jQC-PET, an ImageJ macro to analyse the quality control of a PET/CT

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cortes-Rodicio, J.; Sanchez-Merino, G.; Garcia-Fidalgo, A.

2015-01-01

An ImageJ macro has been developed to facilitate the analysis of three PET/CT quality control procedures included in the documents from the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NU2-2007) and the International Atomic Energy Agency (Pub-1393): image quality, uniformity and spatial resolution. In them, the generation of the regions of interest and the analysis are automatized. The results obtained with the software have been compared with those of the commercial software and the literature. The use of jQC-PET allows a standard analysis and the independence of the commercial software. (Author)

Sci-Fri AM: Quality, Safety, and Professional Issues 05: QC Program Management and the Benefits of QATrack+

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Angers, Crystal Plume; Bottema, Ryan; Buckley, Lesley; Studinski, Ryan [The Ottawa Hospital Cancer Centre (Canada)

2016-08-15

Purpose: Treatment unit uptime statistics are typically used to monitor radiation equipment performance. The Ottawa Hospital Cancer Centre has introduced the use of Quality Control (QC) test success as a quality indicator for equipment performance and overall health of the equipment QC program. Methods: Implemented in 2012, QATrack+ is used to record and monitor over 1100 routine machine QC tests each month for 20 treatment and imaging units ( http://qatrackplus.com/ ). Using an SQL (structured query language) script, automated queries of the QATrack+ database are used to generate program metrics such as the number of QC tests executed and the percentage of tests passing, at tolerance or at action. These metrics are compared against machine uptime statistics already reported within the program. Results: Program metrics for 2015 show good correlation between pass rate of QC tests and uptime for a given machine. For the nine conventional linacs, the QC test success rate was consistently greater than 97%. The corresponding uptimes for these units are better than 98%. Machines that consistently show higher failure or tolerance rates in the QC tests have lower uptimes. This points to either poor machine performance requiring corrective action or to problems with the QC program. Conclusions: QATrack+ significantly improves the organization of QC data but can also aid in overall equipment management. Complimenting machine uptime statistics with QC test metrics provides a more complete picture of overall machine performance and can be used to identify areas of improvement in the machine service and QC programs.

Improvement of the customer satisfaction through Quality Assurance Matrix and QC-Story methods: A case study from automotive industry

Science.gov (United States)

Sicoe, G. M.; Belu, N.; Rachieru, N.; Nicolae, E. V.

2017-10-01

Presently, in the automotive industry, the tendency is to adapt permanently to the changes and introduce the market tendency in the new products that leads of the customer satisfaction. Many quality techniques were adopted in this field to continuous improvement of product and process quality and advantages were also gained. The present paper has focused on possibilities that offers the use of Quality Assurance Matrix (QAM) and Quality Control Story (QC Story) to provide largest protection against nonconformities in the production process, throughout a case study in the automotive industry. There is a direct relationship from the QAM to a QC Story analysis. The failures identified using QAM are treated with QC Story methodology. Using this methods, will help to decrease the PPM values and will increase the quality performance and the customer satisfaction.

jQC-PET, an ImageJ macro to analyse the quality control of a PET/CT; jQC-PET, una macro de ImageJ para el analisis del control de calidad de un PET/CT

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cortes-Rodicio, J.; Sanchez-Merino, G.; Garcia-Fidalgo, A.

2015-07-01

An ImageJ macro has been developed to facilitate the analysis of three PET/CT quality control procedures included in the documents from the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NU2-2007) and the International Atomic Energy Agency (Pub-1393): image quality, uniformity and spatial resolution. In them, the generation of the regions of interest and the analysis are automatized. The results obtained with the software have been compared with those of the commercial software and the literature. The use of jQC-PET allows a standard analysis and the independence of the commercial software. (Author)

Quality assurance (QA) and quality control (QC) of image guided radiotherapy (IGRT). Osaka Rosai Hospital experience

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tsuboi, Kazuki; Yagi, Masayuki; Fujiwara, Kanta

2013-01-01

The linear accelerator with image guided radiation therapy (IGRT) was introduced in May 2010. We performed the verification of the IGRT system, id est (i.e.), acceptance test and our original performance test and confirmed the acceptability for clinical use. We also performed daily QA/QC program before the start of treatment. One-year experience of QA/QC program showed excellent stability of IGRT function compared with our old machine. We further hope to establish the more useful management system and QA/QC program. (author)

Proteomics Quality Control: Quality Control Software for MaxQuant Results.

Science.gov (United States)

Bielow, Chris; Mastrobuoni, Guido; Kempa, Stefan

2016-03-04

Mass spectrometry-based proteomics coupled to liquid chromatography has matured into an automatized, high-throughput technology, producing data on the scale of multiple gigabytes per instrument per day. Consequently, an automated quality control (QC) and quality analysis (QA) capable of detecting measurement bias, verifying consistency, and avoiding propagation of error is paramount for instrument operators and scientists in charge of downstream analysis. We have developed an R-based QC pipeline called Proteomics Quality Control (PTXQC) for bottom-up LC-MS data generated by the MaxQuant software pipeline. PTXQC creates a QC report containing a comprehensive and powerful set of QC metrics, augmented with automated scoring functions. The automated scores are collated to create an overview heatmap at the beginning of the report, giving valuable guidance also to nonspecialists. Our software supports a wide range of experimental designs, including stable isotope labeling by amino acids in cell culture (SILAC), tandem mass tags (TMT), and label-free data. Furthermore, we introduce new metrics to score MaxQuant's Match-between-runs (MBR) functionality by which peptide identifications can be transferred across Raw files based on accurate retention time and m/z. Last but not least, PTXQC is easy to install and use and represents the first QC software capable of processing MaxQuant result tables. PTXQC is freely available at https://github.com/cbielow/PTXQC .

Analytical approaches to quality assurance and quality control in rangeland monitoring data

Science.gov (United States)

Producing quality data to support land management decisions is the goal of every rangeland monitoring program. However, the results of quality assurance (QA) and quality control (QC) efforts to improve data quality are rarely reported. The purpose of QA and QC is to prevent and describe non-sampling...

The Study on quality control of nuclear power installation project

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wu Jie

2008-01-01

The quality planning, quality assurance and quality control are discussed by applying the quality control (QC) theory and combining the real situation of the Qinshan II project. This paper is practical and plays an active role in instruction of project quality control by applying the above QC theory and control techniques. (authors)

Selecting a Risk-Based SQC Procedure for a HbA1c Total QC Plan.

Science.gov (United States)

Westgard, Sten A; Bayat, Hassan; Westgard, James O

2017-09-01

Recent US practice guidelines and laboratory regulations for quality control (QC) emphasize the development of QC plans and the application of risk management principles. The US Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) now includes an option to comply with QC regulations by developing an individualized QC plan (IQCP) based on a risk assessment of the total testing process. The Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) has provided new practice guidelines for application of risk management to QC plans and statistical QC (SQC). We describe an alternative approach for developing a total QC plan (TQCP) that includes a risk-based SQC procedure. CLIA compliance is maintained by analyzing at least 2 levels of controls per day. A Sigma-Metric SQC Run Size nomogram provides a graphical tool to simplify the selection of risk-based SQC procedures. Current HbA1c method performance, as demonstrated by published method validation studies, is estimated to be 4-Sigma quality at best. Optimal SQC strategies require more QC than the CLIA minimum requirement of 2 levels per day. More complex control algorithms, more control measurements, and a bracketed mode of operation are needed to assure the intended quality of results. A total QC plan with a risk-based SQC procedure provides a simpler alternative to an individualized QC plan. A Sigma-Metric SQC Run Size nomogram provides a practical tool for selecting appropriate control rules, numbers of control measurements, and run size (or frequency of SQC). Applications demonstrate the need for continued improvement of analytical performance of HbA1c laboratory methods.

Quality-control activities of the Hanford Environmental Surveillance Program

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Price, K.R.; Jaquish, R.E.

1982-01-01

A comprehensive approach to quality control (QC) has been developed by the Pacific Northwest Laboratory for the Hanford Environmental Surveillance Program. The framework of quality control for the surveillance program has been documented in a QC implementation guide wherein QC requirements are specified and specific responsibilities and authorities are described. Subjects in the guide include the collection, analysis, and reporting of samples as well as equipment calibration and maintenance, training, audits, and record keeping. A QC file and library have been established to store pertinent documentation, records, and references for ready access

Automated quality control in a file-based broadcasting workflow

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Lina

2014-04-01

Benefit from the development of information and internet technologies, television broadcasting is transforming from inefficient tape-based production and distribution to integrated file-based workflows. However, no matter how many changes have took place, successful broadcasting still depends on the ability to deliver a consistent high quality signal to the audiences. After the transition from tape to file, traditional methods of manual quality control (QC) become inadequate, subjective, and inefficient. Based on China Central Television's full file-based workflow in the new site, this paper introduces an automated quality control test system for accurate detection of hidden troubles in media contents. It discusses the system framework and workflow control when the automated QC is added. It puts forward a QC criterion and brings forth a QC software followed this criterion. It also does some experiments on QC speed by adopting parallel processing and distributed computing. The performance of the test system shows that the adoption of automated QC can make the production effective and efficient, and help the station to achieve a competitive advantage in the media market.

[Development of quality assurance/quality control web system in radiotherapy].

Science.gov (United States)

Okamoto, Hiroyuki; Mochizuki, Toshihiko; Yokoyama, Kazutoshi; Wakita, Akihisa; Nakamura, Satoshi; Ueki, Heihachi; Shiozawa, Keiko; Sasaki, Koji; Fuse, Masashi; Abe, Yoshihisa; Itami, Jun

2013-12-01

Our purpose is to develop a QA/QC (quality assurance/quality control) web system using a server-side script language such as HTML (HyperText Markup Language) and PHP (Hypertext Preprocessor), which can be useful as a tool to share information about QA/QC in radiotherapy. The system proposed in this study can be easily built in one's own institute, because HTML can be easily handled. There are two desired functions in a QA/QC web system: (i) To review the results of QA/QC for a radiotherapy machine, manuals, and reports necessary for routinely performing radiotherapy through this system. By disclosing the results, transparency can be maintained, (ii) To reveal a protocol for QA/QC in one's own institute using pictures and movies relating to QA/QC for simplicity's sake, which can also be used as an educational tool for junior radiation technologists and medical physicists. By using this system, not only administrators, but also all staff involved in radiotherapy, can obtain information about the conditions and accuracy of treatment machines through the QA/QC web system.

Effect of quality control implementation on image quality of radiographic films and irradiation doses to patients

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cheng Yuxi; Zhou Qipu; Ge Lijuan; Hou Changsong; Qi Xuesong; Yue Baorong; Wang Zuoling; Wei Kedao

1999-01-01

Objective: To study the changes in the image quality of radiographic films and the irradiation doses to patients after quality control (QC) implementation. Methods: The entrance surface doses (ESD) to patients measured with TLD and the image quality of radiographic films were evaluated on the basis of CEC image quality criteria. Results: The ESD to patients were significantly reduced after QC implementation (P 0.05), but the post-QC image quality was significantly improved in chest PA, lumbar spine AP and pelvis AP(P0.01 or P<0.05). Conclusion: Significantly reduced irradiation dose with improved image quality can be obtained by QC implementation

Survey of Current Status of Quality Control of Gamma Cameras in Republic of Korea

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Choe, Jae Gol; Joh, Cheol Woo

2008-01-01

It is widely recognized that good quality control (QC) program is essential for adequate imaging diagnosis using gamma camera. The purpose of this study is to survey the current status of QC of gamma cameras in Republic of Korea for implementing appropriate nationwide quality control guidelines and programs. A collection of data is done for personnel, equipment and appropriateness of each nuclear medicine imaging laboratory's' quality control practice. This survey is done by collection of formatted questionnaire by mails, e mails or interviews. We also reviewed the current recommendations concerning quality assurance by international societies. This survey revealed that practice of quality control is irregular and not satisfactory. The irregularity of the QC practice seems due partly to the lack of trained personnel, equipment, budget, time and hand-on guidelines. The implementation of QC program may cause additional burden to the hospitals, patients and nuclear medicine laboratories. However, the benefit of a good QC program is obvious that the hospitals can provide good quality nuclear medicine imaging studies to the patients. It is important to use least cumbersome QC protocol, to educate the nuclear medicine and hospital administrative personnel concerning QC, and to establish national QC guidelines to help each individual nuclear medicine laboratory

CHALLENGES IN SETTING UP QUALITY CONTROL IN DIAGNOSTIC RADIOLOGY FACILITIES IN NIGERIA.

Science.gov (United States)

Inyang, S O; Egbe, N O; Ekpo, E

2015-01-01

The Nigerian Nuclear Regulatory Authority (NNRA) was established to regulate and control the use of radioactive and radiation emitting sources in Nigeria. Quality control (QC) on diagnostic radiology equipment form part of the fundamental requirements for the authorization of diagnostic radiology facilities in the Country. Some quality control tests (output, exposure linearity and reproducibility) were measured on the x-ray machines in the facilities that took part in the study. Questionnaire was developed to evaluate the frequencies at which QC tests were conducted in the facilities and the challenges in setting up QC. Results show great variation in the values of the QC parameters measured. Inadequate cooperation by facilities management, lack of QC equipment and insufficient staff form the major challenges in setting up QC in the facilities under study. The responses on the frequencies at which QC tests should be conducted did not correspond to the recommended standards; indicating that personnel were not familiar with QC implementation and may require further training on QC.

Quality control of 131I treatment of graves' disease

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu Zeng; Liu Guoqiang

2009-01-01

To make a preliminary quality control (QC) criteria and apply on the various stages of clinic 131 I treatment of Graves' disease in order to decrease the early happening of hypothyroidism and enhance the onetime 131 I cure rate of Graves' disease, the quality control criteria in the stochastic outpatient with 131 I treatment, such as plan of the indication, contraindication, method of treatment, matters needing attention, follow-up observation and curative effect appraisal, patient selection, RAIU, thyroid gland weight measurement and 131 I dose criteria for the various steps of 131 I medication were determined. The 131 I treatment effects of Graves' disease including the once-cure rate, the improving rate, duplicate cure rate and the early happening rate of hypothyroidism were analyzed in patients with applying QC and without QC ccriteria. The results showed that the oncecure rate in patients with applying QC criteria was increased from 76.6% to 90.9% (P≤0.01); the improving rate was decreased from 12.2% to 7.0% (P≤0.01); the duplicate cure rate was increased from 90.1% to 93.0% (P>0.05); the early happening rate of hypothyroidism was decreased from 11.0% to 2.1% (P≤0.01). The 131 I treatment of Graves' disease applying with QC criteria had tremendously improved the oncecure rate and decreased the early happening of hypothyroidism rate. (authors)

Quality control for some digital fluoroscopy equipment used in Sudan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nayledam, A. I.

2009-07-01

The aim of this work was to perform quality control (QC) for six digital fluoroscopy units used for cardiovascular and interventional radiology procedures. Measurement were based on the QC protocol developed in the framework of European Commission (EU) DIMOND111 project. Measurement made included: beam quality (half-value layer, HVL), peak tube voltage (kVp) accuracy, automatic exposure control (Aec) and patient dose in terms of entrance surface air kerma rate plus image intensifier input air kerma rate. Dose measurements were made using Calibrated dose rate meter. Field limitation and source to skin distant measurement in addition to evaluation radiation protection tools for occupation exposure were performed. Image quality was evaluated in terms of spatial resolution and Contrast detail detectability. Patient dose measurements was performed using polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) patient equivalent phantom whereas image quality was assessed using Haunter Type 53 spatial frequency grating and TO10 contrast detail phantom. The results show that the measured HVL and peak tube voltage were within the recommended limits of 10% in four fluoroscopy units. Entrance surface air kerma rate measured ranged from 6.1 to 250 mGy/min for fluoroscopy units operated in pulsed, continuous and cine mode of operation. These results were obtained using varying thicknesses of PMMA phantom. Most values are in reasonable agreement with internationally established reference levels with exception to one fluoroscopy unit where doses were remarkably high. Field limitation and minimum source to skin distance were well within the recommended limits of 30 cm for all fluoroscopy units. The limiting resolution was ranged from 1.0 to 2.2 Lp /mm for image intensifier field diameters between 7 ad 23 cm. The results of present study can be used as baseline for future quality assurance measurements. (Author)

Quality control in urinalysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Takubo, T; Tatsumi, N

1999-01-01

Quality control (QC) has been introduced in laboratories, and QC surveys in urinalysis have been performed by College of American Pathologist, by Japanese Association of Medical Technologists, by Osaka Medical Association and by manufacturers. QC survey in urinalysis for synthetic urine by the reagent strip and instrument made in same manufacturer, and by an automated urine cell analyser provided satisfactory results among laboratories. QC survey in urinalysis for synthetic urine by the reagent strips and instruments made by various manufacturers indicated differences in the determination values among manufacturers, and between manual and automated methods because the reagent strips and instruments have different characteristics, respectively. QC photo survey in urinalysis on the microscopic photos of urine sediment constituents indicated differences in the identification of cells among laboratories. From the results, it is necessary to standardize a reagent strip method, manual and automated methods, and synthetic urine.

Easy QC 7 tools

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1981-04-01

This book explains method of QC 7 tools, mind for using QC 7 tools, effect of QC 7 tools application, giving descriptions of graph, pareto's diagram like application writing way and using method of pareto's diagram, characteristic diagram, check sheet such as purpose and subject of check, goals and types of check sheet, and using point of check sheet, histogram like application and using method, and stratification, scatterplot, control chart, promotion method and improvement and cases of practice of QC tools.

Easy QC 7 tools

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1981-04-15

This book explains method of QC 7 tools, mind for using QC 7 tools, effect of QC 7 tools application, giving descriptions of graph, pareto's diagram like application writing way and using method of pareto's diagram, characteristic diagram, check sheet such as purpose and subject of check, goals and types of check sheet, and using point of check sheet, histogram like application and using method, and stratification, scatterplot, control chart, promotion method and improvement and cases of practice of QC tools.

Challenges in setting up quality control in diagnostic radiology ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Journal Home > Vol 24, No 4 (2015) >. Log in or ... Quality control (QC) on diagnostic radiology equipment form part of the fundamental requirements for the ... Inadequate cooperation by facilities management, lack of QC equipment and insufficient staff form the major challenges in setting up QC in the facilities under study.

Quality control for diagnostic oral microbiology laboratories in European countries

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Rautemaa-Richardson, R.; van der Reijden, W.A.; Dahlen, G.; Smith, A.J.

2011-01-01

Participation in diagnostic microbiology internal and external quality control (QC) processes is good laboratory practice and an essential component of a quality management system. However, no QC scheme for diagnostic oral microbiology existed until 2009 when the Clinical Oral Microbiology (COMB)

Design of a Clean Room for Quality Control of an Environmental Sampling in KINAC

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yoon, Jongho; Ahn, Gil Hoon; Seo, Hana; Han, Kitek; Park, Il Jin

2014-01-01

The objective of environmental sampling and analysis for safeguards is to characterize the nuclear materials handled and the activities conducted at the specific locations. The KINAC is responsible for the conclusions drawn from the analytical results provided by the analytical laboratories. To assure the KINAC of the continuity of the quality of the analytical results provided by the laboratories, the KINAC will implement a quality control(QC) programme. One of the QC programme is to prepare QC samples. The establishment of a clean room is needed to handle QC samples due to stringent control of contamination. The KINAC designed a clean facility with cleanliness of ISO Class 6, the Clean Room for Estimation and Assay of trace Nuclear materials(CREAN) to meet conflicting requirements of a clean room and for handling of nuclear materials according to Korean laws. The clean room will be expected to acquire of a radiation safety license under these conditions in this year and continue to improve it. The construction of the CREAN facility will be completed by the middle of 2015. In terms of QC programme, the establishment of a clean room is essential and will be not only very helpful for setting of quality control system for the national environmental sampling programme but also be applied for the environmental sample analysis techniques to the nuclear forensics

Quality Control in Primary Schools: Progress from 2001-2006

Science.gov (United States)

Hofman, Roelande H.; de Boom, Jan; Hofman, W. H. Adriaan

2010-01-01

This article presents findings of research into the quality control (QC) of schools from 2001-2006. In 2001 several targets for QC were set and the progress of 939 primary schools is presented. Furthermore, using cluster analysis, schools are classified into four QC-types that differ in their focus on school (self) evaluation and school…

Quality control of the software in the JT-60 computer control system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Isaji, Nobuaki; Kurihara, Kenichi; Kimura, Toyoaki

1990-07-01

The JT-60 Control System should be improved corresponding to the experimental requirements. In order to keep the integrity of the system even in the modification the concept of quality control (QC) was introduced in the software development. What we have done for QC activity are (1) to establish standard procedures of the software development, (2) to develop support tools for grasping the present status of the program structure, and (3) to develop a document system, and a source program management system. This paper reports these QC activities and their problems for the JT-60 control system. (author)

Quality Control Assessment of Radiology Devices in Kerman Province, Iran

OpenAIRE

Zahra Jomehzadeh; Ali Jomehzadeh; Mohammad Bagher Tavakoli

2016-01-01

Introduction Application of quality control (QC) programs at diagnostic radiology departments is of great significance for optimization of image quality and reduction of patient dose. The main objective of this study was to perform QC tests on stationary radiographic X-ray machines, installed in 14 hospitals of Kerman province, Iran. Materials and Methods In this cross-sectional study, QC tests were performed on 28 conventional radiographic X-ray units in Kerman governmental hospitals, based ...

