puerto Rico during 2007-2011. The average annual incidence rate was 330 cases per 100,000 persons. The cancer sites with the highest cancer incidence rates included prostate (152), female breast (84), and colon and rectum (43). Cancer incidence rates varied by municipality, particularly for prostate, lung and bronchus, and colon and rectum cancers. In 2011, cancer incidence rates in Puerto Rico were lower for all cancer sites and lung and bronchus, but higher for prostate and thyroid cancers, compared with rates within the U.S. Identifying these variations can aid evaluation of factors associated with high incidence, such as cancer screening practices, and development of targeted cancer prevention and control efforts. Public health professionals can monitor cancer incidence trends and use these findings to evaluate the impact of prevention efforts, such as legislation prohibiting tobacco use in the workplace and public places and the Puerto Rico Cessation Quitline in decreasing lung and other tobacco-related cancers.

  5. Association between population density and reported incidence, characteristics and outcome after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in Sweden.

    PubMed

    Strömsöe, A; Svensson, L; Claesson, A; Lindkvist, J; Lundström, A; Herlitz, J

    2011-10-01

    To describe the reported incidence of out of hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) and the characteristics and outcome after OHCA in relation to population density in Sweden. All patients participating in the Swedish Cardiac Arrest Register between 2008 and 2009 in (a) 20 of 21 regions (n=6457) and in (b) 165 of 292 municipalities (n=3522) in Sweden, took part in the survey. The regional population density varied between 3 and 310 inhabitants per km(2) in 2009. In 2008-2009, the number of reported cardiac arrests varied between 13 and 52 per 100,000 inhabitants and year. Survival to 1 month varied between 2% and 14% during the same period in different regions. With regard to population density, based on municipalities, bystander CPR (p=0.04) as well as cardiac etiology (p=0.002) were more frequent in less populated areas. Ambulance response time was longer in less populated areas (p<0.0001). There was no significant association between population density and survival to 1 month after OHCA or incidence (adjusted for age and gender) of OHCA. There was no significant association between population density and survival to 1 month after OHCA or incidence (adjusted for age and gender) of OHCA. However, bystander CPR, cardiac etiology and longer response times were more frequent in less populated areas. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  6. Nonlinear optical effects of opening a gap in graphene

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Carvalho, David N.; Biancalana, Fabio; Marini, Andrea

    2018-05-01

    Graphene possesses remarkable electronic, optical, and mechanical properties that have taken the research of two-dimensional relativistic condensed matter systems to prolific levels. However, the understanding of how its nonlinear optical properties are affected by relativisticlike effects has been broadly uncharted. It has been recently shown that highly nontrivial currents can be generated in free-standing samples, notably leading to the generation of even harmonics. Since graphene monolayers are centrosymmetric media, for which such harmonic generation at normal incidence is deemed inaccessible, this light-driven phenomenon is both startling and promising. More realistically, graphene samples are often deposited on a dielectric substrate, leading to additional intricate interactions. Here, we present a treatment to study this instance by gapping the spectrum and we show this leads to the appearance of a Berry phase in the carrier dynamics. We analyze the role of such a phase in the generated nonlinear current and conclude that it suppresses odd-harmonic generation. The pump energy can be tuned to the energy gap to yield interference among odd harmonics mediated by interband transitions, allowing even harmonics to be generated. Our results and general methodology pave the way for understanding the role of gap opening in the nonlinear optics of two-dimensional lattices.

  7. GAP Peptide Synthesis via Design of New GAP Protecting Group: An Fmoc/tBu Synthesis of Thymopentin Free from Polymers, Chromatography and Recrystallization

    PubMed Central

    Seifert, Cole W.; Paniagua, Armando; White, Gabrielle A.; Cai, Lucy

    2016-01-01

    A novel method for Fmoc/tBu solution-phase peptide synthesis and the development of a new benzyl-type GAP protecting group is reported. This new GAP protecting group is utilized in place of a polymer support, facilitating C→N Fmoc peptide synthesis without chromatography, recrystallization, or polymer supports. The GAP group can be added and removed in high yield, and was used to synthesize over 1 gram of the immunostimulant, thymopentin, in high overall yield (83%) and purity (99%). PMID:28663711

  8. Gap Resolution

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Labutti, Kurt; Foster, Brian; Lapidus, Alla

    Gap Resolution is a software package that was developed to improve Newbler genome assemblies by automating the closure of sequence gaps caused by repetitive regions in the DNA. This is done by performing the follow steps:1) Identify and distribute the data for each gap in sub-projects. 2) Assemble the data associated with each sub-project using a secondary assembler, such as Newbler or PGA. 3) Determine if any gaps are closed after reassembly, and either design fakes (consensus of closed gap) for those that closed or lab experiments for those that require additional data. The software requires as input a genomemore » assembly produce by the Newbler assembler provided by Roche and 454 data containing paired-end reads.« less

  9. Higher Education: Gaps in Access and Persistence Study. Statistical Analysis Report. NCES 2012-046

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ross, Terris; Kena, Grace; Rathbun, Amy; KewalRamani, Angelina; Zhang, Jijun; Kristapovich, Paul; Manning, Eileen

