What counts as a voiceable concern in decisions about speaking out in hospitals: A qualitative study

Objectives Those who work in health care organisations are a potentially valuable source of information about safety concerns, yet failures of voice are persistent. We propose the concept of ‘voiceable concern’ and offer an empirical exploration. Methods We conducted a qualitative study involving 165 semi-structured interviews with a range of staff (clinical, non-clinical and at different hierarchical levels) in three hospitals in two countries. Analysis was based on the constant comparative method. Results Our analysis shows that identifying what counts as a concern, and what counts as a occasion for voice by a given individual, is not a straightforward matter of applying objective criteria. It instead often involves discretionary judgement, exercised in highly specific organisational and cultural contexts. We identified four influences that shape whether incidents, events and patterns were classified as voiceable concerns: certainty that something is wrong and is an occasion for voice; system versus conduct concerns, forgivability and normalisation. Determining what counted as a voiceable concern is not a simple function of the features of the concern; also important is whether the person who noticed the concern felt it was voiceable by them. Conclusions Understanding how those who work in health care organisations come to recognise what counts as a voiceable concern is critical to understanding decisions and actions about speaking out. The concept of a voiceable concern may help to explain aspects of voice behaviour in organisations as well as informing interventions to improve voice.

Present and Future Land Suitability Analysis for Almond and Pistachio Crops in the Beira Baixa Region Using Spatial Multicriteria Decision Systems

The objective of this study is to determine the suitability for the cultivation of emerging fruit crops in the Beira Baixa region. The suitability was examined for the present time and in the face of two future emission scenarios (RCP 4.5 and 8.5). For this purpose, the biophysical criteria determining the cultivation of pistachio tree and almond tree were processed using a G. The analysis was performed by the AHP. After dividing the problem into hierarchical levels of decision making, a pairwise comparison of criteria was performed to evaluate the weights of these criteria, based on a scale of importance. In the present conditions, about 16.4% of the study area is classified as highly suitable for almond tree and 15.9% to pistachio tree. For the future scenarios, the area with high suitability will increase both for almond tree and pistachio tree. The AHP was adequate in the evaluation of the emerging fruit tree species suitability, since it allowed the integration of the several criteria studied, being a useful tool, which allows the decision making and the resolution of problems.

Detecting development scenarios of dynamic events in electric power network smart-grids. Part two “Selective Protection”

When implementing development concepts in the electric power industry (such as “Smart Grid”, “Digital substation” and “Outsourcing of services”), the task of ensuring stable relay protection operations and automation devices is urgent. The problem is solved according to the developed structural-information (SI) method. A method for selective search of the optimal amount of structured information for automatic decision-making is proposed. The article discusses an algorithm for recognising scenarios for the development of semantic events, which is included in the SP-method. The algorithm is applied uniformly for all hierarchical levels of recognition, based on the goals of decision making at the senior level. Control of the sequence of information events is performed in the dynamics of the passage of events along one path from all relationships according to the structural-information model. Part 1 shows a collaborative structural-information model consisting of a shaping tree in a dynamic object and a recognition tree in devices. A theoretical description of the algorithm is given using the amplitude and time (Ξ,Η) selectivity windows in the general structural scheme of S-detection. The application of the method for different hierarchical levels of recognition is shown. The decision-making results are presented in two forms, by means of a single semantic signal to indicate a group of results and filling in the table of the sequence of occurrence of the recognised elementary information components. Part 2 shows the application of the SPmethod at different hierarchical levels of recognition for the synthesis of a selective relay, which implements an algorithm for finding a damaged network section with single-phase ground faults in 6-35 kV distribution networks with a Petersen’s coil. The reasons for the unstable operation of algorithms of known selective relays are indicated, based on the concepts of scenario recognition. The improvement of the structure of a selective relay operating on the basis of the criterion for monitoring the coincidence of the first half-waves of the mid-frequency components in the signals of transient processes is considered. Examples of the synthesis of elementary detectors of absolute, relative and cumulative actions in relation to a selective relay are given, which make it possible to fill the amount of information for general S-detection. The simulation of the operation of the synthesised S-detector on the signals of real emergency files of the natural development of damage to the isolation of the network phase and simulation of artificial scenarios of events in the mathematical SI-model are carried out.

Contemporary Conflicts in Perspectives on Work Hours across Hierarchical Levels in Public Accounting

Socializing personnel into accepting work hour norms has been fundamental to how accounting firms function, but is now challenged by contemporary work perspectives. Using 40 semi-structured interviews of personnel across hierarchical levels at a national firm and an international firm, we show how strangeness and contradiction expressed in work hour perspectives across different levels within both firms are reconstructed as compatible and complementary. Highlighting various firm adaptations, including alternative work arrangements, offshoring, and technological tools, our interviews suggest a major shift in firms’ approach toward work hours. This shift is fueled by work perspectives embraced by younger generations desiring work life balance and purposeful work, and enabled by technology supporting remote work and increasing work efficiencies. The question remains whether firms are evolving to genuinely embody work perspectives of younger generations or restructuring to rely on a smaller workforce willing to accept traditional work hour norms, or some combination thereof.

