Improve Information Exchange Research Articles

Improving the convergence behavior of hierarchical atomistic‐to‐continuum multiscale models using stochastic approximation

AbstractThe aim of this work is to provide an improved information exchange in hierarchical atomistic‐to‐continuum models by applying stochastic approximation (SA) methods. A typical hierarchical two‐scale model is chosen and enhanced. Due to very high computational cost, the microscale of this model may not be sufficiently sampled in practical calculations; a problem, which was recently investigated in [1]. As a consequence, the microscale produces noise‐corrupted output due to thermal effects. The thermal noise creates a setting that shows remarkable resemblance to the Robbins‐Monro iteration scheme known from SA. This resemblance justifies the use of two averaging strategies known to improve the convergence behavior of SA schemes under certain, fairly general, conditions. No additional computational cost is introduced by this approach. The proposed strategies implemented in the multiscale model are tested on a numerical example. (© 2016 Wiley‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

Challenges for Nurses Caring for Individuals with Peripherally Inserted Central Catheters in Skilled Nursing Facilities.

To understand the perceived preparedness of frontline nurses (registered nurses (RNs), licensed practical nurses (LPNs)), unit nurse managers, and skilled nursing facility (SNF) administrators in providing care for residents with peripherally inserted central catheters (PICCs) in SNFs. Exploratory, qualitative pilot study. Two community based SNFs. Residents with PICCs, frontline nurses (RNs, LPNs), unit nurse managers, and SNF administrators. Over 36 weeks, 56 residents with PICCs and their nurses were observed and informally interviewed, focusing on PICC care practices and documentation. In addition, baseline PICC data were collected on placement indication (e.g., antimicrobial administration), placement setting (hospital vs SNF), and dwell time. Focus groups were then conducted with frontline nurses and unit nurse managers, and semistructured interviews were conducted with SNF administrators to evaluate perceived preparedness for PICC care. Data were analyzed using a descriptive analysis approach. Variations in documentation were observed during weekly informal interviews and observations. Differences were noted between resident self-reported PICC concerns (quality of life) and those described by frontline nurses. Deficiencies in communication between hospitals and SNFs with respect to device care, date of last dressing change, and PICC removal time were also noted. During focus group sessions, perceived inadequacy of information at the time of care transitions, limited availability of resources to care for PICCs, and gaps in training and education were highlighted as barriers to improving practice and safety. Practices for PICC care in SNFs can be improved. Multimodal strategies that enhance staff education, improve information exchange during care transitions, and increase resource availability in SNFs appear necessary to enhance PICC care and safety.

An Anesthesia Preinduction Checklist to Improve Information Exchange, Knowledge of Critical Information, Perception of Safety, and Possibly Perception of Teamwork in Anesthesia Teams

(Abstracted from Anesth Analg, 121:948–956, 2015) The World Health Organization (WHO) surgical safety checklist contains only a few supercritical anesthesia items. Consequently, the authors of the current study assess a separate anesthesia preinduction checklist (APIC), meant to complement the WHO checklist and improve 5 team-level outcomes (information exchange, knowledge of critical information, team members' perception of safety and teamwork, and clinical performance).

A stochastic approximation approach to improve the convergence behavior of hierarchical atomistic-to-continuum multiscale models

The aim of this work is to provide an improved information exchange in hierarchical atomistic-to-continuum settings by applying stochastic approximation methods. For this purpose a typical model belonging to this class is chosen and enhanced. On the macroscale of this particular two-scale model, the balance equations of continuum mechanics are solved using a nonlinear finite element formulation. The microscale, on which a canonical ensemble of statistical mechanics is simulated using molecular dynamics, replaces a classic material formulation. The constitutive behavior is computed on the microscale by computing time averages. However, these time averages are thermal noise-corrupted as the microscale may practically not be tracked for a sufficiently long period of time due to limited computational resources. This noise prevents the model from a classical convergence behavior and creates a setting that shows remarkable resemblance to iteration schemes known from stochastic approximation. This resemblance justifies the use of two averaging strategies known to improve the convergence behavior in stochastic approximation schemes under certain, fairly general, conditions. To demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed strategies, three numerical examples are studied.