    2012-01-01

    Numerous studies, including those of the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), have documented persistent gaps between the educational attainment of White males and that of Black, Hispanic, American Indian/Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander males. Further, there is evidence of growing gaps by sex within these…

  10. Wildfire and invasive species in the west: challenges that hinder current and future management and protection of the sagebrush-steppe ecosystem: a Gap Report

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Mayer, Kenneth F.; Anderson, Pete; Chambers, Jeanne; Boyd, Chad; Christiansen, Tom; Davis, Dawn; Espinosa, Shawn; Havlina, Doug; Ielmini, Michael; Kemner, Don; Kurth, Laurie; Maestas, Jeremy; Mealor, Brian; Milesneck, Ted; Niell, Lara; Pellant, Mike; Pyke, David A.; Tague, Joe; Vernon, Jason

    2013-01-01

    The WG will continue to meet on a regular basis to further develop and expand this list of gaps. Additionally, the WG will offer specific options to address the identified gaps. However, the WG recommends that the FWS, possibly through the State/Federal (Western Governors Association) Sage Grouse Task Force or the National Sage-grouse Executive Oversight Committee, establish a Subcommittee to specifically review this Gap Report and develop a multi-agency approach on how to address each gap. The WG will continue to endeavor to establish a priority list and identify the “low hanging fruit” that can be addressed in the short-term to affect the listing decision. Additionally, the WG will propose a longer-term strategy. However, to successfully establish such a strategy it will take buy-in and commitment at the highest levels in federal and state governments. In an effort to provide managers an opportunity to address the most important issues this coming fiscal year, we offer the following top 5 gaps. Beyond these top 5, the WG has identified 17 additional gaps that should be evaluated by both federal and state agencies as a means to help better manage the wildfire/invasive threat in the west.

  11. Importance of recurrence rating, morphology, hernial gap size, and risk factors in ventral and incisional hernia classification.

    PubMed

    Dietz, U A; Winkler, M S; Härtel, R W; Fleischhacker, A; Wiegering, A; Isbert, C; Jurowich, Ch; Heuschmann, P; Germer, C-T

    2014-02-01

    There is limited evidence on the natural course of ventral and incisional hernias and the results of hernia repair, what might partially be explained by the lack of an accepted classification system. The aim of the present study is to investigate the association of the criteria included in the Wuerzburg classification system of ventral and incisional hernias with postoperative complications and long-term recurrence. In a retrospective cohort study, the data on 330 consecutive patients who underwent surgery to repair ventral and incisional hernias were analyzed. The following four classification criteria were applied: (a) recurrence rating (ventral, incisional or incisional recurrent); (b) morphology (location); (c) size of the hernial gap; and (d) risk factors. The primary endpoint was the occurrence of a recurrence during follow-up. Secondary endpoints were incidence of postoperative complications. Independent association between classification criteria, type of surgical procedures and postoperative complications was calculated by multivariate logistic regression analysis and between classification criteria, type of surgical procedures and risk of long-term recurrence by Cox regression analysis. Follow-up lasted a mean 47.7 ± 23.53 months (median 45 months) or 3.9 ± 1.96 years. The criterion "recurrence rating" was found as predictive factor for postoperative complications in the multivariate analysis (OR 2.04; 95 % CI 1.09-3.84; incisional vs. ventral hernia). The criterion "morphology" had influence neither on the incidence of the critical event "recurrence during follow-up" nor on the incidence of postoperative complications. Hernial gap "width" predicted postoperative complications in the multivariate analysis (OR 1.98; 95 % CI 1.19-3.29; ≤5 vs. >5 cm). Length of the hernial gap was found to be an independent prognostic factor for the critical event "recurrence during follow-up" (HR 2.05; 95 % CI 1.25-3.37; ≤5 vs. >5 cm). The presence of 3 or more risk

  12. The gender health gap in China: A decomposition analysis.

    PubMed

    Zhang, Hao; Bago d'Uva, Teresa; van Doorslaer, Eddy

    2015-07-01

    Around the world, and in spite of their higher life expectancy, women tend to report worse health than men until old age. Explanations for this gender gap in self-perceived health may be different in China than in other countries due to the traditional phenomenon of son preference. We examine several possible reasons for the gap using the Chinese SAGE data. We first rule out differential reporting by gender as a possible explanation, exploiting information on anchoring vignettes in eight domains of health functioning. Decomposing the gap in general self-assessed health, we find that about 31% can be explained by socio-demographic factors, most of all by discrimination against women in education in the 20th century. A more complete specification including chronic conditions and health functioning fully explains the remainder of the gap (about 69%). Adding chronic conditions and health functioning also explains at least two thirds of the education contribution, suggesting how education may affect health. In particular, women's higher rates of arthritis, angina and eye diseases make the largest contributions to the gender health gap, by limiting mobility, increasing pain and discomfort, and causing sleep problems and a feeling of low energy. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  13. Decision modeling for fire incident analysis

    Treesearch

    Donald G. MacGregor; Armando González-Cabán

    2009-01-01

    This paper reports on methods for representing and modeling fire incidents based on concepts and models from the decision and risk sciences. A set of modeling techniques are used to characterize key fire management decision processes and provide a basis for incident analysis. The results of these methods can be used to provide insights into the structure of fire...