The Corporal-oriented approach to Education: a Turn towards the Whole Person

Recent anthropological studies consider the corporal experience as an indispensable attribute of a person’s life world. They declare to go beyond the dichotomy of body and mind and present a modern person as a complex integrity of all systems and characteristics of a living organism. Body and mind are a union of vitality with different forms of their manifestation. The corporal is not regarded as an essential complement to the mental, the corporal is the mental, just in a different form of its manifestation. The implementation of a methodological turn from a rationalcognitive approach to a holistic understanding of human nature and the peculiarities of cognitive processes outlines the problem of education transformation in both theoretical and practical terms. Taking into account the complexity and multiplicity of tasks in solving this problem, the guideline in defining conceptual ideas is the understanding of a person as a multi-temporal being who lives simultaneously in multiple hierarchical levels, ontological time and the scale of processes. It is a question of necessity to construct educational activity in semantic planes: mindbody- culture, mind-body-activity, body-consciousness-reaction and others.

MODERNIZATION OF THE TECHNICAL INFRASTRUCTURE OF THE FUEL AND ENERGY COMPLEX DURING THE TRANSITION TO THE EIGHTH TECHNOLOGICAL ORDER

The subject of the work is the methodology of modernization of the technical infrastructure of the fuel and energy complex during the transition to the eighth technological order; the object of the work is the technical infrastructure of the fuel and energy complex during the eighth technological order; the purpose of the work is to reduce the risks of sustainable development of the Russian fuel and energy complex during the formation of the eighth technological order; to achieve this goal, the following tasks are solved: the necessity of modernization of technical infrastructure during the development of a new technological order is justified; the concept and features of the eighth technological order are clarified; the methodology of modernization of technical infrastructure in the process of development of the eighth technological order is formed; the scientific methods of the article are historical, comparative and logical analysis, theory of hierarchical systems, innovation, forecasting, synthesis, expert assessments; the scientific novelty of the article is connected with the substantiation of the methodology of modernization of the technical infrastructure of the fuel and energy complex at its two hierarchical levels, the development of an ecosystem approach in the fuel and energy complex.

Predictive utility of mortality by aging measures at different hierarchical levels and the response to modifiable lifestyle factors:Implications for geroprotective programs

Background: Aging, as a multi-dimensional process, can be measured at different hierarchical levels including biological, phenotypic, and functional levels. The aims of this study were to: 1) compare the predictive utility of mortality by three aging measures at three hierarchical levels; 2) develop a composite aging measure that integrated aging measures at different hierarchical levels; and 3) evaluate the response of these aging measures to modifiable lifestyle factors. Methods: Data from National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 1999-2002 were used. Three aging measures included telomere length (TL, biological level), Phenotypic Age (PA, phenotypic level), and frailty index (FI, functional level). Mortality information was collected until Dec. 2015. Cox proportional hazards regression and multiple linear regression models were performed. Results: A total of 3249 participants (20-84 years) were included. Both accelerations (accounting for chronological age) of PA and FI were significantly associated with mortality, with HRs of 1.67 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.41-1.98) and 1.59 (95% CI = 1.35-1.87), respectively, while that of TL showed nonsignificant associations. We thus developed a new composite aging measure (named PC1) integrating the accelerations of PA and FI, and demonstrated its better predictive utility relative to each single aging measure. PC1, as well as the accelerations of PA and FI, were responsive to several lifestyle factors. Conclusion: The findings, for the first time, provide a full picture of the predictive utility of mortality by three aging measures at three hierarchical levels and the response to modifiable lifestyle factors, with important implications for geroprotective programs.

An inventory of geometrid moths (Lepidoptera: Geometroidea: Geometridae) of Kalakad-Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve, India

The geometrid moths of Kalakad-Mundanthurai Tiger reserve were studied during the years 2012 to 2016. Since collection of specimens was not permitted, only field notes, accompanied by photo documentation was undertaken. Two-hundred-and-sixty geometrid moths identified to various hierarchical levels of taxa and one new genus for southern India, are reported.

The Relational Newsroom: An Appreciative Inquiry into how Leadership Empowers Learning in Newsrooms

<p>The field of journalism in New Zealand has gone through significant changes in the last few years, with the onset of digital technologies, their impact on the funding of journalism and on readership, and in turn on the way journalism is performed. Therefore, the aim of this study is to understand how leadership empowers learning in newsrooms and, in turn, contributes to the training and development of journalists. The intent here is to contribute to the constantly evolving field of journalism as it deals with the digital changes driving what is arguably the most concentrated period of change in its history. Appreciative Inquiry (AI) has typically been used in organisations to manifest positive change for people. However, for this study I have creatively adapted and applied the Appreciative Inquiry framework to situate qualitative research methods inside three newsrooms in New Zealand. Focus groups in each newsroom were comprised of individuals from different hierarchical levels of the workplace. As the lead researcher I led the groups who operated as co-researchers following the AI process of four phases comprising Discover, Dream, Design and Destiny seeking to understand how leadership empowers learning in newsrooms. The findings were initially drawn from an analysis of the themes which arose in the discussions. From the findings I use AI theory and adapt the AI process to propose a Relational Newsroom framework for use in newsrooms. By embedding newsroom groups constantly using the 4-D cycle of AI and involving the public in live interaction process with newsroom decision-making, the framework would generate practices of communication, trust, personal leadership and structure identified in the findings. This study concludes with proposals in the form of action statements for use in both news media and journalism school newsrooms to have journalists engaged and involved in creating the future of the field.</p>