Coalicion de Salud Comunitaria (COSACO): using a Healthy Community Partnership framework to integrate short-term global health experiences into broader community development.

BackgroundThere is growing concern that short-term experiences in global health experiences (STEGH), undertaken by healthcare providers, trainees, and volunteers from high income countries in lower and middle income countries, risk harming the community by creating a parallel system of care separate from established community development efforts. At the same time, the inclusion of non-traditional actors in health planning has been the basis of the development of many Healthy Community Partnerships (HCP) being rolled out in Canada and the United States. These partnerships aim to bring all stakeholders with a role to play in health to the table to align efforts, goals and programs towards broad community health goals.ResultsThis methodology paper reports on the process used in La Romana, Dominican Republic, in applying a modified HCP framework. This project succeeded at bringing visiting STEGH organizations into a coalition with key community partners and supported attempts to embed the work of STEGH within longer-term, established development plans.ConclusionsIn presenting the work and process and lessons learned, the hope is that other communities that encounter significant investment from STEGH groups, and will gain the same benefits that were seen in La Romana with regards to improved information exchange, increased cross-communication between silos, and the integration of STEGH into the work of community partners.

Examining Progress and Equity in Information Received by Women Using a Modern Method in 25 Developing Countries.

The information exchanged during a contraceptive visit is important because providers need to understand clients' reproductive intentions and clients need to receive adequate information about methods and possible method-related side effects and problems. Little is known about how information exchange has changed over time and how it might vary across countries or subgroups within a country. Demographic and Health Survey data from 25 developing countries were used to calculate the Method Information Index (MII), a Family Planning 2020 indicator that reflects some aspects of contraceptive information exchanged between providers and clients. For each country, the MII was calculated from each of two surveys about five years apart to examine change in the indicator over time. In addition, the MII was examined for all countries combined and by region. The average MII for all 25 countries increased from 34% at the earlier survey time to 39% at the later survey time; the index values of individual countries ranged from 19% to 64% at survey time 1 and from 13% to 65% at survey time 2. The MII increased over time in 15 countries and declined in 10. In analyses by contraceptive method type, the MII tended to be highest among implant users and lowest among women relying on sterilization. The index was generally higher among women living in urban areas than among those in rural areas, and tended to rise with increases in women's education and household wealth. On the basis of the MII, developing countries have room to improve information exchange between providers and clients. Such improvements would require concerted efforts by programs and donors.

Control of wakes and vortex-induced vibrations of a single circular cylinder using synthetic jets

This paper presents a study on active control of the wakes and one-dimensional vortex-induced vibrations (VIVs) of a single circular cylinder using a pair of synthetic jets (SJs) at a low Reynolds number Re=100. To facilitate this study, a lattice Boltzmann method based numerical framework is established, in which the multi-block scheme and the overlap-mesh approach with improved information exchange mechanisms are used to balance the computational accuracy and efficiency, and the interpolated bounce-back scheme and a corrected momentum exchange scheme are adopted for accurate force evaluation. Two configurations are considered. In the first configuration, the cylinder is fixed, on which a pair of SJs is implemented and operates in phase. Effects of the SJ pair on the cylinder wake are investigated in a systematical way, with the focus placed on the SJ׳s momentum coefficient, frequency and position. Simulation results indicate that the Kármán vortex street formed behind the cylinder can be effectively suppressed when the SJ pair operates with sufficiently high momentum coefficient, at a frequency close to the cylinder׳s natural vortex shedding frequency, and is placed in the quarter arc edge of the cylinder׳s leeward side. In the second configuration, the same cylinder is allowed to oscillate in the cross-flow direction under the excitation of asymmetrically shedding vortices as well as the constraint of a spring. It is well demonstrated that this one-dimensional VIV of the cylinder can be successfully suppressed by the use of SJ control. Due to stronger vortex shedding induced by increased relative motion between the cylinder and its surrounding flow, however, not all the cases that perform complete wake suppression on the fixed cylinder are able to completely suppress the VIVs of the oscillating cylinder. Through the present study, details about SJ-controlled flow around the cylinder and in the wake are also revealed.