  14. The RhoGAP activity of CYK-4/MgcRacGAP functions non-canonically by promoting RhoA activation during cytokinesis

    PubMed Central

    Zhang, Donglei; Glotzer, Michael

    2015-01-01

    Cytokinesis requires activation of the GTPase RhoA. ECT-2, the exchange factor responsible for RhoA activation, is regulated to ensure spatiotemporal control of contractile ring assembly. Centralspindlin, composed of the Rho family GTPase-activating protein (RhoGAP) MgcRacGAP/CYK-4 and the kinesin MKLP1/ZEN-4, is known to activate ECT-2, but the underlying mechanism is not understood. We report that ECT-2-mediated RhoA activation depends on the ability of CYK-4 to localize to the plasma membrane, bind RhoA, and promote GTP hydrolysis by RhoA. Defects resulting from loss of CYK-4 RhoGAP activity can be rescued by activating mutations in ECT-2 or depletion of RGA-3/4, which functions as a conventional RhoGAP for RhoA. Consistent with CYK-4 RhoGAP activity contributing to GEF activation, the catalytic domains of CYK-4 and ECT-2 directly interact. Thus, counterintuitively, CYK-4 RhoGAP activity promotes RhoA activation. We propose that the most active form of the cytokinetic RhoGEF involves complex formation between ECT-2, centralspindlin and RhoA. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.08898.001 PMID:26252513

  15. Energy-gap spectroscopy of superconductors using a tunneling microscope

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Le Duc, H. G.; Kaiser, W. J.; Stern, J. A.

    1987-01-01

    A unique scanning tunneling microscope (STM) system has been developed for spectroscopy of the superconducting energy gap. High-resolution control of tunnel current and voltage allows for measurement of superconducting properties at tunnel resistance levels 100-1000 greater than that achieved in prior work. The previously used STM methods for superconductor spectroscopy are compared to those developed for the work reported here. Superconducting energy-gap spectra are reported for three superconductors, Pb, PbBi, and NbN, over a range of tunnel resistance. The measured spectra are compared directly to theory.

  16. Communication During Complex Humanitarian Emergencies: Using Technology to Bridge the Gap

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2002-09-01

    NAVAL POSTGRADUATE SCHOOL Monterey, California THESIS COMMUNICATION DURING COMPLEX HUMANITARIAN EMERGENCIES: USING TECHNOLOGY TO BRIDGE THE GAP by...Paperwork Reduction Project (0704-0188) Washington DC 20503. 1. AGENCY USE ONLY (Leave blank) 2. REPORT DATE September 2002 3. REPORT TYPE AND DATES COVERED...Master’s Thesis 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE Communication During Complex Humanitarian Emergencies: Using Technology to Bridge the Gap 5. FUNDING NUMBERS 6

  17. First report on the nationwide incidence of type 1 diabetes and ketoacidosis at onset in children in Serbia: a multicenter study.

    PubMed

    Vukovic, Rade; Jesic, Maja D; Vorgucin, Ivana; Stankovic, Sandra; Folic, Nevena; Milenkovic, Tatjana; Sajic, Silvija; Katanic, Dragan; Zivic, Sasa; Markovic, Slavica; Soldatovic, Ivan

    2018-05-17

    Data regarding incidence of type 1 diabetes (T1DM), as well as data on frequency and severity of diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) at the time of T1DM diagnosis is of paramount importance for national and regional healthcare planning. The aim of present multicenter study was to provide the first report regarding nationwide annual incidence rates for T1DM in youth in Serbia, as well as prevalence of DKA at the time of diagnosis. Data on all pediatric patients with newly diagnosed T1DM was retrospectively collected from all 15 regional centers for pediatric diabetes in Serbia during the period 2007-2017. During the study period, average-standardized incidence of T1DM in youth < 19 years was 11.82/100,000, and 14.28/100,000 in 0-14 years age group, with an average yearly increase in incidence of 5.9%. High prevalence of DKA (35.1%) at the time of diagnosis was observed, with highest frequency in children aged < 5 years (47.2%). This is the first study reporting the nationwide incidence of T1DM and alarmingly high prevalence of DKA at diagnosis in youth in Serbia. The focus of public health preventive measures should be directed towards the preschoolers, considering the highest frequency and severity of DKA observed in this age group. What is Known: • Knowing regional T1DM incidence is of paramount importance for resource allocation and healthcare services provision. • DKA is the leading cause of acute mortality in youth with T1DM, and public health preventive educational measures could improve early diagnosis and reduce the frequency and severity of DKA at presentation. What is New: • Incidence of pediatric T1DM in Serbia is on the rise, with an average yearly increase of 5.9%. • Worryingly high prevalence of DKA (35.1%) at the time of T1DM diagnosis was observed, with the highest frequency of DKA in children aged < 5 years (47.2%).