Serial correlation of quality control data--on the use of proper control charts

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Winkel, P; Zhang, Nevin

2004-01-01

Biochemical quality control (QC) data have been reported to be autocorrelated. Serial correlation may increase the rate of false alarms if the traditional exponentially weighted moving average (EWMA) control chart to monitoring the process mean is used. False alarms are the focus of this paper, w......, where an alarm is defined as the occurrence of a QC value outside the three standard deviation control limits....

Serial correlation of quality control data--on the use of proper control charts

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Winkel, P; Zhang, Nevin

2004-01-01

Biochemical quality control (QC) data have been reported to be autocorrelated. Serial correlation may increase the rate of false alarms if the traditional exponentially weighted moving average (EWMA) control chart to monitoring the process mean is used. False alarms are the focus of this paper......, where an alarm is defined as the occurrence of a QC value outside the three standard deviation control limits....

Quality assurance and quality control of nuclear engineering during construction phase

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang Zhihua; Deng Yue; Liu Yaoguang; Xu Xianqi; Zhou Shan; Qian Dazhi; Zhang Yang

2007-01-01

The quality assurance (QA) and quality control (QC) is a very important work in the nuclear engineering. This paper starts with how to establish quality assurance system of nuclear engineering construction phase, then introduces several experiments and techniques such as the implementation of quality assurance program, the quality assurance and quality control of contractors, the quality surveillance and control of supervisory companies, quality assurance audit and surveillance of builders. (authors)

Quality control and quality assurance of micromegas readout boards for the ATLAS New Small Wheel

CERN Document Server

Nanda, Amit

2016-01-01

The resistive anode boards of the Micromegas detectors for ATLAS NSW upgrade, will be produced in industries. The anode boards will be thoroughly evaluated at CERN following a detailed quality control and quality assurance (QA/QC) procedure. The report describes thoroughly the procedures and the design of a small QC tool for easier measurements of electrical properties of the readout boards.

Requirements tests for QC of microSelectron-HDR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gesheva-Atanasova, N.; Gogova, A.; Peycheva, S.; Constantinov, B.; Ganchev, M.

2000-01-01

The Quality Control (QC) considers checks and measurements with the purpose of reconstruction, maintaining and increasing the quality of medical procedures and equipment. The QC tests for micro Selectron HDR afterloading machine with 192 Ir which allows more precise calculation and realisation of the tumour's dose have been created and introduced regularly in National Oncological Centre, Sofia. This paper has been cover the machine and software performance, source positioning, application equipment and radiation safety. A list of tests, their frequency, tolerance and action levels, as well as the tests' procedures have been worked out. The used methods are based on establishment of QC protocols. The documents have achieved for a certain period of time and they are available at any time. The experience shows drastically reduction of failures during medical treatment, ensuring the reliability of the used equipment and confidence that all the patients have treated adequate. Where some parameter is above the tolerance is it possible to do proper corrections measures immediately. This QA protocols give assurance that specific objectives being successfully met

ATACseqQC: a Bioconductor package for post-alignment quality assessment of ATAC-seq data.

Science.gov (United States)

Ou, Jianhong; Liu, Haibo; Yu, Jun; Kelliher, Michelle A; Castilla, Lucio H; Lawson, Nathan D; Zhu, Lihua Julie

2018-03-01

ATAC-seq (Assays for Transposase-Accessible Chromatin using sequencing) is a recently developed technique for genome-wide analysis of chromatin accessibility. Compared to earlier methods for assaying chromatin accessibility, ATAC-seq is faster and easier to perform, does not require cross-linking, has higher signal to noise ratio, and can be performed on small cell numbers. However, to ensure a successful ATAC-seq experiment, step-by-step quality assurance processes, including both wet lab quality control and in silico quality assessment, are essential. While several tools have been developed or adopted for assessing read quality, identifying nucleosome occupancy and accessible regions from ATAC-seq data, none of the tools provide a comprehensive set of functionalities for preprocessing and quality assessment of aligned ATAC-seq datasets. We have developed a Bioconductor package, ATACseqQC, for easily generating various diagnostic plots to help researchers quickly assess the quality of their ATAC-seq data. In addition, this package contains functions to preprocess aligned ATAC-seq data for subsequent peak calling. Here we demonstrate the utilities of our package using 25 publicly available ATAC-seq datasets from four studies. We also provide guidelines on what the diagnostic plots should look like for an ideal ATAC-seq dataset. This software package has been used successfully for preprocessing and assessing several in-house and public ATAC-seq datasets. Diagnostic plots generated by this package will facilitate the quality assessment of ATAC-seq data, and help researchers to evaluate their own ATAC-seq experiments as well as select high-quality ATAC-seq datasets from public repositories such as GEO to avoid generating hypotheses or drawing conclusions from low-quality ATAC-seq experiments. The software, source code, and documentation are freely available as a Bioconductor package at https://bioconductor.org/packages/release/bioc/html/ATACseqQC.html .

Quality Control Activities Related to Mechanical Maintenance of Safety Related Components at Krsko NPP

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Djakovic, D.

2016-01-01

For successful, safe and reliable operation of nuclear power plant, maintenance processes have to be systematically controlled and procedures for quality control of maintenance activities shall be established. This is requested by the quality assurance program, which shall provide control over activities affecting the quality of structures, systems, and components, considering their importance to safety. As a part of Quality and Nuclear Oversight Division (QNOD; SKV), the Quality Control Department (QC) provides quality control activities, which are deeply involved in maintenance processes at Krsko NPP, both on safety related and non-safety related (non-nuclear safety) components. QC activities on safety related components have to fulfil all requirements, which will enable the components to perform their intended safety functions. This paper describes quality control activities related to mechanical maintenance of safety related components at Krsko NPP and significant role of the Krsko plant QC Department in three particular maintenance cases connected with safety related components. In these three specific cases, the QC has confirmed its importance in compliance with quality assurance program and presented its significant added value in providing safe and reliable operation of the plant. The first maintenance activity was installation of nozzle check valves in the scope of a modification for improving regulation of spent fuel pit pumps. The QC Department performed receipt inspection of the valves. Using non-destructive examination methods and X-ray spectrometry, it was found out that the valve diffuser was made of improper material, which could cause progressive corrosion of the valve diffuser in borated water and consequently a loss of safety function of the valves followed by long-term consequences. The second one was the receipt inspection of containment ventilation fan coolers. The coolers were claimed and sent back to the supplier because the QC Department

Seven Basic Tools of Quality Control: An Appropriate Tools for Solving Quality Problems in the Organizations

OpenAIRE

Neyestani, Behnam

2017-01-01

Dr. Kaoru Ishikawa was first total quality management guru, who has been associated with the development and advocacy of using the seven quality control (QC) tools in the organizations for problem solving and process improvements. Seven old quality control tools are a set of the QC tools that can be used for improving the performance of the production processes, from the first step of producing a product or service to the last stage of production. So, the general purpose of this paper was to...

Method for determining the wedge angle from the daily measurements made with the measurement enabled devices DC6; Metodo para la determinacion del angulo de cuna a partir de las medidas diarias realizadas con el dispositio de medida QC6

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Marques Fraguela, E.; Suero Rodrigo, M. A.

2011-07-01

The aim of this paper is to present a method for determining the angle of the wedges virtual electron linear accelerator (ALE) Siemens Primus, from the daily measurements made with the measurement system PTW-QC6Plus and found to be sufficiently sensitive to determine variations of {+-} 1 of this parameter. In addition, we study the behavior statistically CUFLE angle over a year.

Individualized Quality Control Plan (IQCP): Is It Value-Added for Clinical Microbiology?

OpenAIRE

Sharp, Susan E.; Miller, Melissa B.; Hindler, Janet

2015-01-01

The Center for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS) recently published their Individualized Quality Control Plan (IQCP [https://www.cms.gov/regulations-and-guidance/legislation/CLIA/Individualized_Quality_Control_Plan_IQCP.html]), which will be the only option for quality control (QC) starting in January 2016 if laboratories choose not to perform Clinical Laboratory Improvement Act (CLIA) [U.S. Statutes at Large 81(1967):533] default QC. Laboratories will no longer be able to use “equivalent ...

Quality control and quality assurance in individual monitoring of ionising radiations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dutt, J.C.; Lindborg, L.

1994-01-01

This paper describes the programmes and approaches that are to be considered in developing and introducing quality assurance and quality control procedures in individual monitoring services. Quality assurance and quality control in individual monitoring services are essential to maintain quality and are of increasing importance in order to meet the requirements of national regulations and international standards and guidelines. It is recommended here that all organisations offering individual monitoring services should run their services based on the principles of Quality System as given in the European Standard EN45001 and maintain a property resources QA/QC programme as an integral part of their operations. All aspects of QA/QC in individual monitoring services starting from the initial selection, installation, calibration, and operation to the final products including dose reporting, dose record keeping, dealing with customers' complaints and product liability issues have been discussed. (Author)

The Quality Control Circle: Is It for Education?

Science.gov (United States)

Land, Arthur J.

From its start in Japan after World War II, the Quality Control Circle (Q.C.) approach to management and organizational operation evolved into what it is today: people doing similar work meeting regularly to identify, objectively analyze, and develop solutions to problems. The Q.C. approach meets Maslow's theory of motivation by inviting…

Quality control and conduct of genome-wide association meta-analyses

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Winkler, Thomas W; Day, Felix R; Croteau-Chonka, Damien C

2014-01-01

Rigorous organization and quality control (QC) are necessary to facilitate successful genome-wide association meta-analyses (GWAMAs) of statistics aggregated across multiple genome-wide association studies. This protocol provides guidelines for (i) organizational aspects of GWAMAs, and for (ii) QC...

An overview of quality control practices in Ontario with particular reference to cholesterol analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Krishnan, S; Webb, S; Henderson, A R; Cheung, C M; Nazir, D J; Richardson, H

1999-03-01

The Laboratory Proficiency Testing Program (LPTP) assesses the analytical performance of all licensed laboratories in Ontario. The LPTP Enzymes, Cardiac Markers, and Lipids Committee conducted a "Patterns of Practice" survey to assess the in-house quality control (QC) practices of laboratories in Ontario using cholesterol as the QC paradigm. The survey was questionnaire-based seeking information on statistical calculations, software rules, review process and data retention, and so on. Copies of the in-house cholesterol QC graphs were requested. A total of 120 of 210 laboratories were randomly chosen to receive the questionnaires during 1995 and 1996; 115 laboratories responded, although some did not answer all questions. The majority calculate means and standard deviations (SD) every month, using anywhere from 4 to >100 data points. 65% use a fixed mean and SD, while 17% use means calculated from the previous month. A few use a floating or cumulative mean. Some laboratories that do not use fixed means use a fixed SD. About 90% use some form of statistical quality control rules. The most common rules used to detect random error are 1(3s)/R4s while 2(2s)/4(1s)/10x are used for systematic errors. About 20% did not assay any QC at levels >5.5 mmol/L. Quality control data are reviewed daily (technologists), weekly and monthly (supervisors/directors). Most laboratories retain their QC records for up to 3 years on paper and magnetic media. On some QC graphs the mean and SD, QC product lot number, or reference to action logs are not apparent. Quality control practices in Ontario are, therefore, disappointing. Improvement is required in the use of clinically appropriate concentrations of QC material and documentation on QC graphs.

How to set up and manage quality control and quality assurance

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Visschedijk, M.; Hendriks, R.; Nuyts, K.

2005-01-01

This document provides a general introduction to clarify the differences between quality control (QC) and quality assurance (QA). In addition it serves as a starting point for implementing a quality system approach within an organization. The paper offers practical guidance to the implementation of

Quality control for retinal OCT in multiple sclerosis

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Schippling, S; Balk, Lj; Costello, F

2015-01-01

to provide guidance on the use of validated quality control (QC) criteria for the use of OCT in MS research and clinical trials. METHODS: A prospective multi-centre (n = 13) study. Peripapillary ring scan QC rating of an OCT training set (n = 50) was followed by a test set (n = 50). Inter-rater agreement...

Quality Control in Diagnostic Radiology: Experiences and Achievements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mohd Khalid Matori; Husaini Salleh; Muhammad Jamal Md Isa

2015-01-01

Malaysian Nuclear Agency through its Medical Physics Group has been providing Quality Control (QC) services for medical X-ray apparatus used in diagnostic radiology to private clinics and hospitals since the year 1997. The Medical Physics Groups services is endorsed by the Malaysian Ministry Of Health (MOH) and is in accordance with the Malaysian Standard MS 838 and the Atomic Energy Licensing Act, 1984. Until today, the scopes of testing services also include all types of medical x-ray apparatus. The quality control (QC) in diagnostic radiology is considered as part of quality assurance program which provide accurate diagnostic information at the lowest cost and the least exposure of the patients to radiation. Many experience and obstacles were faced by Medical Physics Group. This paper will discuss the experiences and achievements of providing QC service from early stage until now so that it can be shared by the citizens of the Malaysian Nuclear Agency. The results of quality assurance inspection of all types of X-ray apparatus for medical conducted by Agency Nuclear Malaysia will be presented in brief. (author)

Portland cement concrete pavement review of QC/QA data 2000 through 2009.

Science.gov (United States)

2011-04-01

This report analyzes the Quality Control/Quality Assurance (QC/QA) data for Portland cement concrete pavement : (PCCP) awarded in the years 2000 through 2009. Analysis of the overall performance of the projects is accomplished by : reviewing the Calc...

Perception of quality control by personnel in diagnostic radiology ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This situation may be due to the perceived lack of interest and lack of cooperation from management of their facilities.The personnel also felt that they did not have sufficient training to implement QC and that QC results were difficult to analyse. Keywords: perception, quality control, personnel, management, diagnostic ...

Quality Control of Mega Voltage Portal Imaging System

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Diklic, A.; Dundara Debeljuh, D.; Jurkovic, S.; Smilovic Radojcic, D.; Svabic Kolacio; Kasabasic, M.; Faj, D.

2013-01-01

The Electronic Portal Imaging Device (EPID) is a system used to verify either the correct positioning of the patient during radiotherapy treatment or the linear accelerator beam parameters. The correct position of the patient corresponds to the position at which the patient was scanned at the CT simulator and according to which the therapy plan was made and optimized. Regarding this, besides the advanced treatment planning system and optimized treatment planning techniques, the day-to-day reproduction of simulated conditions is of great importance for the treatment outcome. Therefore, to verify the patient set-up portal imaging should be applied prior to the first treatment session and repeated according to treatment prescriptions during the treatment. In order to achieve full functionality and precision of the EPID, it must be included in radiotherapy Quality Control (QC) programme. The QC of the Mega Voltage portal imaging system was separated in two parts. In the first, the QC of the detector parameters should be performed. For this purpose, the FC2 and QC3 phantoms should be used, along with the Portal Image Processing System program (PIPSpro) package for data analysis. The second part of the QC of the linear accelerator's portal imaging system should include the QC of the CBCT. In this part a set of predefined manufacturer's tests using two different phantoms, one for the geometry calibration and the other for the image quality evaluation, should be performed. Also, the treatment conditions should be simulated using anthropomorphic phantoms and dose distributions for particular EPID protocols should be measured. Procedures for quality control of the portal imaging system developed and implemented at University Hospital Rijeka are presented in this paper.(author)

Quality Control Quantification (QCQ): A Tool to Measure the Value of Quality Control Checks in Radiation Oncology

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ford, Eric C., E-mail: eford@uw.edu [Department of Radiation Oncology and Molecular Radiation Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland (United States); Terezakis, Stephanie; Souranis, Annette; Harris, Kendra [Department of Radiation Oncology and Molecular Radiation Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland (United States); Gay, Hiram; Mutic, Sasa [Department of Radiation Oncology, Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri (United States)

2012-11-01

Purpose: To quantify the error-detection effectiveness of commonly used quality control (QC) measures. Methods: We analyzed incidents from 2007-2010 logged into a voluntary in-house, electronic incident learning systems at 2 academic radiation oncology clinics. None of the incidents resulted in patient harm. Each incident was graded for potential severity using the French Nuclear Safety Authority scoring scale; high potential severity incidents (score >3) were considered, along with a subset of 30 randomly chosen low severity incidents. Each report was evaluated to identify which of 15 common QC checks could have detected it. The effectiveness was calculated, defined as the percentage of incidents that each QC measure could detect, both for individual QC checks and for combinations of checks. Results: In total, 4407 incidents were reported, 292 of which had high-potential severity. High- and low-severity incidents were detectable by 4.0 {+-} 2.3 (mean {+-} SD) and 2.6 {+-} 1.4 QC checks, respectively (P<.001). All individual checks were less than 50% sensitive with the exception of pretreatment plan review by a physicist (63%). An effectiveness of 97% was achieved with 7 checks used in combination and was not further improved with more checks. The combination of checks with the highest effectiveness includes physics plan review, physician plan review, Electronic Portal Imaging Device-based in vivo portal dosimetry, radiation therapist timeout, weekly physics chart check, the use of checklists, port films, and source-to-skin distance checks. Some commonly used QC checks such as pretreatment intensity modulated radiation therapy QA do not substantially add to the ability to detect errors in these data. Conclusions: The effectiveness of QC measures in radiation oncology depends sensitively on which checks are used and in which combinations. A small percentage of errors cannot be detected by any of the standard formal QC checks currently in broad use, suggesting that

Quality Control Quantification (QCQ): A Tool to Measure the Value of Quality Control Checks in Radiation Oncology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ford, Eric C.; Terezakis, Stephanie; Souranis, Annette; Harris, Kendra; Gay, Hiram; Mutic, Sasa

2012-01-01

Purpose: To quantify the error-detection effectiveness of commonly used quality control (QC) measures. Methods: We analyzed incidents from 2007-2010 logged into a voluntary in-house, electronic incident learning systems at 2 academic radiation oncology clinics. None of the incidents resulted in patient harm. Each incident was graded for potential severity using the French Nuclear Safety Authority scoring scale; high potential severity incidents (score >3) were considered, along with a subset of 30 randomly chosen low severity incidents. Each report was evaluated to identify which of 15 common QC checks could have detected it. The effectiveness was calculated, defined as the percentage of incidents that each QC measure could detect, both for individual QC checks and for combinations of checks. Results: In total, 4407 incidents were reported, 292 of which had high-potential severity. High- and low-severity incidents were detectable by 4.0 ± 2.3 (mean ± SD) and 2.6 ± 1.4 QC checks, respectively (P<.001). All individual checks were less than 50% sensitive with the exception of pretreatment plan review by a physicist (63%). An effectiveness of 97% was achieved with 7 checks used in combination and was not further improved with more checks. The combination of checks with the highest effectiveness includes physics plan review, physician plan review, Electronic Portal Imaging Device-based in vivo portal dosimetry, radiation therapist timeout, weekly physics chart check, the use of checklists, port films, and source-to-skin distance checks. Some commonly used QC checks such as pretreatment intensity modulated radiation therapy QA do not substantially add to the ability to detect errors in these data. Conclusions: The effectiveness of QC measures in radiation oncology depends sensitively on which checks are used and in which combinations. A small percentage of errors cannot be detected by any of the standard formal QC checks currently in broad use, suggesting that further

Quality control quantification (QCQ): a tool to measure the value of quality control checks in radiation oncology.

