Search

This study provides an understanding of how task, technology, people and structures (TTPS) can be used by developing countries as a baseline for future alignment evaluations to leverage big data analytics (BDA) in healthcare. Enabling the adoption of patient-empowering technologies is being used to cultivate a more patient-centric and collaborative healthcare ecosystem. Creating simple and reliable technology then integrating it into the existing public healthcare infrastructure has generated new challenges for big data analytics. Challenges arise because of complex interactions among the tasks that need to be supported by the technology, people using the technology and the distinct contextual characteristics of the organization. Therefore, TTPS are organisational elements that affect the value generated by BDA. However, little is still known about how these interacting organizational elements can be aligned to obtain maximum BDA value. A study involving participants from different industrial sectors in South Africa was conducted to determine what level of alignment of TTPS yields the best value from BDA. We adopted the notion of alignment as Gestalts. Results show strong alignment between TTPS where IT experts work closely with financial planners. Adequate training, coupled with structures encouraging usage of BDA results in higher organisational performance when technology is in sync with the tasks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article uses an APPRAISAL analysis of 40 letters to theDaily SunandThe Timesnewspapers in South Africa to illustrate a reconceptualisation of the Engagement system. It discusses dialogism (Bakhtin 1981), which inspired the creation of the Engagement framework by White (2003), who classified attempts to either align or disalign readers with a writer's stance. Contrary to the options for dialogic Engagement proposed by Martin and White (2005) and White and Don (2012), the data suggests that not all Engagement strategies carry equal power of alignment, as the framework's systemic layout implies. This prompts a re-thinking of the Engagement categories as occurring along a continuum of their strength. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

I report on an analysis of the alignment between the South African Grade 12 Physical Sciences core curriculum content and the exemplar papers of 2008, and the final examination papers of 2008 and 2009. A two-dimensional table was used for both the curriculum and the examination in order to calculate the Porter alignment index, which indicates the degree of match between the two. Alignment indices of 0.8 and 0.6 for Physics and Chemistry, respectively, were computed and remained constant for Physics, but fluctuated initially for Chemistry before levelling off. Using the revised Bloom's taxonomy, discrepancies were found in terms of cognitive levels as well as content areas in both Physics and Chemistry. The cognitive level Remember is under-represented in the Chemistry and Physics examinations, whereas the cognitive levels Understand and Apply were over-represented in Chemistry. It is argued that the shift to higher cognitive levels is in line with the reported increase in cognitive complexity of the Physical Sciences curriculum. The significance of the study for Physical Science teachers is highlighted, and the potential for further research is also indicated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An audit was performed at a tertiary hospital in Bloemfontein, South Africa, to establish whether clinicians adhered to local platelet transfusion guidelines. The audit showed poor compliance with local guidelines, with 34% of platelet transfusions not aligned with guidelines and 29.9% of transfusions administered to patients with platelet counts of ≥ 150 × 10(9)/L. When compared to medical disciplines, surgical disciplines tended significantly more to transfuse platelets inappropriately (17.1% and 53.7%, respectively; p < 0.0001). Documentation was poor and in 48.4% of orders for platelets, the indication for the platelet transfusion was not clearly stated. Considerable cost could be avoided with improved adherence to guidelines. This study emphasises the need for improving education in transfusion medicine amongst medical doctors. It is hoped that the information gleaned from this study would assist in the design of educational programmes in transfusion medicine as we attempt to close the existing gaps in knowledge and skills in the field, while ensuring that blood is transfused in a cost-effective and appropriate manner., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)