The ethical dimension of treating the elderly, including risk–benefit analysis, focuses mainly on quality of life and end-of-life issues. These include arguments on advance directives and the...Full Text Available
Caring for a child with a potentially fatal medical condition is a challenge for parents or caregivers. The ability to measure parental self-efficacy in pediatric palliative care may be an important component of targeting supportive services that address individual needs of families. Therefore, the goal was to develop a Pediatric Palliative Care Parental Self-Efficacy Measure (PCPEM). First, a list of questions were generated that asked parents their level of confidence in carrying out tasks involved in caring for a child with a potentially fatal medical condition in 6 palliative care domains: 1) medical discussion/decisions; 2) symptom management/medication; 3) daily activities; 4) feelings/concerns; 5) spirituality; and 6) end-of-lifecare. The PCPEM was narrowed to 58 questions after expert reviews. Then, 16 caregivers of children ...
This paper describes how a computerized MIS is used to assist HMO management to conduct utilization and quality of care review activities in a prepaid medical care network. The HMO is a ‘network’...Full Text Available
Purpose - The article discusses how care programmes and integrated care pathways can be linked, finding ways to improve healthcare process professional and logistical quality from a supply chain and a network point-of-view. Design/methodology/approach - The authors argue that owing to cost containment goals and increasing healthcare demand, healthcare services systems are challenged to improve service quality, whilst at the same time finding ways to improve delivery processes. It explores if the combination of two instruments, care programmes and integrated care pathways, can meet both goals. This combination is illustrated by an example from the Institute of Mental Health Care Eindhoven en de Kempen. Findings - Analysis suggests that care programmes can be combined with integrated care pa...
OBJECTIVE. This study was conducted to determine whether an index for measuring quality of care for psychiatric emergencies is reliable and valid. DATA SOURCES/STUDY SETTING. The study used primary...Full Text Available
PURPOSE This study was designed to evaluate the impact of electronic medical record (EMR) implementation on quality of diabetes care.METHODS We conducted a 5-year longitudinal...Full Text Available
Summary Electronic textiles are a vanguard of an emerging generation of smart products. They consist of small electronic devices that are seamlessly embedded into clothing and technical textiles. E-textiles provide enhanced functions in a variety of unobtrusive and convenient ways. Like many high-tech products, e-textiles may evolve to become a mass market in the future. In this case, large amounts of difficult-to-recycle products will be discarded. That can result in new waste problems. This article examines the possible end-of-life implications of textile-integrated electronic waste. As a basis for assessment, the innovation trends of e-textiles are reviewed, and an overview of their material composition is provided. Next, scenarios are developed to estimate the magnitude of future e-tex...
BackgroundIntegration of medical care across clinicians and settings could enhance the quality of care for patients. To date, there is limited data on the levels of integration in...Full Text Available
Quality research, requiring large numbers of participants, in the intensive care unit (ICU) population requires multicentre collaboration. Although logistically challenging, this methodology reduces...Full Text Available
Environmental regulations can have a significant impact on product use, disposal, and recycling. This report summarizes the basic aspects of current federal, state and international regulations which apply to end-of-life photovoltaic (PV) modules and PV manufacturing scrap destined for disposal or recycling. It also discusses proposed regulations for electronics that may set the ground of what is to be expected in this area in the near future. In the US, several states have started programs to support the recycling of electronic equipment, and materials destined for recycling often are excepted from solid waste regulations during the collection, transfer, storage and processing stages. California regulations are described separately because they are different from those of most other states. International agreements on the movement of waste between different countries may pose barriers to cross-border shipments. Currently waste moves freely among country members of ...
PurposeHealth information technology (HIT) and physician career satisfaction are associated with higher-quality medical care. However, the link between HIT and physician...Full Text Available
BackgroundStrategies to accurately identify the occurrence of specific health care events in administrative data is central to many quality improvement and research efforts. Many...Full Text Available
The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Hospitals (JCAH) has continuously emphasized improvement in the quality of care provided in hospitals as the central purpose of the accreditation process. In...Full Text Available
AimsTo describe nurse burnout, job dissatisfaction, and quality of care in Japanese hospitals, and to determine how these outcomes are associated with work environment...Full Text Available
BackgroundParents of chronically ill children are at risk for a lower Health Related Quality of Life (HRQoL). Insight in the dynamics of factors influencing parental HRQoL is necessary...Full Text Available
Abstract An increase in chronic disease prevalence is contributing to health care cost growth and decreased quality of life in industrialized nations worldwide. Inadequate management of chronic diseases is a leading cause of hospitalizations and, thus, avoidable expenditures. In this study, we evaluated the impact of nurse-delivered care calls, the primary intervention of a proactive chronic care management (CCM) program, in a population aged 65 and older in Germany. In this analysis, hospital admission rates were evaluated among program enrollees who were diagnosed with diabetes, heart failure, coronary heart disease, or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The Intervention group comprised those members who participated in care calls (n?=?13,486), whereas the Comparison group included e...
The objectives of this paper are to: quickly outline the extent of the care gap in osteoporosis; define T-2 (knowledge) translation and its relationship to quality improvement; discuss the barriers to best practice in osteoporosis care after a fracture; convey the importance of rigor in design and evaluation of translational interventions by drawing upon examples from the broader literature; describe in some detail a series of post-fracture intervention trials conducted in Alberta, Canada; and make some conclusions specifically about osteoporosis interventions and more generally about T-2 translational research.
Personal Health Records (PHRs) are increasingly recognized as a strategy to improve patient-provider communication, availability of health information, and quality of care, by making the delivery of...Full Text Available
PurposeTo develop a generic instrument for measuring short-term health status in the recovery period among patients undergoing abdominal and pelvic surgery.Full Text Available
BackgroundLung volume reduction surgery is effective at improving lung function, quality of life, and mortality in carefully selected individuals with advanced emphysema. Recently,...Full Text Available
Background ?Guidelines for safe and effective management and use of point of care testing? have been recently launched in Ireland. Aims To survey point of care testing (POCT) services in the Republic of Ireland. Methods A questionnaire covering accreditation status, existence of POCT committees, quality management systems, and staff resources was distributed by the Irish External Quality Assessment Scheme (IEQAS). Results Of those that returned completed questionnaires, 56% had assigned specific POCT responsibilities to designated staff. Most support was for blood gases and glucose analysis. Compared with other published studies, Irish laboratories gave similar support for blood gases, less for glucose and much less for urinalysis. Conclusions This survey demonstrated poor IT support for P...
National efforts to improve the quality and safety of health care present challenges for medical education and training. Today's doctors need to be skilled communicators who know how to identify, prevent and manage adverse events and near misses, how to use evidence and information, how to work safely in a team, how to practise ethically, and how to be workplace teachers and learners. These competencies (knowledge, skills and attitudes) are set out in the National Patient Safety Education Framework (NPSF) of the Australian Council for Safety and Quality in Health Care. The NPSF is designed to help medical schools, vocational colleges, health organisations and private practitioners develop curricula to enable health professionals to work safely. The NPSF describes what doctors (depending on their level of knowledge and experience) can do to demonstrate competencies in a range of ...
AbstractOBJECTIVETo provide an overview of the 2009 edition of the Rourke Baby Record (RBR), which incorporates recent research in the literature relating to preventive health care for children aged 0 to 5 years.QUALITY OF EVIDENCERecommendations are identified as supported by good, fair, or consensus evidence, according to the classification of the Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care.MAIN MESSAGENew information and recommendations are given for growth monitoring, nutrition, developmental surveillance, physical examination maneuvers, immunization schedules, and advice for parents. Anticipatory guidance updates relate to injury prevention, infant swaddling, literacy facilitation, nonparental child care, parenting skills programs, serum lead levels, over-the-counter cough and cold medications, pacifiers, antipyretics, insect repellents, and dental care and oral health. The ...
A large matrix of simple alloys and complex commercial type steels was irradiated over a range of fluxes at 60 FC up to a fast fluence of about 3 x 10"2"2 n/m"2. Combined with data in the literature, these results show a negligible effect of flux on irradiation hardening in the range of 2 x 10"1"3 to 5 x 10"1"8 n/m"2-s. This observation lends indirect support to the proposal that the accelerated embrittlement in the High Flux Isotope Reactor surveillance steels was due to an anomalously high level of damage from gamma rays. A weak dependence of hardening on a number of elements, including copper, nickel, phosphorus, molybdenum and manganese, can be described by a simple empirical chemistry factor. Particular combinations of elements resulted in hardening differences of up to about 60% in the complex commercial type steels and up to about 100% in simple model alloys. Direct effects of microstructure appear to be minimal. Hardening varies with the square root of fluence above a threshold ...
Presently, Nigeria is one of the fastest growing Telecom markets in the world. The country's teledensity increased from a mere 0.4 in 1999 to 10 in 2005 following the liberalization of the Telecom sector in 2001. More than 25 million new digital mobile lines have been connected by June 2006. Large quantities of mobile phones and accessories including secondhand and remanufactured products are being imported to meet the pent-up demand. This improvement in mobile telecom services resulted in the preference of mobile telecom services to fixed lines. Consequently, the contribution of fixed lines decreased from about 95% in year 2000 to less than 10% in March 2005. This phenomenal progress in information technology has resulted in the generation of large quantities of electronic waste (e-waste) in the country. Abandoned fixed line telephone sets estimated at 120,000 units are either disposed or stockpiled. Increasing quantities of waste mobile phones estimated at 8 million units by 2007, ...
ICU telemedicine uses audiovisual conferencing technology to provide critical care from a remote location. Research is needed to best define the optimal use of ICU telemedicine, but efforts are hindered by methodological challenges and the lack of an organized delivery approach. We convened an interdisciplinary working group to develop a research agenda in ICU telemedicine, addressing both methodological and knowledge gaps in the field. To best inform clinical decision-making and health policy, future research should be organized around a conceptual framework that enables consistent descriptions of both the study setting and the telemedicine intervention. The framework should include standardized methods for assessing the preimplementation ICU environment and describing the telemedicine program. This framework will facilitate comparisons across studies and improve generalizability by permitting context-specific interpretation. Research based on this framework ...
Around the world there is a small industry of non-governmental organisations that provide health care in niche areas that cannot be met by national health care provision. One topic is facial deformity that can have a dramatic effect on quality of life. In this study we investigate the morbidity and outcome of a British surgical team working for a 2-week period in Ethiopia. Thirty-five patients who presented with facial deformities had 47 operations during a 2-week period. Data were recorded for a minimum of 3 weeks postoperatively. Operative techniques were classified as simple or complex. Postoperative complications were assessed and classified as major, intermediate, and minor. In addition, the character of each complication was recorded and the cause elucidated. After 3 weeks the clinic...
This article examines the interplay between globalising and localising forces occurring in a child welfare reform project in South Korea. Focusing especially on care and education services for children and families provided by the Korean 'Dream Start' programme, which provides comprehensive health, parental involvement and welfare services to low-income children and their families, I discuss its involvement in the process of 'glocalisation'. Drawing on Foucaultian ideas, I conducted a critical discourse analysis of the policy documents of Dream Start. The article concludes by discussing local resistance to the creation of a cosmopolitan child and the dual qualities of inclusion/exclusion inscribed in the Dream Start project.
Optimization is a powerful paradigm for expressing and solving problems in a wide range of areas, and has been successfully applied to many vision problems. Discrete optimization techniques are especially interesting since, by carefully exploiting problem structure, they often provide nontrivial guarantees concerning solution quality. In this paper, we review dynamic programming and graph algorithms, and discuss representative examples of how these discrete optimization techniques have been applied to some classical vision problems. We focus on the low-level vision problem of stereo, the mid-level problem of interactive object segmentation, and the high-level problem of model-based recognition. PMID:20660950
In this work, the right management procedure for hydraulic power oil will be discussed and suggested. A thermal power plant turbine should respond to the change of load status. However, to satisfy the frequency of alternating current, the revolution per minute should be kept constant. Therefore, by controlling the flow rate of the steam to the turbine, the governor satisfies the load variation without alternating the revolution per minutes of the turbine. To protect the governor, the hydraulic power unit should be managed carefully by controlling the quality and the flow rate of the oil.
Abstract Background Atopic dermatitis (AD) affects health and quality of life and it has great impact on both health-care costs and costs to the society. Objectives The objective of this study was to develop a model to analyse the cost-effectiveness of a barrier-strengthening moisturizing cream as maintenance therapy compared with no treatment after initial treatment with betamethasone valerate in adult patients with AD in Sweden. A further aim was to apply a similar health-economic analysis for Denmark, Norway and Finland. Methods A Markov simulation model was developed including data from three sources: (i) efficacy data from a randomized controlled trial including patients with moderate AD treated with either a moisturizing cream or no treatment, (ii) resource utilization and quality of...
ObjectiveTo evaluate the primary care communications initiative, which introduced NHSnet to primary care in Scotland.DesignSemi-structured telephone...Full Text Available
PurposeDescription and analysis of the effects and side-effects of integrated mental health care in the Netherlands.Context of caseDue...Full Text Available
BackgroundExisting studies concerning the health care use of homeless people describe higher utilisation rates for hospital-based care and emergency care, and lower rates for primary...Full Text Available
BackgroundWe examined whether older adults who had continuity of care with a primary care physician (PCP) had lower mortality.MethodsSecondary analyses...Full Text Available
Preterm children born before 32 weeks of gestation represent 1% of the annual births in Switzerland, and are the most at risk of neurodevelopmental disabilities. A neurological surveillance is thus implemented in the neonatal units, and multidisciplinary neurodevelopmental follow-up is offered to all our preterm patients. The follow-up clinics of the University hospitals in Lausanne and Geneva follow the Swiss guidelines for follow-up. An extended history and neurological examination is taken at each appointment, and a standardized test of development is performed. These examinations, which take place between the ages of 3 months and 9 years old, allow the early identification and treatment of developmental disorders frequent in this population, such as motor, cognitive or behavioral disorders, as well as the monitoring of the quality of neonatal care. PMID:21452511
Aim.- To identify what determinants influence the prevalence and accuracy of nursing diagnosis documentation in clinical practice. Background.- Nursing diagnoses guide and direct nursing care. They are the foundation for goal setting and provide the basis for interventions. The literature mentions several factors that influences nurses- documentation of diagnoses, such as a nurse-s level of education, patient-s condition and the ward environment. Design.- Systematic review. Method.- MEDLINE and CINAHL databases were searched using the following headings and keywords: nursing diagnosis, nursing documentation, hospitals, influence, utilisation, quality, implementation and accuracy. The search was limited to articles published between 1995-October 2009. Studies were only selected if they were...
Digital audio sampling is explained, and some of its implications in digital sound applications are discussed. Digital sound equipment is rapidly replacing analog recording devices as the state-of-the-art in audio technology. The philosophy of digital recording involves doing away with the continuously variable analog waveforms and turning the patterns into numbers. A digital recording device rapidly samples the incoming sounds, quantifying the signal into a series of numerical values (binary codes). Although digital sound eliminates many of the traditional analog problems, digital signal processing presents key problems in sampling rates and synchronization. Careful control is necessary to check signals through each step in the audio chain. The advantages of digital audio processing include increased signal-to-noise ratio, no flutter, transparent generation of copies, and sound manipulation. These benefits come with increased quality control ...
The National Food and Nutrient Analysis Program (NFNAP) was implemented in 1997 to update and improve the quality of food composition data maintained by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). NFNAP was designed to sample and analyze frequently consumed foods in the U.S. food supply using statistically rigorous sampling plans, established sample handling procedures, and qualified analytical laboratories. Methods for careful handling of food samples from acquisition to analysis were developed to ensure the integrity of the samples and subsequent generation of accurate nutrient values. The infrastructure of NFNAP, under which over 1500 foods have been sampled, mandates tested sample handling protocols for a wide variety of foods. The majority of these foods were categorized into ...
Multilayer mirror coatings which reflect extreme ultraviolet (EUV) radiation are a key enabling technology for EUV lithography. Mo/Si multilayers with reflectances of 67.5% at 13.4 nm are now routinely achieved and reflectances of 70 2% at 11.4 nm were obtained with MO/Be multilayers. High reflectance is achieved with careful control of substrate quality, layer thicknesses, multilayer materials, interface quality, and surface termination. Reflectance and film stress were found to be stable relative to the requirements for application to EUV lithography. The run-to-run reproducibility of the reflectance peak position was characterized to be better than 0.2%, providing the required wavelength matching among the seven multilayer-coated mirrors used in the present lithography system design. Uniformity of coating was improved to better than 0.5% across 150 mm diameter substrates. These improvements in EUV multilayer mirror ...
Heterogeneous base stations (e.g. picocells, microcells, femtocells and distributed antennas) will become increasingly essential for cellular network capacity and coverage. Up until now, little basic research has been done on the fundamentals of managing so much infrastructure -- much of it unplanned -- together with the carefully planned macro-cellular network. Inter-cell coordination is in principle an effective way of ensuring different infrastructure components behave in a way that increases, rather than decreases, the key quality of service (QoS) metrics. The success of such coordination depends heavily on how the overhead is shared, and the rate and delay of the overhead sharing. We develop a novel framework to quantify overhead signaling for inter-cell coordination, which is usually ignored in traditional 1-tier networks, and assumes even more importance in multi-tier heterogeneous cellular networks (HCNs). We derive the overhead ...