Science.gov (United States)

Ford, Eric C; Terezakis, Stephanie; Souranis, Annette; Harris, Kendra; Gay, Hiram; Mutic, Sasa

2012-11-01

To quantify the error-detection effectiveness of commonly used quality control (QC) measures. We analyzed incidents from 2007-2010 logged into a voluntary in-house, electronic incident learning systems at 2 academic radiation oncology clinics. None of the incidents resulted in patient harm. Each incident was graded for potential severity using the French Nuclear Safety Authority scoring scale; high potential severity incidents (score >3) were considered, along with a subset of 30 randomly chosen low severity incidents. Each report was evaluated to identify which of 15 common QC checks could have detected it. The effectiveness was calculated, defined as the percentage of incidents that each QC measure could detect, both for individual QC checks and for combinations of checks. In total, 4407 incidents were reported, 292 of which had high-potential severity. High- and low-severity incidents were detectable by 4.0 ± 2.3 (mean ± SD) and 2.6 ± 1.4 QC checks, respectively (P<.001). All individual checks were less than 50% sensitive with the exception of pretreatment plan review by a physicist (63%). An effectiveness of 97% was achieved with 7 checks used in combination and was not further improved with more checks. The combination of checks with the highest effectiveness includes physics plan review, physician plan review, Electronic Portal Imaging Device-based in vivo portal dosimetry, radiation therapist timeout, weekly physics chart check, the use of checklists, port films, and source-to-skin distance checks. Some commonly used QC checks such as pretreatment intensity modulated radiation therapy QA do not substantially add to the ability to detect errors in these data. The effectiveness of QC measures in radiation oncology depends sensitively on which checks are used and in which combinations. A small percentage of errors cannot be detected by any of the standard formal QC checks currently in broad use, suggesting that further improvements are needed. These data

Report on the analysis of the quality assurance and quality control data for the petroleum refining sector

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Thorton, N.; Michajluk, S.; Powell, T.; Lee, G.

1992-07-01

The Ontario Municipal-Industrial Strategy for Abatement (MISA) program has the ultimate goal of virtual elimination of persistent toxic contaminants from all discharges to provincial waterways. MISA effluent monitoring regulations, first promulgated for the petroleum refining sector, require direct dischargers to monitor their effluents for a specified number of contaminants and a specified frequency over a one-year period. The refineries were also required to carry out a quality control program on all process effluent streams and for specified analytical test groups. Two types of quality assurance/quality control (QA/QC) data were required: field QA/QC, which would indicate problems with field contamination or sampling, and laboratory QA/QC, which would indicate problems with the laboratory. The objectives of QA/QC analysis are to identify the significance of biases, chronic contamination, data variability, and false results, to assess data validity, and to allow data comparability among companies and laboratories. Of the 149 parameters monitored in the petroleum refining sector, 34 qualified as candidates for setting effluent limits. The QA/QC evaluation of monitoring data for the 34 parameters confirmed the presence of 18 parameters at such levels that they could be used to set statistically valid quantitative limits. 50 tabs

QC in MRI: useful or superfluous?

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Infantino, S; Malchair, F [Biomed Engineering, Boncelles (France)

1995-12-01

A European task group has developed a protocol for quality control (QC) in MRI. This protocol is essentially based on the control of image properties (uniformity of the signal, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), resolution, distortion, ...). We applied this protocol to the Magnetom SP (Siemens) of the University Hospital in Liege (Belgium). We used the Siemens multi-purpose phantom, which does not permit a QC as complete and accurate as the test objects used in the protocol. The phantom simulates the magnetic properties of the body. The body and head coils were tested with and without a loading annulus that simulates the body conductivity. The following results were obtained: body coil: the signal, SNR, uniformity and artifacts were satisfactory just after a maintenance but had changed significantly and became unacceptable two weeks later. Head coil: the uniformity of the signal and SNR were satisfactory without the annulus. With the annulus the signal increased from the right to the left of the phantom of nearly 20%. This came from a lack of correction of uniformity in the static field. Other parameters (slice width and spacing, resolution and distortion) were satisfactory. Since the head coil problem did not appear during the maintenance we suggest Siemens QC should include observation of intensity profiles. It is recommended to archive the obtained images so that the evolution of performances of the scanner can be followed.

QC in MRI: useful or superfluous?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Infantino, S.; Malchair, F.

1995-01-01

A European task group has developed a protocol for quality control (QC) in MRI. This protocol is essentially based on the control of image properties (uniformity of the signal, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), resolution, distortion, ...). We applied this protocol to the Magnetom SP (Siemens) of the University Hospital in Liege (Belgium). We used the Siemens multi-purpose phantom, which does not permit a QC as complete and accurate as the test objects used in the protocol. The phantom simulates the magnetic properties of the body. The body and head coils were tested with and without a loading annulus that simulates the body conductivity. The following results were obtained: body coil: the signal, SNR, uniformity and artifacts were satisfactory just after a maintenance but had changed significantly and became unacceptable two weeks later. Head coil: the uniformity of the signal and SNR were satisfactory without the annulus. With the annulus the signal increased from the right to the left of the phantom of nearly 20%. This came from a lack of correction of uniformity in the static field. Other parameters (slice width and spacing, resolution and distortion) were satisfactory. Since the head coil problem did not appear during the maintenance we suggest Siemens QC should include observation of intensity profiles. It is recommended to archive the obtained images so that the evolution of performances of the scanner can be followed

30 CFR 74.6 - Quality control.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Quality control. 74.6 Section 74.6 Mineral... of the CMDPSU will be maintained in production through adequate quality control procedures, MSHA and... DUST SAMPLING DEVICES Approval Requirements for Coal Mine Dust Personal Sampler Unit § 74.6 Quality...

From Field Notes to Data Portal - A Scalable Data QA/QC Framework for Tower Networks: Progress and Preliminary Results

Science.gov (United States)

Sturtevant, C.; Hackley, S.; Lee, R.; Holling, G.; Bonarrigo, S.

2017-12-01

Quality assurance and control (QA/QC) is one of the most important yet challenging aspects of producing research-quality data. Data quality issues are multi-faceted, including sensor malfunctions, unmet theoretical assumptions, and measurement interference from humans or the natural environment. Tower networks such as Ameriflux, ICOS, and NEON continue to grow in size and sophistication, yet tools for robust, efficient, scalable QA/QC have lagged. Quality control remains a largely manual process heavily relying on visual inspection of data. In addition, notes of measurement interference are often recorded on paper without an explicit pathway to data flagging. As such, an increase in network size requires a near-proportional increase in personnel devoted to QA/QC, quickly stressing the human resources available. We present a scalable QA/QC framework in development for NEON that combines the efficiency and standardization of automated checks with the power and flexibility of human review. This framework includes fast-response monitoring of sensor health, a mobile application for electronically recording maintenance activities, traditional point-based automated quality flagging, and continuous monitoring of quality outcomes and longer-term holistic evaluations. This framework maintains the traceability of quality information along the entirety of the data generation pipeline, and explicitly links field reports of measurement interference to quality flagging. Preliminary results show that data quality can be effectively monitored and managed for a multitude of sites with a small group of QA/QC staff. Several components of this framework are open-source, including a R-Shiny application for efficiently monitoring, synthesizing, and investigating data quality issues.

Developing Product Quality Control for Standardization of Tsetse Mass Production. Working Material

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2002-01-01

The recent Pan-African Tsetse and Trypanosomosis Eradication Campaign (PATTEC) provides a mechanism within which SIT will be one of the major components of an integrated areawide approach to the establishment of tsetse fly-free areas. Currently world-wide tsetse production is 1/40 of the projected requirement in 2006. To achieve this objective it is essential that quality control (QC) measures suitable for the expanded production be in place. Therefore, improved QC methodology has become a top priority. Improvements in QC methodology will help to ensure the attainment of these production goals and improve quality of rearing, minimize production costs and generate trained QC and production staff required to successfully produce flies and monitor their quality and suitability for release. The proposed CRP is designed to address these issues.

New QC 7 tools

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1982-03-01

This book tells of new QC with 7 tools which includes TQC and new QC with 7 tools which is for better propel, what is QC method to think? what is new QC 7 tool ? like KJ law, PDPC law, arrow and diagram law, and matrix diagram law, application of new QC 7 tools such as field to apply, application of new QC 7 tools for policy management the method of new QC 7 tools including related regulations KJ law, matrix and data analysis, PDPC law and education and introduction of new QC 7 tools.

Quality control in diagnostic radiology: experience and challenges

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Abd Aziz Mhd Ramli; Mohd Ramli Arshad; Mohd Khalid Matori; Muhammad Jamal Md Isa; Husaini Salleh; Abdullah Tahir Aliyasak; Zainal Jamaluddin; Hasrul Hisham Hussain

2005-01-01

Malaysian Institute for Nuclear Technology Research through its Medical Physics Group has been providing Quality Control (QC) services for medical x-ray apparatus used in diagnostic radiology to private clinics and hospitals since the year 1997. The quality control (QC) in diagnostic radiology is considered as part of quality assurance program which provide accurate diagnostic information at the lowest cost and the least exposure of the patients to radiation. Many experience and obstacles were faced by Medical Physics Group. This paper will discuss on some of the experiences and challenges that could be shared together with MINT staff especially in the safety aspect related to electrical and mechanical, radiation protection, performance and standard. The challenging in administrative aspect also will discuss. (Author)

New insight into the comparative power of quality-control rules that use control observations within a single analytical run.

Science.gov (United States)

Parvin, C A

1993-03-01

The error detection characteristics of quality-control (QC) rules that use control observations within a single analytical run are investigated. Unlike the evaluation of QC rules that span multiple analytical runs, most of the fundamental results regarding the performance of QC rules applied within a single analytical run can be obtained from statistical theory, without the need for simulation studies. The case of two control observations per run is investigated for ease of graphical display, but the conclusions can be extended to more than two control observations per run. Results are summarized in a graphical format that offers many interesting insights into the relations among the various QC rules. The graphs provide heuristic support to the theoretical conclusions that no QC rule is best under all error conditions, but the multirule that combines the mean rule and a within-run standard deviation rule offers an attractive compromise.

DTIPrep: Quality Control of Diffusion-Weighted Images

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ipek eOguz

2014-01-01

Full Text Available In the last decade, diffusion MRI (dMRI studies of the human and animal brain have been used to investigate a multitude of pathologies and drug-related effects in neuroscience research. Study after study identifies white matter (WM degeneration as a crucial biomarker for all these diseases. The tool of choice for studying WM is dMRI. However, dMRI has inherently low signal-to-noise ratio and its acquisition requires a relatively long scan time; in fact, the high loads required occasionally stress scanner hardware past the point of physical failure. As a result, many types of artifacts implicate the quality of diffusion imagery. Using these complex scans containing artifacts without quality control (QC can result in considerable error and bias in the subsequent analysis, negatively affecting the results of research studies using them. However, dMRI QC remains an under-recognized issue in the dMRI community as there are no user-friendly tools commonly available to comprehensively address the issue of dMRI QC. As a result, current dMRI studies often perform a poor job at dMRI QC.Thorough QC of diffusion MRI will reduce measurement noise and improve reproducibility, and sensitivity in neuroimaging studies; this will allow researchers to more fully exploit the power of the dMRI technique and will ultimately advance neuroscience. Therefore, in this manuscript, we present our open-source software, DTIPrep, as a unified, user friendly platform for thorough quality control of dMRI data. These include artifacts caused by eddy-currents, head motion, bed vibration and pulsation, venetian blind artifacts, as well as slice-wise and gradient-wise intensity inconsistencies. This paper summarizes a basic set of features of DTIPrep described earlier and focuses on newly added capabilities related to directional artifacts and bias analysis.

Comparison of Different Matrices as Potential Quality Control Samples for Neurochemical Dementia Diagnostics

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Lelental, Natalia; Brandner, Sebastian; Kofanova, Olga; Blennow, Kaj; Zetterberg, Henrik; Andreasson, Ulf; Engelborghs, Sebastiaan; Mroczko, Barbara; Gabryelewicz, Tomasz; Teunissen, Charlotte; Mollenhauer, Brit; Parnetti, Lucilla; Chiasserini, Davide; Molinuevo, Jose Luis; Perret-Liaudet, Armand; Verbeek, Marcel M.; Andreasen, Niels; Brosseron, Frederic; Bahl, Justyna M. C.; Herukka, Sanna-Kaisa; Hausner, Lucrezia; Froelich, Lutz; Labonte, Anne; Poirier, Judes; Miller, Anne-Marie; Zilka, Norbert; Kovacech, Branislav; Urbani, Andrea; Suardi, Silvia; Oliveira, Catarina; Baldeiras, Ines; Dubois, Bruno; Rot, Uros; Lehmann, Sylvain; Skinningsrud, Anders; Betsou, Fay; Wiltfang, Jens; Gkatzima, Olymbia; Winblad, Bengt; Buchfelder, Michael; Kornhuber, Johannes; Lewczuk, Piotr

2016-01-01

Background: Assay-vendor independent quality control (QC) samples for neurochemical dementia diagnostics (NDD) biomarkers are so far commercially unavailable. This requires that NDD laboratories prepare their own QC samples, for example by pooling leftover cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples.

Quality Control Assessment of Radiology Devices in Kerman Province, Iran

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zahra Jomehzadeh

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Introduction Application of quality control (QC programs at diagnostic radiology departments is of great significance for optimization of image quality and reduction of patient dose. The main objective of this study was to perform QC tests on stationary radiographic X-ray machines, installed in 14 hospitals of Kerman province, Iran. Materials and Methods In this cross-sectional study, QC tests were performed on 28 conventional radiographic X-ray units in Kerman governmental hospitals, based on the protocols and criteria recommended by the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI, using a calibrated Gammex QC kit. Each section of the QC kit incorporated different models. Results Based on the findings, kVp accuracy, kVp reproducibility, timer accuracy, timer reproducibility, exposure reproducibility, mA/timer linearity, and half-value layer were not within the acceptable limits in 25%, 4%, 29%, 18%, 11%, 12%, and 7% of the evaluated units (n=28, respectively. Conclusion As radiographic X-ray equipments in Kerman province are relatively old with a high workload, it is recommended that AEOI modify the current policies by changing the frequency of QC test implementation to at least once a year.

Quality Assurance and Quality Control Practices for Rehabilitation of Sewer and Water Mains

Science.gov (United States)

As part of the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s Aging Water Infrastructure Research Program, several areas of research are being pursued, including a review of quality assurance and quality control (QA/QC) practices and acceptance testing during the installation of reha...

Implementation of quality assurance and quality control in the Nuclear Analytical Laboratory of the Estonian Radiation Protection Centre

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Koeoep, T.; Jakobson, E.

2002-01-01

The Analytical Laboratory of the Estonian Radiation Protection Centre is in the process of implementing the system of Quality Assurance (QA) and Quality Control (QC) in the framework of the IAEA TC Project RER/2/004/ 'QA/QC of Nuclear Analytical Techniques'. The draft Quality Manual with annexes has been prepared accordingly to the ISO 17025 Guide, documents and other printed material delivered on the seminars of the project. The laboratory supply has been supplemented with necessary equipment for guaranteeing of quality. Proficiency testing included in the project has been performed successfully. (author)

Quality control for measurement of soil samples containing 237Np and 241Am as radiotracer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sha Lianmao; Zhang Caihong; Song Hailong; Ren Xiaona; Han Yuhu; Zhang Aiming; Chu Taiwei

2003-01-01

This paper reports quality control (QC) for the measurement of soil samples containing 237 Np and 241 Am as radiotracers in migration test of transuranic nuclides. All of the QC were done independently by the QA members of analytical work. It mainly included checking 5%-10% of the total analyzed samples; preparing blank samples, blind replicate sample and spiked samples used as quality control samples to check the quality of analytical work

Effect of uncertainty components such as recalibration on the performance of quality control charts

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Winkel, P; Zhang, Nevin

2005-01-01

Uncertainty components (recalibration, new reagent lots, etc.) may be the source of random changes in the level of quality control (QC) values, thus causing false alarms. We propose a method for reducing false alarms.......Uncertainty components (recalibration, new reagent lots, etc.) may be the source of random changes in the level of quality control (QC) values, thus causing false alarms. We propose a method for reducing false alarms....

Quality control and assurance for validation of DOS/I measurements

Science.gov (United States)

Cerussi, Albert; Durkin, Amanda; Kwong, Richard; Quang, Timothy; Hill, Brian; Tromberg, Bruce J.; MacKinnon, Nick; Mantulin, William W.

2010-02-01

Ongoing multi-center clinical trials are crucial for Biophotonics to gain acceptance in medical imaging. In these trials, quality control (QC) and assurance (QA) are key to success and provide "data insurance". Quality control and assurance deal with standardization, validation, and compliance of procedures, materials and instrumentation. Specifically, QC/QA involves systematic assessment of testing materials, instrumentation performance, standard operating procedures, data logging, analysis, and reporting. QC and QA are important for FDA accreditation and acceptance by the clinical community. Our Biophotonics research in the Network for Translational Research in Optical Imaging (NTROI) program for breast cancer characterization focuses on QA/QC issues primarily related to the broadband Diffuse Optical Spectroscopy and Imaging (DOS/I) instrumentation, because this is an emerging technology with limited standardized QC/QA in place. In the multi-center trial environment, we implement QA/QC procedures: 1. Standardize and validate calibration standards and procedures. (DOS/I technology requires both frequency domain and spectral calibration procedures using tissue simulating phantoms and reflectance standards, respectively.) 2. Standardize and validate data acquisition, processing and visualization (optimize instrument software-EZDOS; centralize data processing) 3. Monitor, catalog and maintain instrument performance (document performance; modularize maintenance; integrate new technology) 4. Standardize and coordinate trial data entry (from individual sites) into centralized database 5. Monitor, audit and communicate all research procedures (database, teleconferences, training sessions) between participants ensuring "calibration". This manuscript describes our ongoing efforts, successes and challenges implementing these strategies.

General Quality Control (QC) Guidelines for SAM Methods

Science.gov (United States)

Learn more about quality control guidelines and recommendations for the analysis of samples using the methods listed in EPA's Selected Analytical Methods for Environmental Remediation and Recovery (SAM).

Results of a QC program on dental radiography in Greece

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pappous, George; Kolitsi, Zoi; Pallikarakis, Nikolas; Arvanitakis, Gerasimos

1998-01-01

Quality Control (QC) performed on 99 intraoral dental X-Ray units, installed in equal in number dental offices, at the Achaia prefecture, a region of south west Greece. The QC procedure includes collection of general information, radiation safety checks, beam qualitative and quantitative characteristic checks, and film processing checks, according to international established protocols. The collected data are characterised by a non-uniformity and in some cases indicate a poor performance level. The results of the study on a representative sample of dental X-Ray units helps to map the existing situation and may be useful in the reviewing and optimisation of the applied process. (authors)

Results of a QC program on dental radiography in Greece

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pappous, George; Kolitsi, Zoi; Pallikarakis, Nikolas [Medical Physics Department, Patras University, 26 500 Patras (Greece); Arvanitakis, Gerasimos [Achaia branch of Hellenic Dental Association, Pantanasis 70-72, 262 21 (Greece)

1999-12-31

Quality Control (QC) performed on 99 intraoral dental X-Ray units, installed in equal in number dental offices, at the Achaia prefecture, a region of south west Greece. The QC procedure includes collection of general information, radiation safety checks, beam qualitative and quantitative characteristic checks, and film processing checks, according to international established protocols. The collected data are characterised by a non-uniformity and in some cases indicate a poor performance level. The results of the study on a representative sample of dental X-Ray units helps to map the existing situation and may be useful in the reviewing and optimisation of the applied process. (authors) 10 refs., 11 figs.

In-house quality audit and benefits of some quality control procedures in the quality assurance of TL dosimetry system at NRPB

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dutt, J.C.

1993-01-01

A number of Quality Control (QC) procedures have been introduced into the running and operation of the NRPB personal monitoring services. Those described here apply to the whole-body TL dosimetry system. These QC procedures comprise Quality Assurance (QA) of incoming raw materials and equipment, reader stabilisation, daily, routine and periodic QA checks on all phases of the service. In-house quality audit, periodic internal and external 'blind QA checks' on the dosimetry system as a whole have assured the continuing high quality and reliability of the NRPB TL dosimetry service for assessing body and skin doses of radiation workers from external photon and beta radiations. (author)

Eight years of quality control in Bulgaria: impact on mammography practice.

Science.gov (United States)

Avramova-Cholakova, S; Lilkov, G; Kaneva, M; Terziev, K; Nakov, I; Mutkurov, N; Kovacheva, D; Ivanova, M; Vasilev, D

2015-07-01

The requirements for quality control (QC) in diagnostic radiology were introduced in Bulgarian legislation in 2005. Hospital medical physicists and several private medical physics groups provide QC services to radiology departments. The aim of this study was to analyse data from QC tests in mammography and to investigate the impact of QC introduction on mammography practice in the country. The study was coordinated by the National Centre of Radiobiology and Radiation Protection. All medical physics services were requested to fill in standardised forms with information about most important parameters routinely measured during QC. All QC service providers responded. Results demonstrated significant improvement of practice since the introduction of QC, with reduction of established deviations from 65 % during the first year to 7 % in the last year. The systems that do not meet the acceptability criteria were suspended from use. Performance of automatic exposure control and digital detectors are not regularly tested because of the absence of requirements in the legislation. The need of updated guidance and training of medical physicists to reflect the change in technology was demonstrated. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Application of 5700.6B, quality assurance, to ES and H programs: Mound's approach and results

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Edling, D.A.

