According to the essayist and memoirist Rebecca Solnit, to be lost is 'to be fully present, and to be fully present is to be capable of being in uncertainty and mystery.' Solnit considers being lost 'a psychic state achievable through geography'. The flip-side is that geography can also prevent one from getting lost. It is easier to find one's way in the grid-like cities of the new world than in the swerving cobblestone streets of the old. A similar evolution of efficiency is happening on the web. The new world, in this analogy, is Web 2.0, and its shape is neither grid- nor weblike. Increasingly, it's a point of convergence.
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Purpose: The aims of this study were to investigate how a variety of research methods is commonly employed to study technology and practitioner cognition. User-interface issues with infusion pumps were selected as a case because of its relevance to patient safety. Methods: Starting from a Cognitive Systems Engineering perspective, we developed an Impact Flow Diagram showing the relationship of computer technology, cognition, practitioner behavior, and system failure in the area of medical infusion devices. We subsequently conducted a systematic literature review on user-interface issues with infusion pumps, categorized the studies in terms of methods employed, and noted the usability problems found with particular methods. Next, we assigned usability problems and related methods to the levels in the Impact Flow Diagram. Results: Most study methods used to find user interface issues with infusion pumps focused on observable behavior rather than on how artifacts shape cognition and collaboration. A concerted and theorydriven application of these methods when testing infusion pumps is lacking in the literature. Detailed analysis of one case study provided an illustration of how to apply the Impact Flow Diagram, as well as how the scope of analysis may be broadened to include organizational and regulatory factors. Conclusion: Research methods to uncover use problems with technology may be used in many ways, with many different foci. We advocate the adoption of an Impact Flow Diagram perspective rather than merely focusing on usability issues in isolation. Truly advancing patient safety requires the systematic adoption of a systems perspective viewing people and technology as an ensemble, also in the design of medical device technology.
Particle image velocimetry has been widely used in various sectors from the automotive to aviation, research, and development, energy, medical, turbines, reactors, electronics, education, refrigeration for flow characterization and investigation. In this study, articles examined in open literature containing the particle image velocimetry techniques are reviewed in terms of components, lasers, cameras, lenses, tracers, computers, synchronizers, and seeders. The results of the evaluation are categorized and explained within the tables and figures. It is anticipated that this paper will be a starting point for researchers willing to study in this area and industrial companies willing to include PIV experimenting in their portfolios. In addition, the study shows in detail the advantages and disadvantages of past and current technologies, which technologies in existing PIV laboratories can be renewed, and which components are used in the PIV laboratories to be installed.
