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.

Comparative evaluation of the biofloc system versus the recirculation system with Macrobrachium amazonicum / Avaliação comparativa do sistema bioflocos versus o sistema de recirculação com Macrobrachium amazonicum

The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficiency of the biofloc system versus the recirculation system using the native Amazonian freshwater shrimp Macrobrachium amazonicum (Heller, 1862) as a cultivation organism. In this initial evaluation, the water quality parameters of each system were measured and the survival rate in the biofloc system showed similar values for M. amazonicum grown in a super-intensive recirculation system with averages values of 60%. The results indicated that both systems were within acceptable limits in terms of parameters (physical-chemical) and the survival rate of both systems showed similar values for M. amazonicum.

Study of internal oscillations in a dynamic system through an external signal implemented in circadian rhythms

Through the analysis carried out on a dynamic model that is represented as a system of ordinary differential equations that describes the behavior of the circadian cycles; we will show and analyze in the next document what are the conditions that allow the synchronization of the circadian clock oscillator with the external modification oscillator. The implementation of this type of techniques in anatomical problems is highlighted, which are rare in the literature. The implementations will be carried out through different simulations using numerical techniques and the way in which we will determine the coupling conditions of an internal cycle of the system versus external cycles will be detailed. In the final development of this work, we will be able to see in the model without an external modification signal the existence of stable limit cycles and discover the moment in which the synchronization of the internal oscillator and the external modification signal occurs. These types of problems are common when making biological models that are described by a physical analysis.