1985-01-01

Quality Assurance has always been integral to Mound's production and support operations. Weapons material and other designated material for WR programs are processed and controlled per the requirements of DOE/AL Quality Control Policy QC-1. Mound's non-WR activities, such as siting, design, construction, testing, operation, maintenance, development and production of materials, components, and systems, and acquisition of research and technology data are to be processed and controlled per the requirements of AL Order 5700.6. This paper presents an overview of the entire Quality Assurance Program at Mound and specifically addresses Mound's formal application of Quality Assurance to our comprehensive Environmental, Safety and Health (ES and H) Programs. 4 figures, 1 table

SprayQc: a real-time LC-MS/MS quality monitoring system to maximize uptime using off the shelf components.

Science.gov (United States)

Scheltema, Richard A; Mann, Matthias

2012-06-01

With the advent of high-throughput mass spectrometry (MS)-based proteomics, the magnitude and complexity of the performed experiments has increased dramatically. Likewise, investments in chromatographic and MS instrumentation are a large proportion of the budget of proteomics laboratories. Guarding measurement quality and maximizing uptime of the LC-MS/MS systems therefore requires constant care despite automated workflows. We describe a real-time surveillance system, called SprayQc, that continuously monitors the status of the peripheral equipment to ensure that operational parameters are within an acceptable range. SprayQc is composed of multiple plug-in software components that use computer vision to analyze electrospray conditions, monitor the chromatographic device for stable backpressure, interact with a column oven to control pressure by temperature, and ensure that the mass spectrometer is still acquiring data. Action is taken when a failure condition has been detected, such as stopping the column oven and the LC flow, as well as automatically notifying the appropriate operator. Additionally, all defined metrics can be recorded synchronized on retention time with the MS acquisition file, allowing for later inspection and providing valuable information for optimization. SprayQc has been extensively tested in our laboratory, supports third-party plug-in development, and is freely available for download from http://sourceforge.org/projects/sprayqc .

Standardization of D2 lymphadenectomy and surgical quality control (KLASS-02-QC): a prospective, observational, multicenter study [NCT01283893

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Hyoung-Il; Hur, Hoon; Kim, Youn Nam; Lee, Hyuk-Joon; Kim, Min-Chan; Han, Sang-Uk; Hyung, Woo Jin

2014-01-01

Extended systemic lymphadenectomy (D2) is standard procedure for surgical treatment of advanced gastric cancer (AGC) although less extensive lymphadenectomy (D1) can be applied to early gastric cancer. Complete D2 lymphadenectomy is the mandatory procedure for studies that evaluate surgical treatment results of AGC. However, the actual extent of D2 lymphadenectomy varies among surgeons because of a lacking consensus on the anatomical definition of each lymph node station. This study is aimed to develop a consensus for D2 lymphadenectomy and also to qualify surgeons that can perform both laparoscopic and open D2 gastrectomy. This (KLASS-02-QC) is a prospective, observational, multicenter study to qualify the surgeons that will participate in the KLASS-02-RCT, which is a prospective, randomized, clinical trial comparing laparoscopic and open gastrectomy for AGC. Surgeons and reviewers participating in the study will be required to complete a questionnaire detailing their professional experience and specific gastrectomy surgical background/training, and the gastrectomy metrics of their primary hospitals. All surgeons must submit three laparoscopic and three open D2 gastrectomy videos, respectively. Each video will be allocated to five peer reviewers; thus each surgeon’s operations will be assessed by a total of 30 reviews. Based on blinded assessment of unedited videos by experts’ review, a separate review evaluation committee will decide whether or not the evaluated surgeon will participate in the KLASS-02-RCT. The primary outcome measure is each surgeon’s proficiency, as assessed by the reviewers based on evaluation criteria for completeness of D2 lymphadenectomy. We believe that our study for standardization of D2 lymphadenectomy and surgical quality control (KLASS-02-QC) will guarantee successful implementation of the subsequent KLASS-02-RCT study. After making consensus on D2 lymphadenectomy, we developed evaluation criteria for completeness of D2

Comparison of quality control software tools for diffusion tensor imaging.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Bilan; Zhu, Tong; Zhong, Jianhui

2015-04-01

Image quality of diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) is critical for image interpretation, diagnostic accuracy and efficiency. However, DTI is susceptible to numerous detrimental artifacts that may impair the reliability and validity of the obtained data. Although many quality control (QC) software tools are being developed and are widely used and each has its different tradeoffs, there is still no general agreement on an image quality control routine for DTIs, and the practical impact of these tradeoffs is not well studied. An objective comparison that identifies the pros and cons of each of the QC tools will be helpful for the users to make the best choice among tools for specific DTI applications. This study aims to quantitatively compare the effectiveness of three popular QC tools including DTI studio (Johns Hopkins University), DTIprep (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, University of Iowa and University of Utah) and TORTOISE (National Institute of Health). Both synthetic and in vivo human brain data were used to quantify adverse effects of major DTI artifacts to tensor calculation as well as the effectiveness of different QC tools in identifying and correcting these artifacts. The technical basis of each tool was discussed, and the ways in which particular techniques affect the output of each of the tools were analyzed. The different functions and I/O formats that three QC tools provide for building a general DTI processing pipeline and integration with other popular image processing tools were also discussed. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Specialized software for optimization of the quality control of the mammography units

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stoeva, M.; Vassileva, J.

2004-01-01

Quality control is essential to ensure the equipment used is reliable and consistent in order to maintain radiation does as low as reasonably achievable whilst optimizing image quality and performance in mammography. The effectiveness of mammographic screening is highly dependent on the consistent production of high quality diagnostic images. Mammography is highly dependent on the equipment status, which requires an effective Quality Control (QC) program to provide tools for continuous assessment of the equipment performance and also data storage and analysis of the protocols' data. The objective of this paper is to present the specialized software for Quality Control of the Mammography Units, as tool providing additional functionality for optimizations of the Mammography QC data storage and management. The PC program was developed according to the requirements stated in the European protocol for Quality Control of the Mammography Screening and the data collected as a result of its application in several Bulgarian hospitals. The Structured Analysis method was used in order to perform a case, which resulted in the development of the specialized software with a database module, providing the following functionality: Data Storage, Preliminary Data Processing and Post-Processing, Manual Data Entry, Data Import from XLS format, Data Export to XLS format, Printing, Data Filters, Automated Calculation, Automated Graphical Representation, Archiving The development of specialized QC software with a database for mammography units facilitates the process of QC data storage and handling and minimizes the errors. The electronic format for data storage is especially useful in case of long-term storage and periodical data analysis/access. The integrated data processing functionality and the automated import/export features based on standard platform increase the compatibility of the data. (authors)

Establishing daily quality control (QC) in screen-film mammography using leeds tor (max) phantom at the breast imaging unit of USTH-Benavides Cancer Institute

Science.gov (United States)

Acaba, K. J. C.; Cinco, L. D.; Melchor, J. N.

2016-03-01

Daily QC tests performed on screen film mammography (SFM) equipment are essential to ensure that both SFM unit and film processor are working in a consistent manner. The Breast Imaging Unit of USTH-Benavides Cancer Institute has been conducting QC following the test protocols in the IAEA Human Health Series No.2 manual. However, the availability of Leeds breast phantom (CRP E13039) in the facility made the task easier. Instead of carrying out separate tests on AEC constancy and light sensitometry, only one exposure of the phantom is done to accomplish the two tests. It was observed that measurements made on mAs output and optical densities (ODs) using the Leeds TOR (MAX) phantom are comparable with that obtained from the usual conduct of tests, taking into account the attenuation characteristic of the phantom. Image quality parameters such as low contrast and high contrast details were also evaluated from the phantom image. The authors recognize the usefulness of the phantom in determining technical factors that will help improve detection of smallest pathological details on breast images. The phantom is also convenient for daily QC monitoring and economical since less number of films is expended.

Vision of new generation CRMs for QC of microanalysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tian Weizhi

2005-01-01

Direct analysis of ever smaller solid samples has become one of the trends in modern analytical science, in coping with the increasing requirements from life, materials, environment, and other frontier scientific fields. Due to the lack of natural matrix CRMs certified at matched sample size levels, however, quantitative calibration and quality control have long been a bottleneck of microanalysis. CRMs of new generation are therefore called for to make solid sampling microanalysis an accurately quantitative and quality-controllable technique. In this paper, an approach is proposed to use a combination of several nuclear analytical techniques in the certification of RMs suitable for QC of analyses at sub-ng sample size levels. The technical procedures, the major problems, and the possible format of certificates of the new generation CRMs, and the outliik of the establishment of QC system for microanalysis are described. The CRMs of current generation have played an important role in the quality of analysis, especially trace analysis, and in turn in the development of related scientific fields in 20 th century. It may be reasonably predicted that the new generation CRMs will play the similar role in the quality of microanalysis, and in turn in relevant frontier scientific fields in 21 st century. Nuclear analytical techniques have made, and will continue to make, unique contributions to both generations of CRMs.

Challenges in Development of Sperm Repositories for Biomedical Fishes: Quality Control in Small-Bodied Species.

Science.gov (United States)

Torres, Leticia; Liu, Yue; Guitreau, Amy; Yang, Huiping; Tiersch, Terrence R

2017-12-01

Quality control (QC) is essential for reproducible and efficient functioning of germplasm repositories. However, many biomedical fish models present significant QC challenges due to small body sizes (<5 cm) and miniscule sperm volumes (<5 μL). Using minimal volumes of sperm, we used Zebrafish to evaluate common QC endpoints as surrogates for fertilization success along sequential steps of cryopreservation. First, concentrations of calibration bead suspensions were evaluated with a Makler ® counting chamber by using different sample volumes and mixing methods. For sperm analysis, samples were initially diluted at a 1:30 ratio with Hanks' balanced salt solution (HBSS). Motility was evaluated by using different ratios of sperm and activation medium, and membrane integrity was analyzed with flow cytometry at different concentrations. Concentration and sperm motility could be confidently estimated by using volumes as small as 1 μL, whereas membrane integrity required a minimum of 2 μL (at 1 × 10 6 cells/mL). Thus, <5 μL of sperm suspension (after dilution to 30-150 μL with HBSS) was required to evaluate sperm quality by using three endpoints. Sperm quality assessment using a combination of complementary endpoints enhances QC efforts during cryopreservation, increasing reliability and reproducibility, and reducing waste of time and resources.

Quality Control Procedure Based on Partitioning of NMR Time Series

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Michał Staniszewski

2018-03-01

Full Text Available The quality of the magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS depends on the stability of magnetic resonance (MR system performance and optimal hardware functioning, which ensure adequate levels of signal-to-noise ratios (SNR as well as good spectral resolution and minimal artifacts in the spectral data. MRS quality control (QC protocols and methodologies are based on phantom measurements that are repeated regularly. In this work, a signal partitioning algorithm based on a dynamic programming (DP method for QC assessment of the spectral data is described. The proposed algorithm allows detection of the change points—the abrupt variations in the time series data. The proposed QC method was tested using the simulated and real phantom data. Simulated data were randomly generated time series distorted by white noise. The real data were taken from the phantom quality control studies of the MRS scanner collected for four and a half years and analyzed by LCModel software. Along with the proposed algorithm, performance of various literature methods was evaluated for the predefined number of change points based on the error values calculated by subtracting the mean values calculated for the periods between the change-points from the original data points. The time series were checked using external software, a set of external methods and the proposed tool, and the obtained results were comparable. The application of dynamic programming in the analysis of the phantom MRS data is a novel approach to QC. The obtained results confirm that the presented change-point-detection tool can be used either for independent analysis of MRS time series (or any other or as a part of quality control.

Operational quality control of daily precipitation using spatio-climatological consistency testing

Science.gov (United States)

Scherrer, S. C.; Croci-Maspoli, M.; van Geijtenbeek, D.; Naguel, C.; Appenzeller, C.

2010-09-01

Quality control (QC) of meteorological data is of utmost importance for climate related decisions. The search for an effective automated QC of precipitation data has proven difficult and many weather services still use mainly manual inspection of daily precipitation including MeteoSwiss. However, man power limitations force many weather services to move towards less labour intensive and more automated QC with the challenge to keeping data quality high. In the last decade, several approaches have been presented to objectify daily precipitation QC. Here we present a spatio-climatological approach that will be implemented operationally at MeteoSwiss. It combines the information from the event based spatial distribution of everyday's precipitation field and the historical information of the interpolation error using different precipitation intensity intervals. Expert judgement shows that the system is able to detect potential outliers very well (hardly any missed errors) without creating too many false alarms that need human inspection. 50-80% of all flagged values have been classified as real errors by the data editor. This is much better than the roughly 15-20% using standard spatial regression tests. Very helpful in the QC process is the automatic redistribution of accumulated several day sums. Manual inspection in operations can be reduced and the QC of precipitation objectified substantially.

Recent Progress toward Microfluidic Quality Control Testing of Radiopharmaceuticals

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Noel S. Ha

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Radiopharmaceuticals labeled with short-lived positron-emitting or gamma-emitting isotopes are injected into patients just prior to performing positron emission tomography (PET or single photon emission tomography (SPECT scans, respectively. These imaging modalities are widely used in clinical care, as well as in the development and evaluation of new therapies in clinical research. Prior to injection, these radiopharmaceuticals (tracers must undergo quality control (QC testing to ensure product purity, identity, and safety for human use. Quality tests can be broadly categorized as (i pharmaceutical tests, needed to ensure molecular identity, physiological compatibility and that no microbiological, pyrogenic, chemical, or particulate contamination is present in the final preparation; and (ii radioactive tests, needed to ensure proper dosing and that there are no radiochemical and radionuclidic impurities that could interfere with the biodistribution or imaging. Performing the required QC tests is cumbersome and time-consuming, and requires an array of expensive analytical chemistry equipment and significant dedicated lab space. Calibrations, day of use tests, and documentation create an additional burden. Furthermore, in contrast to ordinary pharmaceuticals, each batch of short-lived radiopharmaceuticals must be manufactured and tested within a short period of time to avoid significant losses due to radioactive decay. To meet these challenges, several efforts are underway to develop integrated QC testing instruments that automatically perform and document all of the required tests. More recently, microfluidic quality control systems have been gaining increasing attention due to vastly reduced sample and reagent consumption, shorter analysis times, higher detection sensitivity, increased multiplexing, and reduced instrumentation size. In this review, we describe each of the required QC tests and conventional testing methods, followed by a

NEMA NU-1 2007 based and independent quality control software for gamma cameras and SPECT

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vickery, A; Joergensen, T; De Nijs, R

2011-01-01

A thorough quality assurance of gamma and SPECT cameras requires a careful handling of the measured quality control (QC) data. Most gamma camera manufacturers provide the users with camera specific QC Software. This QC software is indeed a useful tool for the following of day-to-day performance of a single camera. However, when it comes to objective performance comparison of different gamma cameras and a deeper understanding of the calculated numbers, the use of camera specific QC software without access to the source code is rather avoided. Calculations and definitions might differ, and manufacturer independent standardized results are preferred. Based upon the NEMA Standards Publication NU 1-2007, we have developed a suite of easy-to-use data handling software for processing acquired QC data providing the user with instructive images and text files with the results.

Quality control in dual head γ-cameras: comparison between methods and software s used for image analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nayl E, A.; Fornasier, M. R.; De Denaro, M.; Sulieman, A.; Alkhorayef, M.; Bradley, D.

2017-10-01

Patient radiation dose and image quality are the main issues in nuclear medicine (Nm) procedures. Currently, many protocols are used for image acquisition and analysis of quality control (Qc) tests. National Electrical Manufacturers Association (Nema) methods and protocols are widely accepted method used for providing accurate description, measurement and reporting of γ-camera performance parameters. However, no standard software is available for image analysis. The aim os this study was to compare between the vendor Qc software analysis and three software from different developers downloaded free from internet; NMQC, Nm Tool kit and ImageJ-Nm Tool kit software. The three software are used for image analysis of some Qc tests for γ-cameras based on Nema protocols including non-uniformity evaluation. Ten non-uniformity Qc images were taken from dual head γ-camera (Siemens Symbia) installed in Trieste general hospital (Italy), and analyzed. Excel analysis was used as baseline calculation of the non-uniformity test according Nema procedures. The results of the non-uniformity analysis showed good agreement between the three independent software and excel calculation (the average differences were 0.3%, 2.9%, 1.3% and 1.6% for UFOV integral, UFOV differential, CFOV integral and CFOV differential respectively), while significant difference was detected on the analysis of the company Qc software with compare to the excel analysis (the average differences were 14.6%, 20.7%, 25.7% and 31.9% for UFOV integral, UFOV differential, CFOV integral and CFOV differential respectively). NMQC software was the best in comparison with the excel calculations. The variation in the results is due to different pixel sizes used for analysis in the three software and the γ-camera Qc software. Therefore, is important to perform the tests by the vendor Qc software as well as by independent analysis to understand the differences between the values. Moreover, the medical physicist should know

Quality control in dual head γ-cameras: comparison between methods and software s used for image analysis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nayl E, A. [Sudan Atomic Energy Commission, Radiation Safety Institute, Khartoum (Sudan); Fornasier, M. R.; De Denaro, M. [Azienda Sanitaria Universitaria Integrata di Trieste, Medical Physics Department, Via Giovanni Sai 7, 34128 Trieste (Italy); Sulieman, A. [Prince Sattam bin Abdulaziz University, College of Applied Medical Sciences, Radiology and Medical Imaging Department, P. O. Box 422, 11942 Al-Kharj (Saudi Arabia); Alkhorayef, M.; Bradley, D., E-mail: abdwsh10@hotmail.com [University of Surrey, Department of Physics, GU2-7XH Guildford, Surrey (United Kingdom)

2017-10-15

Patient radiation dose and image quality are the main issues in nuclear medicine (Nm) procedures. Currently, many protocols are used for image acquisition and analysis of quality control (Qc) tests. National Electrical Manufacturers Association (Nema) methods and protocols are widely accepted method used for providing accurate description, measurement and reporting of γ-camera performance parameters. However, no standard software is available for image analysis. The aim os this study was to compare between the vendor Qc software analysis and three software from different developers downloaded free from internet; NMQC, Nm Tool kit and ImageJ-Nm Tool kit software. The three software are used for image analysis of some Qc tests for γ-cameras based on Nema protocols including non-uniformity evaluation. Ten non-uniformity Qc images were taken from dual head γ-camera (Siemens Symbia) installed in Trieste general hospital (Italy), and analyzed. Excel analysis was used as baseline calculation of the non-uniformity test according Nema procedures. The results of the non-uniformity analysis showed good agreement between the three independent software and excel calculation (the average differences were 0.3%, 2.9%, 1.3% and 1.6% for UFOV integral, UFOV differential, CFOV integral and CFOV differential respectively), while significant difference was detected on the analysis of the company Qc software with compare to the excel analysis (the average differences were 14.6%, 20.7%, 25.7% and 31.9% for UFOV integral, UFOV differential, CFOV integral and CFOV differential respectively). NMQC software was the best in comparison with the excel calculations. The variation in the results is due to different pixel sizes used for analysis in the three software and the γ-camera Qc software. Therefore, is important to perform the tests by the vendor Qc software as well as by independent analysis to understand the differences between the values. Moreover, the medical physicist should know

Quality Control Practices for Chemistry and Immunochemistry in a Cohort of 21 Large Academic Medical Centers.

Science.gov (United States)

Rosenbaum, Matthew W; Flood, James G; Melanson, Stacy E F; Baumann, Nikola A; Marzinke, Mark A; Rai, Alex J; Hayden, Joshua; Wu, Alan H B; Ladror, Megan; Lifshitz, Mark S; Scott, Mitchell G; Peck-Palmer, Octavia M; Bowen, Raffick; Babic, Nikolina; Sobhani, Kimia; Giacherio, Donald; Bocsi, Gregary T; Herman, Daniel S; Wang, Ping; Toffaletti, John; Handel, Elizabeth; Kelly, Kathleen A; Albeiroti, Sami; Wang, Sihe; Zimmer, Melissa; Driver, Brandon; Yi, Xin; Wilburn, Clayton; Lewandrowski, Kent B

2018-05-29

In the United States, minimum standards for quality control (QC) are specified in federal law under the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendment and its revisions. Beyond meeting this required standard, laboratories have flexibility to determine their overall QC program. We surveyed chemistry and immunochemistry QC procedures at 21 clinical laboratories within leading academic medical centers to assess if standardized QC practices exist for chemistry and immunochemistry testing. We observed significant variation and unexpected similarities in practice across laboratories, including QC frequency, cutoffs, number of levels analyzed, and other features. This variation in practice indicates an opportunity exists to establish an evidence-based approach to QC that can be generalized across institutions.