The Northwest Foster Care Alumni Study examined the relation between experiences in foster care and depression among young adults who spent at least a year in foster care as adolescents. Results indicate that preparation for leaving foster care, nurturing supports from the foster family, school stability, access to tutoring, access to therapeutic service and support, and a shorter and more stable placement history were associated with a lower probability of depression in young adulthood. Results provide evidence that suggest ways to improve practice to decrease rates of depression among alumni of care. (Contains 2 tables.)
Planning for quality assurance (QA) in research and development (R D) is like stealing eggs without waking up the chickens. The QA program should be as unobtrusive as possible. Researchers require a QA program that affords them an environment capable of supporting repeatable experiments with accurate data without unduly stifling their creative abilities. Careful advance planning ensures that the intensity of control provided by quality-related systems is commensurate with the importance and scope of the activities being performed. Good scientific practices applied to small bench-scale projects may require minimal additional controls. As projects increase in size and complexity the controls imposed through planning must, by necessity, be increased. Research and development QA planning, just like any other planning, involves all affected individuals. The application of control systems is determined by factors such as customer ...
Aims:To Study the religious and ideological views and practice of Palliative Care physician towards Euthanasia.Materials and Methods:An...Full Text Available
Paediatric palliative care is a holistic approach aimed at addressing the complex issues related to the care of children and families facing chronic life limiting illnesses. The needs of children are...Full Text Available
BackgroundDepression is a common illness, often treated in primary care. Many studies have reported undertreatment with antidepressants in primary care. Recently, some studies also...Full Text Available
BackgroundLittle is known about differences in professional care seeking based on marital status. The few existing studies show more professional care seeking among the divorced...Full Text Available
"Correctional Health Care: Implications for Public Health Policy" is the first in a series of articles that examines the special health care needs of persons who are incarcerated in America's correctional...Full Text Available
BackgroundUntil now only limited research has been done on the prevalence of chronic pain in primary care. The aim of this investigation was to study the health care utilisation...Full Text Available
Six patient assessment systems that have explicit decision rules for replicating team judgments on level of care patient placement were selected for analysis. The six were selected because of their...Full Text Available
BackgroundThe Emergency Care Summary (ECS) was introduced in 2006 to allow aspects of the general practitioner (GP; family doctor, equivalent to primary care physician) medical record...Full Text Available
OBJECTIVETo examine psychometric properties of the Confidence in Diabetes Self-Care (CIDS) scale, a newly developed instrument assessing diabetes-specific self-efficacy...Full Text Available
AbstractObjective: This study examined the effectiveness of a telephone-based referral-care management (TBR-CM) intervention on psychiatric health...Full Text Available
This article is a story of networking of palliative care at the corporate level. This gives an insight that if you have will and dedication then you can imagine and make it true that networking can...Full Text Available
... Harbor Township Vineland Voorhees Pediatric Partner Hospitals AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center- City Campus, Atlantic City AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center - ...
OBJECTIVETo evaluate trends in costs of ambulatory care related to female pelvic floor disorders (PFD) in the United States.STUDY DESIGNFull Text Available
OBJECTIVE AND DESIGNThis study used qualitative and quantitative methods to examine the reasons primary care physicians and nurses offered for their inability to initiate guideline-concordant...Full Text Available
Radiotherapy recent development in cancer treatment needs strong procedures and quality assessment to improve safety both for patients and professionals. In Ile de France territory, a coordinated action between ASN inspectors and medical doctors specialized in public health (MISP), working as civil servants in health administration, was initiated at the end of 2007. An inspection guideline was implemented in a workshop between ASN and Regional Hospital Agency (ARH). The MISP as health administrator has to verify if care organisation responds to treatment cancer regulatory framework: as a doctor he is authorized to access to patient records to know which treatment was chosen. He has to assure if the therapeutic guidelines are respected. His comprehensive approach is essentially patient-oriented. The MISP inspection coordinated with ASN inspectors is a very pertinent pluri-disciplinary approach, undeniably necessary in such a medical technic. The ...
Radiotherapy recent development in cancer treatment needs strong procedures and quality assessment to improve safety both for patients and professionals. In Ile de France territory, a coordinated action between ASN inspectors and medical doctors specialized in public health (MISP), working as civil servants in health administration, was initiated at the end of 2007. An inspection guideline was implemented in a workshop between ASN and Regional Hospital Agency (ARH). The MISP as health administrator has to verify if care organisation responds to treatment cancer regulatory framework: as a doctor he is authorized to access to patient records to know which treatment was chosen. He has to assure if the therapeutic guidelines are respected. His comprehensive approach is essentially patient-oriented. The MISP inspection coordinated with ASN inspectors is a very pertinent pluri-disciplinary approach, undeniably necessary in such a medical technic. The ...
BACKGROUND: The urgent need for patient safety education for healthcare students has been recognised by many accreditation bodies, but to date there has been sporadic attention to undergraduate/graduate medical programmes. Medical students themselves have identified quality and safety of care as an important area of instruction; as future doctors and healthcare leaders, they must be prepared to practise safe healthcare. Medical education has yet to fully embrace patient safety concepts and principles into existing medical curricula. Universities are continuing to produce graduate doctors lacking in the patient safety knowledge, skills and behaviours thought necessary to deliver safe care. A significant challenge is that patient safety is still a relatively new concept and area of study; thus, many medical educators are unfamiliar with the literature and unsure how to integrate patient safety learning into existing ...
BACKGROUND: The urgent need for patient safety education for healthcare students has been recognised by many accreditation bodies, but to date there has been sporadic attention to undergraduate/graduate medical programmes. Medical students themselves have identified quality and safety of care as an important area of instruction; as future doctors and healthcare leaders, they must be prepared to practise safe healthcare. Medical education has yet to fully embrace patient safety concepts and principles into existing medical curricula. Universities are continuing to produce graduate doctors lacking in the patient safety knowledge, skills and behaviours thought necessary to deliver safe care. A significant challenge is that patient safety is still a relatively new concept and area of study; thus, many medical educators are unfamiliar with the literature and unsure how to integrate patient safety learning into existing ...
This study examined whether cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) could prevent the development or worsening of panic-spectrum psychopathology and anxiety symptoms in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). 41 patients with COPD, who had undergone pulmonary rehabilitation, were randomised to either a four-session CBT intervention condition (n = 21) or a routine care condition (n = 20). Assessments were at baseline, post-intervention, and at 6-, 12- and 18-month follow-ups. Primary outcomes were the rates of panic attacks, panic disorder and anxiety symptoms. Secondary outcomes were depressive symptoms, catastrophic cognitions about breathing difficulties, disease-specific quality of life and hospital admission rates. There were no significant differences between the groups on outcome measures at baseline. By the 18-month follow-up assessment, 12 (60%) routine care group participants had experienced at least one panic ...
To which idea of truth may medicine refer? Evidence-based medicine (EBM) is rooted in the scientific truth. To explain the meaning and to trace the evolution of scientific truth, this article outlines the history of the Scientific Revolution and of the parable of Modernity, up to the arrival of pragmatism and hermeneutics. Here, the concept of truth becomes somehow discomfiting and the momentum leans towards the integration of different points of view. The fuzzy set theory for the definition of disease, as well as the shift from disease to syndrome (which has operational relevance for geriatrics), seems to refer to a more complex perspective on knowledge, albeit one that is less defined as compared to the nosology in use. Supporters of narrative medicine seek the truth in the interpretation of the patients' stories, and take advantage of the medical humanities to find the truth in words, feelings and contact with the patients. Hence, it is possible to mention the parresia, which is the ...
A comparison of the loss mechanisms in screen-printed solar cells relative to buried contact cells and cells with photolithography-defined contacts is presented in this paper. Model calculations show that emitter recombination accounts for about 0.5% absolute efficiency loss in conventional screen-printed cells with low-sheet-resistance emitters. Ohmic contact to high-sheet-resistance emitters by screen-printing has been investigated to regain this efficiency loss. Our work shows that good quality ohmic contacts to high sheet-resistance emitters can be achieved if the glass frit chemistry and Ag particle size are carefully tailored. The melting characteristics of the glass frit determine the firing scheme suitable for low contact resistance and high fill factors. In addition, small to regular Ag particles were found to help achieve a higher open-circuit voltage and maintain a low contact resistance. This work has resulted in cells with high ...
The effects on engine emissions resulting from the intake manifold fumigation of oxygenated fuel and the addition of oxygenates to the fuel have been investigated using a direct-injection diesel engine. The results show that carefully selected oxygenated fuels effectively work to increase the ignition delay because of their low ignition quality and to decrease the combustion temperature due to the low compression gas temperature produced from their large heat of vaporization, thereby reducing levels of Bosch smoke and nitrogen oxides simultaneously. However, supplementary injection of the oxygenates into the intake air causes a drastic increase in the levels of exhaust total hydrocarbons and CO; thus, it can be said that the addition of oxygenates to the fuel is more practical and effective than fumigation if phase separation of the blended fuel may not be occurred. In the case of addition of the oxygenates to the fuel, it is clarified that ...
High-quality solar cells have been fabricated by utilizing localized argon-ion laser decomposition of silver neodecanoate spun onto diffused silicon substrates and subsequent electroplating. Early adhesion problems during electroplating have been carefully studied and finally solved using a novel coating procedure. The laser-metallized solar cells have been characterized using lighted and dark current-voltage measurements and compared with baseline cells metallized using standard photolithographic procedures. Non-AR-coated cell efficiencies ranging from 10 to over 11% have been obtained for the laser-metallized cells, comparable with the best baseline cells. The laser-metallized cells have 30 to 40% lower series resistance than the unsintered baseline cells, indicating that in-situ sintering takes place during laser writing. A dramatic new and simpler laser metallization process on which patent protection is currently being sought has yielded ...
The authors have designed and constructed four types of electron-beam diodes for the new 4-MV RLA injector: a non-immersed foilless diode, a magnetically immersed foilless diode, a foil diode and an ion-focused foilless diode, They are tailored to fit the new injector cavity. The design goals were to produce high quality 10-kA to 20-kA electron beams with a #beta# perpendicular smaller than 0.2 and a beam radius of the order of 2 cm. These beams will be matched to the RLA IFR channel so #beta# perpendicular must be equal to or smaller than the square root of the ratio of the beam current versus Alfven current for f_e = 1. A reentrant anode geometry was selected for the injector cavity design, because it offers substantial savings on the required amount of feromagnetic cores. The inner radius of the outside shell, now only 30 cm, would have been twice as large (60 cm) if a coaxial non-reentrant geometry had been adopted. The shape of the anode and cathode electrodes ...
The image quality of digital luminescent radiography (DLR) is sufficient for routine biplane chest radiography and for follow-up studies of heart size, pulmonary congestion, coin lesions, infiltrations, atelectasis, pleural effusions, and mediastinal and hilar lymph node enlargement. Chest radiography in the intensive care unit may in most cases be performed using the DLR technique. there is no need for repeat shots because of incorrect exposure, and the position of catheters, tubes, pacemakers, drains and artificial heart valves, the mediastinum, and the retrocardiac areas of the left lung are more confidently assessed on the edge-enhanced DLR films than on conventional films. Nevertheless, DLR is somewhat inferior to conventional film-screen radiography of the chest as it can demonstrate or rule out subtle pulmonary interstitial disease less confidently. There is no reduction of radiation exposure of the chest in DLR compared with modern ...
GAO's review of the H-Coal and Exxon projects showed inadequacies in DOE's contracting practices and a failure by DOE to properly plan, manage, and monitor, especially the H-Coal project. The initial Government-industry H-Coal agreements regarding the level of investment by private sponsors and the ceilings imposed on sharing in cost growth were imbalanced. Larger investments by private sponsors and sharing of cost growth provides an incentive to private sponsors to control costs and helps to assure that each party is fully committed to the success of the project. DOE started the H-Coal project prematurely before sufficiently detailed designs were available and without adequate project planning for functions such as construction scheduling, materials handling, inventory systems, and quality control. DOE staffing was inadequate at both projects to effectively monitor progress and contribute to timely decisions. Its contracts for the H-Coal plants ...
The quality of fuel oils is discussed. The problems that the fuel oil marketer must deal with that relate to the quality of the fuel oil are described.
The study examines the question of whether or not civilian marketing practices and principles can be applied in the military care setting. Using the NRMC Great Lakes as a basis, the answer is yes--consumers of military medical care are ready to be the rec...
The paper describes the possibilities of using data warehousing and OLAP technologies in public health care in general and then our own experience with these technologies gained during the implementation...Full Text Available
BackgroundMost studies on children with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS)/myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) have been undertaken in tertiary care and little is known about their management...Full Text Available
By analyzing the data of 459 patients who completed the Supportive Care Needs Survey (SCNS), the prevalence, medical and non-medical predictors of unmet needs were investigated. Breast cancer patients...Full Text Available
BackgroundInternationally, there is increasing use of telephone consultations, particularly for triaging requests for acute care. However, little is known about how this mode of...Full Text Available
BackgroundWith a growing number of genetic tests becoming available to the health and consumer markets, genetic health care providers in Canada are faced with the challenge of developing...Full Text Available
Objectives To evaluate the extent to which intensive care units participating in the initial Keystone ICU project sustained reductions in rates of catheter related bloodstream infections.Design...Full Text Available
Goals of workThe goal of this study was to evaluate, at a population level, the association between specialized palliative care services (SPCS) and short- and long-term caregiver...Full Text Available
Fresh blood has many potential advantages over older blood, but there is no evidence that these properties translate into clinical benefit for intensive care patients. The observational multicenter...Full Text Available
Digital information flow within the intensive care unit (ICU) continues to grow, with advances in technology and computational biology. Recent developments in the integration and archiving of these...Full Text Available
BackgroundNew Zealand's Primary Health Care Strategy (NZPHCS) was introduced in 2002. Its features are substantial increases in government funding delivered as capitation payments,...Full Text Available
Psychology as both a science and a profession has been closely identified with other disciplines in the broad field of health since the turn of the present century. Recent advances in health care have...Full Text Available
OBJECTIVES:To investigate the prevalence of potential drug interactions at the intensive care unit of a university hospital in Brazil and to analyze their clinical significance.METHODS:This...Full Text Available
The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of pregabalin in painful cervical or lumbosacral radiculopathy treated in Primary Care settings under routine clinical practice. An observational,...Full Text Available
ObjectiveTo identify patient-care practices related to an increased prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection among chronic hemodialysis patients.Full Text Available
The outcome of patients admitted to intensive care units is known to be influenced by such factors as age, previous health status, severity of disease, and diagnosis. To estimate the outcome of such...Full Text Available
ObjectiveTo report the outcome of children with life-threatening asthma (LTA) admitted to a university Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU).MethodsRetrospective...Full Text Available
Background Little is known about how migrants adapt to first-world public health systems. In Norway, patients are assigned a registered general practitioner (RGP) to provide basic care...Full Text Available
This article explores the effects of reimbursement and utilization control policies on utilization patterns and spending for physician and hospital outpatient services under state Medicaid programs....Full Text Available
OBJECTIVE: To examine primary care physicians' management of rheumatoid arthritis, ascertain the determinants of management and compare management with that recommended by a current practice panel....Full Text Available
This paper summarizes the findings for the African Region of the WPA Task Force on Steps, Obstacles and Mistakes to Avoid in the Implementation of Community Mental Health Care. We present an overview...Full Text Available
IntroductionThe aim of the study was to assess and classify incidents of electromagnetic interference (EMI) by second-generation and third-generation mobile phones on critical care...Full Text Available
Electronic personal health records (ePHRs) can potentially maximize access and coordination of health information and improve patient/clinician collaboration, patient self-management, and health outcomes....Full Text Available
BackgroundThe Government has invested £7 million (approx. $11.5 million) to connect all Primary Care Practices in Scotland to the National Health Service...Full Text Available
Objectives:Despite its impact on health policy, the relationship between geographical proximity and health care seeking has received scant attention in the medical literature. This...Full Text Available
OBJECTIVE--To review findings from studies of the influence of desktop computers on primary care consultations. DESIGN--Systematic review of world reports from 1984 to 1994. SETTING--The computerised...Full Text Available
Emergency Departments (ED) are fast-paced, information-intensive environments where patient care team members must address their information needs quickly and accurately. We conducted a qualitative...Full Text Available
The method of linear analogue self-assessment (LASA) was used to quantify the views concerning day care which were held by patients attending a geriatric day hospital. The results suggest that day hospitals...Full Text Available
ObjectivesTo assess Croatian community pharmacists' patient care competencies using the General Level Framework (GLF).MethodsThe competencies of...Full Text Available
PURPOSE We wanted to assess computer capabilities in a primary care practice-based research network and to understand how receptive the practices were to new ideas for automation of practice...Full Text Available
BACKGROUND. Diabetes can be effectively treated and monitored in general practice. Postgraduate medical education at a local level is required to support this strategic shift of medical care from hospital...Full Text Available
Despite an accumulating body of literature addressing racial/ethnic disparities in children’s health and health care, there have been few published studies of interventions that have...Full Text Available
Will the aging of Canada's population bankrupt the health care system? In this issue (see pages 1555 to 1560) Dr. Marie Demers reports that the increase in physician service costs for elderly people...Full Text Available
PURPOSE The Wells rule is widely used for clinical assessment of patients with suspected deep vein thrombosis (DVT), especially in the secondary care setting. Recently a new clinical decision...Full Text Available
The overarching goal of medical training is to nurture the growth of knowledgeable, caring and insightful clinicians guided by the ideals of medical professionalism. Recent definitions of professional...Full Text Available
BackgroundThe Canadian Emergency Department Triage and Acuity Scale (CTAS) is a well recognized and validated triage system that prioritizes patient care by severity of illness....Full Text Available
Patients do considerable information work. Technologies that help patients manage health information so they can play active roles in their health-care, such as personal health records, provide...Full Text Available
Very few areas of medical science have experienced more rapid development of new and beneficial treatment approaches during the past two decades than the disciplines required for total care of patients...Full Text Available
This article compared conceptual and empirical strengths of alternative methods for estimating racial disparities using non-linear models of health care access. Three methods were presented...Full Text Available
ObjectiveTo estimate the joint effect of a multifaceted access intervention on primary care physician (PCP) productivity in a large, integrated prepaid group practice.Data...Full Text Available
OBJECTIVE: To increase cost-efficiency while maintaining the standard of medical care, an accelerated surgical stay program for patients having breast surgery was instituted. SUMMARY BACKGROUND DATA:...Full Text Available
...dates of the implementation of the standard unique health identifier for health care providers. 162.404 Section 162.404 Public Welfare DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES ADMINISTRATIVE DATA...