Examining The Dynamics of Cooperation Between Competing Firms in Their R&D Activities (R&D Co-Opetition)

The relationship between collaboration with competitors and goods innovation performance was investigated along with the moderating effect of the innovating firm's technological capability. The hypothesis that collaboration with competitors has an inverted U-shaped relationship with goods innovation performance was tested using data on new goods introductions from 749 Iranian firms. The results support the balance between competition and collaboration by confirming that collaboration with competitors contributes considerably to successful goods innovation. The positive influences of co-optation certainly seem consistent with the cooperative arguments that collaboration with competitors increases absorptive capacity, improves information exchange and facilitates joint problem solving. The results also show that unnecessary collaboration with competitors can have a negative influence on innovation performance, raising concerns about opportunistic exploitation. The results support the existence of a bell-shaped relationship between application and goods innovation performance. Technological capability and alliances with universities were shown to weaken the relationship.

An Anesthesia Preinduction Checklist to Improve Information Exchange, Knowledge of Critical Information, Perception of Safety, and Possibly Perception of Teamwork in Anesthesia Teams.

An anesthesia preinduction checklist (APIC) to be performed before anesthesia induction was introduced and evaluated with respect to 5 team-level outcomes, each being a surrogate end point for patient safety: information exchange (the percentage of checklist items exchanged by a team, out of 12 total items); knowledge of critical information (the percentage of critical information items out of 5 total items such as allergies, reported as known by the members of a team); team members' perceptions of safety (the median scores given by the members of a team on a continuous rating scale); their perception of teamwork (the median scores given by the members of a team on a continuous rating scale); and clinical performance (the percentage of completed items out of 14 required tasks, e.g., suction device checked). A prospective interventional study comparing anesthesia teams using the APIC with a control group not using the APIC was performed using a multimethod design. Trained observers rated information exchange and clinical performance during on-site observations of anesthesia inductions. After the observations, each team member indicated the critical information items they knew and their perceptions of safety and teamwork. One hundred five teams using the APIC were compared with 100 teams not doing so. The medians of the team-level outcome scores in the APIC group versus the control group were as follows: information exchange: 100% vs 33% (P < 0.001), knowledge of critical information: 100% vs 90% (P < 0.001), perception of safety: 91% vs 84% (P < 0.001), perception of teamwork: 90% vs 86% (P = 0.028), and clinical performance: 93% vs 93% (P = 0.60). This study provides empirical evidence that the use of a preinduction checklist significantly improves information exchange, knowledge of critical information, and perception of safety in anesthesia teams-all parameters contributing to patient safety. There was a trend indicating improved perception of teamwork.

Green supply chain management and firms’ performance: Understanding potential relationships and the role of green sourcing and some other green practices

This study examines how the adoption of green supply chain management (GSCM) practices, including green sources, affects environmental and operational performance indicators. A multiple-case study was conducted using large Brazilian firms that have achieved particular success in their sectors and that occupy high positions in important rankings of corporate sustainability. The results of the study indicate that the GSCM practice of “internal environmental management” has the greatest positive effect on environmental performance indicators, and that the GSCM practice of “cooperation with customers” has the greatest positive effect on operational performance indicators. Thus, if a company aims to improve environmental performance (EP), it may create procedures and programs based on the environmental management system and adopt cleaner production initiatives. If a company intends to improve its operational performance (OP), it may respond to audits, improve information exchange between companies and clients and build research and development (R&D) areas to promote environmental innovation.

The Benefits of Dominance Complementarity in Negotiations

AbstractWe investigated whether dominance complementarity can lead people to reach mutually beneficial outcomes in negotiations by increasing the likelihood that they will successfully coordinate the exchange of information. We suggest that negotiators who differ in how dominantly they behave in the negotiation exchange information effectively because they fulfill different roles in the negotiation process. Study 1 demonstrated that dominant negotiators generally assert their desires, while relatively submissive negotiators generally ask questions to find ways to satisfy their own desires without escalating conflict with the dominant negotiators. Studies 2 and 3 demonstrated that participants were best able to discover integrative agreements when one negotiator was instructed to behave dominantly and the other negotiator, submissively. Improved information exchange mediated the relationship between dominance complementarity and improved joint outcomes in Study 3.