HANDBOOK: QUALITY ASSURANCE/QUALITY CONTROL (QA/QC) PROCEDURES FOR HAZARDOUS WASTE INCINERATION

Science.gov (United States)

Resource Conservation and Recovery Act regulations for hazardous waste incineration require trial burns by permit applicants. uality Assurance Project Plan (QAPjP) must accompany a trial burn plan with appropriate quality assurance/quality control procedures. uidance on the prepa...

Sci-Fri AM: Quality, Safety, and Professional Issues 01: CPQR Technical Quality Control Suite Development including Quality Control Workload Results

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Malkoske, Kyle; Nielsen, Michelle; Brown, Erika; Diamond, Kevin; Frenière, Normand; Grant, John; Pomerleau-Dalcourt, Natalie; Schella, Jason; Schreiner, L. John; Tantot, Laurent; Barajas, Eduardo Villareal; Bissonnette, Jean-Pierre [Royal Victoria Hospital, Trillium Health Partners, CPQR, Juravinski Cancer Centre, CIUSSS MCQ - CHAUR, Cape Breton Health Care Complex, Centre d’oncologie Dr. Léon-Richard / Dr. Léon Richard Oncology Centre, QEII Health Sciences Centre, Cancer Centre of Southeastern Ontario, Hôpital Maisonneuve-Rosemont, Tom Baker Cancer Centre, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre (Canada)

2016-08-15

A close partnership between the Canadian Partnership for Quality Radiotherapy (CPQR) and the Canadian Organization of Medical Physicist’s (COMP) Quality Assurance and Radiation Safety Advisory Committee (QARSAC) has resulted in the development of a suite of Technical Quality Control (TQC) Guidelines for radiation treatment equipment, that outline specific performance objectives and criteria that equipment should meet in order to assure an acceptable level of radiation treatment quality. The framework includes consolidation of existing guidelines and/or literature by expert reviewers, structured stages of public review, external field-testing and ratification by COMP. The adopted framework for the development and maintenance of the TQCs ensures the guidelines incorporate input from the medical physics community during development, measures the workload required to perform the QC tests outlined in each TQC, and remain relevant (i.e. “living documents”) through subsequent planned reviews and updates. This presentation will show the Multi-Leaf Linear Accelerator document as an example of how feedback and cross-national work to achieve a robust guidance document. During field-testing, each technology was tested at multiple centres in a variety of clinic environments. As part of the defined feedback, workload data was captured. This lead to average time associated with testing as defined in each TQC document. As a result, for a medium-sized centre comprising 6 linear accelerators and a comprehensive brachytherapy program, we evaluate the physics workload to 1.5 full-time equivalent physicist per year to complete all QC tests listed in this suite.

Sci-Fri AM: Quality, Safety, and Professional Issues 01: CPQR Technical Quality Control Suite Development including Quality Control Workload Results

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Malkoske, Kyle; Nielsen, Michelle; Brown, Erika; Diamond, Kevin; Frenière, Normand; Grant, John; Pomerleau-Dalcourt, Natalie; Schella, Jason; Schreiner, L. John; Tantot, Laurent; Barajas, Eduardo Villareal; Bissonnette, Jean-Pierre

2016-01-01

A close partnership between the Canadian Partnership for Quality Radiotherapy (CPQR) and the Canadian Organization of Medical Physicist’s (COMP) Quality Assurance and Radiation Safety Advisory Committee (QARSAC) has resulted in the development of a suite of Technical Quality Control (TQC) Guidelines for radiation treatment equipment, that outline specific performance objectives and criteria that equipment should meet in order to assure an acceptable level of radiation treatment quality. The framework includes consolidation of existing guidelines and/or literature by expert reviewers, structured stages of public review, external field-testing and ratification by COMP. The adopted framework for the development and maintenance of the TQCs ensures the guidelines incorporate input from the medical physics community during development, measures the workload required to perform the QC tests outlined in each TQC, and remain relevant (i.e. “living documents”) through subsequent planned reviews and updates. This presentation will show the Multi-Leaf Linear Accelerator document as an example of how feedback and cross-national work to achieve a robust guidance document. During field-testing, each technology was tested at multiple centres in a variety of clinic environments. As part of the defined feedback, workload data was captured. This lead to average time associated with testing as defined in each TQC document. As a result, for a medium-sized centre comprising 6 linear accelerators and a comprehensive brachytherapy program, we evaluate the physics workload to 1.5 full-time equivalent physicist per year to complete all QC tests listed in this suite.

Multileaf collimator performance monitoring and improvement using semiautomated quality control testing and statistical process control

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Létourneau, Daniel; McNiven, Andrea; Keller, Harald; Wang, An; Amin, Md Nurul; Pearce, Jim; Norrlinger, Bernhard; Jaffray, David A.

2014-01-01

Purpose: High-quality radiation therapy using highly conformal dose distributions and image-guided techniques requires optimum machine delivery performance. In this work, a monitoring system for multileaf collimator (MLC) performance, integrating semiautomated MLC quality control (QC) tests and statistical process control tools, was developed. The MLC performance monitoring system was used for almost a year on two commercially available MLC models. Control charts were used to establish MLC performance and assess test frequency required to achieve a given level of performance. MLC-related interlocks and servicing events were recorded during the monitoring period and were investigated as indicators of MLC performance variations. Methods: The QC test developed as part of the MLC performance monitoring system uses 2D megavoltage images (acquired using an electronic portal imaging device) of 23 fields to determine the location of the leaves with respect to the radiation isocenter. The precision of the MLC performance monitoring QC test and the MLC itself was assessed by detecting the MLC leaf positions on 127 megavoltage images of a static field. After initial calibration, the MLC performance monitoring QC test was performed 3–4 times/week over a period of 10–11 months to monitor positional accuracy of individual leaves for two different MLC models. Analysis of test results was performed using individuals control charts per leaf with control limits computed based on the measurements as well as two sets of specifications of ±0.5 and ±1 mm. Out-of-specification and out-of-control leaves were automatically flagged by the monitoring system and reviewed monthly by physicists. MLC-related interlocks reported by the linear accelerator and servicing events were recorded to help identify potential causes of nonrandom MLC leaf positioning variations. Results: The precision of the MLC performance monitoring QC test and the MLC itself was within ±0.22 mm for most MLC leaves

Multileaf collimator performance monitoring and improvement using semiautomated quality control testing and statistical process control.

Science.gov (United States)

Létourneau, Daniel; Wang, An; Amin, Md Nurul; Pearce, Jim; McNiven, Andrea; Keller, Harald; Norrlinger, Bernhard; Jaffray, David A

2014-12-01

High-quality radiation therapy using highly conformal dose distributions and image-guided techniques requires optimum machine delivery performance. In this work, a monitoring system for multileaf collimator (MLC) performance, integrating semiautomated MLC quality control (QC) tests and statistical process control tools, was developed. The MLC performance monitoring system was used for almost a year on two commercially available MLC models. Control charts were used to establish MLC performance and assess test frequency required to achieve a given level of performance. MLC-related interlocks and servicing events were recorded during the monitoring period and were investigated as indicators of MLC performance variations. The QC test developed as part of the MLC performance monitoring system uses 2D megavoltage images (acquired using an electronic portal imaging device) of 23 fields to determine the location of the leaves with respect to the radiation isocenter. The precision of the MLC performance monitoring QC test and the MLC itself was assessed by detecting the MLC leaf positions on 127 megavoltage images of a static field. After initial calibration, the MLC performance monitoring QC test was performed 3-4 times/week over a period of 10-11 months to monitor positional accuracy of individual leaves for two different MLC models. Analysis of test results was performed using individuals control charts per leaf with control limits computed based on the measurements as well as two sets of specifications of ± 0.5 and ± 1 mm. Out-of-specification and out-of-control leaves were automatically flagged by the monitoring system and reviewed monthly by physicists. MLC-related interlocks reported by the linear accelerator and servicing events were recorded to help identify potential causes of nonrandom MLC leaf positioning variations. The precision of the MLC performance monitoring QC test and the MLC itself was within ± 0.22 mm for most MLC leaves and the majority of the

Implementation of Quality Control Protocol in Mammography: A Serbian Experience

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ciraj Bjelac, O.; Kosutic, D.; Arandjic, D.; Kovacevic, M.

2008-01-01

Mammography is method of choice for early detection of breast cancer. In Serbia, mammography is performed only clinically, although there is a long term plan to introduce mammography as screening method. Currently there are 60 mammography units in practice in Serbia, resulting with 70 000 mammographies annually. The purpose of this paper is preliminary evaluation of the mammography practice in Serbia, having in mind the annual number of examinations and fact that part of examination is performed on women without any clinical signs. For pilot implementation of Quality Control (QC) protocol in mammography, five hospitals with highest workload have been selected, representing the typical mammography practice in Serbia. Developed QC protocol, based on European guidelines for quality assurance in breast cancer screening and diagnosis, actual practice and resources, includes equipment testing and maintenance, staff training and QC management and allocation of responsibilities. Subsequently, it should be applied on the national scale. The survey demonstrated considerable variations in technical parameters that affect image quality and patients doses. Mean glandular doses ranged from 0.12 to 2.8 mGy, while reference optical density ranged from 1.2 to 2.8. Main problems were associated with film processing, viewing conditions and optical density control. The preliminary survey of mammography practice highlighted the need for optimization of radiation protection and training of operating staff, although the survey itself was very valuable learning process for all participants. Furthermore, systematic implementation of QC protocol should provide reliable performance of mammography units and maintain satisfactory image quality and keep patient doses as low as reasonably practical.(author)

DTIPrep: quality control of diffusion-weighted images.

Science.gov (United States)

Oguz, Ipek; Farzinfar, Mahshid; Matsui, Joy; Budin, Francois; Liu, Zhexing; Gerig, Guido; Johnson, Hans J; Styner, Martin

2014-01-01

In the last decade, diffusion MRI (dMRI) studies of the human and animal brain have been used to investigate a multitude of pathologies and drug-related effects in neuroscience research. Study after study identifies white matter (WM) degeneration as a crucial biomarker for all these diseases. The tool of choice for studying WM is dMRI. However, dMRI has inherently low signal-to-noise ratio and its acquisition requires a relatively long scan time; in fact, the high loads required occasionally stress scanner hardware past the point of physical failure. As a result, many types of artifacts implicate the quality of diffusion imagery. Using these complex scans containing artifacts without quality control (QC) can result in considerable error and bias in the subsequent analysis, negatively affecting the results of research studies using them. However, dMRI QC remains an under-recognized issue in the dMRI community as there are no user-friendly tools commonly available to comprehensively address the issue of dMRI QC. As a result, current dMRI studies often perform a poor job at dMRI QC. Thorough QC of dMRI will reduce measurement noise and improve reproducibility, and sensitivity in neuroimaging studies; this will allow researchers to more fully exploit the power of the dMRI technique and will ultimately advance neuroscience. Therefore, in this manuscript, we present our open-source software, DTIPrep, as a unified, user friendly platform for thorough QC of dMRI data. These include artifacts caused by eddy-currents, head motion, bed vibration and pulsation, venetian blind artifacts, as well as slice-wise and gradient-wise intensity inconsistencies. This paper summarizes a basic set of features of DTIPrep described earlier and focuses on newly added capabilities related to directional artifacts and bias analysis.

Statistical analysis of quality control of automatic processor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Niu Yantao; Zhao Lei; Zhang Wei; Yan Shulin

2002-01-01

Objective: To strengthen the scientific management of automatic processor and promote QC, based on analyzing QC management chart for automatic processor by statistical method, evaluating and interpreting the data and trend of the chart. Method: Speed, contrast, minimum density of step wedge of film strip were measured everyday and recorded on the QC chart. Mean (x-bar), standard deviation (s) and range (R) were calculated. The data and the working trend were evaluated and interpreted for management decisions. Results: Using relative frequency distribution curve constructed by measured data, the authors can judge whether it is a symmetric bell-shaped curve or not. If not, it indicates a few extremes overstepping control limits possibly are pulling the curve to the left or right. If it is a normal distribution, standard deviation (s) is observed. When x-bar +- 2s lies in upper and lower control limits of relative performance indexes, it indicates the processor works in stable status in this period. Conclusion: Guided by statistical method, QC work becomes more scientific and quantified. The authors can deepen understanding and application of the trend chart, and improve the quality management to a new step

Droplet digital PCR-based EGFR mutation detection with an internal quality control index to determine the quality of DNA.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Sung-Su; Choi, Hyun-Jeung; Kim, Jin Ju; Kim, M Sun; Lee, In-Seon; Byun, Bohyun; Jia, Lina; Oh, Myung Ryurl; Moon, Youngho; Park, Sarah; Choi, Joon-Seok; Chae, Seoung Wan; Nam, Byung-Ho; Kim, Jin-Soo; Kim, Jihun; Min, Byung Soh; Lee, Jae Seok; Won, Jae-Kyung; Cho, Soo Youn; Choi, Yoon-La; Shin, Young Kee

2018-01-11

In clinical translational research and molecular in vitro diagnostics, a major challenge in the detection of genetic mutations is overcoming artefactual results caused by the low-quality of formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue (FFPET)-derived DNA (FFPET-DNA). Here, we propose the use of an 'internal quality control (iQC) index' as a criterion for judging the minimum quality of DNA for PCR-based analyses. In a pre-clinical study comparing the results from droplet digital PCR-based EGFR mutation test (ddEGFR test) and qPCR-based EGFR mutation test (cobas EGFR test), iQC index ≥ 0.5 (iQC copies ≥ 500, using 3.3 ng of FFPET-DNA [1,000 genome equivalents]) was established, indicating that more than half of the input DNA was amplifiable. Using this criterion, we conducted a retrospective comparative clinical study of the ddEGFR and cobas EGFR tests for the detection of EGFR mutations in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) FFPET-DNA samples. Compared with the cobas EGFR test, the ddEGFR test exhibited superior analytical performance and equivalent or higher clinical performance. Furthermore, iQC index is a reliable indicator of the quality of FFPET-DNA and could be used to prevent incorrect diagnoses arising from low-quality samples.

Quality control for diagnostic oral microbiology laboratories in European countries

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andrew J. Smith

2011-11-01

Full Text Available Participation in diagnostic microbiology internal and external quality control (QC processes is good laboratory practice and an essential component of a quality management system. However, no QC scheme for diagnostic oral microbiology existed until 2009 when the Clinical Oral Microbiology (COMB Network was created. At the European Oral Microbiology Workshop in 2008, 12 laboratories processing clinical oral microbiological samples were identified. All these were recruited to participate into the study and six laboratories from six European countries completed both the online survey and the first QC round. Three additional laboratories participated in the second round. Based on the survey, European oral microbiology laboratories process a significant (mean per laboratory 4,135 number of diagnostic samples from the oral cavity annually. A majority of the laboratories did not participate in any internal or external QC programme and nearly half of the laboratories did not have standard operating procedures for the tests they performed. In both QC rounds, there was a large variation in the results, interpretation and reporting of antibiotic susceptibility testing among the laboratories. In conclusion, the results of this study demonstrate the need for harmonisation of laboratory processing methods and interpretation of results for oral microbiology specimens. The QC rounds highlighted the value of external QC in evaluating the efficacy and safety of processes, materials and methods used in the laboratory. The use of standardised methods is also a prerequisite for multi-centre epidemiological studies that can provide important information on emerging microbes and trends in anti-microbial susceptibility for empirical prescribing in oro-facial infections.

Pre-emptive Quality Control Protects the ER from Protein Overload via the Proximity of ERAD Components and SRP

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hisae Kadowaki

2015-11-01

Full Text Available Cells possess ER quality control systems to adapt to ER stress and maintain their function. ER-stress-induced pre-emptive quality control (ER pQC selectively degrades ER proteins via translocational attenuation during ER stress. However, the molecular mechanism underlying this process remains unclear. Here, we find that most newly synthesized endogenous transthyretin proteins are rerouted to the cytosol without cleavage of the signal peptide, resulting in proteasomal degradation in hepatocytes during ER stress. Derlin family proteins (Derlins, which are ER-associated degradation components, reroute specific ER proteins, but not ER chaperones, from the translocon to the proteasome through interactions with the signal recognition particle (SRP. Moreover, the cytosolic chaperone Bag6 and the AAA-ATPase p97 contribute to the degradation of ER pQC substrates. These findings demonstrate that Derlins-mediated substrate-specific rerouting and Bag6- and p97-mediated effective degradation contribute to the maintenance of ER homeostasis without the need for translocation.

The quality control theory of aging

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Warren Ladiges

2014-05-01

Full Text Available The quality control (QC theory of aging is based on the concept that aging is the result of a reduction in QC of cellular systems designed to maintain lifelong homeostasis. Four QC systems associated with aging are 1 inadequate protein processing in a distressed endoplasmic reticulum (ER; 2 histone deacetylase (HDAC processing of genomic histones and gene silencing; 3 suppressed AMPK nutrient sensing with inefficient energy utilization and excessive fat accumulation; and 4 beta-adrenergic receptor (BAR signaling and environmental and emotional stress. Reprogramming these systems to maintain efficiency and prevent aging would be a rational strategy for increased lifespan and improved health. The QC theory can be tested with a pharmacological approach using three well-known and safe, FDA-approved drugs: 1 phenyl butyric acid, a chemical chaperone that enhances ER function and is also an HDAC inhibitor, 2 metformin, which activates AMPK and is used to treat type 2 diabetes, and 3 propranolol, a beta blocker which inhibits BAR signaling and is used to treat hypertension and anxiety. A critical aspect of the QC theory, then, is that aging is associated with multiple cellular systems that can be targeted with drug combinations more effectively than with single drugs. But more importantly, these drug combinations will effectively prevent, delay, or reverse chronic diseases of aging that impose such a tremendous health burden on our society.

The quality control theory of aging.

Science.gov (United States)

Ladiges, Warren

2014-01-01

The quality control (QC) theory of aging is based on the concept that aging is the result of a reduction in QC of cellular systems designed to maintain lifelong homeostasis. Four QC systems associated with aging are 1) inadequate protein processing in a distressed endoplasmic reticulum (ER); 2) histone deacetylase (HDAC) processing of genomic histones and gene silencing; 3) suppressed AMPK nutrient sensing with inefficient energy utilization and excessive fat accumulation; and 4) beta-adrenergic receptor (BAR) signaling and environmental and emotional stress. Reprogramming these systems to maintain efficiency and prevent aging would be a rational strategy for increased lifespan and improved health. The QC theory can be tested with a pharmacological approach using three well-known and safe, FDA-approved drugs: 1) phenyl butyric acid, a chemical chaperone that enhances ER function and is also an HDAC inhibitor, 2) metformin, which activates AMPK and is used to treat type 2 diabetes, and 3) propranolol, a beta blocker which inhibits BAR signaling and is used to treat hypertension and anxiety. A critical aspect of the QC theory, then, is that aging is associated with multiple cellular systems that can be targeted with drug combinations more effectively than with single drugs. But more importantly, these drug combinations will effectively prevent, delay, or reverse chronic diseases of aging that impose such a tremendous health burden on our society.

Quality Control of Wind Data from 50-MHz Doppler Radar Wind Profiler

Science.gov (United States)

Vacek, Austin

2016-01-01

Upper-level wind profiles obtained from a 50-MHz Doppler Radar Wind Profiler (DRWP) instrument at Kennedy Space Center are incorporated in space launch vehicle design and day-of-launch operations to assess wind effects on the vehicle during ascent. Automated and manual quality control (QC) techniques are implemented to remove spurious data in the upper-level wind profiles caused from atmospheric and non-atmospheric artifacts over the 2010-2012 period of record (POR). By adding the new quality controlled profiles with older profiles from 1997-2009, a robust database will be constructed of upper-level wind characteristics. Statistical analysis will determine the maximum, minimum, and 95th percentile of the wind components from the DRWP profiles over recent POR and compare against the older database. Additionally, this study identifies specific QC flags triggered during the QC process to understand how much data is retained and removed from the profiles.