... Title : Mental Health and Resilience: Soldiers' Perceptions about Psychotherapy, Medications, and Barriers to Care in the United States Military. ...
The Sultanate of Oman has a relatively young national health care system that could demonstrate its high performance at an international level. Emergency medicine as a specialty has developed rapidly in the country over the last decade. This has involved the parallel development of local emergency residency training, prehospital emergency care, and emergency nursing programs. This article reviews the progress of emergency care practice in this country from a general primary care system toward becoming an established specialty in hospital, prehospital, and private emergency care settings. It also describes aspects of undergraduate, postgraduate, and continuous emergency medicine education in the country. Further, a glimpse into academic emergency medicine and emergency nursing is provided. ...
Biodiesel is produced from vegetable oils that have been chemically modified by esterification; an example is rapeseed oil methyl ester (RME), made by treating rapeseed oil with methanol. Biodiesel can be burned directly in diesel engines. Oil from the rapeseed variety known as 00 was the first type of vegetable oil used for transesterification to produce biodiesel. Many other oils have been used successfully as biodiesel feedstock including sunflower oil in Southern France and Italy, soybean oil in the USA, and palm oil in Malaysia. Biodiesel can be made from a wide range of feedstock and multi-feedstock blends. Compared to conventional diesel biodiesel has some environmentally friendly advantages, e.g. biodiesel is reported to release fewer solid particles. Potentially even more important is the low level of carbon dioxide generation associated with biodiesel, at a time when CO{sub 2} emissions are falling in every industrial sector except transport. Life-cycle studies show that 1 kg ...
This paper presents results from one of the projects developed within the general framework of the international Programme 'CORE' (Cooperation for Rehabilitation in Belarus). The overall objective of the programme is to make sustainable improvements to the living conditions of the inhabitants of the territories affected by the Chernobyl disaster. The CORE Programme is currently developed in four contaminated districts of Belarus (Bragin, Cherchersk, Slavgorod and Stolyn) in the following four areas: economic and social development; health care and surveillance; education and culture; and radiological quality. The project that is presented here refers specifically to the field of 'radiological quality' and will last until the end of 2008. The project named 'implementation of an inclusive radiation monitoring system' was launched in April 2004 in the Bragin district, which ...
The influence of reconstituting a murine monoclonal IgG_1 antibody kit with pertechnetate Tc99m on antibody distribution in the liver, spleen and sternal bone marrow of patients was examined. The "9"9"mTc-labelled antibody used is directed against non-specific cross-reacting antigen (NCA-95) and carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and has been successfully applied for imaging tissue inflammation and bone marrow scanning. Radioactivity uptake was determined in the liver, spleen, bone marrow and a precordial background region in a consecutive series of 25 patients, examined with an antibody preparation, routinely radiolabelled according to the manufacturer's recommendations and in 14 patients, in whom the antibody was reconstituted with special care, avoiding bubble formation and dropping of buffer into the antibody-containing vial. Gentle compared with routine antibody reconstitution caused a highly significant reduction of the antibody uptake in the liver, as determined ...
Objective: To assess the efficacy, prospects and future of conservative management of beta thalassemia major patients in a developing country. Design: Patients registered at IHBTS were studied over a period of three years. They consented to being managed on moderate transfusion regimen, aiming to maintain a pre-transfusion haemoglobin(Hgb) level of 9.0 plus minus 1.0 g per dL. We studied their transfusion requirements, status for transfusion transmitted infections (TTls), serum ferritin levels and complications developing as a result of iron overload. Subjects: Initially all registered patients were included in this study. Sporadic patients as well as dropouts occurring due to any reason, (patients concurrently seeking treatment at other centres as well, or complying poorly to advised chelation therapy) were excluded from the study. The data presented here conforms to a cohort of 60 regular patients who adhered best to our selection criteria. Main Outcome Measures: 1) The study ...
Perspectives from industry, academe, and the NRC are brought together in this report and used to develop a logical framework that links management and organization factors and safety in nuclear power plant performance. The framework focuses on intermediate outcomes which can be predicted by organizational and management factors, and which are subsequently linked to safety. The intermediate outcomes are efficiency, compliance, quality, and innovation. The organization and management factors can be classified in terms of environment, context, organizational governance, organizational design, and emergent processes. Initial empirical analyses were conducted on a limited set of hypotheses derived from the framework. One set of hypotheses concerned the relationships between one of the intermediate outcome variables, efficiency, as measured by critical hours and outage rate, and safety, as measured by 5 NRC indicators. Results of the analysis suggest that critical hours ...
More than two and a half years of monitoring of a passive house school and day-care centre in Frankfurt a. M. show comfortable indoor climate and good air quality. The space heat consumption is low and shows savings of approximately 90 % as compared to average existing schools. Excellent performance was also achieved in terms of primary energy. The results of further analyses of the efficient ventilation system with heat recovery, the perimeter insulation as an alternative to floor slab insulation and the influence of the air change due to the entrance door are presented. (Abstract Copyright [2008], Wiley Periodicals, Inc.) [German] Ueber zweieinhalb Jahre Monitoring einer Passivhaus-Schule und Kindertagesstaette (KiTa) in Frankfurt a.M. zeigt behagliche raumklimatische Bedingungen bei guten Luftqualitaeten. Die Heizwaermeverbrauchswerte liegen wie erwartet niedrig und zeigen Einsparungen um 90 % gegenueber dem Durchschnitt im Bestand. Auch ...
The main aim of any food irradiation treatment is to guarantee the best safe quality of the products, reducing the spreading risk ("cross-contamination") for several food-associated diseases. Actually, over 40 countries provide clearances for the treatment of about 45 different types of foodstuffs. EU has to homogenise the situation within the associated States. With the European directive 1999/2/EC Italy, as other EU countries, already has brought into force their regulations to comply. The current Italian regulation on irradiation treatment of foodstuffs is referred since 1996 as follows: a) potatoes, onions and garlic; b) spices, herbs and condiments microbial. The new (April 2001) Italian law allows the possibility to ask for special permission of treatment for other foodstuff which is possible to treat in other E.U. countries. Large majority of foods are submitted to irradiation treatment after they have been packaged. In Dutch cases the study of radiation ...
A general criterion has been suggested for deep geological repositories containing spent fuel - the repositories should impose no greater radiological risk than due to naturally occurring uranium deposits. The following analysis investigates the rationale of that suggestion and determines whether current expectations of spent-fuel repository performance are consistent with such a criterion. In this study, reference spent-fuel repositories were compared to natural uranium-ore deposits. Comparisons were based on intrinsic characteristics, such as radionuclide inventory, depth, proximity to aquifers, and regional distribution, and actual and potential radiological consequences that are now occurring from some ore deposits and that may eventually occur from repositories and other ore deposits. The comparison results show that the repositories are quite comparable to the natural ore deposits and, in some cases, present less radiological hazard than their natural counterparts. On the basis ...
Selection of the appropriate radiation quality is an important aspect of optimisation for every clinical imaging task in radiology, since it affects both image quality and patient dose. Spreadsheet...Full Text Available
This handbook provides guidance in the application of quality assurance to measurement activities. It is intended to help those persons making measurements in applying quality assurance to their work activities by showing how laboratory practices and quality assurance requirements are integrated to provide control within those activities. The use of the guidance found in this handbook should help provide consistency in the interpretation of quality assurance requirements across all types of measurement laboratories. This handbook also can assist quality assurance personnel in understanding the relationships between laboratory practices and quality assurance requirements. The handbook is composed of three chapters and several appendices. Basic guidance is provided by the three chapters. In Chapter 1, the role of quality assurance in obtaining ...
The health politics and policy communities are still struggling with the question of "what went wrong" in the 1993-94 health care reform effort. Here I identify which Americans were politically active and inactive during the health care reform debate to explore the role political participation may have had in determining the outcome of the debate. Using data from a national and California random-sample telephone surveys, and controlling for other demographic attributes, I found that those who engaged in political activity specifically related to health care reform were disproportionately more likely to be self-identified conservatives, less likely to favor an employer mandate plan, more likely to be fifty to sixty-four years old, more likely to be men, and more likely to have greater interest in and knowledge of the health care issue. Even in California, where a single-payer proposal was on the November ...
Clean Water Act You are here: Water Laws & Regulations Policy & Guidance Clean Water Act Water Quality and 401 Certification Water Quality and 401 Certification Water Quality...
... Ashton WS, Puntel RA, Wiswell TE. A rapid and readily available repair of the peripherally inserted central catheter in the nursery. NEONATAL INTENSIVE CARE 11 ...
Patients rely on their primary care physician to manage multiple, often chronic medical conditions that require prescription medications. Balancing the risk to benefit of treatments can be challenging...Full Text Available
During an outbreak of Flavobacterium meningosepticum septicaemia in a neonatal intensive care unit 9 infants were treated with intravenous trimethoprim sulphamethoxazole. Bacteriological cure was achieved...Full Text Available
A questionnaire on the development of specialist clinics was distributed to the members of the Association of British Neurologists and completed by 104 members (85 consultants). Half of the respondents...Full Text Available
ERDMANN A.L., DE ANDRADE S.R., FERREIRA DE MELLO A.L., KLOCK P., DO NASCIMENTO K.C., SANTOS KOERICH M. & STEIN BACKES D. (2011) Practices for caring in nursing: Brazilian research groups. International Nursing Review58, 379-385 Background:- The present study considers the production of knowledge and the interactions in the environment of research and their relationships in the system of caring in nursing and health. Aim:- To elaborate a theoretical model of the organization of the practices used for caring, based on the experiences made by the research groups of administration and management in nursing, in Brazil. Methods:- The study is based on grounded theory. Twelve leaders of research groups, working as professors in public universities in the south and the south-east of Brazil, distri...
ObjectiveTo investigate the prevalence of complicating and concurrent morbidities in older diabetic patients and to evaluate to what extent their occurrence affects the burden of...Full Text Available
Sepsis has continuously been a leading cause of neonatal morbidity and mortality despite current advances in chemotherapy and patient intensive care facilities. Neonates are at high risk for...Full Text Available
BackgroundAs long-term nursing home care is likely to increase with the aging of the population, identifying chronic medical conditions is of particular interest. Although need factors...Full Text Available
A Health Care Establishment (HCE) is an establishment where medical services are rendered. The above services are provided by the health care personnel. The infrastructure of a HCE may include Information Technology (IT) equipment that stores and processes HC information. Previously, IT equipment consisted solely of stand-alone systems, whereas in recent years, the trend has been towards computer networks and distributed systems in HCEs. The spread of distributed information technology in HCEs have necessitated the implementation of Security in HCISs, to assure confidentiality, integrity and availability of HCE information. This paper discusses the issues of Security and Network Security in Health Care Information Systems (HCISs). It also suggests a method in establishing Network Security Guidelines and describes Principles for the provision of Network Security in HCEs. PMID:10163736
... 82 Ibid, 200. 83 Ibid, 200. 84 Ibid, 201. 43 Page 49. care to hunt down and execute all that claimed to be from the house of David. They considered ...
A Health Care Establishment (HCE) is an establishment where medical services are rendered. These services are provided by the health care personnel. The infrastructure of a HCE may include Information Technology (IT) equipment that stores and processes HC information. The spread of distributed information technology in HCEs have necessitated the implementation of Network Security in Health Care Information System (HCISs), to assure confidentiality, integrity and availability of HC information being transmitted across HC networks. This paper presents a road map in implementing Network Security guidelines for the provision of Network Security in HCEs, work carried out within the Secure Environment for Information Systems in Medicine (SEISMED) project under the Advanced Informatics in Medicine (AIM) programme. PMID:8591295
... dressing changes and site care, mid-line placement, placement of peripherally inserted central catheters, heparin locks, and patient education. ...
The economics of medical computer networks are presented in context with the patient care and administrative goals of medical networks. Design alternatives and network topologies are discussed with...Full Text Available
Summary Objective To evaluate the cost-effectiveness of an educational outreach intervention to improve primary respiratory care by South African nurses. Methods Cost-effectiveness analysis alongside a pragmatic cluster randomised controlled trial, with individual patient data. The intervention, the Practical Approach to Lung Health in South Africa (PALSA), comprised educational outreach based on syndromic clinical practice guidelines for tuberculosis, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, pneumonia and other respiratory diseases. The study included 1999 patients aged 15 or over with cough or difficult breathing, attending 40 primary care clinics staffed by nurses in the Free State province. They were interviewed at first presentation, and 1856 (93%) were interviewed 3 months late...
BackgroundAlthough advances in rehydration therapy have made cholera a treatable disease with low case-fatality in settings with appropriate medical care, cholera continues...Full Text Available
In contrast to the increasing availability of information pertaining to the care of children with chronic kidney disease (CKD) from large-scale observational and interventional studies, epidemiological...Full Text Available
Brief admission of the new diabetic child and of a parent to an enlightened hospital for stabilisation, preliminary education, and familiarisation with hospital and community staff is well worth while....Full Text Available
Background Increasing numbers of cancer patients are using the Internet, but little is known about their attitudes toward online health care.Full Text Available
of injuries, disabilities, and deaths; and 3. Encourage professionals from a wide spectrum of disciplines such as engineering, bioengineering, medicine, health care, public...
This bibliography of nonserial publications consists of 610 annotations. It is intended as a guide to the development of a collection for librarians and for health professionals in research and education....Full Text Available
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effectiveness of a program to improve hypertension control practices in primary care. DESIGN: Retrospective quasi-experimental study. SETTING: Three hospital-based family...Full Text Available
Diethyl phthalate (DEP) and di-n-butyl phthalate (DnBP) are used extensively in personal care products, including fragrances (DEP) and nail polish (DnBP). Between May 2003 and...Full Text Available
Implementing a successful local area network for a publications work-group isn't as simple as the scarcity of information on the subject would suggest. Making a network work for your requires careful planning, developing and acquiring network expertise, transforming your group's patterns of working together, and carefully managing the human and technological resources.
Implementing a successful local area network for a publications work-group isn`t as simple as the scarcity of information on the subject would suggest. Making a network work for your requires careful planning, developing and acquiring network expertise, transforming your group`s patterns of working together, and carefully managing the human and technological resources.
BackgroundInformal payments for health care are common in most former communist countries. This paper explores the demand side of these payments in Albania. By using data from the...Full Text Available
Comprehensive geriatric care should receive nation-wide attention in order to realize its objectives. An analysis of patient problems at the Geriatirc Clinic, Tygerberg Hospital and Goodwood Aftercare Hospital is presented. The training of personnel, with full motivation of the community, to render health services to the aged is discussed. PMID:7368010
BackgroundEffectiveness of services for patients diagnosed with severe mental illness (SMI) may improve when treatment plans are needs based. A regional Cumulative Needs for Care...Full Text Available
This thesis was carried out at Forsmark Nuclear Power Plant. The power plant in Forsmark consists of three boiling water reactors (BWR) which produce about 17% of Swedish electricity. In a BWR the nuclear reactions are used to boil water inside the reactor vessel. The water works both as a coolant and as a moderator and the resulting steam is used directly to run the turbines. A problem when running a BWR at low flow conditions is the density wave oscillations that might occur to the water flow inside the fuel assemblies. These oscillations arise due to the connection between power and flow rate in a heated channel with two-phase flow. In order to improve the stability performance of the channel an orifice plate is placed at the inlet of each fuel assembly. Today these orifice plates have sharp edges and a constant resistance coefficient. Experimental work has been done with progressive orifices, the edge of which is half-oval in shape. The advantage of progressive orifices is the ...
