BACKGROUND. Phenotypic tests for detection of mecA containing staphylococci have been challenged. Cefoxitin (FOX) disk diffusion (DD) has been reported to more accurately predict mecA gene presence than oxacillin (OX) DD. The Phoenix instrument rapidly provides identification and susceptibility data and it is of interest to determine if an experimental panel containing OX and FOX could accurate...

Determining which factors promote or impede the sharing of knowledge within organizations constitutes an important area of research. This paper looks at knowledge sharing through the lens of equity theory. The study will explore the impact of three types of justice – distributional, procedural and interactional – on knowledge sharing. Distributional justice refers to the judgments that people m...

OBJECTIVES The goal of this project was to develop the first disease-specific instrument for the evaluation of quality of life in chronic pancreatitis. METHODS Focus groups and interview sessions were conducted, with chronic pancreatitis patients, to identify items felt to impact quality of life which were subsequently formatted into a paper-and-pencil instrument. This instrument was used to ...

BACKGROUND This paper describes the process used to arrive at recommended physical activity guidelines for Canadian school-aged children and youth (5-17 years), adults (18-64 years) and older adults (>/=65 years). METHODS The Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology (CSEP) Physical Activity Measurement and Guidelines (PAMG) Steering Committee used the Appraisal of Guidelines for Research Eval...

(L'efficacité des équipes de commandement militaires : un modèle et un instrument pour l'évaluation et l'amélioration) This Technical Report has been prepared as a result of a project on " Team Effectiveness " for the RTO Human Factors and Medicine Panel (HFM-087/RTG-023).

The fraction of absorbed photosynthetically active radiation (FPAR) is a key parameter in describing the exchange of fluxes of energy, mass and momentum between the surface and atmosphere. In this study, we present a method to measure FPAR using a digital camera and a reference panel. A digital camera was used to capture color images of low canopy vegetation, which contained a reference panel i...

PURPOSE The purposes of this study were to identify the factors influencing service quality in nursing homes, and to develop an evaluation instrument for service quality. METHODS A three-phase process was employed for the study. 1) The important factors to evaluate the service quality in nursing homes were identified through a literature review, panel discussion and focus group interview, 2) ...

BACKGROUND Clinical risk management (CRM) plays a crucial role in enabling hospitals to identify, contain, and manage risks related to patient safety. So far, no instruments are available to measure and monitor the level of implementation of CRM. Therefore, our objective was to develop an instrument for assessing CRM in hospitals. METHODS The instrument was developed based on a literature rev...