Development of a quality management system for borehole investigations. (1) Quality assurance and quality control methodology for hydraulic packer testing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Takeuchi, Shinji; Kunimaru, Takanori; Ota, Kunio; Frieg, Bernd

2011-01-01

A quality assurance and quality control (QA/QC) system for the hydraulic packer tests has been established based on the surface-based investigations at JAEA's underground research laboratories in Mizunami and Horonobe. The established QA/QC system covers field investigations (data acquisition) and data analysis. For the field investigations, the adopted procedure is selection of a test section based on a detail fluid logging and checking with tally list, followed by inspection of test tools such as pressure transducers and shut-in valves, etc., test method selection using a 'sequential hydraulic test' for deciding appropriate method, and finally data quality confirmation by pressure changes and derivatives on a log-log plots during testing. Test event logs should also be described during testing for traceability. For the test data analysis, a quick analysis for rough estimation of hydraulic parameters, and a detailed analysis using type curve and/or numerical analyses are conducted stepwise. The established QA/QC system has been applied to the recent borehole investigations and its efficiency has been confirmed. (author)

Use of Six Sigma Worksheets for assessment of internal and external failure costs associated with candidate quality control rules for an ADVIA 120 hematology analyzer.

Science.gov (United States)

Cian, Francesco; Villiers, Elisabeth; Archer, Joy; Pitorri, Francesca; Freeman, Kathleen

2014-06-01

Quality control (QC) validation is an essential tool in total quality management of a veterinary clinical pathology laboratory. Cost-analysis can be a valuable technique to help identify an appropriate QC procedure for the laboratory, although this has never been reported in veterinary medicine. The aim of this study was to determine the applicability of the Six Sigma Quality Cost Worksheets in the evaluation of possible candidate QC rules identified by QC validation. Three months of internal QC records were analyzed. EZ Rules 3 software was used to evaluate candidate QC procedures, and the costs associated with the application of different QC rules were calculated using the Six Sigma Quality Cost Worksheets. The costs associated with the current and the candidate QC rules were compared, and the amount of cost savings was calculated. There was a significant saving when the candidate 1-2.5s, n = 3 rule was applied instead of the currently utilized 1-2s, n = 3 rule. The savings were 75% per year (£ 8232.5) based on re-evaluating all of the patient samples in addition to the controls, and 72% per year (£ 822.4) based on re-analyzing only the control materials. The savings were also shown to change accordingly with the number of samples analyzed and with the number of daily QC procedures performed. These calculations demonstrated the importance of the selection of an appropriate QC procedure, and the usefulness of the Six Sigma Costs Worksheet in determining the most cost-effective rule(s) when several candidate rules are identified by QC validation. © 2014 American Society for Veterinary Clinical Pathology and European Society for Veterinary Clinical Pathology.

Calibration of ARI QC ionisation chambers using the Australian secondary standards for activity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mo, L.; Van Der Gaast, H.A.; Alexiev, D.; Butcher, K.S.A.; Davies, J.

1999-01-01

The Secondary Standard Activity Laboratory (SSAL) in ANSTO routinely provides standardised radioactive sources, traceable activity measurements and custom source preparation services to customers. The most important activity carried out is the calibration of ionisation chambers located in the Quality Control (QC) section of Australian Radioisotopes (ARI). This ensures that their activity measurements are traceable to the Australian primary methods of standardisation. ARI QC ionisation chambers are calibrated for 99m Tc, 67 Ga, 131 I, 201 Tl and 153 Sm. The SSAL has a TPA ionisation chamber, which has been directly calibrated against a primary standard for a variety of radioactive nuclides. Calibration factors for this chamber were determined specifically for the actual volumes (5ml for 99m Tc, 131 I, 2ml for 67 Ga, 201 Tl and 3 ml for 153 Sm) and types of vial (Wheaton) which are routinely used at ARI. These calibration factors can be used to accurately measure the activity of samples prepared by ARI. The samples can subsequently be used to calibrate the QC ionisation chambers. QC ionisation chambers are re-calibrated biannually

Quality assurance and quality control of geochemical data—A primer for the research scientist

Science.gov (United States)

Geboy, Nicholas J.; Engle, Mark A.

2011-01-01

Geochemistry is a constantly expanding science. More and more, scientists are employing geochemical tools to help answer questions about the Earth and earth system processes. Scientists may assume that the responsibility of examining and assessing the quality of the geochemical data they generate is not theirs but rather that of the analytical laboratories to which their samples have been submitted. This assumption may be partially based on knowledge about internal and external quality assurance and quality control (QA/QC) programs in which analytical laboratories typically participate. Or there may be a perceived lack of time or resources to adequately examine data quality. Regardless of the reason, the lack of QA/QC protocols can lead to the generation and publication of erroneous data. Because the interpretations drawn from the data are primary products to U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) stakeholders, the consequences of publishing erroneous results can be significant. The principal investigator of a scientific study ultimately is responsible for the quality and interpretation of the project's findings, and thus must also play a role in the understanding, implementation, and presentation of QA/QC information about the data. Although occasionally ignored, QA/QC protocols apply not only to procedures in the laboratory but also in the initial planning of a research study and throughout the life of the project. Many of the tenets of developing a sound QA/QC program or protocols also parallel the core concepts of developing a good study: What is the main objective of the study? Will the methods selected provide data of enough resolution to answer the hypothesis? How should samples be collected? Are there known or unknown artifacts or contamination sources in the sampling and analysis methods? Assessing data quality requires communication between the scientists responsible for designing the study and those collecting samples, analyzing samples, treating data, and

Development of a standardized susceptibility test for Campylobacter with quality control ranges for ciprofloxacin, doxycycline, erythromycin, gentamicin, and meropenem

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

McDermott, P. F.; Bodeis, S. M.; Aarestrup, Frank Møller

2004-01-01

-control (QC) strain. Minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) QC ranges were determined for two incubation time/temperature combinations: 36degreesC for 48 hr and 42degreesC for 24 hr. Quality-control ranges were determined for ciprofloxacin, doxycycline, erythromycin, gentamicin, and meropenem. For all...

Intercomparison of quality control procedures in radiotherapy in the Netherlands

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kleffens, H.J. van; Meijer, G.J.; Mijnheer, B.J.

1997-01-01

A grant was received from the Dutch government to accomplish the development and implementation of guidelines for quality control (QC) of radiotherapy equipment in The Netherlands. QC of electron accelerators, simulators, CT scanners, mould room equipment, dosimetry equipment and treatment planning systems will be considered in this project. The project started in September 1994 with an investigation of QC of medical electron accelerators as performed in all 21 radiotherapy institutions in The Netherlands. An extensive questionnaire on QC procedures of electron accelerators was sent to all centres with items related to safety systems, mechanical aspects, radiation leakage, beam data and dosimetry equipment (in total about 60 questions). From the answers the following conclusions can be drawn: There is a large variation in time spent on QC; This QC time strongly depends on the complexity of the linear accelerator; There is a large variation in frequency and tolerance levels of the various tests; The way QC of an item is performed differs considerably (extensive-comprehensive). From these data recommendations specific for the situation in The Netherlands are being prepared and compared with other existing national and international reports. Similar procedures are underway for CT scanners and simulators while for the other equipment minimum guidelines still have to be developed. (author)

The Individualized Quality Control Plan - Coming Soon to Clinical Microbiology Laboratories Everywhere!

Science.gov (United States)

Anderson, Nancy

2015-11-15

As of January 1, 2016, microbiology laboratories can choose to adopt a new quality control option, the Individualized Quality Control Plan (IQCP), under the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments of 1988 (CLIA). This voluntary approach increases flexibility for meeting regulatory requirements and provides laboratories the opportunity to customize QC for their testing in their unique environments and by their testing personnel. IQCP is an all-inclusive approach to quality based on risk management to address potential errors in the total testing process. It includes three main steps, (1) performing a risk assessment, (2) developing a QC plan, and (3) monitoring the plan through quality assessment. Resources are available from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, American Society for Microbiology, Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute, and accrediting organizations, such as the College of American Pathologists and Joint Commission, to assist microbiology laboratories implementing IQCP.

Recursive construction of (J,L (J,L QC LDPC codes with girth 6

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohammad Gholami

2016-06-01

Full Text Available ‎In this paper‎, ‎a recursive algorithm is presented to generate some exponent matrices which correspond to Tanner graphs with girth at least 6‎. ‎For a J×L J×L exponent matrix E E‎, ‎the lower bound Q(E Q(E is obtained explicitly such that (J,L (J,L QC LDPC codes with girth at least 6 exist for any circulant permutation matrix (CPM size m≥Q(E m≥Q(E‎. ‎The results show that the exponent matrices constructed with our recursive algorithm have smaller lower-bound than the ones proposed recently with girth 6‎

ITC Guidelines on Quality Control in Scoring, Test Analysis, and Reporting of Test Scores

Science.gov (United States)

Allalouf, Avi

2014-01-01

The Quality Control (QC) Guidelines are intended to increase the efficiency, precision, and accuracy of the scoring, analysis, and reporting process of testing. The QC Guidelines focus on large-scale testing operations where multiple forms of tests are created for use on set dates. However, they may also be used for a wide variety of other testing…

Software for creating quality control database in diagnostic radiology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stoeva, M.; Spassov, G.; Tabakov, S.

2000-01-01

The paper describes a PC based program with database for quality control (QC). It keeps information about all surveyed equipment and measured parameters. The first function of the program is to extract information from old (existing) MS Excel spreadsheets with QC surveys. The second function is used for input of measurements which are automatically organized in MS Excel spreadsheets and built into the database. The spreadsheets are based on the protocols described in the EMERALD Training Scheme. In addition, the program can make statistics of all measured parameters, both in absolute term and in time

Monte Carlo generated spectra for QA/QC of automated NAA routine

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jackman, K.R.; Biegalski, S.R.

2007-01-01

A quality check for an automated system of analyzing large sets of neutron activated samples has been developed. Activated samples are counted with an HPGe detector, in conjunction with an automated sample changer and spectral analysis tools, controlled by the Canberra GENIE 2K and REXX software. After each sample is acquired and analyzed, a Microsoft Visual Basic program imports the results into a template Microsoft Excel file where the final concentrations, uncertainties, and detection limits are determined. Standard reference materials are included in each set of 40 samples as a standard quality assurance/quality control (QA/QC) test. A select group of sample spectra are also visually reviewed to check the peak fitting routines. A reference spectrum was generated in MCNP 4c2 using an F8, pulse-height, tally with a detector model of the actual detector used in counting. The detector model matches the detector resolution, energy calibration, and counting geometry. The generated spectrum also contained a radioisotope matrix that was similar to what was expected in the samples. This spectrum can then be put through the automated system and analyzed along with the other samples. The automated results are then compared to expected results for QA/QC assurance. (author)

Many roads may lead to Rome: Selected features of quality control within environmental assessment systems in the US, NL, CA, and UK

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Günther, Markus, E-mail: markus.guenther@tu-berlin.de; Geißler, Gesa; Köppel, Johann

2017-01-15

As there is no one-and-only concept on how to precisely define and establish quality control (QC) or quality assurance (QA) in the making of environmental assessments (EA), this paper presents selected features of international approaches that address quality in EA systems in the USA, the Netherlands, Canada, and the United Kingdom. Based on explanative case studies, we highlight the embedding of specific quality control features within the EA systems, the objectives and processes, and relevant transparency challenges. Such features of QC/QA approaches can be considered in cases where substantial quality control and assurance efforts are still missing. Yet further research needs to be conducted on the efficacy of these approaches, which remains beyond the scope of this study. - Highlights: • We present four tools for quality control and assurance from different EA systems. • Approaches vary in institutional setting, objectives, procedures, and transparency. • Highlighted features might provide guidance in cases where QC/QA is still lacking.

Survey on quality control measurements for nuclear medicine imaging equipment in Finland in 2006

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Korpela, Helinae; Niemelae, Jarkko

2008-01-01

Routine quality control (QC) is an essential requirement in nuclear medicine (NM) in order to ensure optimal functioning of equipment. To harmonise the routine QC of NM imaging equipment in Finnish hospital s (planar gamma cameras, SPECT, coincidence gamma cameras, PET), the Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (STUK) will publish guidelines on QC in collaboration with several hospital physicists. Recommendations will be provided on routine QC measurements and on the frequency of testing. It is also planned to provide recommendations for the acceptance criteria when assessing different performance parameters for NM imaging equipment. In order to determine what performance parameters of NM equipment are currently measured in hospitals, how frequently they are measured and what acceptance criteria are used, a survey was carried out on the QC of NM equipment in Finland during 2006. (author)

Development and experience of quality control methods for digital breast tomosynthesis systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Strudley, Cecilia J; Young, Kenneth C; Looney, Padraig; Gilbert, Fiona J

2015-01-01

To develop tomosynthesis quality control (QC) test methods and use them alongside established two-dimensional (2D) QC tests to measure the performance of digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT) systems used in a comparative trial with 2D mammography. DBT QC protocols and associated analysis were developed, incorporating adaptions of some 2D tests as well as some novel tests. The tomosynthesis tests were: mean glandular dose to the standard breast model; contrast-to-noise ratio in reconstructed focal planes; geometric distortion; artefact spread; threshold contrast detail detection in reconstructed focal planes, alignment of the X-ray beam to the reconstructed image and missed tissue; reproducibility of the tomosynthesis exposure; and homogeneity of the reconstructed focal planes. Summaries of results from the tomosynthesis QC tests are presented together with some 2D results for comparison. The tomosynthesis QC tests and analysis methods developed were successfully applied. The lessons learnt, which are detailed in the Discussion section, may be helpful to others embarking on DBT QC programmes. DBT performance test equipment and analysis methods have been developed. The experience gained has contributed to the subsequent drafting of DBT QC protocols in the UK and Europe.

Impacts of Intelligent Automated Quality Control on a Small Animal APD-Based Digital PET Scanner

Science.gov (United States)

Charest, Jonathan; Beaudoin, Jean-François; Bergeron, Mélanie; Cadorette, Jules; Arpin, Louis; Lecomte, Roger; Brunet, Charles-Antoine; Fontaine, Réjean

2016-10-01

Stable system performance is mandatory to warrant the accuracy and reliability of biological results relying on small animal positron emission tomography (PET) imaging studies. This simple requirement sets the ground for imposing routine quality control (QC) procedures to keep PET scanners at a reliable optimal performance level. However, such procedures can become burdensome to implement for scanner operators, especially taking into account the increasing number of data acquisition channels in newer generation PET scanners. In systems using pixel detectors to achieve enhanced spatial resolution and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR), the QC workload rapidly increases to unmanageable levels due to the number of independent channels involved. An artificial intelligence based QC system, referred to as Scanner Intelligent Diagnosis for Optimal Performance (SIDOP), was proposed to help reducing the QC workload by performing automatic channel fault detection and diagnosis. SIDOP consists of four high-level modules that employ machine learning methods to perform their tasks: Parameter Extraction, Channel Fault Detection, Fault Prioritization, and Fault Diagnosis. Ultimately, SIDOP submits a prioritized faulty channel list to the operator and proposes actions to correct them. To validate that SIDOP can perform QC procedures adequately, it was deployed on a LabPET™ scanner and multiple performance metrics were extracted. After multiple corrections on sub-optimal scanner settings, a 8.5% (with a 95% confidence interval (CI) of [7.6, 9.3]) improvement in the CNR, a 17.0% (CI: [15.3, 18.7]) decrease of the uniformity percentage standard deviation, and a 6.8% gain in global sensitivity were observed. These results confirm that SIDOP can indeed be of assistance in performing QC procedures and restore performance to optimal figures.

Quality of reporting of randomised controlled trials of herbal interventions in ASEAN Plus Six Countries: a systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Pratoomsoot, Chayanin; Sruamsiri, Rosarin; Dilokthornsakul, Piyameth; Chaiyakunapruk, Nathorn

2015-01-01

Many randomised controlled trials (RCTs) of herbal interventions have been conducted in the ASEAN Communities. Good quality reporting of RCTs is essential for assessing clinical significance. Given the importance ASEAN placed on herbal medicines, the reporting quality of RCTs of herbal interventions among the ASEAN Communities deserved a special attention. To systematically review the quality of reporting of RCTs of herbal interventions conducted in the ASEAN Plus Six Countries. Searches were performed using PubMed, EMBASE, The Cochrane Library, and Allied and Complementary Medicine (AMED), from inception through October 2013. These were limited to studies specific to humans and RCTs. Herbal species search terms were based on those listed in the National List of Essential Medicines [NLEM (Thailand, 2011)]. Studies conducted in the ASEAN Plus Six Countries, published in English were included. Seventy-one articles were identified. Thirty (42.25%) RCTs were from ASEAN Countries, whereas 41 RCTs (57.75%) were from Plus Six Group. Adherence to the recommended CONSORT checklist items for reporting of RCTs of herbal interventions among ASEAN Plus Six Countries ranged from 0% to 97.18%. Less than a quarter of the RCTs (18.31%) reported information on standardisation of the herbal products. However, the scope of our interventions of interest was limited to those developed from 20 herbal species listed in the NLEM of Thailand. The present study highlights the need to improve reporting quality of RCTs of herbal interventions across ASEAN Plus Six Communities.

Quality assurance guidance for a low-level radioactive waste disposal facility

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pittiglio, C.L. Jr.; Hedges, D.

1991-04-01

This document provides guidance to an applicant on meeting the quality control (QC) requirements of 10 CFR 61.12(j) for a low-level radioactive waste (LLRW) disposal facility. The QC requirements, plus audits and managerial controls requirements, establish the need for developing a quality assurance (QA) program and the guidance provided herein. The criteria developed for this document are similar to the criteria developed for Appendix B to Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) Part 50. Although Appendix B is not a regulatory requirement for an LLRW disposal facility, the criteria that were developed for 10 CFR Part 50 are basic to any QA program. This document establishes QA guidance for the design, construction, and operation of those structures, engineered or natural systems, and components whose function is required to meet the performance objectives of Subpart C of 10 CFR Part 61 and to limit exposure to or release of radioactivity. 7 refs

Quality control and standardization of forearm X-ray osteodensitometry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Boyanov, M.

2000-01-01

Quality control (QC) has an essential practical bearing on the proper function of the equipment used for bone density measurement. Special attention is likewise focused on the issue of standardization of the results afforded by different osteodensitometry instruments. It is the purpose of the study to assay QC of a single-energy x-ray forearm osteodensitometry unit DTX-100 covering a 3 year period, and compare the data on bone mineral density (BMD) produced by three different devices. Long-term BMD reproducibility in vitro, expressed as coefficient of variation, amounts to 0.55 per cent. Except for a two week period, no deviation from the normal function of the instrument is documented. Failing to comply with the manufacturer's instructions may discredit QC efficacy. On comparative assessment of the results produced by different osteodensitometers, differences in vivo may reach up to 1.2 standard deviation. Definite regions of special interest, feasible for comparison, are recommended. In conclusion special emphasis is laid on the necessity of performing through QC, measurement results standardization and accreditation of a reference osteodensitometry center

Activity know-how and doctrine of QC circle

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1976-09-15

This books introduces activity know-how of QC circle giving descriptions of basic of QC circle activities, introduction operation and development and mind of QC circle activities, method for beginning of QC circle activity like, way order, motivation of introduction of QC circle activity, propel method of QC circle activities, such as leadership, brain storming, and rule of QC circle activity, management and propel method for improvement, development of QC circle activities. It also deals with doctrine of basic of QC circle, purpose, self improvement and group activity.

Activity know-how and doctrine of QC circle

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1976-09-01

This books introduces activity know-how of QC circle giving descriptions of basic of QC circle activities, introduction operation and development and mind of QC circle activities, method for beginning of QC circle activity like, way order, motivation of introduction of QC circle activity, propel method of QC circle activities, such as leadership, brain storming, and rule of QC circle activity, management and propel method for improvement, development of QC circle activities. It also deals with doctrine of basic of QC circle, purpose, self improvement and group activity.

Application of newly developed Fluoro-QC software for image quality evaluation in cardiac X-ray systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Oliveira, M; Lopez, G; Geambastiani, P; Ubeda, C

2018-05-01

A quality assurance (QA) program is a valuable tool for the continuous production of optimal quality images. The aim of this paper is to assess a newly developed automatic computer software for image quality (IR) evaluation in fluoroscopy X-ray systems. Test object images were acquired using one fluoroscopy system, Siemens Axiom Artis model (Siemens AG, Medical Solutions Erlangen, Germany). The software was developed as an ImageJ plugin. Two image quality parameters were assessed: high-contrast spatial resolution (HCSR) and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). The time between manual and automatic image quality assessment procedures were compared. The paired t-test was used to assess the data. p Values of less than 0.05 were considered significant. The Fluoro-QC software generated faster IQ evaluation results (mean = 0.31 ± 0.08 min) than manual procedure (mean = 4.68 ± 0.09 min). The mean difference between techniques was 4.36 min. Discrepancies were identified in the region of interest (ROI) areas drawn manually with evidence of user dependence. The new software presented the results of two tests (HCSR = 3.06, SNR = 5.17) and also collected information from the DICOM header. Significant differences were not identified between manual and automatic measures of SNR (p value = 0.22) and HCRS (p value = 0.46). The Fluoro-QC software is a feasible, fast and free to use method for evaluating imaging quality parameters on fluoroscopy systems. Copyright © 2017 The College of Radiographers. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Quality control for the mammography screening program in Serbia: Physical and technical aspects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ciraj-Bjelac, O.; Bozovic, P.; Lazarevic, D.; Arandjic, D.; Kosutic, D.