Herbivores and pathogens impact the species composition, ecosystem function, and socioeconomic value of forests. Herbivores and pathogens are an integral part of forests, but sometimes produce undesirable effects and a degradation of forest resources. In the United States, a few species of forest pests routinely have significant impacts on up to 20 million ha of forest with economic costs that probably exceed $1 billion/year. Climatic change could alter patterns of disturbance from herbivores and pathogens through: (1) direct effects on the development and survival of herbivores and pathogens; (2) physiological changes in tree defenses; and (3) indirect effects from changes in the abundance of natural enemies (e.g. parasitoids of insect herbivores), mutualists (e.g. insect vectors of tree pathogens), and competitors. Because of their short life cycles, mobility, reproductive potential, and physiological sensitivity to temperature, even modest climate change will have rapid impacts on ...
Material related to routine as well as sensitive aspects of parent/day care center relationships is presented in this training module, one of a series providing staff development information for programs operated for dependents of military personnel. The module offers a brief discussion of ways caregivers can help parents feel at ease about leaving their children in child care and presents a set of multiple-choice skill-building exercises for effectively working with parents. Exercises focus on various topics, including how parents can be approached when their child may have a health problem, when child abuse or neglect is suspected, and when parental cooperation is needed to stop a child's undesirable or disruptive behavior. Exercises are also devoted to the questions of whether or not caregivers should act as advisors to parents or tell parents about their child's behavior at the center. Concluding exercises indicate how caregivers can ...
The accuracy of dose computation within the lungs depends strongly on the performance of the calculation algorithm in regions of electronic disequilibrium that arise near tissue inhomogeneities with large density variations. There is a lack of data evaluating the performance of highly developed analytical dose calculation algorithms compared to Monte Carlo computations in a clinical setting. We compared full Monte Carlo calculations (performed by our Monte Carlo dose engine MCDE) with two different commercial convolution/superposition (CS) implementations (Pinnacle-CS and Helax-TMS's collapsed cone model Helax-CC) and one pencil beam algorithm (Helax-TMS's pencil beam model Helax-PB) for 10 intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) lung cancer patients. Treatment plans were created for two photon beam qualities (6 and 18 MV). For each dose calculation algorithm, patient, and beam quality, the following set of clinically relevant dose-volume ...
In Hungary, legislation for nuclear power plants was developed at the end of the 1970s, among which is the quality assurance code for nuclear power plants. Hungarian practice is presented, including discussion of the requirements for quality assurance, qualification of the suppliers and inspection practices. The general requirements of quality assurance in the course of construction of a nuclear power plant are presented: quality assurance of technological equipment, fuel, electrical equipment, automatic instrumentations, building structures and technology.
This document presents the results of a review of publicly available information on energy use in health care facilities. The information contained in this document and in the sources cited herein provides the background and context for efforts to reduce energy use and costs in health care. Recognizing the breadth and diversity of relevant information, the author acknowledges that the report is likely not comprehensive. It is intended only to present a broad picture of what is currently known about health care energy use. This review was conducted as part of a 'High Performance Health Care Buildings' research study funded by the California Energy Commission. The study was motivated by the recognition that health care facilities collectively account for a substantial fraction of total commercial building energy use, due in large part to the very high energy ...
for? Learn the Issues Science & Technology Laws & Regulations About EPA Contact Us Water: Water Quality Criteria You are here: Water Science & Technology Surface Water Standards &...
BackgroundThe aim of this study is to validate the questionnaire ECOS-16 (Assessment of health related quality of life in osteoporosis) for the evaluation of health related quality...Full Text Available
This report presents results from the soil inorganic analysis of the 44th set of environmental quality assessment samples, of the quality assessment program, that were received on or before June 3, 1996. The samples were analyzed for RCRA metals.
Quality reporting tools, integrated with ambulatory electronic health records, can help clinicians and administrators understand performance, manage populations, and improve quality. Report Central...Full Text Available
The status of the concept of controlling the quality of physicians is reviewed as are studies that have been done on methods to measure and improve quality. The conclusions are dismal given the rhetoric...Full Text Available
Objectives This paper examines the determinants of the insureds decision to use their health insurance card when seeking outpatient and inpatient health care in Vietnam. Methods Uses Vietnams latest Household Living Standard Survey data and random-intercept logistic regression to assess the influence of the observed individual, household and commune/ward factors on the insureds decision to access health insurance benefits while controlling for the unobserved commune/ward-specific factors. Results Compared to the compulsory enrollees, the voluntary enrollees and the beneficiaries of the Health Care Fund for the Poor are less likely to use their card when seeking inpatient care. An individuals likelihood of accessing insurance benefits varies inversely with income and the level of education,...
Given the concern over the potential for health risks associated with certain ingredients (e.g., phthalates) in personal care products, usage patterns of 30 types of personal care products (e.g., shampoo, sunscreen, fragrance, etc.) were collected in 604 California households through a telephone interview. Preferences in selecting products, e.g., scented or unscented, aerosol, and brand loyalty, were also investigated. Participants were recruited in three age groups, children (mostly preschoolers), their parents, and adults age 55 or older. Use frequencies of various product types varied by sex, age group, race, education, and climatic region. Product use by parent and child from the same household were correlated. Use frequencies of products in the same class (e.g., skincare) were moderat...
Participants in the conference selected to attend two different working group sessions. The working groups discussed different perspectives of system-based approaches to osteoporosis and fracture care. The group on postfracture case management recommended that nurse case managers be used to improve communication among patients, orthopaedic surgeons, and those providing ongoing clinical care. The hospital working group discussed the impact of and barriers to improved postfracture management in the hospital setting. The health systems group emphasized the difference between a closed system in which long-term benefits of interventions were more likely to be appreciated than in fee for service systems. The health information technology group discussed the advantages and challenges of electroni...
Opinion statement Because a minority of patients with D-transposition of the great arteries are diagnosed in utero by ultrasound, most present after delivery with cyanosis. In the absence of apparent lung disease, cyanotic neonates suspected of having a cardiac lesion should be immediately transferred to an intensive care unit at a pediatric tertiary care center for monitoring, resuscitation, and to define the cardiac anatomy and physiology. A prostaglandin E-1 infusion is usually initiated to maintain ductal patency and promote intra-cardiac mixing. In the past, balloon atrial septostomy (BAS) was routinely performed to enlarge the atrial septal defect and improve intra-cardiac mixing while the infants awaited surgery. Recent literature has reported an increase risk of stroke in neonates ...
Objectives Vietnamese patients? views on healthcare are changing as surgical interventions become more commonplace, but their views on perioperative care have remained largely unstudied during this period of rapid change. This study assesses Vietnamese patients? impression of anesthesia safety and postoperative pain in relation to clinical outcomes with the aim of improving patient-centered perioperative care. Methods The study cohort consisted of 180 hospitalized patients who were followed for 24?h following abdominal surgery. The assessments of these patients on the use of anesthesia and postoperative pain were measured by means of a 5-point Likert scale survey. Perioperative events were recorded on standardized forms by medical staff. The relationship between relevant factors affecting ...
To determine the proportion of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients receiving preventive health care according to US Preventive Services Task Force recommendations compared with a community-based population sample, with emphasis on dyslipidemia testing, given the increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in RA patients. Patients with RA (ICD-9 code 714.0 at ?2 office visits with a rheumatologist) and a primary care physician (PCP) at the Geisinger Health System (GHS) were identified through electronic health records. The records were searched back from 3/31/08 for the length of time required to satisfy each outcome measure. Percentages were compared with population testing rates using the Pearson Chi-square test. Eight hundred and thirty-one RA patients were compared to 169,476 subjects...
Objective. Preterm neonates are susceptible to infection due to a combination of sub-optimal immunity and increased exposure to invasive organisms. Invasive fungal infections are associated with significant morbidity and mortality among preterm infants cared for in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Mannose-binding lectin (MBL) is a component of the innate immune system, which may be especially important in the neonatal setting. The objective of this study was to investigate the presence of any association between MBL gene polymorphism and nosocomial invasive fungal infection in preterm neonates. Methods. Codon 54 (B allele) polymorphism in exon 1 of the MBL gene was investigated in 31 patients diagnosed as nosocomial invasive fungal infection and 30 control preterm neonates. Results...
Despite the many advances in scientific research over the last several decades, cutting edge technologies and therapeutics often take many years to find their way into widespread use. The dissemination and uptake of best practices into clinical care is sometimes a neglected component of research that is essential to improve the population?s health. Type 2 translational research, sometimes called ?Proof in Practice Research,? seeks to maximize the yield of what has been learned from the bench and from carefully controlled clinical trials and to extend those benefits to a larger population. One aspect of type 2 translational research, sometimes called evidence implementation or implementation science, applies what has been learned about clinical medicine to achieve best practices across prov...
Reliable exposure information for cosmetic and other personal care products and ingredients is needed in order to conduct safety assessments. Essential information includes both the amount of product applied, and the frequency of use. To obtain current data, studies to assess consumer use practices were undertaken. Six widely used personal care product types were included in the studies. Five of the products were cosmetics (spray perfume, hairspray, liquid foundation, shampoo, body wash) and one product was a cosmetic/over-the-counter drug product (solid antiperspirant). Three hundred and sixty women, ages 19-65 years, who regularly use the products of interest, were recruited at 10 different geographical locations within the US. The number of recruits was chosen to ensure a minimum of thr...
AbstractBACKGROUND: Disparities in treatment and mortality for colorectal cancer (CRC) may reflect differences in access to specialized care or other characteristics of the area where an individual lives. METHODS: Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results Program-Medicare data for seniors diagnosed with CRC were linked to area measures of the sociodemographic characteristics and the capacity of surgeons, medical oncologists, and radiation oncologists. Outcomes included receipt of stage-appropriate CRC care and mortality. RESULTS: After adjustment, blacks and Hispanics were less likely than whites to undergo surgery (odds ratio [OR] 0.57, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.52-0.63 and OR 0.82, 95% CI 0.70-0.95, respectively). Individuals who lived in areas with the highest tertile of surgeon c...
The objective of this study was to evaluate the association between the number of blood cultures collected and the appropriateness of care for suspected bacteremic community-acquired urinary tract infection (UTI) in the elderly. We retrospectively evaluated the medical records of 129 patients with UTI >65?years old admitted to a large community-based training hospital in Japan from 1 January 2006 to 31 December 2009. We assessed the association between the number of blood cultures collected and the appropriateness of care received, as well as other factors. Two-thirds of the patients were women, and patients >85?years old accounted for 45.0% of the cases. Most of the organisms isolated from the urine and blood were Escherichia coli (65.4?67.0%). More than two blood cultures were collected ...
The `Procurement Quality Function` is an element of the Body of Knowledge of Quality Engineering, as defined by the American Society for Quality Control (ASQC). This paper describes the Procurement Quality function which has been installed as an integral part of the Quality Engineering group of the Technical and Management Support Services (T&MSS) contractor to the United States Department of Energy (DOE) Yucca Mountain Site Characterization Project. Each of the elements of the T&MSS Procurement Quality Engineering (PQE) system is discussed along with the measurements obtained. With the installation and development of the PQE system we have attained more meaningful evaluation of supplier capability, reduction of procurement document review reject ratios from 31% to less than 2% per quarter, more effective measurement and control of supplier performance, ...
... tests, one often encounters, for instance, separated flows with large ... It is suspected that the flow-quality criteria given in AGARD Report No. ...
BACKGROUND: This prospective and retrospective study carried out over a period of one month (50 patients) looked at the quality of hospital records of urethral catheterisation with reference to the...Full Text Available
Amphibians are considered reliable indicators of environmental quality. In the western United States, a general decline of frog populations parallels an apparent worldwide decline. The factors thought...Full Text Available
As controlled clinical vocabularies assume an increasing role in modern clinical information systems, so the issue of their quality demands greater attention. In order to meet the resulting stringent...Full Text Available
The following aspects will be discussed: The main function of the Division of Inspection Services and its role in the Marketing of agricultural products; the shelf life of agricultural products: short review of present methods with a practical example of losses incurred due to limited keeping quality; irradiation and heat treatment: advantages of inhibited microbiological activities and undesirable chemical changes from a quality control point of view; quality standards: the basic principles of quality control; consequences of effective post-harvest treatment: export of deciduous and citrus fruit; the magnitude of the problem of poor keeping quality and quality requirements; other fruit; quantities and export limitations and vegetables; quantity and quality requirements; local marketing: fruit and vegetables subjected to inspection; quantity ...
...Air Quality Monitoring Networks Products and Equipment Find and compare a variety of air quality monitoring networks products and equipment on the world's largest environmental industry portal. ...
BackgroundHow socio-demographic factors influence women's autonomy in decision making on health care including purchasing goods and visiting family and relatives are very poorly...Full Text Available
A public health emergency such as an influenza pandemic will lead to shortages of mechanical ventilators, critical care beds, and other potentially life saving treatments. This will raise difficult...Full Text Available
... be able to watch the many intricate steps Dr. Richard Alexander must accomplish to remove the cancer. ... door to informed medical care. Now let's join Dr. Richard Alexander at the University of Maryland Medical ...
Patient decision support systems have a promising role in the delivery of health care. However, the best approach for further development of these systems is a matter of speculation. To help chart a...Full Text Available
Patients who fail to attend initial appointments reduce clinic efficiency. To maximize attendance by newly referred outpatients, we introduced a mandatory group orientation clinic for all new patients...Full Text Available
Objective To establish current practice in the use of Read codes for diabetes.Design Cross sectional study.Setting 17 practices in the Battersea...Full Text Available
Albeit the considerable progress that has been made both in our understanding of the pathophysiology of acute renal failure (ARF) and in its treatment (continuous renal replacement therapies), the morbidity...Full Text Available
Femur fractures typically affect elderly patients with multiple co-morbidities. Pain control can be difficult, requiring intensive nursing and physician care as elderly patients may manifest cardiovascular...Full Text Available
Over 30 months 9292 consecutive patients admitted to nine coronary care units with suspected myocardial infarction were considered for admission to a randomised double blind study comparing the effect...Full Text Available
OBJECTIVE: The objective was to define and characterize the costs associated with trauma care at a level I trauma center. Once the costs were identified, attending physician-led teams were designed...Full Text Available
BackgroundThere has been substantial research on psychosocial and health care determinants of health disparities in the United States (US) but less on the role of modifiable risk...Full Text Available
BackgroundDespite having the largest population in Africa, Nigeria has no accurate population based data to plan and evaluate eye care services. A national survey was undertaken...Full Text Available
Patient-centered interdisciplinary health care for children with chronic medical disorders represents an evolution from the traditional “stop and go” treatment for acute illnesses. This...Full Text Available
This Mini-Computer-Assisted Nursing Management System allows nursing to control staffing costs and more effectively relate staffing to patient care requirements. Nursing resources are prospectively...Full Text Available
BackgroundPatients’ general tendency to adhere to health care provider-recommended treatments is associated with a number of health outcomes, but whether it influences pain...Full Text Available
BackgroundThe link between maternal factors and birth outcomes is well established. Substantial changes in society and medical care over time have influenced women's reproductive...Full Text Available
Although the demand for use of information technology within the healthcare industry is intensifying, relatively little has been written about guidelines to optimize IT investments. A technology architecture...Full Text Available
Abstract The Read Thesaurus (Version 3 of the Read Codes) is a controlled medical vocabulary produced during the Clinical Terms Projects with the involvement of over 2,000 health care...Full Text Available
BackgroundAdolescents have been identified as a high-risk group for poor adherence to and defaulting from combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) care. However, data on outcomes...Full Text Available
Skin cancers in skin of color often present atypically or with advanced stage in comparison to Caucasian patients. Health care providers must maintain a high index of suspicion when examining...Full Text Available
Dental caries continues to be a common chronic disease among various population groups. Patient care can be improved with detection at the earliest stage. However, current techniques do not...Full Text Available
BackgroundSeverely disabling chronic pain in the adult population is strongly associated with a range of negative health consequences for individuals and high health care costs,...Full Text Available
ObjectiveTo implement a role-reversal exercise to increase first-year pharmacy students' awareness of communication barriers in the health care setting, especially for deaf and hard-of-hearing...Full Text Available
Percutaneous tracheostomy is a routine procedure in intensive care units. In cases of very low position of the larynx, cervical spine deformation, morbid obesity, or neck tumor, performance of the classic...Full Text Available
BackgroundInternet education is increasingly provided to health professionals, but little is known about the most effective strategies for delivering the content. The purpose of...Full Text Available
ObjectiveTo test whether a disclosure intervention improves subjective health and reduces medical consumption and sick leave in somatising patients in general practice.DesignNon-blind...Full Text Available
Background In May 2000, AstraZeneca launched a Web service for asthma patients and health-care providers called LinkMedica, which includes an asthma diary for...Full Text Available
Continuing Medical Education (CME) is a requirement among practicing physicians to promote continuous enhancement of clinical knowledge to reflect new developments in medical care. Previous research...Full Text Available
ObjectiveThe authors present an Electronic Healthcare Record (EHR) server, designed and developed as a proof of concept of the revised prEN13606:2005 European standard concerning...Full Text Available
The current obesity pandemic is expected to result in considerable downstream morbidity, mortality and incremental costs to health care systems around the world. The major metabolic complications of...Full Text Available
BackgroundMefloquine has historically been considered safe and well-tolerated for long-term malaria chemoprophylaxis, but its prescribing requires careful attention to rule out contraindications...Full Text Available
ObjectiveComputerized physician order entry with clinical decision support has been shown to improve medication safety in adult inpatients, but few data are available regarding its...Full Text Available
ObjectivesPericardial tamponade after cardiac surgery is difficult to diagnose, thereby rendering timing of rethoracotomy hard. We aimed at identifying factors predicting the outcome...Full Text Available
This program focused on practice-level service change as a means of improving patient care and developing leadership skills of 19 general practitioners (GPs) and aimed to: promote and support change...Full Text Available
In terms of managing thrombotic disorders, genotype-based individualized patient care emerged as early as 1994 when the association of factor V Leiden (G1691A), and later, prothrombin (G20210A),...Full Text Available
BACKGROUND:Reports indicate that characteristics of older adults with chronic pain may be different than those of younger persons.OBJECTIVE:To study...Full Text Available
An outbreak with a multiresistant Klebsiella pneumoniae (MRKP) strain among seven patients admitted to the adult intensive care unit (ICU) of a regional teaching hospital in The Netherlands...Full Text Available
BackgroundOral cancer is as prevalent as cervical and testicular cancer in the United Kingdom. Nursing staff provide the oral health care for the patient population in hospital....Full Text Available
BackgroundNorway, and particularly Oslo, has the highest reported incidence of hip fractures in the world. It is increasingly common to care for older hip fracture patients in orthogeriatric...Full Text Available
...Programme Manager Interests Multilevel Statistical Modelling Geography of Health and Health Care Geographical Data Analysis Census Data Analysis Health Services Research (in particular Research Design, Statistical Analysis and Epidemiology) people/mgould.html Homepage | Contacts | Site Map | Privacy Statement | Webmaster | ...