  18. Classification of medication incidents associated with information technology.

    PubMed

    Cheung, Ka-Chun; van der Veen, Willem; Bouvy, Marcel L; Wensing, Michel; van den Bemt, Patricia M L A; de Smet, Peter A G M

    2014-02-01

    Information technology (IT) plays a pivotal role in improving patient safety, but can also cause new problems for patient safety. This study analyzed the nature and consequences of a large sample of IT-related medication incidents, as reported by healthcare professionals in community pharmacies and hospitals. The medication incidents submitted to the Dutch central medication incidents registration (CMR) reporting system were analyzed from the perspective of the healthcare professional with the Magrabi classification. During classification new terms were added, if necessary. The principal source of the IT-related problem, nature of error. Additional measures: consequences of incidents, IT systems, phases of the medication process. From March 2010 to February 2011 the CMR received 4161 incidents: 1643 (39.5%) from community pharmacies and 2518 (60.5%) from hospitals. Eventually one of six incidents (16.1%, n=668) were related to IT; in community pharmacies more incidents (21.5%, n=351) were related to IT than in hospitals (12.6%, n=317). In community pharmacies 41.0% (n=150) of the incidents were about choosing the wrong medicine. Most of the erroneous exchanges were associated with confusion of medicine names and poor design of screens. In hospitals 55.3% (n=187) of incidents concerned human-machine interaction-related input during the use of computerized prescriber order entry. These use problems were also a major problem in pharmacy information systems outside the hospital. A large sample of incidents shows that many of the incidents are related to IT, both in community pharmacies and hospitals. The interaction between human and machine plays a pivotal role in IT incidents in both settings.

  19. [The coverage of hepatitis A vaccine among 2-29 year olds and the reporting incidence of hepatitis A in China, 2014].

    PubMed

    Wang, F Z; Zheng, H; Liu, J H; Sun, X J; Miao, N; Shen, L P; Zhang, G M; Cui, F Q

    2016-08-10

    To evaluate the hepatitis A vaccine coverage among 2-29 year olds and the reported incidence rates of hepatitis A, in China. Based on data from the national sero-survey on hepatitis B in 2014, information on hepatitis A vaccine immunization was collected and the coverage of hepatitis A vaccine was analyzed with SAS software (Version 9.4). Incidence data on hepatitis A was also collected from the National Notifiable Disease Reporting System between 2004 and 2014, and analyzed using the micro-software Excel 2007. Totally, data involving 29 058 people aged 2-29 years were available for analysis and the overall hepatitis A vaccine coverage was 44.6%. The younger the age, the higher the coverage appeared. Among the 2-6 year and the 7-14 year olds, rates of hepatitis A vaccine coverage were 91.2% and 76.0% respectively. From 2004 to 2014, the incidence rates of hepatitis A in the whole population were declining, annually. The incidence rates showed continuously declining as 82.5%, 90.6%, 72.1% among children at the age groups of 2-6 years, 7-14 years and in the whole population, from 2007 to 2013. After the inclusion of hepatitis A vaccine into the Expanded Programe on Immunization (EPI), the coverage of hepatitis A vaccine among the 2-6 year olds increased to over 90%, with no obvious difference between the urban and rural areas. Incidence of hepatitis A in the 2-6 year olds showed a more rapid decline than that in the whole population.

  20. Embedding learning from adverse incidents: a UK case study.

    PubMed

    Eshareturi, Cyril; Serrant, Laura

    2017-04-18

    Purpose This paper reports on a regionally based UK study uncovering what has worked well in learning from adverse incidents in hospitals. The purpose of this paper is to review the incident investigation methodology used in identifying strengths or weaknesses and explore the use of a database as a tool to embed learning. Design/methodology/approach Documentary examination was conducted of all adverse incidents reported between 1 June 2011 and 30 June 2012 by three UK National Health Service hospitals. One root cause analysis report per adverse incident for each individual hospital was sent to an advisory group for a review. Using terms of reference supplied, the advisory group feedback was analysed using an inductive thematic approach. The emergent themes led to the generation of questions which informed seven in-depth semi-structured interviews. Findings "Time" and "work pressures" were identified as barriers to using adverse incident investigations as tools for quality enhancement. Methodologically, a weakness in approach was that no criteria influenced the techniques which were used in investigating adverse incidents. Regarding the sharing of learning, the use of a database as a tool to embed learning across the region was not supported. Practical implications Softer intelligence from adverse incident investigations could be usefully shared between hospitals through a regional forum. Originality/value The use of a database as a tool to facilitate the sharing of learning from adverse incidents across the health economy is not supported.