2012-01-01

Breast cancer is the major cause of mortality among female population in Serbia. It is presumed that the introduction of screening programme will reduce mortality and therefore, 47 new mammography units were installed for the purpose of population-based screening program in 2011. In parallel, Quality assurance and Quality control (QC) in mammography has received increasing attention as an essential element of the successful breast cancer campaign that is for the first time initialed in Serbia. The purpose of this study is to investigate the need for and the possible implementation of the comprehensive QC programme for the mammography screening in Serbia, with special focus on physical and technical aspect. In the first phase, a QC protocols containing list of parameters, methodology, frequency of tests and reference values for screen-film, computed radiography and full-filed digital mammography) units, were developed. The second phase is focused on the initial implementation of these protocols. The paper presents results of tests of the selected parameters in 35 mammography units, with special emphasis on patient dose and image quality descriptors. After initial implementation at the beginning of the population based breast cancer screening campaign, it is essential to establish system of regular and periodic QC equipment monitoring and to ensure high quality mammograms with minimal possible radiation dose to population included in the screening. (authors)

Aminoacyl-tRNA quality control is required for efficient activation of the TOR pathway regulator Gln3p.

Science.gov (United States)

Mohler, Kyle; Mann, Rebecca; Kyle, Amanda; Reynolds, Noah; Ibba, Michael

2017-09-14

The aminoacylation status of the cellular tRNA pool regulates both general amino acid control (GAAC) and target of rapamycin (TOR) stress response pathways in yeast. Consequently, fidelity of translation at the level of aminoacyl-tRNA synthesis plays a central role in determining accuracy and sensitivity of stress responses. To investigate effects of translational quality control (QC) on cell physiology under stress conditions, phenotypic microarray analyses were used to identify changes in QC deficient cells. Nitrogen source growth assays showed QC deficient yeast grew differently compared to WT. The QC deficient strain was more tolerant to caffeine treatment than wild type through altered interactions with the TOR and GAAC pathways. Increased caffeine tolerance of the QC deficient strain was consistent with the observation that the activity of Gln3p, a transcription factor controlled by the TOR pathway, is decreased in the QC deficient strain compared to WT. GCN4 translation, which is typically repressed in the absence of nutritional stress, was enhanced in the QC deficient strain through TOR inhibition. QC did not impact cell cycle regulation; however, the chronological lifespan of QC deficient yeast strains decreased compared to wild type, likely due to translational errors and alteration of the TOR-associated regulon. These findings support the idea that changes in translational fidelity provide a mechanism of cellular adaptation by modulating TOR activity. This, in turn, supports a central role for aminoacyl-tRNA synthesis QC in the integrated stress response by maintaining the proper aa-tRNA pools necessary to coordinate the GAAC and TOR.

Toward standardising gamma camera quality control procedures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Alkhorayef, M.A.; Alnaaimi, M.A.; Alduaij, M.A.; Mohamed, M.O.; Ibahim, S.Y.; Alkandari, F.A.; Bradley, D.A.

2015-01-01

Attaining high standards of efficiency and reliability in the practice of nuclear medicine requires appropriate quality control (QC) programs. For instance, the regular evaluation and comparison of extrinsic and intrinsic flood-field uniformity enables the quick correction of many gamma camera problems. Whereas QC tests for uniformity are usually performed by exposing the gamma camera crystal to a uniform flux of gamma radiation from a source of known activity, such protocols can vary significantly. Thus, there is a need for optimization and standardization, in part to allow direct comparison between gamma cameras from different vendors. In the present study, intrinsic uniformity was examined as a function of source distance, source activity, source volume and number of counts. The extrinsic uniformity and spatial resolution were also examined. Proper standard QC procedures need to be implemented because of the continual development of nuclear medicine imaging technology and the rapid expansion and increasing complexity of hybrid imaging system data. The present work seeks to promote a set of standard testing procedures to contribute to the delivery of safe and effective nuclear medicine services. - Highlights: • Optimal parameters for quality control of the gamma camera are proposed. • For extrinsic and intrinsic uniformity a minimum of 15,000 counts is recommended. • For intrinsic flood uniformity the activity should not exceed 100 µCi (3.7 MBq). • For intrinsic uniformity the source to detector distance should be at least 60 cm. • The bar phantom measurement must be performed with at least 15 million counts.

Guidebook on quality control of water reactor fuel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1983-01-01

As a result of the increasing contribution of nuclear power to the world's supply of electrical energy, growing emphasis is being placed on the reliability of nuclear fuel performance. The need to produce a reliable product is based not only on economic reasons but also on safety considerations. Fuel assemblies must withstand the operational requirements placed on them while in the reactor; also, in some cases, they have to be stored for long periods in water-filled basins until they are either reprocessed or ultimately subjected to disposal. One of the keys to consistent and reliable fuel production is an adequate Quality Control (QC) programme, operating under a Quality Assurance (QA) system. In connection with various activities sponsored by the International Atomic Energy Agency it has been suggested for some time that a guidebook should be published, highlighting the role that QC plays in the manufacture of nuclear fuel and stressing the relationship that exists between the QC and QA functions. The aim of this book is to give a summary of the present state of practical experience in the areas of: quality-relevant design requirements; quality control of products and processes. Specific QA requirements are referred to where they are important for an understanding of the co-operation required between the various activities involved in nuclear fuel technology. Examples are also given to illustrate specific needs or specific types of experience in this area. In order to distinguish clearly between the generally required criteria and rules and the details of particular practical experience, the book is divided into two main parts. Part A focuses on the philosophy and principles; Part B supplements Part A with technically detailed descriptions and examples

Research Quality Plus (RQ+)

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

sclarke

The Research Quality Plus (RQ+) Assessment Instrument. Executive ... Primarily using mixed methods. Addresses .... to define the program portfolio by identifying project clusters according to the types and levels of ... qualitative narratives.

Validation of an image quality index: its correlation with quality control parameters

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cabrejas, M.L.C.; Giannone, C.A.; Arashiro, J.G.; Cabrejas, R.C.

2002-01-01

Objective and Rationale: To validate a new image quality index (the Performance Index: PI) that assesses detectability of simulated lesions with a phantom. This index, presumably must depend markedly on quality control (QC) parameters as tomographic uniformity (Unif), Centre of Rotation (COR) and Spatial resolution (FWHM). The simultaneous effects of the QC parameters may explain much of the variation in the PIs; i.e. they may be predictors of the PI values. Methods: An overall performance phantom containing 3 sections was used. The first uniform section was used to determine tomographic uniformity. From the analysis of the slices corresponding to the second section containing 8 cold cylindrical simulated lesions of different diameters (range 7 mm - 17 mm), the number of true and false positives are determined and from these a new Performance Index (PI) is defined as the ratio between the positive predictive value and the sensitivity (expressed as its complement adding a constant to avoid a singularity). A point source located on the top of the phantom was used to determine the Centre of Rotation and the Spatial Resolution expressed by the FWHM in mm. 40 nuclear medicine labs participate at the survey. Standard multiple regression analysis between the Performance Index, as dependent variable, and FWHM, COR and Unif as independent variables was performed to evaluate the influence of the QC parameters on the PI values. Results: It is shown that resolution and COR are both predictors of the PIs, with statistical significance for the multiple correlation co-efficient R. However the addition of the variable tomographic uniformity to the model, does not improve the prediction of PIs. Moreover, the regression model lacks overall statistical significance. Regression summary for dependent variable Performance Index is presented. Conclusions: We confirm that the new Performance Index (PI), depends on QC parameters as COR and Spatial resolution. Those labs whose PIs are out

M073: Monte Carlo generated spectra for QA/QC of automated NAA routine

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jackman, K.R.; Biegalski, S.R.

2004-01-01

A quality check for an automated system of analyzing large sets of neutron activated samples has been developed. Activated samples are counted with an HPGe detector, in conjunction with an automated sample changer and spectral analysis tools, controlled by the Canberra GENIE 2K and REXX software. After each sample is acquired and analyzed, a Microsoft Visual Basic program imports the results into a template Microsoft Excel file where the final concentrations, uncertainties, and detection limits are determined. Standard reference materials are included in each set of 40 samples as a standard quality assurance/quality control (QA/QC) test. A select group of sample spectra are also visually reviewed to check the peak fitting routines. A reference spectrum was generated in MCNP 4c2 using an F8, pulse height, tally with a detector model of the actual detector used in counting. The detector model matches the detector resolution, energy calibration, and counting geometry. The generated spectrum also contained a radioisotope matrix that was similar to what was expected in the samples. This spectrum can then be put through the automated system and analyzed along with the other samples. The automated results are then compared to expected results for QA/QC assurance.

Ongoing quality control in digital radiography: Report of AAPM Imaging Physics Committee Task Group 151

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jones, A. Kyle; Geiser, William; Heintz, Philip; Goldman, Lee; Jerjian, Khachig; Martin, Melissa; Peck, Donald; Pfeiffer, Douglas; Ranger, Nicole; Yorkston, John

2015-01-01

Quality control (QC) in medical imaging is an ongoing process and not just a series of infrequent evaluations of medical imaging equipment. The QC process involves designing and implementing a QC program, collecting and analyzing data, investigating results that are outside the acceptance levels for the QC program, and taking corrective action to bring these results back to an acceptable level. The QC process involves key personnel in the imaging department, including the radiologist, radiologic technologist, and the qualified medical physicist (QMP). The QMP performs detailed equipment evaluations and helps with oversight of the QC program, the radiologic technologist is responsible for the day-to-day operation of the QC program. The continued need for ongoing QC in digital radiography has been highlighted in the scientific literature. The charge of this task group was to recommend consistency tests designed to be performed by a medical physicist or a radiologic technologist under the direction of a medical physicist to identify problems with an imaging system that need further evaluation by a medical physicist, including a fault tree to define actions that need to be taken when certain fault conditions are identified. The focus of this final report is the ongoing QC process, including rejected image analysis, exposure analysis, and artifact identification. These QC tasks are vital for the optimal operation of a department performing digital radiography

A survey of the practice and management of radiotherapy linear accelerator quality control in the UK.

Science.gov (United States)

Palmer, A; Kearton, J; Hayman, O

2012-11-01

The objective of this study was to determine current radiotherapy linear accelerator quality control (QC) practice in the UK, as a comparative benchmark and indicator of development needs, and to raise awareness of QC as a key performance indicator. All UK radiotherapy centres were invited to complete an online questionnaire regarding their local QC processes, and submit their QC schedules. The range of QC tests, frequency of measurements and acceptable tolerances in use across the UK were analysed, and consensus and range statistics determined. 72% of the UK's 62 radiotherapy centres completed the questionnaire and 40% provided their QC schedules. 60 separate QC tests were identified from the returned schedules. There was a large variation in the total time devoted to QC between centres: interquartile range from 13 to 26 h per linear accelerator per month. There has been a move from weekly to monthly testing of output calibration in the last decade, with reliance on daily constancy testing equipment. 33% of centres thought their schedules were in need of an update and only 30% used risk-assessment approaches to determine local QC schedule content. Less than 30% of centres regularly complete all planned QC tests each month, although 96% achieve over 80% of tests. A comprehensive "snapshot" of linear accelerator QC testing practice in the UK has been collated, which demonstrates reasonable agreement between centres in their stated QC test frequencies. However, intelligent design of QC schedules and management is necessary to ensure efficiency and appropriateness.

Product quality control, irradiation and shipping procedures for mass-reared tephritid fruit flies for sterile insect release programmes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1999-05-01

This document represents the recommendations, reached by consensus of an international group of quality control experts, on the standard procedures for product quality control (QC) for mass reared tephritid flies that are to be used in Sterile Insect Technique (SIT) programs. In addition, the manual describes recommended methods of handling and packaging pupae during irradiation and shipment. Most of the procedures were designed specifically for use with Mediterranean fruit flies, Ceratitis capitata (Wied.), but they are applicable, with minor modification in some cases, for other tephritid species such as Caribbean fruit fly Anastrepha suspense, Mexican fruit fly A. ludens, and various Bactrocera species. The manual is evolving and subject to periodic updates. The future additions will include other fruit flies as the need is identified. If followed, procedures described in this manual will help ensure that the quality of mass-produced flies is measured accurately in a standardised fashion, allowing comparisons of quality over time and across rearing facilities and field programmes. Problems in rearing, irradiation and handling procedures, and strain quality can be identified and hopefully corrected before control programmes are affected. Tests and procedures described in this document are only part of a total quality control programme for tephritid fly production. The product QC evaluations included in this manual are, unless otherwise noted, required to be conducted during SIT programmes by the Field programme staff not the production staff. Additional product QC tests have been developed and their use is optional (see ancillary test section). Production and process QC evaluations (e.g., analysis of diet components, monitoring the rearing environment, yield of larvae, development rate, etc.) are not within the scope of this document. Quality specifications are included for minimum and mean acceptability of conventional strains of C. capitata, A. ludens, and A

QC-LDPC code-based cryptography

CERN Document Server

Baldi, Marco

2014-01-01

This book describes the fundamentals of cryptographic primitives based on quasi-cyclic low-density parity-check (QC-LDPC) codes, with a special focus on the use of these codes in public-key cryptosystems derived from the McEliece and Niederreiter schemes. In the first part of the book, the main characteristics of QC-LDPC codes are reviewed, and several techniques for their design are presented, while tools for assessing the error correction performance of these codes are also described. Some families of QC-LDPC codes that are best suited for use in cryptography are also presented. The second part of the book focuses on the McEliece and Niederreiter cryptosystems, both in their original forms and in some subsequent variants. The applicability of QC-LDPC codes in these frameworks is investigated by means of theoretical analyses and numerical tools, in order to assess their benefits and drawbacks in terms of system efficiency and security. Several examples of QC-LDPC code-based public key cryptosystems are prese...

Quality Control Algorithms for the Kennedy Space Center 50-Megahertz Doppler Radar Wind Profiler Winds Database

Science.gov (United States)

Barbre, Robert E., Jr.

2012-01-01

This paper presents the process used by the Marshall Space Flight Center Natural Environments Branch (EV44) to quality control (QC) data from the Kennedy Space Center's 50-MHz Doppler Radar Wind Profiler for use in vehicle wind loads and steering commands. The database has been built to mitigate limitations of using the currently archived databases from weather balloons. The DRWP database contains wind measurements from approximately 2.7-18.6 km altitude at roughly five minute intervals for the August 1997 to December 2009 period of record, and the extensive QC process was designed to remove spurious data from various forms of atmospheric and non-atmospheric artifacts. The QC process is largely based on DRWP literature, but two new algorithms have been developed to remove data contaminated by convection and excessive first guess propagations from the Median Filter First Guess Algorithm. In addition to describing the automated and manual QC process in detail, this paper describes the extent of the data retained. Roughly 58% of all possible wind observations exist in the database, with approximately 100 times as many complete profile sets existing relative to the EV44 balloon databases. This increased sample of near-continuous wind profile measurements may help increase launch availability by reducing the uncertainty of wind changes during launch countdown

Droplet Digital™ PCR Next-Generation Sequencing Library QC Assay.

Science.gov (United States)

Heredia, Nicholas J

2018-01-01

Digital PCR is a valuable tool to quantify next-generation sequencing (NGS) libraries precisely and accurately. Accurately quantifying NGS libraries enable accurate loading of the libraries on to the sequencer and thus improve sequencing performance by reducing under and overloading error. Accurate quantification also benefits users by enabling uniform loading of indexed/barcoded libraries which in turn greatly improves sequencing uniformity of the indexed/barcoded samples. The advantages gained by employing the Droplet Digital PCR (ddPCR™) library QC assay includes the precise and accurate quantification in addition to size quality assessment, enabling users to QC their sequencing libraries with confidence.

Quality control of brachytherapy equipment in the Netherlands and Belgium: current practice and minimum requirements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Elfrink, Robert J.M.; Kolkman-Deurloo, Inger-Karine K.; Kleffens, Herman J. van; Rijnders, Alex; Schaeken, Bob; Aalbers, Tony H.L.; Dries, Wim J.F.; Venselaar, Jack L.M.

2002-01-01

Background and purpose: Brachytherapy is applied in 39 radiotherapy institutions in The Netherlands and Belgium. Each institution has its own quality control (QC) programme to ensure safe and accurate dose delivery to the patient. The main goal of this work is to gain insight into the current practice of QC of brachytherapy in The Netherlands and Belgium and to reduce possible variations in test frequencies and tolerances by formulating a set of minimum QC-requirements. Materials and methods: An extensive questionnaire about QC of brachytherapy was distributed to and completed by the 39 radiotherapy institutions. A separate smaller questionnaire was sent to nine institutions performing intracoronary brachytherapy. The questions were related to safety systems, physical irradiation parameters and total time spent on QC. The results of the questionnaires were compared with recommendations given in international brachytherapy QC reports. Results: The answers to the questionnaires showed large variations in test frequencies and test methods. Furthermore, large variations in time spent on QC exist, which is mainly due to differences in QC-philosophy and differences in the available resources. Conclusions: Based on the results of the questionnaires and the comparison with the international recommendations, a set of minimum requirements for QC of brachytherapy has been formulated. These guidelines will be implemented in the radiotherapy institutions in The Netherlands and Belgium

Quality control procedures applied to nuclear instruments. Proceedings of a technical meeting

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2008-11-01

Quality Control (QC), test procedures for Nuclear Instrumentation are important for assurance of proper and safe operation of the instruments, especially with regard to equipment related to radiological safety, human health and national safety. Correct measurements of radiation parameters must be ensured, i.e., accurate measurement of the number of radioactive events, counting times and in some cases accurate measurements of the radiation energy and occurring time of the nuclear events. There are several kinds of testing on nuclear instruments, for example, type-testing done by suppliers, acceptance testing made by the end users, Quality Control tests after repair and Quality Assurance/Quality Controls tests made by end-users. All of these tests are based in many cases on practical guidelines or on the experience of the own specialist, the available standards on this topic also need to be adapted to specific instruments. The IAEA has provided nuclear instruments and supported the operational maintenance efforts of the Member States. Although Nuclear Instrumentation is continuously upgraded, some older or aged instruments are still in use and in good working condition. Some of these instruments may not, however, meet modern requirements for the end-user therefore, Member States, mostly those with emerging economies, modernize/refurbish such instruments to meet the end-user demands. As a result, new instrumentation which is not commercially available, or modernized/refurbished instruments, need to be tested or verified with QC procedures to meet national or international certification requirements. A technical meeting on QC procedures applied to nuclear instruments was organized in Vienna from 23 to 24 August 2007. Existing and required QC test procedures necessary for the verification of operation and measurement of the main characteristics of nuclear instruments was the focus of discussion at this meeting. Presentations made at the technical meeting provided

Building a QC Database of Meteorological Data From NASA KSC and the United States Air Force's Eastern Range

Science.gov (United States)

Brenton, James C.; Barbre, Robert E.; Orcutt, John M.; Decker, Ryan K.

2018-01-01

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) Natural Environments Branch (EV44) has provided atmospheric databases and analysis in support of space vehicle design and day-of-launch operations for NASA and commercial launch vehicle programs launching from the NASA Kennedy Space Center (KSC), co-located on the United States Air Force's Eastern Range (ER) at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The ER is one of the most heavily instrumented sites in the United States measuring various atmospheric parameters on a continuous basis. An inherent challenge with the large databases that EV44 receives from the ER consists of ensuring erroneous data are removed from the databases, and thus excluded from launch vehicle design analyses. EV44 has put forth great effort in developing quality control (QC) procedures for individual meteorological instruments; however, no standard QC procedures for all databases currently exist resulting in QC databases that have inconsistencies in variables, methodologies, and periods of record. The goal of this activity is to use the previous efforts by EV44 to develop a standardized set of QC procedures from which to build flags within the meteorological databases from KSC and the ER, while maintaining open communication with end users from the launch community to develop ways to improve, adapt and grow the QC database. Details of the QC checks are described. The flagged data points will be plotted in a graphical user interface (GUI) as part of a manual confirmation that the flagged data do indeed need to be removed from the archive. As the rate of launches increases with additional launch vehicle programs, more emphasis is being placed to continually update and check weather databases for data quality before use in launch vehicle design and certification analyses.