Childhood fever: a qualitative study on GPs’ experiences during out-of-hours care

Fever in children is common and mostly caused by self-limiting infections. However, parents of febrile children often consult in general practice, in particular during out-of-hours care. To improve management, it is important to understand experiences of GPs managing these consultations. To describe GPs' experiences regarding management of childhood fever during out-of-hours care. A descriptive qualitative study using purposeful sampling, five focus group discussions were held among 37 GPs. Analysis was based on constant comparative technique using open and axial coding. Main categories were: (i) Workload and general experience; (ii) GPs' perceptions of determinants of consulting behaviour; (iii) Parents' expectations from the GP's point of view; (iv) Antibiotic prescribing decisions; (v) Uncertainty of GPs versus uncertainty of parents and (vi) Information exchange during the consultation. GPs felt management of childhood fever imposes a considerable workload. They perceived a mismatch between parental concerns and their own impression of illness severity, which combined with time-pressure can lead to frustration. Diagnostic uncertainty is driven by low incidences of serious infections and dealing with parental demand for antibiotics is still challenging. Children with a fever account for a high workload during out-of-hours GP care which provides a diagnostic challenge due to the low incidence of serious illnesses and lacking long-term relationship. This can lead to frustration and drives antibiotics prescription rates. Improving information exchange during consultations and in the general public to young parents, could help provide a safety net thereby enhancing self-management, reducing consultations and workload, and subsequent antibiotic prescriptions.

The Humanitarian eXchange Language: Coordinating disaster response with semantic web technologies

The Humanitarian eXchange Language (HXL) is a project by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs that aims at refining data management and exchange for disaster response. Data exchange in this field, which often has to deal with chaotic environments heavily affected by an emergency such as a natural disaster or an armed conflict, still happens mostly manually. The goal of HXL is to contribute to the automatization of many of these processes, saving valuable time for staff in the field and improving the information flow for decision makers who have to allocate resources for response activities. This paper gives an overview of this initiative, which is set to significantly improve information exchange in the humanitarian domain. We introduce the HXL vocabulary, which provides a formal definition of the terminology used in this domain, and an initial set of tools and services that produce and consume HXL data. The HXL system infrastructure is introduced, along with its data management principles. The paper concludes with an outlook on the future of HXL and its role in the humanitarian ecosystem.

Preliminary analysis from a novel treatment targeting the exchange of new information within storytelling for people with nonfluent aphasia and their partners

Background: Therapy for people with aphasia (PWA) can encompass a wide range of aims and methodologies from targeting the linguistic impairment to strategic compensation to optimise communication, interaction, and vocational rehabilitation. Aphasia rehabilitation ultimately has a social goal of optimising the communication of PWA within their typical environment. Therefore, across treatment type, one unifying area of interest relates to the generalisation of behaviours targeted in therapy to untrained tasks and contexts, particularly those related to everyday communication. Two important aspects of everyday communication relate to conveying new information and telling anecdotes/stories. Measures of transactional success in storytelling have previously demonstrated reliability and validity as an analytical method.Aims: The study aimed to extend previous work on transactional success in storytelling to a programme of therapy targeting both the PWA and the communication partner (CP). The effects of therapy were measured in untrained novel storytelling tasks.Methods & Procedures: Four participants with chronic nonfluent aphasia and their CPs were recruited and a novel dual-focus treatment was administered. For the PWA, therapy targeted storytelling using the principles of “thinking for speaking” and story grammar. For the CP, therapy drew on the principles of conversation coaching to increase facilitative behaviours within storytelling to aid coconstruction of the story.Outcomes & Results: Outcomes were influenced by the complexity of the target stimuli: following therapy, three PWA demonstrated increased transfer of new information within untrained simple storytelling. For the untrained complex storytelling stimuli, improvements were limited to two PWA. There were also changes in how PWA produced stories (i.e., the order of events within the story), with simple stories becoming more inline with the sequence used by control participants. Regarding the CPs, again there was an effect of complexity: for the untrained simple story, three CPs improved the accuracy of their understanding while for the untrained complex story, two CPs improved. Interestingly, one CP consistently demonstrated a decrease in the amount of information successfully understood following therapy, despite improved information exchange by her partner with aphasia.Conclusions: The preliminary findings of this dual-focused therapy offer promise in terms of targeting a range of skills relating to both the PWA and CP, whilst the context of information exchange and storytelling promotes likelihood of generalisation of targeted behaviours to untrained tasks.

