General Practice after the Introduction of the QOF

While the Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) is reported to improve performance, its impact on some aspects of organisations need to be explored given the increased reliance on such schemes. Organisational culture can be seen as providing a sense of common values, belief, and norms, which may act as guidelines for behaviour in organisational settings. This research employs a competing value framework depictures different types of culture based on specific focuses and processes. The study is based on interviews with 2 GP practices in the north of England involving 19 participants. Healthcare professionals were aware that there is a dominant value held and shared strongly among members of the organisations-to provide high quality patient-centred services. This study found that while clan culture is still strong in both practices, changes occured in respondents' culture after the implementation of the QOF.

AUDIT OF ANTIBIOTIC USAGE IN A MEDIUM-SIZED GENERAL-HOSPITAL OVER AN 11-YEAR PERIOD - THE IMPACT OF ANTIBIOTIC POLICIES

The objective of the present study was to evaluate trends in antibiotic expenditure over an 11-year period (1982-1992) in a 370-bed district general hospital in Northern Ireland and to examine the impact of two separate antibiotic policies on antibiotic usage. A further objective was to examine the attitudes of prescribers to the second policy. Drug utilization review was used to collect information on antibiotic expenditure and usage before and after introduction of separate antibiotic policies in 1985 (not intensively monitored) and 1989 (intensively monitored). A mail questionnaire was used to determine the attitudes of prescribers. The first policy (1985) showed no benefits with regard to the number of antibiotic entities stocked (45 before, 45 after), number of dosage units issued (9.35 increase) or expenditure (33.35 increase). The 1989 policy led to significant reductions in the number of antibiotic entities stocked (28.9%), number of antibiotics issued (11.9%) and expenditure (6.1%). Expenditure began to spiral upwards when active monitoring of the second policy was suspended. The majority of prescribers (87.2%) who responded to the questionnaire (56.5% response rate) felt that the 1989 policy made a positive contribution to antibiotic usage in the hospital.

Corporate Co-evolution: A Political Perspective

Corporate Co–Evolution is one of the first major works in Blackwell’s Organization and Strategy research series of business texts. By tracing the history and growth of Telemig, a major Brazilian telecommunications company, Corporate Co–Evolution develops broader macro–economic principles that can be applied to today’s international corporate environment. After a general introduction to political regulations and other domains of the corporate environment that impact the growth of companies, Corporate Co–Evolution delves deeply into Telemig’s past. The text closely documents and analyzes the dramatic changes over the course of 30 years that transformed Telemig from a “lumbering dinosaur to a soaring eagle” as privatization takes the corporation into the 21st century. The authors skillfully draw out the practical and policy implications of the Telemig experience to develop a broader systematic theory of corporate evolution that is highly relevant to the contemporary business world.

An ESPRIT-SAA-Based Detection Method for Broken Rotor Bar Fault in Induction Motors

This paper presents a novel detection method for broken rotor bar fault (BRB) in induction motors based on Estimation of Signal Parameters via Rotational Invariance Technique (ESPRIT) and Simulated Annealing Algorithm (SAA). The performance of ESPRIT is tested with simulated stator current signal of an induction motor with BRB. It shows that even with a short-time measurement data, the technique is capable of correctly identifying the frequencies of the BRB characteristic components but with a low accuracy on the amplitudes and initial phases of those components. SAA is then used to determine their amplitudes and initial phases and shows satisfactory results. Finally, experiments on a 3kW, 380V, 50Hz induction motor are conducted to demonstrate the effectiveness of the ESPRIT-SAA-based method in detecting BRB with short-time measurement data. It proves that the proposed method is a promising choice for BRB detection in induction motors operating with small slip and fluctuant load.

Identification of a general secretory pathway in a human isolate of Burkholderia vietnamiensis (formerly B. cepacia complex genomovar V) that is required for the secretion of hemolysin and phospholipase C activities

Members of the Burkholderia cepacia complex can secrete proteases, lipases, and hemolysins. We report in this study the identification of a general secretory pathway present in a B. vietnamiensis (formerly genomovar V) clinical isolate, which is required for the efficient secretion of phospholipase C and hemolysin activities. Southern blot hybridization experiments revealed that this general secretion pathway is highly conserved among the different genomovars of the B. cepacia complex and is homologous to a similar system described in B. pseudomallei. We also show that this pathway appears not to be necessary for intracellular survival of B. vietnamiensis within Acanthamoeba polyphaga.