  1. Recording pressure ulcer risk assessment and incidence.

    PubMed

    Plaskitt, Anne; Heywood, Nicola; Arrowsmith, Michaela

    2015-07-15

    This article reports on the introduction of an innovative computer-based system developed to record and report pressure ulcer risk and incidence at an acute NHS trust. The system was introduced to ensure that all patients have an early pressure ulcer risk assessment, which prompts staff to initiate appropriate management if a pressure ulcer is detected, thereby preventing further patient harm. Initial findings suggest that this electronic process has helped to improve the timeliness and accuracy of data on pressure ulcer risk and incidence. In addition, it has resulted in a reduced number of reported hospital-acquired pressure ulcers.

  2. Enhancing the National Incident-Based Reporting System: A Policy Proposal.

    PubMed

    Bierie, David M

    2015-09-01

    The National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) is an important data set serving social scientists, policy makers, the business community, and the press. However, it is hampered by low participation rates among the nation's police agencies. This article outlines a strategy for enhancing NIBRS by (a) providing police agencies free and supported software to extract and transmit an agency's Record Management System (RMS) data in NIBRS format (or a data-entry system if an RMS does not exist), (b) including personal identifiers of arrestees, and (c) allowing police agencies to access the national data for routine police work. The article describes how taking these steps would decrease the costs of implementing and maintaining NIBRS, encourage widespread adoption, and increase data quality. These enhancements could foster substantial improvements in policing as well as other aspects of the criminal justice system. These changes would also open up new and exciting areas for academics and analysts, including the ability to study criminal careers over time as well as criminal networks within NIBRS. © The Author(s) 2014.

  3. An analysis of runway incursion "Hot Spots" incidents : with deidentified reports excerpts : volume 2

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    2002-10-24

    The analysis set was limited to runway incursion incidents that occurred : between January 1, 2000 and June 30,2002. : The runway incursion incidents included incidents involving eitherhold : line transgressions or actual runway penetrations. : ...

  4. An analysis of runway incursion "Hot Spots" incidents : with deidentified reports excerpts : volume 1

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    2002-10-24

    The analysis set was limited to runway incursion incidents that occurred : between January 1, 2000 and June 30,2002. : The runway incursion incidents included incidents involving eitherhold : line transgressions or actual runway penetrations. : ...

  5. Race, ethnicity, recreation, and leisure: An assessment of research gaps

    Treesearch

    Edwin Gomez

    2008-01-01

    The purpose of this report is to identify research gaps related to the race/ethnicity and leisure literature. This was done by first highlighting the trends involved in the ethnicity and leisure literature, and then presenting five gaps found in the literature for future researchers to consider.

  6. Fluctuating asymmetry and mentum gaps in populations of the midge Chironomus riparius (Diptera: Chironomidae) from a metal-contaminated River

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Groenendijk, D.; Zeinstra, L.W.M.; Postma, J.F.

    1998-10-01

    The developmental stability of both metal-exposed and nonexposed Chironomus riparius populations from the lowland River Dommel was investigated using fluctuating asymmetry (FA) and the incidence of mentum gaps. It was hypothesized that larval development was affected by the influx of Cd, Zn, Fe, Cu, and Pb directly by chemical stress, as well as through inbreeding of metal-adapted and nonadapted specimens. Morphological para/meters were therefore assessed in field-collected larvae and in clean, laboratory-cultured, first-generation (F1) larvae. Fluctuating asymmetry values and mentum gap incidence at contaminated field sites were significantly higher than at clean, upstream locations. Furthermore, FA values of clean, laboratory-culturedmore » F1 larvae generally fell to reference values, indicating the direct effect of metal pollution on developmental aberrations. Mentum gaps were not observed in clean F1 cultures. Slightly elevated FA values were, however, still observed in clean F1 larvae from polluted locations downstream from the metal input. This residual disturbance was thought to reflect genetic stress emerging from interbreeding between metal-adapted and nonadapted specimens. Fluctuating asymmetry and mentum gaps together serve as a useful ecotoxicological marker for metal stress and, when combined with in situ studies and F1 cultures, allow for analysis of the response of animal populations to spatial and temporal gradients in metal exposure.« less

  7. Sustainability Tools Inventory Initial Gap Analysis

    EPA Science Inventory

    This report identifies a suite of tools that address a comprehensive set of community sustainability concerns. The objective is to discover whether "gaps" exist in the tool suite’s analytic capabilities. These tools address activities that significantly influence resource consu...

  8. Initial assessment of strategic plans for improving the performance of veterinary services in developing countries: a review of OIE PVS gap analysis reports.

    PubMed

    Weaver, J; Leon, E; Edan, M; D'Alessio, F

    2012-08-01

    The World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) carries out Gap Analysis missions (if a country so wishes) as part of its programme to assess and improve the Performance of Veterinary Services (the 'PVS Pathway') in Member Countries. These Gap Analysis missions have found that many national Veterinary Services comply to only a limited extent with the international standards established by the OIE and that their competence is compromised by poor governance. This failure threatens animal and public health not only nationally but also internationally. The OIE PVS Gap Analysis reports reviewed found that all the Veterinary Services have a strong vision and commitmentto improvement but are held back by a weak chain of command, inadequate and outdated legislation, insufficient funding, weak technical competencies, compromised technical independence, poor communications and limited joint programmes. There are weaknesses across all the core technical areas of trade, animal health, veterinary public health and veterinary laboratories and also in the overall management of the Veterinary Services. The OIE PVS Gap Analysis missions recommend significant increases in budget in all countries.