Determinants of E-Commerce Adoption amongst SMMEs in Durban, South Africa

In South Africa, the increasing number of cellphone internet users coupled with the growth of online shopping behaviour indicates that more South Africans are able to access the internet with the prospects of engaging with online businesses. Using the Diffusion of Innovation Theory (DOI), this paper examines the determinants of e-commerce adoption by South African SMMEs in the Durban area. The persuasion variables of the DOI (relative advantage, compatibility and complexity) were tested against four (4) e-commerce options namely, customers payment by credit card through the SMME’s website, customers placing orders through the SMME’s website, providing customer services through the SMME’s website and placing orders with suppliers over the internet. Using convenience sampling, data was collected by means of a survey questionnaires administered to 200 SMME owners/managers. Usable responses were collected from 180 SMME owners/managers. This represents a 90% response rate. A Chi square test of independence was used to test the significance of association between the DOI variables and e-commerce adoption. Findings reveal that relative advantage and compatibility are the only DOI variables that significantly influence the decision to adopt e-commerce in Durban. Specifically, improving information exchange with customers, easier access to international markets, expansion of business reach, reduction of costs of maintaining up to-date company information and improving information exchange with suppliers are significant factors that inform the decision to adopt e-commerce in Durban. In addition, compatibility with existing company’s technology infrastructure and compatibility with company values significantly affect SMMEs’ decision to place orders with suppliers through the internet. Interestingly, the adoption of the other e-commerce options (online payment by credit card, online ordering and online customer services) is not significantly influenced by compatibility. The findings imply that in order to increase SMMEs’ e-commerce adoption, SMMEs need to be better acquainted with the benefits that derive from its adoption. Moreover, a stepwise approach to e-commerce adoption is advised, starting with e-commerce options that are compatible with SMMEs technology infrastructure and values then gradually moving to more sophisticated e-commerce options. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n25p250

Insights Into the Decision Making of Advisory Groups to the Italian Medicines Agency.

The Italian Medicines Agency (AIFA) is enhancing a strong transparency-oriented policy to improve information exchange and decision making with stakeholders. To this end, a questionnaire titled "Survey AIFA 2013" was sent to the 72 selected contacts on February 17, 2013 (closing date April 3, 2013), to assess influence on committees and secretariats' opinions and decisions. The survey was divided into 2 sections (17 questions) with a 10-minute time limit. The results show that external resolutions have little influence on internal advisory groups, whereas internal ones carry more weight. So-called intellectual bias needs careful monitoring, as it can potentially condition decisions.

A failure to communicate: a qualitative exploration of care coordination between hospitalists and primary care providers around patient hospitalizations.