...research and publications and some who are accredited by the British Association of Sport and Exercise Sciences (BASES), which enables them to work with high performance athletes . We care about your progress and welfare. As our recent QAA review noted \\
Out of nearly 900 women in a research study of human immunodeficiency virus infection in pregnancy, 8 were subsequently found not to be infected. Misdiagnoses could have resulted from (a) laboratory...Full Text Available
Laparoscopic colon surgery for select cancers is slowly evolving as the standard of care but minimally invasive approaches for rectal cancer have been viewed with significant skepticism. This procedure...Full Text Available
We report on the presentation and management of a patient with herniation of the rectum following a coccygectomy. We used an abdominal approach and careful pelvic dissection to define the defect in...Full Text Available
The needs of hospitalized geriatric patients differ from the needs of hospitalized younger adults. In an attempt to improve systems of care for the older adult, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid...Full Text Available
... the nest with young when the female left (male meadow voles were in the nest with young too infrequently ... prairie voles, whereas the number of checks that male meadow voles were in the nest increased s...
PurposeTo assess the prevalence and the dosimetric and clinical predictors of mandibular osteoradionecrosis (ORN) in patients with head and neck (HN) cancer who underwent...Full Text Available
Background and ObjectiveCervical cancer is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality amongst the gynecological cancers worldwide, especially in developing countries. It...Full Text Available
ObjectiveTo investigate possible differences in operative delivery rate among low-risk women, randomised to an alongside midwifery-led unit or to standard obstetric units within...Full Text Available
ObjectivesIn 2003, the Omani Ministry of Health Child Health Care Program initiated a national Birth Defects (BD) Register. This paper reviews the magnitude and risk factors of birth...Full Text Available
BackgroundThe prevalence of tobacco use among individuals with mental illness remains a serious public health concern. Tobacco control has received little attention in community...Full Text Available
The Clinical Summary is a Web-based application for accessing the clinical database at the Massachusetts General Hospital. The application has been developed to give physicians in our health care community...Full Text Available
Policies and regulations in the current health care environment have impacted the manner in which patient data - especially protected health information (PHI) - are handled in the clinical and...Full Text Available
ObjectiveMany hospitals utilize antimicrobial management teams (AMTs) to improve patient care. However, most function with minimal computer support. We evaluated the effectiveness...Full Text Available
PURPOSE We wanted to assess the impact of an electronic health record–based diabetes clinical decision support system on control of hemoglobin A1c (glycated hemoglobin),...Full Text Available
We previously demonstrated the ability to create engineered arteries by carefully controlling the mechanical environment of intact arteries perfused ex vivo, yielding engineered arteries...Full Text Available
Giardiasis is recognized as a worldwide public health problem. Seroprevalence data from both the developing and developed world show high rates of carriage in populations at risk for fecal-oral transmission,...Full Text Available
BackgroundSarcoma encompasses an uncommon group of cancer and the data is insufficient from Pakistan. We report our four years experience of Sarcoma of soft tissues and bones.MethodsThis...Full Text Available
BackgroundMany interventions found to be effective in health services research studies fail to translate into meaningful patient care outcomes across multiple contexts. Health services...Full Text Available
ObjectiveWhile essential for patient care, information related to medication is often written as free text in clinical records and, therefore, difficult to use in computerized systems....Full Text Available
ObjectiveThe study aimed to examine the effect of household and community characteristics on financial catastrophe and impoverishment due to health payment in Western and Central...Full Text Available
Background:The minimum hemoglobin cutoff for blood donation in India is 12.5 gm% for both male and female donors and the minimum donation interval is 3 months. Donation...Full Text Available
Ever-changing audio technology requires that National Library Service NLS always be aware of developments and prepare carefully for any systematic changes that may be desired or required. Usefulness, cost effectiveness, thoughtful stewardship, and educate...
Total health care expenditure in 2006 was $2.1 trillion. This figure is estimated to double within the next few years as the cost of treating diabetes and other chronic conditions continues to rise....Full Text Available
It is usually very complex to design an Integrated Information System in a hospital that includes both in-patient and out-patient medical care data. The difficulty appears because each department...Full Text Available
BackgroundChina has had no effective and systematic information system to provide guidance for strengthening PHC (Primary Health Care) or account to citizens on progress. We report...Full Text Available
BACKGROUND AND AIMS:In view of increasing therapeutic efficacy, the delivery of hepatitis C virus (HCV) antiviral treatment is expected to increase. Yet practical experience reveals...Full Text Available
BackgroundEffective prevention of excessive alcohol use has the potential to reduce the public burden of disease considerably. We investigated the cost-effectiveness of Screening...Full Text Available
BackgroundMany health care professionals use spinal palpatory exams as a primary and well-accepted part of the evaluation of spinal pathology. However, few studies have explored...Full Text Available
The purpose of the meeting reported here was to develop a set of national evidence-based standards for assessing and managing patients with potentially resectable rectal cancer. This report represents...Full Text Available
ObjectivesTo see whether there are age variations in the relationships between having a close companion friend at church, health, and outpatient physician visits.Full Text Available
You receive an annuity if eligible -- requires 18 months service for FERS; and 60 ... You may use up to 104 hours of your accrued sick leave to care for sick family ...
Social support is a critical, yet underutilized resource when undergoing cancer care. Underutilization occurs in two conditions: (a) when patients fail to seek out information, material assistance,...Full Text Available
... yourself to call 911 until you have performed CPR for about 2 minutes. 3. Carefully place the ... more breaths. The chest should rise. 9. Continue CPR (30 chest compressions followed by 2 breaths, then ...
... and retrieve an AED until you have performed CPR for about 2 minutes. 3. Carefully place the ... more breaths. The chest should rise. 9. Continue CPR (30 chest compressions followed by 2 breaths, then ...
home when you are sick helps everyone you care about Questions & Answers Flu Vaccine: Q&A Vaccine Dosage & Administration Vaccine Supply for 2011-12 Season Vaccine Supply and...
home when you are sick helps everyone you care about Questions & Answers Flu Vaccine: Q&A Vaccine Dosage & Administration Vaccine Supply for 2011-12 Season Vaccine Supply and...
home when you are sick helps everyone you care about Questions & Answers Flu Vaccine: Q&A Vaccine Dosage & Administration Vaccine Supply for 2011-12 Season Vaccine Supply and...
Drownings in Recreational Water Settings - United States, 2001-2002 While immediate CPR can save someone's life, often medical care in the hospital cannot prevent serious...
Low bone mineral density (BMD) is prevalent in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)–infected subjects. Initiation of antiretroviral therapy is associated with a 2%–6% decrease...Full Text Available
The aim of the overview is to give a perspective of global biobank development is given in a view of positioning biobanking as a key resource for healthcare to identify new potential markers that can...Full Text Available
The devastating earthquake in Sichuan, China on 12 May 2008 left thousands of survivors requiring medical care and intensive rehabilitation. In view of this great demand, the Chinese Speaking Orthopaedic...Full Text Available
Abstract This paper focuses on the basic principles of information technology (IT) organization within health sciences centers. The paper considers the placement of the leader of the...Full Text Available
IntroductionTransfusion is a common treatment in pediatric intensive care units (PICUs). Studies in adults suggest that prolonged storage of red blood cell units is associated with...Full Text Available
BACKGROUND:The value of other health care professionals is increasingly being recognized to compensate for the shortage of physicians in Canada. Chronic cough is one of the most...Full Text Available
BackgroundComputer-based health-risk assessments are electronic surveys which can be completed by patients privately, for example during their waiting time...Full Text Available
Validation of body-mass relationships requires a careful statistical analysis of data of normal weight individuals. BMI (ratio between body mass and square of body height) and BSI values (ratio between...Full Text Available
Careful measurements do not confirm an anomalous anisotropy in the angular distribution of fission fragments from the fast neutron fission of Americium 242. The energy range covered was 1.60-3.15 MeV. (AIP)
Information needs that arise when clinicians use clinical information systems often go unresolved, forcing clinicians to defer decisions or make them with incomplete knowledge. My research characterizes...Full Text Available
ContextWhile opioids are increasingly used for chronic non-cancer pain (CNCP), we know little about opioid dosing patterns among individuals with CNCP in usual care...Full Text Available
Alton Ochsner was a giant of American surgery. His career encompassed patient care, teaching, and research as symbolized on the original seal of the Ochsner Clinic. His ideas were innovative and groundbreaking...Full Text Available
This study describes instructions for after-hours care offered by family physicians' offices when patients telephone the practice. Randomly selected (n=1,680) Ontario family physicians and general practitioners...Full Text Available
Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a common clinical problem with significant clinical and economic consequences. A number of studies point to a rising incidence of AKI in the hospital and in the intensive...Full Text Available
Platelet reactivity plays a pivotal role in the pathogenesis of ischemic adverse events during and after acute coronary syndromes (ACS), and percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Glycoprotein (GP)...Full Text Available
BackgroundErrors have been the concern of providers and consumers of health care services. However, consumers' perception of medical errors in developing countries is rarely explored....Full Text Available
BackgroundIntrapartum fetal hypoxia remains an important cause of death and permanent handicap and in a significant proportion of cases there is evidence of suboptimal care related...Full Text Available
BackgroundTraffic injuries can cause physical, psychological, and economical impairment, and affected individuals may also experience shortcomings in their post-accident care and...Full Text Available
Recent health care policies and regulations have impacted the manner in which patient data – especially protected health information (PHI) – are handled in both the clinical...Full Text Available
...2010-10-01 false Special rules relating to group health plans. 146.145 Section 146.145 Public Welfare DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO HEALTH CARE ACCESS REQUIREMENTS FOR THE GROUP HEALTH...
...discrimination against participants and beneficiaries based on a health factor. 146.121 Section 146.121 Public Welfare DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO HEALTH CARE ACCESS REQUIREMENTS FOR THE GROUP HEALTH...
...named Chair at Epworth Hospital Professor Nilmini Wickramasinghe has been named Chair, Health Information Management , at Epworth HealthCare. Related links School of Business ...the College of Business at RMIT University has been named Epworth Chair, Health Information Management , by Epworth HealthCare. Professor Wickramasinghe has more than ... Professor Wickramasinghersquo;s appointment as Epworth Chair, Health Information Management , will help to further strengthen this clinical academic alliance, with RMIT now ...
Aim.- To describe the clinical aspects of implantable cardioverter defibrillators care in Sweden with focus on organisation, the role and education of nurses, patient information and education and areas in need of improvement. Background.- Implantable cardioverter defibrillators implantations have developed rapidly in recent years and are now an established arrhythmia treatment. The expanding indication for implantable cardioverter defibrillators implantation demands new competencies and resources in the implantable cardioverter defibrillators team members. Methods.- Participants were recruited among physicians and nurses in all of the hospitals implanting implantable cardioverter defibrillators (n-=-16). Data were collected by a questionnaire. Additionally, all written educational materia...
For the performance assessment of radioactive and hazardous waste disposal sites, risk assessments are usually performed for the long term, i.e., over an interval in space and time for which one can predict movement and behavior of toxic agents in the environment. This approach is based on at least three implicit assumptions: One, that the engineering layout will take care of the immediate endangerment of potential receptors; two, that one has carefully evaluated just how far out in space and time the models can be extrapolated, and three, that one can evaluate potential health effects for very low exposures. A few of these aspects will be discussed here in the framework of the scientific method.
PURPOSE We wanted to examine how coordinated care is implemented in primary care practices to address patients' health behavior change needs. METHODS Site visit notes, documents, interviews, and online implementation diaries were collected from July 2005 to September 2007 from practice-based research networks (PBRNs) participating in Prescription for Health: Promoting Healthy Behaviors in Primary Care Research Networks (P4H). An iterative group process was used to conduct a cross-case comparative analysis of 9 interventions. Published patient outcomes reports from P4H interventions were referenced to provide information on intervention effectiveness. RESULTS In-practice health risk assessment (HRA) and brief counseling, coupled with referral and outreach to a valued and known counseling resource, emerged as the best way to consistently coordinate and encourage follow-through for health behavior counseling. Findings from ...
The quality assurance requirements in various countries and according to various international codes and standards are presented, compared and critically discussed. Cases of developing countries are also discussed, and the use of IAEA code of practice and other codes for quality assurance in these countries is reviewed. Recommendations are made regarding the quality assurance system to be applied for Egypt's nuclear power plants.
The general requirements applicable to the quality assurance of the Finnish nuclear power plants are presented in the Council of State Decision (395/91) and in the guide YVL 1.4. This guide specifies the quality assurance requirements to be applied during the operation of the nuclear power plants as well as of the other nuclear facilities. Quality assurance applies to all the activities and organizations with a bearing on the safe operation of the nuclear power plants. (5 refs.).
The present code requirements on quality assurance as well as the present praxice of quality assurance procedures in the operation of nuclear power plants are presented. On the example of recurring inspections the organizational and technical complications are shown with respect to the code and licensing requirements. Taking the present experiences into account suggestions are given how to transform the general requirements of KTA 1401 to quality assurance requirements during plant operation. (orig.).
Fuzzy theory has been regarded as a very important technique for quality management (QM) of distributed manufacturing system and attracts the attentions of academic and industry; however, there is a lack of a comprehensive literature review and a classification scheme for it. This paper is the first academic literature review of the fuzzy theory applied in quality management of distributed manufacturing system. It involves five most popular databases in this research area and covers more than 20 journals, proposes a classification scheme using clustering analysis method. Sixty-one journal articles were finally selected, reviewed and classified. Each selected article was classified firstly based on four QM dimensions (quality planning, quality control, quality assurance and quality improvem...
I. S. Kirbis, P. Maxwell, M. S. Flear, K. Miller and M. Ibrahim External quality control for immunocytochemistry on cytology samples: a review of UK NEQAS ICC (cytology module) results Objective:- To date, external quality control for immunocytochemistry on cytology samples is provided only by the United Kingdom national external quality assessment service for immunocytochemistry and in situ hybridisation (UK NEQAS ICC & ISH). For the purpose of this study a retrospective analysis of a comprehensive collection of quality-related data regarding immunocytochemistry on cytology samples collected through this service was analysed. Methods:- The quality of immunocytochemical reactions, using on-line collected data, was analysed for the last 23 UK NEQAS ICC cytology module external quality asses...
Purpose - Holding the number of outside directorships constant, this paper aims to test whether executive directors from superior performing firms are subsequently rewarded with better quality outside directorships. Design/methodology/approach - The quality of new outside directorship appointments is modelled using a two-step Heckman selection procedure to control for the probability of acquiring a new outside board seat. Outside directorship quality is estimated using an index formed from series of observable firm-specific characteristics proxying for the following three latent aspects of quality: prestige, reputational risk and monetary rewards. The index aggregates across these three dimensions to produce an overall quality score, with higher scores signifying higher quality directorshi...