  9. Cancer incidence, mortality, and survival in Eastern Libya: updated report from the Benghazi Cancer Registry.

    PubMed

    El Mistiri, Mufid; Salati, Massimiliano; Marcheselli, Luigi; Attia, Adel; Habil, Salah; Alhomri, Faraj; Spika, Devon; Allemani, Claudia; Federico, Massimo

    2015-08-01

    Despite the increasing burden of cancer occurred over recent years in the African continent, epidemiologic data from Northern Africa area have been so far sparse or absent. We present most recently available data from the Benghazi Cancer Registry concerning cancer incidence and mortality as well as the most comprehensive survival data set so far generated for cases diagnosed during 2003 to 2005 in Eastern Libya. We collected and analyzed data on cancer incidence, mortality and survival that were obtained over a 3-year study period from January 1st 2003 to December 31st 2005 from the Benghazi Cancer Registry. A total of 3307 cancer patients were registered among residents during the study period. The world age-standardized incidence rate for all sites was 135.4 and 107.1 per 100,000 for males and females, respectively. The most common malignancies in men were cancers of lung (18.9%), colorectum (10.4%), bladder (10.1%), and prostate (9.4%); among women, they were breast (23.2%), colorectum (11.2%), corpus uteri (6.7%), and leukemia (5.1%). A total of 1367 deaths for cancer were recorded from 2003 to 2005; the leading causes of cancer death were cancers of the lung (29.3%), colorectum (8.2%), and brain (7.3%) in males and cancers of breast (14.8%), colorectum (10.6%), and liver (7%) in females. The 5-year relative survival for all cancer combined was 22.3%; survival was lower in men (19.8%) than in women (28.2%). This study provides an updated report on cancer incidence, mortality, and survival, in Eastern Libya which may represent a useful tool for planning future interventions toward a better cancer control. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  10. [Rules and regulations applying to incidents in radiotherapy].

    PubMed

    Lohr, F; Baus, W; Vorwerk, H; Schlömp, B; André, L; Georg, D; Hodapp, N

    2012-07-01

    Radiotherapy is an essential and reliable element of the treatment armamentarium in oncology. Numerous rules, regulations, and protocols minimize the associated risks. It can, however, never be excluded that errors in the treatment delivery chain result in inadequate tumor doses or unnecessary damage to organs at risk. A legal framework governs the management of such incidents. The most important European and North American regulations are reported. Various directives issued by the European Union are differently implemented nationally. This applies particularly to the characterization of incidents that must be reported to authorities. Reporting thresholds, audit systems, and the extent of the integration of voluntary reporting systems vary. Radiotherapy incidents are dealt with differently on an international level. Changes are to be expected based on the European Basic Safety Standards Directive that is currently being prepared and will have to be implemented nationally in due course.

  11. Analysis of Aviation Safety Reporting System Incident Data Associated With the Technical Challenges of the Vehicle Systems Safety Technology Project

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Withrow, Colleen A.; Reveley, Mary S.

    2014-01-01

    This analysis was conducted to support the Vehicle Systems Safety Technology (VSST) Project of the Aviation Safety Program (AVsP) milestone VSST4.2.1.01, "Identification of VSST-Related Trends." In particular, this is a review of incident data from the NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (ASRS). The following three VSST-related technical challenges (TCs) were the focus of the incidents searched in the ASRS database: (1) Vechicle health assurance, (2) Effective crew-system interactions and decisions in all conditions; and (3) Aircraft loss of control prevention, mitigation, and recovery.

  12. The treatment gap in mental health care.

    PubMed Central

    Kohn, Robert; Saxena, Shekhar; Levav, Itzhak; Saraceno, Benedetto

    2004-01-01

    Mental disorders are highly prevalent and cause considerable suffering and disease burden. To compound this public health problem, many individuals with psychiatric disorders remain untreated although effective treatments exist. We examine the extent of this treatment gap. We reviewed community-based psychiatric epidemiology studies that used standardized diagnostic instruments and included data on the percentage of individuals receiving care for schizophrenia and other non-affective psychotic disorders, major depression, dysthymia, bipolar disorder, generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and alcohol abuse or dependence. The median rates of untreated cases of these disorders were calculated across the studies. Examples of the estimation of the treatment gap for WHO regions are also presented. Thirty-seven studies had information on service utilization. The median treatment gap for schizophrenia, including other non-affective psychosis, was 32.2%. For other disorders the gap was: depression, 56.3%; dysthymia, 56.0%; bipolar disorder, 50.2%; panic disorder, 55.9%; GAD, 57.5%; and OCD, 57.3%. Alcohol abuse and dependence had the widest treatment gap at 78.1%. The treatment gap for mental disorders is universally large, though it varies across regions. It is likely that the gap reported here is an underestimate due to the unavailability of community-based data from developing countries where services are scarcer. To address this major public health challenge, WHO has adopted in 2002 a global action programme that has been endorsed by the Member States. PMID:15640922

  13. Changes in the Black-White Test score Gap in the Elementary School Grades. CSE Report 715

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Koretz, Daniel; Kim, Young-Suk

    2007-01-01

    In a pair of recent studies, Fryer and Levitt (2004a, 2004b) analyzed the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study--Kindergarten Cohort (ECLS-K) to explore the characteristics of the Black-White test score gap in young children. They found that the gap grew markedly between kindergarten and the third grade and that they could predict the gap from…

  14. NEIGHBORHOOD CONTEXT AND THE GENDER GAP IN ADOLESCENT VIOLENT CRIME*

    PubMed Central

    Zimmerman, Gregory M.; Messner, Steven F.