Care coordination between adult hospitalists and primary care providers (PCPs) is a critical component of successful transitions of care from hospital to home, yet one that is not well understood. The purpose of this study was to understand the challenges in coordination of care, as well as potential solutions, from the perspective of hospitalists and PCPs in North Carolina. We conducted an exploratory qualitative study with 58 clinicians in four hospitalist focus groups (n = 32), three PCP focus groups (n = 19), and one hybrid group with both hospitalists and PCPs (n = 7). Interview guides included questions about care coordination, information exchange, follow-up care, accountability, and medication management. Focus group sessions were recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed in ATLAS.ti. The constant comparative method was used to evaluate differences between hospitalists and PCPs. Hospitalists and PCPs were found to encounter similar care coordination challenges, including (1) lack of time, (2) difficulty reaching other clinicians, (3) lack of personal relationships with other clinicians, (4) lack of information feedback loops, (5) medication list discrepancies, and (6) lack of clarity regarding accountability for pending tests and home health. Hospitalists additionally noted difficulty obtaining timely follow-up appointments for after-hours or weekend discharges. PCPs additionally noted (1) not knowing when patients were hospitalized, (2) not having hospital records for post-hospitalization appointments, (3) difficulty locating important information in discharge summaries, and (4) feeling undervalued when hospitalists made medication changes without involving PCPs. Hospitalists and PCPs identified common themes of successful care coordination as (1) greater efforts to coordinate care for "high-risk" patients, (2) improved direct telephone access to each other, (3) improved information exchange through shared electronic medical records, (4) enhanced interpersonal relationships, and (5) clearly defined accountability. Hospitalists and PCPs encounter similar challenges in care coordination, yet have important experiential differences related to sending and receiving roles for hospital discharges. Efforts to improve coordination of care between hospitalists and PCPs should aim to understand perspectives of clinicians in each setting.

Fair Dynamic Pricing for Advanced Metering Infrastructure

ABSTRACTAdvanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI), a subset of smart grid technologies, improves information exchange between electric utility operators and consumers. AMI allows for real-time dynamic pricing where the utility operator can charge variable prices depending on load demand and the varying cost of delivering electricity. While many studies have shown that dynamic pricing improves system efficiency and reduces costs for most consumers, there is much less discussion of the relative fairness of various dynamic pricing structures some of which have the potential to be regressive compared to traditional flat-rate pricing. This is considered unfair by ratepayer advocates and fairness issues often arise in discussions of dynamic pricing at state level public utility commissions. While a tradeoff between efficiency and equity exists, this author argues that only minor compromises are necessary if the right dynamic pricing options are used. Forms of dynamic pricing that guarantee no increased costs for a...

Local Level Stakeholder Coordination and Communications to Support Oil Spill Preparedness and Response

ABSTRACT Effective response to oil spills can be challenging, especially when multiple levels of government are involved. When an oil spill threatens the coast, local officials and communities are concerned about response strategies and potential impacts, which could affect their area. Local government authorities are responsible for addressing concerns of elected officials and other stakeholders at the community level. In the US and UK, a National Response System (NRS) provides oil spill coordination at the national level down to state level. The NRS can be strengthened by improving the capacity to effectively engage at the local level during preparedness. New opportunities to coordinate could improve response management going forward, by leveraging the relationships developed in emergency preparedness among local government, elected officials, and communities. Relationships and dialogue established during preparedness also support crisis communications with the public at large during response through traditional media, the Internet and social media. Stakeholder engagement is process which can benefit the response organization and those affected by pollution incidents and other emergencies, e.g., storms. Stakeholder engagement and risk communication methodologies are ways to help cultivate realistic expectations and develop consensus about response options, before, during, and after an incident. Coordination and collaboration between the Incident Management Team (IMT) and affected communities can lead to shared objectives and improved information exchange. This is accomplished through traditional media and direct engagement to address emerging risk perceptions, questions, and concerns, especially about issues that spark social conflict, such as dispersant use in the US. Dialogue is necessary to learn about stakeholder and community risk perceptions associated with an incident, to assess the situation in relation to those perceptions, and then develop appropriate responses to their questions, concerns and perceptions. This paper explores ways to enhance existing NRS processes to improve interactions and communications at the local level during preparedness, and the response and post response phases of an oil spill.

Designing for Interpersonal Trust – The Power of Trust Tokens

Computer mediated communication systems (CMCSs) are increasingly being used to support activities of virtual teams, improving information exchange and capacity of these teams. However, the technology that enables these teams to benefit from effective and timely information exchange suffers from constraints of media richness, limiting the amount of social information that can be transmitted. This missing information can affect the formation of trust between members of these teams. In this paper, we conducted an ethnographic study to identify behaviors that facilitate the development of trust within face-to-face teams as an opportunity to design interface design objects with similar effects. A key observation was trust tokening, where trust is conveyed through social referents. Trust tokening has the potential to be adapted for use in computer support systems where establishing interpersonal trust is just as important as face-to-face collaborations.