Measuring cultural change

The elongation rates of growing points, RGy at root tip meristems were evaluated by measuring the change in the positions of root tips on the MS solid medium every day during culture time of 7-14 days. The data were average values obtained from the measurements with respect to about 15 root tips. 

Primary cultures of hepatocyte and tubule cells are prepared by collagenase perfusion and dissociation of the liver or kidney into cell suspensions. Primary rat myocardial cells can be similarly prepared by using trypsin to dissociate the cells. Rhythmic contractions of myocardial cells can be observed in such cultures. Changes in these contractions serve as another end point for the measurement of toxicity.The L6 rat skeletal muscle myoblast cell line has been used to screen compounds for potential muscle irritating and damaging activity. ... 

TEER can be measured using chopstick electrodes and an EVOM epithelial volt-ohm meter (World Precision Instruments, Sarasota, Florida, USA). Nevertheless, as endothelial monolayer resistance is usually far lower than the one of epithelial cultures such as MDCK, accurate quantitative measurements of endothelial monolayer resistance require typical instrument such as Endohm-24S chamber electrode and the epithelial volt-ohm meter EVOMTM (World Precision Instruments, Sarasota, Florida, USA). The disadvantage of this method is that the plates containing the cultures need to be removed from the thermostat for measurements and changes in temperature are known to have strong effects on TEER and can pose problems during the process of TEER measurements in cell culture vessels. 

Simon expressed the view that the culture drives the behavior and that a culture change is required for success in behavior-based safety. A culture assessment (such as the Simon Open System Culture Change Model) measures the culture process and impacts on the whole of operations —the technology, tmst, leadership, symbols of the culture, et cetera. He also advised that before a behavior-based initiative is undertaken, management leadership must have been established. That s implicit. This factor cannot be overlooked. These are excerpts from Simon s paper titled The Culture Change Model of Behavioral Safety ... 

Safety authority is the total influence, rights, and ability of the position to conunand and demand safety actions. Management has ultimate safety authority, and therefore is the only echelon that can effectively initiate, implement, and maintain an effective SMS and create safety culture changes. Leadership has the authority to implement and maintain safety, and also the authority to take necessary remedial measures if there are deviations from accepted safety practices and norms. 

As part of this overall safety culture change the task teams set out developing and writing standards as required by the system. These measurable performances had to be approved and signed off on by the executive managers as well as the unions. The unions were excited about the entire process, as for once they were obtaining written commitment from management for basic safety issues. 

Valid statistical measures, such as control charts, are convincing. In some situations, such as initiating the cultural change necessary to call attention to serious injury prevention, the frequency of occurrence data on such incidents that would be placed on a control chart will not be available since the subject is low-probability/severe-consequence events that do not occur often. Cost data for such events can be influential. For an additional reference, see Measurement of Safety Performance in On The Practice Of Safety. 

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