    2011-01-01

    Although researchers consistently demonstrate that females engage in less criminal behavior than males across the life course, research on the variability of the gender gap across contexts is sparse. To address this issue, we examine the gender gap in self-reported violent crime among adolescents across neighborhoods. Multilevel models using data from the Project of Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods (PHDCN) indicate that the gender gap in violent crime decreases as levels of neighborhood disadvantage increase. Further, the narrowing of the gender gap is explained by gender differences in peer influence on violent offending. Neighborhood disadvantage increases exposure to peer violence for both sexes, but peer violence has a stronger impact on violent offending for females than for males, producing the reduction in the gender gap at higher levels of disadvantage. We also find that the gender difference in the relationship between peer violence and offending is explained, in part, by (1) the tendency for females to have more intimate friendships than males, and (2) the moderating effect of peer intimacy on the relationship between peer violence and self-reported violent behavior. PMID:21709751

  15. Appendix : airborne incidents : an econometric analysis of severity

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    2014-12-19

    This is the Appendix for Airborne Incidents: An Econometric Analysis of Severity Report. : Airborne loss of separation incidents occur when an aircraft breaches the defined separation limit (vertical and/or horizontal) with another aircraft or terrai...

  16. Incidence of patient safety events and process-related human failures during intra-hospital transportation of patients: retrospective exploration from the institutional incident reporting system.

    PubMed

    Yang, Shu-Hui; Jerng, Jih-Shuin; Chen, Li-Chin; Li, Yu-Tsu; Huang, Hsiao-Fang; Wu, Chao-Ling; Chan, Jing-Yuan; Huang, Szu-Fen; Liang, Huey-Wen; Sun, Jui-Sheng

    2017-11-03

    Intra-hospital transportation (IHT) might compromise patient safety because of different care settings and higher demand on the human operation. Reports regarding the incidence of IHT-related patient safety events and human failures remain limited. To perform a retrospective analysis of IHT-related events, human failures and unsafe acts. A hospital-wide process for the IHT and database from the incident reporting system in a medical centre in Taiwan. All eligible IHT-related patient safety events between January 2010 to December 2015 were included. Incidence rate of IHT-related patient safety events, human failure modes, and types of unsafe acts. There were 206 patient safety events in 2 009 013 IHT sessions (102.5 per 1 000 000 sessions). Most events (n=148, 71.8%) did not involve patient harm, and process events (n=146, 70.9%) were most common. Events at the location of arrival (n=101, 49.0%) were most frequent; this location accounted for 61.0% and 44.2% of events with patient harm and those without harm, respectively (p<0.001). Of the events with human failures (n=186), the most common related process step was the preparation of the transportation team (n=91, 48.9%). Contributing unsafe acts included perceptual errors (n=14, 7.5%), decision errors (n=56, 30.1%), skill-based errors (n=48, 25.8%), and non-compliance (n=68, 36.6%). Multivariate analysis showed that human failure found in the arrival and hand-off sub-process (OR 4.84, p<0.001) was associated with increased patient harm, whereas the presence of omission (OR 0.12, p<0.001) was associated with less patient harm. This study shows a need to reduce human failures to prevent patient harm during intra-hospital transportation. We suggest that the transportation team pay specific attention to the sub-process at the location of arrival and prevent errors other than omissions. Long-term monitoring of IHT-related events is also warranted. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the

  17. Identifying patient safety problems associated with information technology in general practice: an analysis of incident reports.

    PubMed

    Magrabi, Farah; Liaw, Siaw Teng; Arachi, Diana; Runciman, William; Coiera, Enrico; Kidd, Michael R

    2016-11-01

    To identify the categories of problems with information technology (IT), which affect patient safety in general practice. General practitioners (GPs) reported incidents online or by telephone between May 2012 and November 2013. Incidents were reviewed against an existing classification for problems associated with IT and the clinical process impacted. 87 GPs across Australia. Types of problems, consequences and clinical processes. GPs reported 90 incidents involving IT which had an observable impact on the delivery of care, including actual patient harm as well as near miss events. Practice systems and medications were the most affected clinical processes. Problems with IT disrupted clinical workflow, wasted time and caused frustration. Issues with user interfaces, routine updates to software packages and drug databases, and the migration of records from one package to another generated clinical errors that were unique to IT; some could affect many patients at once. Human factors issues gave rise to some errors that have always existed with paper records but are more likely to occur and cause harm with IT. Such errors were linked to slips in concentration, multitasking, distractions and interruptions. Problems with patient identification and hybrid records generated errors that were in principle no different to paper records. Problems associated with IT include perennial risks with paper records, but additional disruptions in workflow and hazards for patients unique to IT, occasionally affecting multiple patients. Surveillance for such hazards may have general utility, but particularly in the context of migrating historical records to new systems and software updates to existing systems. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/.