Purpose: To compare the diagnostic quality and adverse events of the water-soluble, non-ionic, iso-osmolar, dimeric contrast media iodixanol and iotrolan in hysterosalpingography (HSG). Material and Methods: One hundred and twenty patients participated in a double-blind randomized parallel-group phase-III study. Questionnaires and patient interviews were used. Diagnostic quality was assessed using a visual analogue scale and the quality in specific regions was rated using a categorical scale. Results: Overall diagnostic quality was equal for the two groups. There was no statistically significant difference between the two groups in diagnostic quality in the specific regions of interest. No differences between the contrast media were found with regard to adverse events. Conclusion: Both contrast media provided images of high diagnostic quality in HSG. (orig.)
In the beginning of 2005 several changes in the electricity and natural gas market law came into effect. This report examines the influence and impact of these changes on the behaviour and development of these markets, looking at the role and position of both the energy industry and customers. The report combines existing data with new research data collected during spring and summer 2006. Whilst the recency of the law changes, along with the simultaneous impact of other market variables limits the salience of any impact, the report nevertheless provides clear and interesting conclusions. In the electricity market, one major legislative change that came into force in the beginning of 2005 concerned the supervision of the reasonableness of electricity distribution pricing. According to the newly adopted ex ante regulation principles, the regulatory authority now determines the guidelines for reasonable pricing prior the start of a predefined regulatory period. So far, the price ...
Full text: Thermoluminescence (TL) is a phenomenon of light emission caused by heating a pre-irradiated material. When ionizing radiation hits a TL material, electrons are freed from some atoms and moved in the material, leaving behind 'holes' of positive charge. Subsequently when the TL material is heated, the electrons and the 'holes' re-combine, and release the extra energy in the form of light. The light intensity can be measured, and related to the amount of energy initially absorbed through exposure to the ionizing radiation. In nineteen sixties thermoluminescence dosimeters (TLD) became popular for dosimetric applications in view of their small size, sensitivity and accuracy. Consequently, in early seventies, several countries started adopting of TLD for personnel monitoring. The idea of introducing TLD to replace the then prevalent film dosimeter for personnel monitoring in India was mooted and successfully implemented by Dr. K G Vohra. Limitations of prevalent film dosimeters ...
This paper, firstly, introduces the background in developing a high quality water supply system, in which the drinking water system is isolated inside a building. Results of questionnaire on the high quality service water are illustrated. The results of questionnaire have revealed that the high quality service water is extremely interested. Then, are described the target quality of high quality water, the constitution of high quality water supply system, the treatment process, the measures to secure safety and sanitary, and the method of maintenance. The high quality water is produced through the activated charcoal absorption treatment, membrane treatment, ozonation, cooling, mineral addition, and disinfection of city water. Furthermore, application examples of this system adopted to a department store and a bachelor apartment house are ...
Huntsville, Alabama Utilities has successfully provided services for over 53 years. However, the quality of service demands from customers are changing every day! Part of this demand is due to updated digital appliances, home and business computers, and automated systems. A quality program was initiated in 1992 as a result of an internal assessment. The Malcolm Baldrige approach was selected which includes seven areas: (1) Leadership; (2) Information and Analysis; (3) Strategic Planning; (4) Human Resource Utilization; (5) Quality Assurance of Products and Services: (6) Quality Results: (7) Customer Satisfaction. Training for and implementation of the Quality program is discussed in detail.
This paper develops a model of nonlinear pricing with competition. The novel element is that each consumer's willingness to pay for quality is private information and is allowed to differ across brands. The consumer's preferences are represented by a multidimensional type containing the marginal value of quality for different products. Buyers with high willingness to pay for quality also display strong preferences for particular brands, and require higher discounts in order to switch away from their favorite product. Therefore, competition is fiercer for buyers with lower tastes for quality, and hence more elastic demands. This is in sharp contrast to earlier models in which competition is fiercer for higher-taste, more valuable buyers. In equilibrium, firms either compete intensively for ...
...com: The Art of Application Performance Testing : Help for Programmers and Quality Assurance (9780596520663): Ian Molyneaux: Books Amazon.com:...The Art of Application Performance Testing : Help for Programmers and Quality Assurance (9780596520663): Ian Molyneaux: Books Ian Molyneaux,The ...Art of Application Performance Testing : Help for Programmers and Quality Assurance,O'Reilly Media,0596520662,LA9780596520663,Computer Books: General,Application software,Computer software,...com: The Art of Application Performance Testing : Help for Programmers and Quality Assurance (9780596520663): Ian Molyneaux: Books ...
Proper use of quality assurance will provide the basis for an effective management control system for nuclear waste management programs. Control is essential for achieving successful programs free from costly losses and failures and for assuring the public and regulators that the environment and health and safety are being protected. The essence of quality assurance is the conscientious use of planned and systematic actions, based on selecting and applying appropriate requirements from an established quality assurance standard. Developing a quality assurance program consists of using knowledge of the technical and managerial aspects of a project to identify and evaluate risks of loss and failure and then to select appropriate quality assurance requirements that will minimize the risks. Those requirements are integrated into the project planning documents and are carried out as ...
This paper aims to explore consumer preference for fresh vegetables labelled as organic in combination with health and environment related quality traits. The study decomposes organic farming into its main quality aspects and measures consumers' preference structure for organic, in general, and for specific organic quality traits in particular. By means of stated choice preference modelling, the following hypotheses are tested: consumers prefer health over environment related quality traits; the organic label plays a significant role in consumers' choice for organic products; organic farming is perceived as healthier and more environmentally friendly than conventional farming; purchase intention is mainly driven by health related quality traits; both health and environmental concerns influ...
This study was designed to identify the relationship between free time management and quality of life, exploring whether the amount of free time or the way people using their free time relates to their quality of life. Data were collected from National Pingtung University of Science and Technology in Taiwan. Of the 500 questionnaires distribute, 403 usable questionnaires were received with an 81% response rate. The result has found a positive relationship between free time management and quality of life. Contrary to this, there was no significant relationship between time allocation and quality of life. Results might indicate that people who manage their free time well lead to better quality of life. Suggestions based on the observed relationship and directions for future researches were d...
How does one assure that both quality and creativity are obtained in basic research environments QA theoreticians have attempted to develop workable definitions of quality, but in more reflective moments, these definitions often fail to capture the deeper essence of the idea of quality.'' This paper asserts that creativity (as a product of the human mind) is a concrete interface between perfunctory definitions of quality (conformance to specifications) and more philosophical speculations about the nature of quality- related ultimates'' like elegance or beauty. In addition, we describe the distinction between creative ideas and creative acts and highlight one of the major inhibitors of creativity, fear. Finally we show that highly creative people often have an irreverent attitude toward boundaries and established authority, and discuss how one can ...
Managing service quality is vital to retain customer satisfaction and augment revenues for any business organization. Often it is difficult to assess service quality due to lack of quantifiable measures and limited data. In this paper, we present a hybrid approach based on SERVQUAL and fuzzy TOPSIS for evaluating service quality of urban transportation systems. The proposed approach consists of three steps. The first step involves development of a SERVQUAL based questionnaire to collect data for measuring transportation service quality. The participants provide linguistic assessments to rate the service quality criteria and the alternatives. In step 2, the linguistic ratings are combined through fuzzy TOPSIS to generate an overall performance score for each alternative. The alternative wit...
This paper reports the characteristics and local management of 826 acute wounds identified during an audit across all health care providers serving the population of Bradford, UK. Of the wounds encountered 303 were traumatic wounds and 237 primary closures with smaller numbers of other acute wound types. Of the 303 traumatic wounds 174 occurred in women (57.4%). Men predominated in the under 45s (65M:26F), this being largely accounted for by hand and finger trauma (n=62) particularly in patients of working age (M32:F12). Women predominated in the over 65s (50M:130F), this being largely accounted for by lower limb traumatic wounds (M24:F91), the majority of these being in patients 65 and over (M14:F82). In this sub-group of 96 patients 25 had wounds of 6 weeks or longer duration, only 3 had...
We analyzed the effects of the Colorado Medicaid Capitation Program on the duration and services of over 21,000 outpatient mental health episodes for young children. The study spanned a three year period before and after capitation was implemented, and compared episodes of outpatient care for children from 14 capitated Community Mental Health Centers (CMHCs) with those from three CMHCs that remained fee-for-service. Proportional hazards regressions revealed that capitation resulted in an increase in outpatient episode duration, over and above similar effects for the comparison fee-for-service episodes. The hypothesis that there were longer capitated episodes for children who were hospitalized was not supported. Children with behavioral and anxiety disorders had longer capitated episodes. Service intensity decreased over time in the managed care sites. Changes in case mix may have had an impact on changes in episode duration and service ...
The aims of the study were to develop and test the psychometric properties of the Thai Family Health Routines (TFHR) scale, a 70-item self-report questionnaire used to measure the health of Thai families through their routine behaviors in daily life. Development of the TFHR was based on the structural domains of Denham's Family Health Model. The TFHR scale was initially composed of 85 items and tested on 1,040 families living in the central region of Thailand. The confirmatory factor analysis, with an acceptable factor structure model, yielded 70 items aligned with six factors: self-care, safety and prevention, mental health behavior, family care, family caregiving, and illness care routines. The preliminary psychometric properties demonstrated that the TFHR scale had satisfactory internal consistency, criterion validity, and construct validity. The test results suggested that the TFHR scale has potential benefits for ...
Following the February 2011 earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand (NZ), the authors participated in counselling local residents, and debriefing and supervising support teams. Indications were that risk for mental health disorders, including Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), may be elevated in residents, and that this risk may continue for some time. Patients may be de-prioritising their mental health issues when these become normalised throughout the city's population. The authors recommend that primary care patients are assessed using a brief, comprehensive tool (for example, the Case-finding and Help Assessment Tool) that targets many health and behavioural issues identified as increasing in the city following the earthquake. Anxiety and mood disorder symptoms may indicate assessment is appropriate to reduce harm arising from increased risk for PTSD. Concern also is raised for primary health care providers who may have experienced the ...
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ObjectivesThe objective of this paper is to describe the complex mixed-methods design of a study conducted to assess health-related quality of life (HRQOL) outcomes...Full Text Available
...of stations and a number of components, and meta information on air quality monitoring networks and stations. Access the database Producer Europe Environment Agency Content ...of stations and a number of components, and meta information on air quality monitoring networks and stations. Coverage National (Europe) Number of records...
This paper presents a brief account of Lingling Hydroelectric Power Equipment General Works, the capacity of equipment production, the organization body, the quality assurance system and supervision of government department on its product quality.
Intended to be used in conjunction with ANSI N45.2 and addresses the quality assurance requirements related to subsurface investigations performed prior to the construction of safety related structures of nuclear power plants.
Requirements for the installation, inspection, and testing that assure the quality of important components of a nuclear power plant during construction are presented.
BackgroundHeterogeneous results for research investigating health-related quality of life (HRQL) in patients undergoing sphincter-ablating procedures for rectal cancer...Full Text Available
BackgroundQuality of Life measurements are necessary tools for effectively evaluating health services. In the population of patients afflicted with war-related blindness in Iran,...Full Text Available
OBJECTIVE: The aim was to assess the psychosocial effects on the quality of life (QOL) of adults with head and neck cancer (HNC) and any gender variations with predictive factors that may influence...Full Text Available
This guide describes an acceptable method of complying with the Commission's regulations with regard to the quality assurance requirements for the packaging, shipping, receiving, storage, and handling of items for water-cooled nuclear power plants.
The guide describes a method acceptable to the NRC staff for complying with the Commission's regulations with regard to quality assurance requirements for installation, inspection, and testing of mechanical equipment and systems for water-cooled and high-temperature gas-cooled nuclear power plants.
This paper discusses the quality assurance requirements for high-level canistered waste form products which would be acceptable for disposal in a deep geologic repository. A review plan and guidelines are provided.
Experience of the Westinghouse Water Reactors Division with indoctrination and training of quality engineers includes training of personnel from Westinghouse divisions in the USA and overseas as well as of customers' personnel. A written plan is prepared for each trainee in order to fit the training to the individual's needs, and to cover the full range of information and activities. The trainee is also given work assignments, working closely with experienced quality engineers. He may prepare inspection plans and audit check lists, assist in the preparation of QA training modules, write procedures, and perform supplier surveillance and data analyses, or make special studies of operating systems. The trainee attends seminars and special courses on work-related technical subjects. Throughout the training period, emphasis is placed on inculcating an attitude of team work in the trainee so that the result of the training is the achievement of both ...
BackgroundRandomized controlled trials (RCTs) which are of poor quality tend to exaggerate the effect estimate and lead to wrong or misleading conclusions. The aim of this study...Full Text Available
This plan describes the Quality Assurance Program which will be applied to spent fuel handling and packaging tests conducted at the Area 25 E-MAD facility, Nevada Test Site (NTS).
IntroductionHealth information on the Internet undergoes no quality control at the stage of production, thus its quality is highly variable, making it difficult...Full Text Available
BackgroundAlthough considerable progress has been made in the treatment of chronic kidney disease, compromised quality of life continues to be a significant problem for patients...Full Text Available
...Agriculture Analysis of food supply chains and linkages in relation to quality and safety assurances Dept of Primary Industries, Australia Impact of food chain quality assurance requirements on farmer adoption and competitiveness UK Research Councils Review of environmental certification through farm assurance followed by industry developmental workshop Agriculture & ...
In the RIR (Risk-informed Regulation), PSA (Probabilistic Safety Assessment) plays a major role because it provides overall risk insights for the regulatory body and utility. Therefore, the scope, the level of details and the technical adequacy of PSA, i.e. the quality of PSA is to be ensured for the successful RIR. To improve the quality of Korean PSA, we evaluate the quality of the KSNP (Korean Standard Nuclear Power Plant) internal full-power PSA model based on the 'ASME PRA Standard' and the 'NEI PRA Peer Review Process Guidance.' As a working group, PSA experts of the regulatory body and industry also participated in the evaluation process. It is finally judged that the overall quality of the KSNP PSA is between the ASME Standard Capability Category I and II. We also derive some items to be improved for upgrading the quality of the PSA up to ...
BackgroundHealth related quality of life (HRQoL) is one of the most important outcomes to measure effectiveness of an intervention, especially for islet transplantation...Full Text Available
BackgroundMigrants everywhere face several demands for health and maintaining good health and quality of life could be challenging. Iraqis are the second largest refugee group that...Full Text Available
BackgroundThe aim of the study was to develop a menopause-specific, preference-based health-related quality-of-life (HRQoL) index reflecting both menopausal symptoms and potential...Full Text Available
AIMS:This study aimed to determine the effect of 50 days of forced swimming stress on fertilization capacity of rat and subsequent offspring quality.SETTING...Full Text Available
Are economic resources related to relationship quality among young couples, and to what extent does this vary by relationship type? To answer these questions, we estimated regression models...Full Text Available
A numerical technique is developed for estimating water quality violation frequencies due to pollutant discharges from urban areas during combined sewer overflow events. The first four moments of in-stream pollutant concentration are found by integrating a pollutant loading - wat...
OBJECTIVES: To assess the subjective quality of life (QOL) of family caregivers of Sudanese type-1 and type-2 diabetic outpatients, using the WHO 26-item QOL instrument, compared with a general population...Full Text Available
Total quality management strategy and the worldwide introduction of the DIN/ISO 9000 (EN 29 000) series of standards have given new impetus to traditional quality assurance. The most important change must surely be seen in the holistic approach of total quality management and its strict orientation towards customer requirements and satisfaction. International codes and standards for the nuclear industry will also have to be brought into line as part of the process of harmonizing quality assurance system standards. One possible approach is simply to specify a supplementary 'delta' of nuclear-specific requirements to be appended to the broad range of conventional requirements. It is a particular feature of quality-assured procedures in Germany that product and/or component related quality requirements and quality verifications are defined in ...
Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of a program of repeated assessments, feedback, and training on the quality of coded clinical data in general practice.Design:...Full Text Available
Introduction:Although radical prostatectomy (RP) is an effective treatment for prostate cancer, it has potentially deleterious effects on health-related quality of life (HRQoL)....Full Text Available
BackgroundEvidence on human semen quality as it relates to exposure to various metals, both essential (e.g., zinc, copper) and nonessential (e.g., cadmium, lead), is inconsistent....Full Text Available
BackgroundThe effects of intervention programs on health-related quality of life (HRQOL) of patients with hip fracture have not been well studied. We hypothesized that older patients...Full Text Available
IAQ Tools for Schools Program Leaders in Improving Indoor Air Quality in Schools Baldwin Union Free School District, Baldwin, NY El Paso Independent School District, El Paso,...
Olive tree (Olea european L.) cultivation, the major tree crops in Mediterranean countries is being extended to irrigated lands. However, the limited water availability, the severe climatic conditions and the increased need for good water quality for urban and industrial sector uses are leading to the urgent use of less water qualities (brackish water and recycled wastewater) for olive tree irrigation. The aim of this work was to asses the effects of long term irrigation with treated waste water (TWW) on the soil chemical properties, on olive tree growth and on oil quality characteristics. (Author)
Scattered radiation generated in patient and imaging system has to be considered when quality-assurance tests involve dose detection or image-quality estimations. Measurement of automatic-exposure control dose can be altered by backscattering from intensifying screens of more than 10% and the equipment transmission factor can be overestimated up to a factor of 10 when only primary radiation is used. The sensitivity of intensifying screens depends on the angle of incidence of the radiation and so primary and scattered radiation are detected differently. The quality-control aspects of anti-scatter grids are discussed. (author).
