The article presents methods for defining product platforms and measuring business performance in process intensive industries. We first show how process intensive product platforms can be defined using the products and processes of a film manufacturer. We then present an empirical method for understanding the dynamics of process intensive platform innovation, allocating engineering and sales data to specific platform and product development efforts within a product family. We applied this method to a major product line of a materials manufacturer. We gathered ten years of engineering and manufacturing cost data and allocated these to successive platforms and products, and then generated R&D performance measures. These data show the dynamic of heavy capital spending relative to product engineering as one might expect in a process intensive industries. The data also show how derivative products can be leveraged from underlying product platforms and processes for nonassembled products. Embedded within these data are strategies for creating reusable subsystems (comprising components, materials, etc.) and common production processes. Hard data on the degree to which subsystems and processes are shared across different products frequently are typically not maintained by corporations for the duration needed to understand the dynamics of evolving product families. For this reason, we developed and applied a second method to assess the degree of reuse of subsystems and processes. This method asks engineering managers to provide subjective ratings on an ordinal scale regarding the use of technology and processes from one product to the next in a cumulative manner. We find that high levels of reuse generally indicate that a product family was developed with a platform discipline. We applied this measure of platform intensity to two product lines of integrated circuits from another large manufacturer. We used this method to gather approximately ten years of information for each product family. Upon analysis, one product family showed substantial platform discipline, emphasizing a common architecture and processes across specific products within the product line. The other product family was developed with significantly less sharing and reuse of architecture, components, and processes. We then found that the platform centric product family outperformed the latter along a number of performance dimensions over the course of the decade under examination.

Background: Peripheral venous cannulation (PVC) is one of the commonest procedures carried out in hospital.  It allows rapid and accurate administration of medication. However, there is dearth of formal training to nurses There are few studies which has shown benefits of offering formal training to improve clinical practice and patient care.Methods: In view of rising cases of thrombophlebitis, nurses were trained in hand hygiene, patient skin preparation, wearing gloves and aprons, establishing a clean environmental field, using sterile equipment, disposing of contaminated or soiled equipment and linen appropriately, safe disposal of sharps and adherence to universal precautions. Retrospective, observational, single centre study to analyse data of inpatients for 4 years duration was carried out.  This included 2 years data prior to offering nursing training and 2 years post training.Results: There is statistically significant improvement in number of thrombophlebitis event for 2 years prior and 2 years post training.  Total events in 2 years prior to training were 63 which reduced to 22 in later 2 years due to nursing training. A p value was 0.0297. Out of total 87 thrombophlebitis incidences, 40 and 47 incidences in males and females respectively were observed. Mean age for men was 58.39 and mean age for female was 52.62 with SD 27.39 and 22.06 respectively.Conclusions: When nurses were trained in patient assessment, Insertion site selection (prefer hand and forearm; to avoid joints and lower limbs), catheter selection, dwell time, early identification of phlebitis and appropriate corrective measures and compliance with best practice guideline, thrombophlebitis rates drastically reduced.

Background: Apart from the known physical impact COVID-19 pandemic also has had a significant psychic impact on the psychological health of the general population.Methods: The study was planned as a multi-centre cross sectional study and conducted between April 2020 and August 2020 at dedicated COVID-19 hospitals in India. Patients and accompanying relatives more than 18 years, of any gender visiting COVID hospital and willing to consent for the study were enrolled in the study. Study included three questionnaires namely, Generalized Anxiety and Depression Scale (GAD-7 Scale), questionnaire to evaluate anxiety and worry related to COVID-19 and socio demographics and COVID-19 related awareness questionnaire.Results: The patient health questionnaire (PHQ) indicated that while 25% experienced no anxiety highly significant number of 75% experienced varying degrees of psychological impact. On the GAD-7 scale 42% experienced no generalized anxiety; however, a significant remaining 58% experienced variable degree of psychological impact. While 77% people were reasonably aware about Government initiatives, however 73% were concerned about their families or themselves getting affected.Conclusions: Professional health care workers and Government agencies need to be keenly aware about the above results while devising treatment protocols and policy decisions.

Background: The Indian council medical research (ICMR) recommended to use hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) as a prophylactic agent against Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2019 (SARS-COV-2) infection to cater need to protect high-risk individuals considering its pre-clinical data. This study explores role of HCQ in health care workers serving in coronavirus-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.Methods: The study was planned as multi center observational study, conducted from April, 2020 to August 2020 at COVID-19 hospitals in India. HCQ 400 mg twice a day on day-1 followed by 400 mg once weekly for next 7 weeks was administered to Health care workers (HCW). RTPCR test was conducted at 3 months post last dose of prophylaxis in symptomatic health care workers. IgG test was conducted in all participants at 3 months.Results: We enrolled 1310 asymptotic frontline healthcare workers, of which 585 (45%) were male and 725 (55%) were female. Chi-Sqaure test statistical analysis in RTPCR Test showed p=0.515, p=0.634, p=0.00 in doctor and nurse, housekeeping and other staff respectively. Chi-Sqaure test statistical analysis in IgG antibody tests showed p=0.305, p=0.449 and p=o.345 in doctor and Nurse, Housekeeping and Other staff respectively.Conclusions: HCQ did not provide statistically significant pre exposure prophylaxis to doctors, nurses and housekeeping staff. However for, “other staff members category” it showed highly statistically significant prophylaxis effect with respect to RTPCR positive test results in comparison with HCW who did not consume HCQ prophylaxis. And hence HCQ could certainly play a crucial role in resource-constrained and overloaded health care systems in countries like India.