  18. SHOT conference report 2016: serious hazards of transfusion - human factors continue to cause most transfusion-related incidents.

    PubMed

    Bolton-Maggs, P H B

    2016-12-01

    The Annual SHOT Report for incidents reported in 2015 was published on 7 July at the SHOT symposium. Once again, the majority of reports (77·7%) were associated with mistakes ('human factors'). Pressures and stress in the hospital environment contributed to several error reports. There were 26 deaths where transfusion played a part, one due to haemolysis from anti-Wr a (units issued electronically). The incidence of haemolysis due to this antibody has increased in recent years. Transfusion-associated circulatory overload is the most common contributor to death and major morbidity. Reports of delays to transfusion have increased, some caused by the failure of correct patient identification. There were seven ABO-incompatible red cell transfusions (one death) with an additional six to allogeneic stem cell transplant recipients. Near-miss reporting and analysis is useful and demonstrated nearly 300 instances of wrong blood in tube, which could have resulted in ABO-incompatible transfusion had the error not been detected. Errors with anti-D immunoglobulin continue, and preliminary data from the new survey of new anti-D found in pregnancy has shown that sensitisation occurs in some women even with apparently 'ideal' care. For the first time, the SHOT report now incorporates a chapter on donor events. © 2016 British Blood Transfusion Society.

  19. Hexadecameric structure of an invertebrate gap junction channel.

    PubMed

    Oshima, Atsunori; Matsuzawa, Tomohiro; Murata, Kazuyoshi; Tani, Kazutoshi; Fujiyoshi, Yoshinori

    2016-03-27

    Innexins are invertebrate-specific gap junction proteins with four transmembrane helices. These proteins oligomerize to constitute intercellular channels that allow for the passage of small signaling molecules associated with neural and muscular electrical activity. In contrast to the large number of structural and functional studies of connexin gap junction channels, few structural studies of recombinant innexin channels are reported. Here we show the three-dimensional structure of two-dimensionally crystallized Caenorhabditis elegans innexin-6 (INX-6) gap junction channels. The N-terminal deleted INX-6 proteins are crystallized in lipid bilayers. The three-dimensional reconstruction determined by cryo-electron crystallography reveals that a single INX-6 gap junction channel comprises 16 subunits, a hexadecamer, in contrast to chordate connexin channels, which comprise 12 subunits. The channel pore diameters at the cytoplasmic entrance and extracellular gap region are larger than those of connexin26. Two bulb densities are observed in each hemichannel, one in the pore and the other at the cytoplasmic side of the hemichannel in the channel pore pathway. These findings imply a structural diversity of gap junction channels among multicellular organisms. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

  20. Measurable improvement in patient safety culture: A departmental experience with incident learning.

    PubMed

    Kusano, Aaron S; Nyflot, Matthew J; Zeng, Jing; Sponseller, Patricia A; Ermoian, Ralph; Jordan, Loucille; Carlson, Joshua; Novak, Avrey; Kane, Gabrielle; Ford, Eric C

    2015-01-01

    Rigorous use of departmental incident learning is integral to improving patient safety and quality of care. The goal of this study was to quantify the impact of a high-volume, departmental incident learning system on patient safety culture. A prospective, voluntary, electronic incident learning system was implemented in February 2012 with the intent of tracking near-miss/no-harm incidents. All incident reports were reviewed weekly by a multiprofessional team with regular department-wide feedback. Patient safety culture was measured at baseline with validated patient safety culture survey questions. A repeat survey was conducted after 1 and 2 years of departmental incident learning. Proportional changes were compared by χ(2) or Fisher exact test, where appropriate. Between 2012 and 2014, a total of 1897 error/near-miss incidents were reported, representing an average of 1 near-miss report per patient treated. Reports were filed by a cross section of staff, with the majority of incidents reported by therapists, dosimetrists, and physicists. Survey response rates at baseline and 1 and 2 years were 78%, 80%, and 80%, respectively. Statistically significant and sustained improvements were noted in several safety metrics, including belief that the department was openly discussing ways to improve safety, the sense that reports were being used for safety improvement, and the sense that changes were being evaluated for effectiveness. None of the surveyed dimensions of patient safety culture worsened. Fewer punitive concerns were noted, with statistically significant decreases in the worry of embarrassment in front of colleagues and fear of getting colleagues in trouble. A comprehensive incident learning system can identify many areas for improvement and is associated with significant and sustained improvements in patient safety culture. These data provide valuable guidance as incident learning systems become more widely used in radiation oncology. Copyright © 2015