Scattered radiation generated in patient and imaging system has to be considered when quality-assurance tests involve dose detection or image-quality estimations. Measurement of automatic-exposure control dose can be altered by backscattering from intensifying screens of more than 10% and the equipment transmission factor can be overestimated up to a factor of 10 when only primary radiation is used. The sensitivity of intensifying screens depends on the angle of incidence of the radiation and so primary and scattered radiation are detected differently. The quality-control aspects of anti-scatter grids are discussed. (author).
This document presents the basic Quality Assurance (QA) requirements which shall be included in the Quality Assurance Program established by sites planning to certify Transuranic (TRU) Waste to Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) Waste Acceptance Criteria. These QA requirements were modeled after ANSI/ASME NQA-1-1979. The application of quality assurance to Waste Certification Programs is required by WIPP-DOE-069 and DOE Order 5700.6A, as implemented by DOE Order AL 5700.6A.
A large number of fiber optic cables were used in support of a neutron imaging experiment at the Nevada Test Site. This paper describes the quality control testing of fiber components used on this experiment. The principal reason for quality control testing was to ensure reliable, high transmission fibers; a secondary reason was to gain data on a large sample of fiber cables in the field. Also described is the instrumentation developed for carrying out these field measurements. The design of the quality control instrumentation was a compromise between accuracy and simplicity of use.
The report is the second of three describing the geology of coal quality variations in the foothills and mountains region of Alberta. The Lower Cretaceous Luscar Group, Lower Paleocene Coalspur Formation, and the Upper Paleocene Paskapoo Formation (Obed-Marsh coal zone, which is classified as a foothills deposit) are evaluated. Data on proximate and ultimate analysis variables, calorific analysis, vitrinite reflectance, maceral analyses, and coal quality relationships are presented. The coals range from low volatile bituminous to subbituminous A. Regional and local in seam coal quality variations are examined. 49 refs., 39 figs., 6 tabs.
The urine test strip is the most common test used to detect ketones in veterinary patients, but it can underestimate the degree of ketonuria and hence, ketonemia. Additionally, adequate urine samples for analysis may be difficult to obtain from dehydrated animals. The standard method used to detect and monitor ketonemia in human medicine is measurement of serum or whole blood beta-hydroxybutyrate (?HOB). A point-of-care (POC) analyzer has been validated for this purpose in humans. This study compared the accuracy of the POC device to an enzymatic reaction laboratory method for measurement of ?HOB in dogs. Although the POC sensor tended to overestimate ?HOB concentrations, there was good correlation (R(2) = 0.96) and good agreement between the 2 methods with a bias +/- precision of 0.0860 +/- 0.3410 mmol/L ?HOB. The POC ?HOB sensor can be useful for assessing ketonemia in dogs. PMID:21119867
This paper contributes to an understanding of pharmacogenomics-in-the-making by foregrounding a regulatory setting in which these technologies must be situated: decision-making about pharmaceutical reimbursement. Health care assessment organizations have been introduced in many countries to systematically address the issue of health care coverage. Using the example of Sweden, the process of deciding reimbursement status is shown to hinge on the creation of stable and clinically feasible categories of patients, diseases and drug responses. Through a series of analogous examples concerning conventional pharmaceuticals, it is argued that current mechanisms for categorizing reimbursable drugs could be upset when pharmacogenomic advances provide a means of making patients more specific objects ...
Purpose Skilled placement of peripherally inserted central catheters (PICC) has a profound impact on patient well-being and costs of care. The use of ultrasound-guided methods and prescribed training for cannulation skills are evidence-based practice recommendations. The purpose of this study was to compare two methods of PICC instruction on the acquisition of applied skills. Methods Residents were randomly assigned to one of two groups (N?=?16/16) of this blind-rater study and were trained to perform ultrasound-guided PICC cannulation using either simulation or apprenticeship methods. All residents were assessed placing a PICC in applied clinical patient care. Results Residents who completed simulation training had significantly better transfer of skills to applied clinical practice than ...
Summary This third paper, in a three-part CE series on the preventions of infection in patients with chronic kidney disease, focuses on surveillance and auditing of healthcare-associated infections within the renal care environment. The last decade has seen an increased awareness of the threat to patient safety from healthcare-associated infection (HCAI) and the emergence of multi-drug resistance organisms. Effective HCAI prevention strategies include adequate governance structures, access to expert advice, adherence to standard and transmission-based precautions, minimising the use of invasive medical devices, and surveillance. Surveillance data can be collected using outcome (e.g. infection) and/or process (e.g. hand hygiene compliance audit) measures. Establishing a surveillance program...
Background/Purpose: Peripherally inserted central venous catheters (PICCs) are commonly used for neonatal vascular access. The aim of this study was to look at PICC line complication rates and possible predictors of PICC infection in a neonatal intensive care unit. Method: This was a prospective study of 226 neonates who had PICCs on our neonatal intensive care unit between January 2006 and June 2009. Complete data was available on 218 neonates who had 294 PICC lines. Criteria for catheter-related sepsis was positive blood cultures (peripheral/central) and/or a positive catheter tip culture after removal in the presence of a clinical suspicion of line sepsis. Results: Of 218 neonates, 132 (169 lines) were medical, and 86 (125 lines) were surgical. Our PICC line infection rate was 17 infect...
Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to explain some tax management complications for onshore and offshore hedge funds posed by US FIN 48, Uncertain Tax Positions, and to emphasize the hedge fund manager's responsibility for careful tax planning and compliance. Design/methodology/approach - The paper discusses a hedge fund's objective to deliver tax-efficient results to investors, explains the background of FIN 48, and illustrates five types of situations in which conservative auditors following FIN 48 may raise "red flags." Findings - With the advent of FIN 48's standards careful tax planning and compliance are more important than ever for a hedge fund. Significant complications may arise from unwise, tardy, or missed tax elections; filing an IRS Form 8275, Disclosure Statement, stating...
Abstract Background: This study involves a multicentre surveillance of tigecycline and tetracycline activity against Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria from primary care centres (PCCs), general hospital wards (GHWs) and intensive care units (ICUs) in Denmark (n == 9), Finland (n == 10), Norway (n == 7) and Sweden (n == 19). Methods: The hospitals were each asked to test 30 consecutive Gram-positive and 30 Gram-negative clinical isolates. Supportive information accompanying each isolate included the study centre, ward level (PCC, GHW, or ICU), patient identification and source of the isolate. Minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) for tetracycline and tigecycline were determined with the Etest. Results: The isolates collected comprised 1610 Gram-negative and 1767 Gram-positive clini...
This document summarizes the degree to which State water quality standards include wetlands in their definitions of State waters. The detailed review of other elements of standards, such as uses, criteria and antidegradation, is beyond the scope of this review. The purpose of this review is to provide a baseline of information for the development of EPA guidance and policies related to water quality standards for wetlands.
... The colored background is an isopleth map showing change in sulfate concentrations as measured by the CASTNET rural air quality monitoring network , leading to significant improvements in air quality and human health. Wet sulfate deposition decreased 43 percent in the Northeast and 44 percent in the ...
Room air quality and thus thermal comfort for the occupiers in closed spaces depend on several factors: temperature and humidity of the air, temperature of the surrounding surfaces, content of foreign matter of the air, acoustical perceptions, electric fields and ions as well as colours and light. Air humidification, cleaning and ionization largely contributes to improved room air quality. The article goes into problems of too dry and polluted air as well as into measures with which these problems can be solved. (BWI).
With regard to the operation of nuclear power plants, Electricite de France formally recognized in 1973 that it was necessary for safety reasons and economically acceptable to adopt organizational principles of quality assurance that would be applicable both to its own activities and to those of its suppliers. Generally speaking, the form and spirit of the quality assurance programme chosen is based largely on the Code of Practice No. 50-C-QA. In particular, the programme focuses on the flexible character of quality assurance requirements and stresses that in the final analysis product quality depends above all on those to whom the project has been assigned, because it is they who are responsible for meeting the quality objectives set. Ten years of experience with the suppliers of Electricite de France has shown that these suppliers, after some initial difficulty, have been able to ...
The document reports the main issues discussed during the first course-debate on quality controls in radiotherapy, held in Rome in December 3-4, 1998 and May 3-5 1999 in collaboration between the Istituto Superiore di Sanita' and the Istituto Regina Elena. The points considered critical to the quality assurance in radiotherapy by the participants are presented in relation to the total radiotherapy procedure.
In this article, the authors recall the factors apt to influence image quality in NMR Imaging and present the european works that have been developed in MRIQA to set 5 quality assurance tests: EUROSPIN 1 to 5.
Apppendix B of 10 CFR Part 50 establishes quality assurance requirements for the operation of nuclear power plant safety-related structures, systems and components. This Guide describes an acceptable method for complying with these regulations with regard to overall quality assurance program requirements for the operation phase of nuclear power plants. Input to this Guide has been provided by the Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards.
Appendix B to 10 CFR Part 50 establishes overall quality assurance requirements for the design, construction and operation of safety-related structures, systems, and components. This guide presents a method acceptable to the Commission for complying with these regulations with regard to overall quality assurance program requirements during design and construction of nuclear power plants. Input to this guide has been provided by the Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards.
This paper discusses the clean-up of an Idaho National Engineering Laboratory (INEL) site utilized for disposal of transuranic contaminated waste from 1954 until 1970. The author presents requirements of the environmental protection statutes that have generated quality assurance requirements in addition to those historically implemented as a part of facility design, construction and operation. A hierarchy of program guidance quality documentation and procedures is discussed. Data qualification and computer database management are identified as requirements.
The Sodium Storage Facility Project Quality Assurance Plan delineates the quality assurance requirements for construction of a new facility, modifications to the sodium storage tanks, and tie-ins to the FFTF Plant. This plan provides direction for the types of verifications necessary to satisfy the functional requirements within the project scope and applicable regulatory requirements determined in the Project Functional Design Criteria (FDC), WHC-SD-FF-FDC-009.
...and supply ensuring better food quality for the consumer developing safer and more flexible food production processes and technologies raw materials for food production; production and processing systems; by-products and wastes from fisheries and agro-industry; new food sources; packaging systems; quality monitoring; traceability Food contamination detecting and eliminating infectious and toxic agents throughout the food chain establishing the hazards and origins of food contaminants producing food more safely rapid ...
Three HQE (High Quality of the Environment) realizations are presented to illustrate the environmental quality in the architecture, and to see how the natural gas answers the demands of the HQE. (A.L.B.)
This document describes the 2003 SNL ASCI Software Quality Engineering (SQE) assessment of twenty ASCI application code teams and the results of that assessment. The purpose of this assessment was to determine code team compliance with the Sandia National Laboratories ASCI Applications Software Quality Engineering Practices, Version 2.0 as part of an overall program assessment.
Counter-current regeneration of 2-stage sodium zeolite softeners has been employed in reducing hardness leakage level of steamflooding water to less than 1 ppm when raw water contains as much as 5,000 ppm of the total dissolved solids. Hardness leakage is caused by sodium displacement of calcium and magnesium from the bottom of the exchanger bed. This study presents nomographs providing for rapid calculations to be made, for which a convenient operational mode does not already exist. The nomographs relate the hardness leakage as a function of salt quality and influent water quality and present solutions for predicting the leakage level, salt quality requirement or the treatability of raw water required for steamflooding projects.
Given the important role of parent-youth communication in adolescent well-being and quality of life, we sought to examine the relationship between specific communication variables and youth perceived quality of life in general and as a deaf or hard-of-hearing (DHH) individual. A convenience sample of 230 youth (mean age = 14.1, standard deviation = 2.2; 24% used sign only, 40% speech only, and 36% sign + speech) was surveyed on communication-related issues, generic and DHH-specific quality of life, and depression symptoms. Higher youth perception of their ability to understand parents' communication was significantly correlated with perceived quality of life as well as lower reported depressive symptoms and lower perceived stigma. Youth who use speech as their single mode of communication ...
The present Manual provides guidance and illustrative examples for applying a method by which graded quality assurance requirements may be determined and adapted to the items and services of a nuclear power plant in conformance with the requirements of the IAEA Nuclear Safety Standards (NUSS) Code and Safety Guides on quality assurance. The Manual replaces the previous publication IAEA-TECDOC-303 on the same subject. Various methods of grading quality assurance are available in a number of Member States. During the development of the present Manual it was not considered practical to attempt to resolve the differences between those methods and it was preferred to identify and benefit from the good practices available in all the methods. The method presented in this Manual deals with the aspects of management, documentation, control, verification and administration which affect quality. 1 fig., 4 tabs.
This paper reported on a study in which rapeseeds were separated into high quality seed for food oil and low quality seed for biofuels. A laboratory-scale oilseed screw press was then used to examine the effects of choke opening and seed preheating on the rapeseed pressing performance and the quality of food oil and biofuels oil. Oil recovery and chlorophyll content was found to increase as maximum pressure increased. In terms of pressing performance, the rapeseed heated by microwaves yielded more oil and chlorophyll than without heating. The NEB ratio of microwave heating press with an 8.0 mm choke opening was advantageous. Rapeseed oil extracted from low quality seeds was found to have a high acid value. The quality of oil extracted by oilseed screw press was found to be good and met the requirements of the Codex Alimentarius for edible oils.
Real-time neutron radiography (NTV) has been used for practical applications at the Kyoto University Reactor (KUR). At present, however, the direct image from the TV system is still poor in resolution and low in contrast. In this paper several image improvements are demonstrated, such as a frame summing technique, which are effective in increasing image quality in neutron radiography. Image integration before the A/D converter has a beneficial effect on image quality and the high quality image reveals details invisible in direct images, such as: small holes by a reversed image, defects in a neutron converter screen through a high quality image, a moving object in a contoured image, a slight difference between two low-contrast images by a subtraction technique, and so on. For the real-time application a contouring operation and an averaging approach can also be utilized effectively.
Real-time neutron radiography (NTV) has been used for practical applications at the Kyoto University Reactor (KUR). At present, however, the direct image from the TV system is still poor in resolution and low in contrast. In this paper several image improvements are demonstrated, such as a frame summing technique, which are effective in increasing image quality in neutron radiography. Image integration before the A/D converter has a beneficial effect on image quality and the high quality image reveals details invisible in direct images, such as: small holes by a reversed image, defects in a neutron converter screen through a high quality image, a moving object in a contoured image, a slight difference between two low-contrast images by a subtraction technique, and so on. For the real-time application a contouring operation and an averaging approach can also be utilized effectively. (orig.).
New York State Electric and Gas Co. (NYSEG) has developed a tool called Coal Quality Engineering Analysis (CQEA) to evaluate the cost impacts of coal quality on its power plants. CQEA allows quantification of the effect of coal quality on plant operating costs and has become an important factor in coal purchasing. The article describes the development of the analysis method, including a logic diagram of CQEA relationships. The results of CQEA calculations on the impact of one coal on overall production costs of different units, the impact of different coals on overall production costs of one unit, and production cost vs. coal quality, are presented and discussed. The use of the CQEA system within NYSEG is described.
Wireless mesh networks can provide low-cost solutions for extending the reach of wireless access points by using multi-hop routing over a set of stationary wireless routers. The routing protocol for these networks may need to address quality considerations to meet the requirements of the user. In this paper, we present a quality based routing protocol for wireless mesh networks that tries to maximize the probability of successful transmissions while minimizing the end-to-end delay. The proposed routing protocol uses reactive route discoveries to collect key parameters from candidate routes to estimate the probability of success and delay of data packets transmitted over them. To achieve accurate route quality assessments, a new route quality metric is proposed that uses performance models ...
A concept for the optimization of manufacturing processes of composite material components with regard to product's quality and cost is introduced and applied for the case of thermoplastic composite helicopter canopies produced by `Cold' Diaphragm Forming (CDF) process. The proposed methodology relies on the consideration of the processes thermal cycle as decisive for the component's quality and cost. Quality and cost sensitivity analyses were made to derive material dependent Quality Functions (QFs) and process dependent Cost Estimation Relationships (CERs). QFs and CERs are exploited to derive iteratively the optimal thermal cycle. The processes thermal cycle is numerically simulated to allow for its virtual application on the material. To perform the optimization procedure a new softwar...
This paper discusses the new quality assurance regulations of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for packaging and transportation of radioactive materials. These regulations became effective on October 18, 1977. Background information concerning these regulations and packaging and transportation history is included. The quality assurance program is described with indications of how it is composed of general (administrative) provisions which must meet the 18 quality assurance criteria and be approved by the NRC; specific provisions which appear in the DOT and NRC regulations and in the individual package design approval; and other specific procedures which are not required by regulations but which are necessary for the proper control of quality. The quality assurance program is to be developed using a graded approach for the application of pertinent criteria and optimizing the ...
The Quality Assurance Requirements and Description (QARD) is the principal quality assurance document for the Civilian Radioactive Waste Management Program (Program). It establishes the minimum requirements for the Quality Assurance Program. The QARD contains regulatory requirements and program commitments necessary for the development of an effective quality assurance program. Quality assurance implementing documents must be based on, and consistent with, QARD requirements. The QARD applies to the following: (1) acceptance of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste; (2) transport of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste; (3) the Monitored Retrievable Storage (MRS) facility through application for an operating license; (4) Mined Geologic Disposal System (MGDS), including the site characterization activities (exploratory studies facility (ESF) and surface ...
In consistency with the increasing requests from Member States for establishing radiotherapy programmes, an IAEA Technical Co-operation project was initiated in Latin America aimed at improving the physical aspects (as a complement to the clinical issues) of quality assurance in radiotherapy; this ARCAL XXX project (RLA/6/032) was classified as a Model Project of the IAEA. Among the important outcomes of the project were (i) the training of a considerable number of medical physicists in hospitals of the region, (ii) the development of a protocol for quality control procedures, and (iii) the organization of quality audit site visits (to the participant countries) where the implementation in hospitals of the developed quality control procedures is verified. The present publication is the protocol for quality control of the physical aspects of radiotherapy. It contains detailed ...
This document defines the quality assurance program requirements for the US Department of Energy, Richland Field Office, Environmental Restoration program at the Hanford Site. This document integrates quality assurance requirements from US Department of Energy Orders, the Hanford Federal Facility Agreement and Consent Order, and applicable industry standards into a single source document for the development of quality assurance programs applicable to the Environmental Restoration program items and activities. This document has been configured into three parts and fifteen criteria to provide user organizations with a workable document that best facilitates line operations. When developing individual user organization quality assurance programs, the document configuration provides each organization with the Flexibility to incorporate only those parts and criteria that are applicable to their individual ...
The Water Frame work Directive (December 2000) proposes integrated water management in regard to both quality and quality. A mathematical model has therefore been produced at the CEIT and EPTISA research centre, in collaboration with the Ebro Hydrographic. Confederation (CHE), to predict water quality and thus begin integrated management of it in the river basins. A description is given of the characteristics of the simulation tool. The hydraulic model is based on the numerical (weighted, four-point implicit) resolution of the complete Saint Venant equations. The quality model is based on the IWA River Water Quality Model Number 1 which has clear advantages (consistency, mass balance and easy integration with the biological models of the waste water treatment plants and the collector networks compared to traditional models. The experimental validation, which includes calibration in ...
As waste disposal methods and long-term precautionary care of the environment are closely related, disposal of non-avoidable and intractable residual products is to be viewed primarily from a safety angle. Also, thermal processes airm mainly at treatment, not utilization. 'Safety' in this context addresses both the environmental compatibility of the products and the process itself. In other words, only mature techniques (i.e., safe, proven ones) are employed. (orig.)
Atopic eczema is a chronic skin condition affecting between 5% and 20% of children aged up to 11 years at one time or other. Research suggests that prevalence is increasing and various environmental...Full Text Available
BackgroundMany emergency ambulance calls are for older people who have fallen. As half of them are left at home, a community-based response may often be more appropriate than hospital...Full Text Available
In the past decade, a new technique has been developed for measuring tensile stresses in solids. This ultrasonic technique has been used thus far primarily for measuring fastener tension. The precision of measurement is routinely to 2-3% and, with special care, to approx. 1%. The method is insensitive to the frictional losses which plague tensioning by torque wrench. Though the approach is relatively new, it promises a wide range of applicability.
On the basis of legally provided area dose measurements and time records of fluoroscopic examinations during the operation, radiation doses to medical personnel and patients are evaluated. Adequate radiation protection measures and a careful behaviour in the operating room keep the radiation exposure to the personnel below the maximum permissible exposure. Taking into account the continuous personnel radiation monitoring and medical supervision, radiation hazards in the operating room can be considered low.
... 03/08/2011 Professor named Chair at Epworth Hospital Professor Nilmini Wickramasinghe from the College of Business at RMIT University has been named Epworth Chair, Health Information Management , by Epworth HealthCare. 26/07/2011 Study investigates drug-free relief for tension headaches As Australia marks its first National Pain Week ...
Military working dogs are rapidly becoming integral to military operations. While they bring many valuable capabilities to the battlefield, it is important that Special Operations leaders consider canine team capabilities and requirements when planning missions. Careful logistical and operational planning can optimize the health, performance, and readiness of the working dog while protecting the safety and well-being of the team members working with them. We also offer recommendations for medical treatment of dog bites. PMID:19813342
A filter for extracting solids and liquids from gaseous combustion exhausts comprises a textile filter element formed of polyacrylonitrile fibers oxidized by careful heat treatment and comprising approximately 61% carbon after treatment. The filter may be woven, knitted or formed as a batting of randomly-oriented fibers. Abrasion resistant coatings and lubricants for the fibers are disclosed. The filter material is especially useful as a filter bag.
To optimize the emergency care of patients with multiple injuries, a special emergency room with integrated radiological equipment has been developed. It consists of a linear array of a computed tomography system, a mobile C-arm with an integrated scattered radiation grid for conventional films and a C-arm fluorographic system. The intent is to avoid delay caused by transport and repositioning of the patient. It enables all necessary diagnostic procedures to be performed within a minimal amount of time. (orig./MG).
The "1"3"1I-labelled monoclonal antibodies 791T/36 and 79IT/36 Fab fragments have been evaluated in the imaging of patients with colorectal cancer, with benign colorectal tumours, and with malignant tumours of other parts of the gastrointestinal tract. The results of clinical imaging have been carefully correlated with clinical findings and direct measurement of the preferential uptake of antibody by the tumours. (UK).
In the 21st century, eighty years after William Baer presented his groundbreaking work treating bone and soft tissue infections with live maggots, thousands of therapists around the globe have rediscovered...Full Text Available
BackgroundIntermittent preventive treatment of malaria during pregnancy (IPTp) is a key intervention in the national strategy for malaria control in Tanzania. SP, the current drug...Full Text Available
The utilization of health care services in children and adolescents with chronic benign pain was studied in a Dutch population sample of 254 chronic pain sufferers aged 0-18 years. Children and adolescents who had reported chronic pain (continuous or recurrent pain >3 months) in our previous prevalence study were asked to keep a 3-week diary on their pain and to fill out questionnaires on background factors, health care use and the impact of pain. Parent ratings were used for children aged 0-11 years, self-report was used in adolescents (12-18 years). In a 3-month period, in 53.4% of the cases medication was used for pain, and general practitioners and specialists were consulted for pain in 31.1% and 13.9% of subjects, respectively. Physiotherapists, psychologists and alternative health providers were visited by 11.5, 2.8, and 4.0%, respectively. In the preceding year, 6.4% had been hospitalized due to pain. The most important factors linked ...
The author furnishes a review of incidents of major damage to high-output steam turbines. At the same time, he thereby underlines the call for an improvement in the exchange of experience on such damage and its causes at international level. Only the careful observance of past damage experience - including that of foreign manufacturers and operators - complete and modern monitoring equipment and the painstaking evaluation of all data furnished by such equipment can keep the risk of new technical development within economically tolerable limits. (orig.).
Decision-making is strongly based on modelling in two of our water supply projects concerning artificial ground water. The model used is a 2-dimensional flow and transport model using the element method. Due to sharp variations in Finnish soils, the modelling process is based on careful and detailed evaluation of basic hydrogeological data before and during model calibration.
BackgroundGeneralized anxiety disorder (GAD) is the most frequent anxiety disorder in primary care patients. It is known that painful physical symptoms (PPS) are associated with...Full Text Available
BackgroundThe frequency of transfer of genes encoding resistance to antimicrobial agents was determined by conjugation in ESBL-producing and/or fluoroquinolone or aminoglycoside...Full Text Available
CTX-M-type extended-spectrum β-lactamases (ESBLs) have become increasingly common worldwide, with the notable exception of the United States, where TEM- and SHV-type ESBLs have appeared to predominate....Full Text Available
BackgroundResistance to third generation cephalosporins due to acquisition and expression of extended spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL) enzymes among Gram-negative bacteria is...Full Text Available
The implementation of information technology will continue to have important effects on the practice of emergency medicine. Patient registration and tracking systems, telemedicine electronic order entry systems, and the advent of electronic health records are some examples of applications that influence patient care in emergency departments. We review the literature regarding information technology advances in emergency medicine and outline the important role that emergency physicians play in developing and implementing a national health information technology strategy. PMID:16712540
Since many years, people take care of hazardous consequences of a non controlled economic growth and the sustainable development concept gains on one. This situation leads to consequences in the building industry and in the energy policy: buildings insulation in consideration, demand of consultants. In this framework, the partnership between Gaz De France and CICF has to be built. (A.L.B.)
The objectives of this project to interface the site-specific real-time radiological dose assessment system FADAS(Following Accident Dose Assessment System) to CARE. In this study, the results of the field tracer experiments conducted on the Younggwang site have been analysed. And the experimental procedure on Ulchin site has been introduced. The environmental characteristics on Ulchin and Wolsung has been investigated.
A team of physicians, pharmacists, and informatics professionals developed a CDSS added to a commercial electronic medical record system to provide prescribers with patient-specific maximum dosing recommendations...Full Text Available
Niger is the second poorest country in the world but it has natural resources underground in the form of uranium ores deposits. This uranium is currently mined by two companies incorporated under Nigerian law: Somair and Cominak, operated by the principal shareholder Areva (through its subsidiary Cogema). After a presentation of Somair and Cominak key figures, this document details the working conditions and radiological protection, the environmentally friendly operations, the production traceability, the local economic development, the strengthening of the health care system and the development of the infrastructure. (A.L.B.)
A laser spectrometer for the ethylenediaminetetra-acetic acid (EDTA) titration of magnesium or calcium ions that is designed around a handheld laser pointer as the source and a photoresistor as the detector is developed. Findings show that the use of the spectrometer reduces the degree of uncertainty and error in one part of the EDTA titrations, however overall standard deviations depend on the skill of the student and their willingness to be careful and precise.
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has developed comparatively detailed quality assurance requirements for the high-level radioactive waste disposal systems. Quality assurance is recognized as a key issue for confidence building and smooth implementation of the HLW program in Japan, and Japan is at an initial phase of repository development. Then the quality assurance requirements at site research and site selection, site characterization, and site suitability analysis used in the Yucca Mountain project were examined in detail and comprehensive descriptions were developed using flow charts. Additionally, the applicability to the Japan high-level radioactive waste disposal project was studied. The examination and study were performed for the following QA requirements: The requirements that have the relative importance at site research and site selection, site characterization, and site suitability analysis (such as planning ...
A technical committee reported on: (1) proposed water quality objectives for the San Joaquin River Basin; (2) proposed effluent limitations for agricultural drainage discharges in the basin to achieve these objectives; and (3) a proposal to regulate these discharges. The costs and economic impact of achieving various alternative water quality objectives were also evaluated. The information gathered by the technical committee will be used by the Regional Board along with other information in their review of the San Joaquin River Basin Water Quality Control Plan and their actions to regulate agricultural drainage in the San Joaquin Valley. The results of the Technical Committee's efforts as reported in Regulation of Agricultural Drainage to the San Joaquin River, August 1987. Based on the available information, the improvement in water quality resulting from implementation of the interim selenium ...
This document establishes the Quality Assurance (QA) Program requirements for the Hazards Waste remedial Actions Program (HASWRAP) for ensuring, with a high degree of confidence, that program objectives will be achieved as planned. The QA Program is introduced in Sect. 1. The HAZWRAP Support Contractor Office (SCO) functional organization and QA responsibilities are shown in Sect. 2. QA program requirements are contained in Sect. 3. These requiremens are pased on the American national Standard, American National Standards Institute/American Society of Mechanical Engineers NQA-1 Quality Assurance Program Requirements for Nuclear Facilities. The 18 elements defined in the standard are tailored to HAZWRAP's needs. The QA program requirements are delineated under the major headings: Quality Assurance Program, Organization, and Control of Quality;two additional program requirements, Software ...
The quality assurance requirements in use today for radioactive waste facilities, geologic repositories and hazardous waste projects were developed initially for the nuclear power plant industry, and their intent is being applied by regulations and guidance documents to radioactive and hazardous waste programs. The wording of the NRC quality assurance requirements in Appendix B of 10CFR50, the related guidance documents and the industry's ANSI/ASME NQA-1 were developed over a period of several years to address quality assurance for the design and construction of the complex and interactive systems to produce electrical power using nuclear fuel. Now, those same documents are the basis for the quality assurance requirements and guidance for waste management facilities and repositories. The intent of Appendix B of 10CFR50 and NQA-1 can easily be applied to waste projects, providing one understands and uses ...
This document defines the quality assurance requirements for the US Department of Energy-Richland Operations Office Environmental Restoration Remedial Action program at the Hanford Site. The Environmental Restoration Remedial Action program implements significant commitments made by the US Department of Energy in the Hanford Federal Facility Agreement and Consent Order entered into with the Washington State Department of Ecology and the US Environmental Protection Agency. This document combines quality assurance requirements from various source documents into one set of requirements for use by the US Department of Energy-Richland Operations Office and other Environmental Restoration Remedial Action program participants. This document will serve as the basis for developing Quality Assurance Program Plans and implementing procedures by the participants. The requirements of this document will be applied to activities affecting ...
In 1990, field studies of water quality and stream macroinvertebrate communities were initiated in Sandia Canyon at Los Alamos National Laboratory. The studies were designed to establish baseline data and to determine the effects of routine discharges of industrial and sanitary waste. Water quality measurements were taken and aquatic macroinvertebrates sampled at three permanent stations within the canyon. Two of the three sample stations are located where the stream regularly receives industrial and sanitary waste effluents. These stations exhibited a low diversity of macroinvertebrates and slightly degraded water quality. The last sample station, located approximately 0.4 km (0.25 mi) downstream from the nearest wastewater outfall, appears to be in a zone of recovery where water quality parameters more closely resemble those found in natural streams in the Los Alamos area. A large increase in ...
To predict air quality properly at a given location, it is necessary to identify all emission sources that will have significant impact at that location. Furthermore, the atmospheric pollutants that are emitted by these sources must be identified and quantitatively characterized. Once the air-quality predictions have been made, it is desirable to have some historical air-quality data for comparison. An efficient means of obtaining this information is through the use of detailed emission inventories and an inventory of air-quality-monitoring stations. Therefore, as part of the Alberta Government/Industry Acid Deposition Research Program (ADRP), three comprehensive inventories have been developed, namely: a sulfur dioxide (SO/sub 2/) emission inventory, a nitrogen oxides (NOx) emission inventory, and an inventory of air-quality-monitoring stations. Volume 2, Design of the Emission ...
This report is the conclusion of a three-part series that describes and attempts to explain regional coal quality variations within the foothills/mountains region of Alberta. Proximate and ultimate analysis variables, plus some vitrinite reflectance and maceral analyses, are examined for the Jurassic-Lower Cretaceous Kootenay Group, Lower Cretaceous Luscar Group, the Lower Paleocene Coalspur Formation, and the Upper Paleocene Obed-Marsh coal-bearing units. The study has two major components: a statistical analysis and mapping of coal quality data provided by the Energy Resources Conservation Board; and a 'geologic models' section, in which regional and local in-seam coal quality variations are examined from a geological perspective. The first component is designed to describe, characterize, and set limits for the coal quality variables, while the second component should provide from a ...
Volume 2 of the water resources data for the 1992 water year for Oklahoma consists of record of stage, discharge, and water quality of streams; stage, contents, and water quality of lakes or reservoirs; and water levels of ground-water well. The report contains discharge records for 136 gaging stations; stage and contents for 31 lakes or reservoirs; water quality for 50 gaging stations. Also included are 61 partial-record or miscellaneous streamflow stations and 28 ground-water sites.
We have prepared high-quality, single crystals of SmB_6 under various conditions to improve sample quality. We have measured the resistivity and magnetic susceptibility from room to liquid-helium temperatures to sort samples. We have applied pulsed magnetic fields as high as 50 T at temperatures as low as 40 mK while measuring resistivity. Our samples are of higher quality than previously known. All solvent-grown, single-crystal samples should be etched to remove a surface conductivity. (orig.).
The textbook is primarily intended for radiologic staff and radiologic safety officers and gives information on the current regulatory provisions of the German X-ray Ordinance, applications of X-rays, quality assurance, organisational aspects of film processing and quality requirements of X-rays. An annex lists the guidelines of the Bundesaerztekammer (German National Chamber of Physicians) relating to quality assurance aspects, and further useful information on commercially available film-screen systems, the various associations of physicians in Germany, and requirements and performance of radiation surveys. (vhe).
This paper discusses key methods for sustaining quality engineering data, the fundamental principles that these methods are based on, and the methods for supporting the performance of nuclear power plants by the provision of quality engineering data at all times. The concept of an 'engineering data foundation', and a Configuration Management data model are developed. The concepts and methods for managing the integrity of engineering data across many different databases and document systems are developed, including the key concepts of data-positions and data-values, Master Data and Copy Data, and the concept of a 'partnership between people and technology'. (author). 7 refs., 1 tab., 2 figs.