The Quality Assurance_Quality Control of the Monitored Drift Tubes at the HEP Laboratory of the National Technical University of Athens

CERN Document Server

Alexopoulos, T; Dris, M; Filippas, A V; Fokitis, E; Gazis, E N; Katsoufis, E C; Maltezos, A; Maltezos, S; Papadopoulos, E; Papadopoulou, T D; Savva, Panagiota S; Stavropoulos, G D; Tsipolitis, G; Tzamariudaki, E

2001-01-01

The description of the Quality Assurance and Quality Control (QA_QC) procedures for the Monitored Drift Tubes (MDT's) followed at the HEP Laboratory of NTUA are presented and results of the tested tubes are given. The MDT's are the elements from which muon chambers for the ATLAS/LHC Muon Spectrometer are built..

PGDP [Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant]-UF6 handling, sampling, analysis and associated QC/QA and safety related procedures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Harris, R.L.

1987-01-01

This document is a compilation of Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant procedures on UF 6 handling, sampling, and analysis, along with associated QC/QA and safety related procedures. It was assembled for transmission by the US Department of Energy to the Korean Advanced Energy Institute as a part of the US-Korea technical exchange program

APPLICATION OF QC TOOLS FOR CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT IN AN EXPENSIVE SEAT HARDFACING PROCESS USING TIG WELDING

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohammed Yunus

2016-09-01

Full Text Available The present study is carried out to improve quality level by identifying the prime reasons of the quality related problems in the seat hardfacing process involving the deposition of cobalt based super alloy in I.C. Engine valves using TIG welding process. During the Process, defects like stellite deposition overflow, head melt, non-uniform stellite merging, etc., are observed and combining all these defects, the rejection level was in top position in Forge shop. We use widely referred QC tools of the manufacturing field to monitor the complete operation and continuous progressive process improvement to ensure ability and efficiency of quality management system of any firm. The work aims to identify the various causes for the rejection by the detailed study of the operation, equipment, materials and the various process parameters that are very important to get defects-free products. Also, to evolve suitable countermeasures for reducing the rejection percentage using seven QC tools. To further understand and validate the obtained results, we need to address other studies related to motivations, advantages, and disadvantages of applying quality control tools.

Results-driven approach to improving quality and productivity

Science.gov (United States)

John Dramm

2000-01-01

Quality control (QC) programs do not often realize their full potential. Elaborate and expensive QC programs can easily get side tracked by the process of building a program with promises of “Someday, this will all pay off.” Training employees in QC methods is no guarantee that quality will improve. Several documented cases show that such activity-centered efforts...

DATA PROCESSING FROM THE MEASURING DEVICE BALLBAR QC20

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Matúš Košinár

2014-03-01

Full Text Available The paper presents an innovative method of data processing from the measurement device – Ballbar QC20W. It was created with a program for data transformation (Visual Basic.NET and it used Fourier transformation. The paper deals with the measuring method of CNC machine tools using Ballbar QC20W. There is an influence between qualitative parameters of machine tools and qualitative parameters of products (tolerances, roughness, etc.. It is very important to hold the stability of qualitative parameters of products as a key factor of production quality. Therefore, is also important to evaluate the accuracy of machine tools and make prediction of possible accuracy.

Base for a remote quality control system for magnetic resonance images machines

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gonzalez Dalmau, Evelio R; Cabal Mirabal, Carlos; Noda Guerra, Manuel

2014-01-01

The medical images systems convert characteristic of the tissues in gray levels or color, using a physical method and a specific mathematical transformation. In Magnetic Resonance Images (MRI) these levels have a multi-parametric dependence, this a reason of their strong presence in the daily clinical practice. This technological complexity, the high costs and the importance that have these study for the patient's life, confer to the Quality Control (QC) human, technological, economic and juridical implications. Several international groups dedicated to the QC in MRI and diversity of approaches to carry out the tests of acceptance and periodic control of the quality exist. The characterization is habitually carried out, with global methods that don't allow a detailed quantitative parametric study. A novel system of quantitative control was developed based on quantitative describers by slices and temporal. This system is formed for: 1) standard methodology of acquisition of the experimental data, 2) subsystem of functions and programs developed in MatLab, 3) subsystem of graphics and reports, and 4) the expert. It is used successfully in the characterization and the periodic control of MRI machines of several magnetic fields in Cuba and in Venezuela. They were defined and established quantitative descriptors for MRI machines. The software flexibility allows carry out the QC to any machine facilitating the standardization and its use in multi-center studies. The retrospective and predictive value of the system was demonstrated. They feel the bases for the remote realization of the test

qcML : an exchange format for quality control metrics from mass spectrometry experiments

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Walzer, Mathias; Pernas, Lucia Espona; Nasso, Sara; Bittremieux, Wout; Nahnsen, Sven; Kelchtermans, Pieter; Pichler, Peter; van den Toorn, Henk W P|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/31093205X; Staes, An; Vandenbussche, Jonathan; Mazanek, Michael; Taus, Thomas; Scheltema, Richard A; Kelstrup, Christian D; Gatto, Laurent; van Breukelen, Bas|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/244219087; Aiche, Stephan; Valkenborg, Dirk; Laukens, Kris; Lilley, Kathryn S; Olsen, Jesper V; Heck, Albert J R|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/105189332; Mechtler, Karl; Aebersold, Ruedi; Gevaert, Kris; Vizcaíno, Juan Antonio; Hermjakob, Henning; Kohlbacher, Oliver; Martens, Lennart

Quality control is increasingly recognized as a crucial aspect of mass spectrometry based proteomics. Several recent papers discuss relevant parameters for quality control and present applications to extract these from the instrumental raw data. What has been missing, however, is a standard data

A uniform, quality controlled Surface Ocean CO₂ Atlas (SOCAT)

Digital Repository Service at National Institute of Oceanography (India)

Pfeil, B.; Olsen, A; Bakker, D.C.E.; Hankin, S.; Koyuk, H.; Kozyr, A; Malczyk, J.; Manke, A; Metzl, N.; Sabine, C.L.; Akl, J.; Alin, S.R.; Bates, N.; Bellerby, R.G.J.; Borges, A; Boutin, J.; Brown, P.J.; Cai, W.-J.; Chavez, F.P.; Chen, A; Cosca, C.; Fassbender, A.J.; Feely, R.A.; Gonzalez-Davila, M.; Goyet, C.; Hales, B.; Hardman-Mountford, N.; Heinze, C.; Hood, M.; Hoppema, M.; Hunt, C.W.; Hydes, D.; Ishii, M.; Johannessen, T.; Jones, S.D.; Key, R.M.; Kortzinger, A.; Landschutzer, P.; Lauvset, S.K.; Lefevre, N.; Lenton, A.; Lourantou, A.; Merlivat, L.; Midorikawa, T.; Mintrop, L.; Miyazaki, C.; Murata, A.; Nakadate, A.; Nakano, Y.; Nakaoka, S.; Nojiri, Y.; Omar, A.M.; Padin, X.A.; Park, G.-H.; Paterson, K.; Perez, F.F.; Pierrot, D.; Poisson, A.; Rios, A.F.; Santana-Casiano, J.M.; Salisbury, J.; Sarma, V.V.S.S.; et al

by the international marine carbon science community in 2007 with the aim of providing a comprehensive, publicly available, regularly updated, global data set of marine surface CO2, which had been subject to quality control (QC). Many additional CO2 data, not yet made...

Environmental analytical laboratory setup operation and QA/QC

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hsu, J.P.; Boyd, J.A.; DeViney, S.

1991-01-01

Environmental analysis requires precise and timely measurements. The required precise measurement is ensured with quality control and timeliness through an efficient operation. The efficiency of the operation also ensures cost-competitiveness. Environmental analysis plays a very important role in the environmental protection program. Due to the possible litigation involvement, most environmental analyses follow stringent criteria, such as the U.S. EPA Contract Laboratory Program procedures with analytical results documented in an orderly manner. The documentation demonstrates that all quality control steps are followed and facilitates data evaluation to determine the quality and usefulness of the data. Furthermore, the tedious documents concerning sample checking, chain-of-custody, standard or surrogate preparation, daily refrigerator and oven temperature monitoring, analytical and extraction logbooks, standard operation procedures, etc., also are an important part of the laboratory documentation. Quality control for environmental analysis is becoming more stringent, required documentation is becoming more detailed and turnaround time is shorter. However, the business is becoming more cost-competitive and it appears that this trend will continue. In this paper, we discuss what should be done to deal this high quality, fast-paced and tedious environmental analysis process at a competitive cost. The success of environmental analysis is people. The knowledge and experience of the staff are the key to a successful environmental analysis program. In order to be successful in this new area, the ability to develop new methods is crucial. In addition, the laboratory information system, laboratory automation and quality assurance/quality control (QA/QC) are major factors for laboratory success. This paper concentrates on these areas

Survey of Equipment Quality Control in Radiotherapy Centers in Croatia: First Results

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jurkovic, S.; Diklic, A.; Smilovic Radojcic, Dj.; Svabic, M.; Kasabasic, M.; Ivkovic, A.; Faj, D.

2011-01-01

Implementation of advanced radiation therapy techniques into clinical practice has a huge influence on tumour control as well as normal tissue sparing. Introduction of Conformal Radiation Therapy (CRT) and Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT) into clinical practice results in precise 'tailoring' of dose distributions and according to that in reduction of irradiated volumes. This is not possible without, for the application of advanced radiation therapy techniques constructed, linear accelerators. They must be very precise, well tuned and maintained. In this way the milestone of radiation therapy quality assurance programme is machine quality control (QC). First step in development of quality control programme is existence of written QC protocols. The survey of existence of written QC protocols showed the lack of written protocols for QC procedures in Croatian radiotherapy departments. In this way regular implementation of the procedures are usually left to the conscience of the medical physicists. In the IAEA granted projects CRO6008 and RER9093, we harmonized existing QC protocols between radiation therapy departments at University hospitals Rijeka and Osijek and developed the new ones. The protocols made according to international guidelines are publicly available at websites of the State Office for Radiological and Nuclear Safety and Croatian medical physics society in order to help other radiotherapy departments in Croatia to develop their own ones. Next step was reviewing of QC practices in different centres and exchanging experiences. For that purpose we defined a set of tests, according to the existing QC protocols. Then, on-site measurements were done to check QC parameters of linear accelerators and simulators in six radiation therapy centres in Croatia. In this paper we present the tests preformed, devices and analysing tools used, along with the overall results. Tests were preformed in six radiotherapy centres in Croatia on nine linear

Implementation of a Quality Control using portal imaging dynamic MLC; Implementacion de un programa de control de calidad de MLC dinamico mediante imagen portal

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sanz Freire, C. J.; Vazquez Galinanes, A.; Collado Chamorro, P. M.; Diaz Pascual, V.; Gomez Amez, J.; Sanchez Martinez, S.; Ossola Lentati, G. A

2011-07-01

The precision in the correct beam irradiation in the treatment of highly modulated Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT) depends largely on the characteristics and behavior of the multi leaf collimator (MLC). Quality control (QC) of this element is essential to ensure proper delivery of the beams calculated. It is important to know the absolute position of each sheet, the motion characteristics of each behavior and stability. Among the numerous methods for carrying out the QC MLC, the use of portal imaging is a practical and high resolution. This paper describes the development of a quality control program based dynamic MLC portal image, self-developed software that enables analysis and the results of two years experience following the implementation of IMRT treatments at our center. (Author)

Autonomous Quality Control of Joint Orientation Measured with Inertial Sensors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Karina Lebel

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Clinical mobility assessment is traditionally performed in laboratories using complex and expensive equipment. The low accessibility to such equipment, combined with the emerging trend to assess mobility in a free-living environment, creates a need for body-worn sensors (e.g., inertial measurement units—IMUs that are capable of measuring the complexity in motor performance using meaningful measurements, such as joint orientation. However, accuracy of joint orientation estimates using IMUs may be affected by environment, the joint tracked, type of motion performed and velocity. This study investigates a quality control (QC process to assess the quality of orientation data based on features extracted from the raw inertial sensors’ signals. Joint orientation (trunk, hip, knee, ankle of twenty participants was acquired by an optical motion capture system and IMUs during a variety of tasks (sit, sit-to-stand transition, walking, turning performed under varying conditions (speed, environment. An artificial neural network was used to classify good and bad sequences of joint orientation with a sensitivity and a specificity above 83%. This study confirms the possibility to perform QC on IMU joint orientation data based on raw signal features. This innovative QC approach may be of particular interest in a big data context, such as for remote-monitoring of patients’ mobility.

Development of manufacturing equipment and QC equipment for DUPIC fuel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yang, Myung Seung; Park, J.J.; Lee, J.W.; Kim, S.S.; Yim, S.P.; Kim, J.H.; Kim, K.H.; Na, S.H.; Kim, W.K.; Shin, J.M.; Lee, D.Y.; Cho, K.H.; Lee, Y.S.; Sohn, J.S.; Kim, M.J.

1999-05-01

In this study, DUPIC powder and pellet fabrication equipment, welding system, QC equipment, and fission gas treatment are developed to fabricate DUPIC fuel at IMEF M6 hot cell. The systems are improved to be suitable for remote operation and maintenance with the manipulator at hot cell. Powder and pellet fabrication equipment have been recently developed. The systems are under performance test to check remote operation and maintenance. Welding chamber and jigs are designed and developed to remotely weld DUPIC fuel rod with manipulators at hot cell. Remote quality control equipment are being tested for analysis and inspection of DUPIC fuel characteristics at hot cell. And trapping characteristics is analyzed for cesium and ruthenium released under oxidation/reduction and sintering processes. The design criteria and process flow diagram of fission gas treatment system are prepared incorporating the experimental results. The fission gas treatment system has been successfully manufactured. (Author). 33 refs., 14 tabs., 91 figs

New methods for optical distance indicator and gantry angle quality control tests in medical linear accelerators: image processing by using a 3D phantom

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Shandiz, Mahdi Heravian; Khalilzadeh, Mohammadmahdi; Anvari, Kazem [Mashhad Branch, Islamic Azad University, Mashhad (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Layen, Ghorban Safaeian [Mashhad University of Medical Science, Mashhad (Iran, Islamic Republic of)

2015-03-15

In order to keep the acceptable level of the radiation oncology linear accelerators, it is necessary to apply a reliable quality assurance (QA) program. The QA protocols, published by authoritative organizations, such as the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM), determine the quality control (QC) tests which should be performed on the medical linear accelerators and the threshold levels for each test. The purpose of this study is to increase the accuracy and precision of the selected QC tests in order to increase the quality of treatment and also increase the speed of the tests to convince the crowded centers to start a reliable QA program. A new method has been developed for two of the QC tests; optical distance indicator (ODI) QC test as a daily test and gantry angle QC test as a monthly test. This method uses an image processing approach utilizing the snapshots taken by the CCD camera to measure the source to surface distance (SSD) and gantry angle. The new method of ODI QC test has an accuracy of 99.95% with a standard deviation of 0.061 cm and the new method for gantry angle QC has a precision of 0.43 degrees. The automated proposed method which is used for both ODI and gantry angle QC tests, contains highly accurate and precise results which are objective and the human-caused errors have no effect on the results. The results show that they are in the acceptable range for both of the QC tests, according to AAPM task group 142.

New methods for optical distance indicator and gantry angle quality control tests in medical linear accelerators: image processing by using a 3D phantom

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shandiz, Mahdi Heravian; Khalilzadeh, Mohammadmahdi; Anvari, Kazem; Layen, Ghorban Safaeian

2015-01-01

In order to keep the acceptable level of the radiation oncology linear accelerators, it is necessary to apply a reliable quality assurance (QA) program. The QA protocols, published by authoritative organizations, such as the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM), determine the quality control (QC) tests which should be performed on the medical linear accelerators and the threshold levels for each test. The purpose of this study is to increase the accuracy and precision of the selected QC tests in order to increase the quality of treatment and also increase the speed of the tests to convince the crowded centers to start a reliable QA program. A new method has been developed for two of the QC tests; optical distance indicator (ODI) QC test as a daily test and gantry angle QC test as a monthly test. This method uses an image processing approach utilizing the snapshots taken by the CCD camera to measure the source to surface distance (SSD) and gantry angle. The new method of ODI QC test has an accuracy of 99.95% with a standard deviation of 0.061 cm and the new method for gantry angle QC has a precision of 0.43 degrees. The automated proposed method which is used for both ODI and gantry angle QC tests, contains highly accurate and precise results which are objective and the human-caused errors have no effect on the results. The results show that they are in the acceptable range for both of the QC tests, according to AAPM task group 142.

Quality controls for wind measurement of a 1290-MHz boundary layer profiler under strong wind conditions.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Zhao; Zheng, Chaorong; Wu, Yue

2017-09-01

Wind profilers have been widely adopted to observe the wind field information in the atmosphere for different purposes. But accuracy of its observation has limitations due to various noises or disturbances and hence need to be further improved. In this paper, the data measured under strong wind conditions, using a 1290-MHz boundary layer profiler (BLP), are quality controlled via a composite quality control (QC) procedure proposed by the authors. Then, through the comparison with the data measured by radiosonde flights (balloon observations), the critical thresholds in the composite QC procedure, including consensus average threshold T 1 and vertical shear threshold T 3 , are systematically discussed. And the performance of the BLP operated under precipitation is also evaluated. It is found that to ensure the high accuracy and high data collectable rate, the optimal range of subsets is determined to be 4 m/s. Although the number of data rejected by the combined algorithm of vertical shear examination and small median test is quite limited, it is proved that the algorithm is quite useful to recognize the outlier with a large discrepancy. And the optimal wind shear threshold T 3 can be recommended as 5 ms -1 /100m. During patchy precipitation, the quality of data measured by the four oblique beams (using the DBS measuring technique) can still be ensured. After the BLP data are quality controlled by the composite QC procedure, the output can show good agreement with the balloon observation.

Quality assurance: image production and film quality

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Abd Aziz Mhd Ramli

2004-01-01

The contents of this chapter are follows - Factors Affecting Image Quality and Patient Dose: Quality Control in Diagnostic Radiology, Mechanical Safety, Electrical Safety, Radiation Protection, Performance and Safety Standard, Calibration of QC Test Tools

Quality control of CANDU6 fuel element in fabrication process

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li Yinxie; Zhang Jie

2012-01-01

To enhance the fine control over all aspects of the production process, improve product quality, fuel element fabrication process for CANDU6 quality process control activities carried out by professional technical and management technology combined mode, the quality of the fuel elements formed around CANDU6 weak links - - end plug , and brazing processes and procedures associated with this aspect of strict control, in improving staff quality consciousness, strengthening equipment maintenance, improved tooling, fixtures, optimization process test, strengthen supervision, fine inspection operations, timely delivery carry out aspects of the quality of information and concerns the production environment, etc., to find the problem from the improvement of product quality and factors affecting the source, and resolved to form the active control, comprehensive and systematic analysis of the problem of the quality management concepts, effectively reducing the end plug weld microstructure after the failure times and number of defects zirconium alloys brazed, improved product quality, and created economic benefits expressly provided, while staff quality consciousness and attention to detail, collaboration department, communication has been greatly improved and achieved very good management effectiveness. (authors)

Machine-Specific Magnetic Resonance Imaging Quality Control Procedures for Stereotactic Radiosurgery Treatment Planning.

Science.gov (United States)

Fatemi, Ali; Taghizadeh, Somayeh; Yang, Claus Chunli; R Kanakamedala, Madhava; Morris, Bart; Vijayakumar, Srinivasan

2017-12-18

Purpose Magnetic resonance (MR) images are necessary for accurate contouring of intracranial targets, determination of gross target volume and evaluation of organs at risk during stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) treatment planning procedures. Many centers use magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) simulators or regular diagnostic MRI machines for SRS treatment planning; while both types of machine require two stages of quality control (QC), both machine- and patient-specific, before use for SRS, no accepted guidelines for such QC currently exist. This article describes appropriate machine-specific QC procedures for SRS applications. Methods and materials We describe the adaptation of American College of Radiology (ACR)-recommended QC tests using an ACR MRI phantom for SRS treatment planning. In addition, commercial Quasar MRID 3D and Quasar GRID 3D phantoms were used to evaluate the effects of static magnetic field (B 0 ) inhomogeneity, gradient nonlinearity, and a Leksell G frame (SRS frame) and its accessories on geometrical distortion in MR images. Results QC procedures found in-plane distortions (Maximum = 3.5 mm, Mean = 0.91 mm, Standard deviation = 0.67 mm, >2.5 mm (%) = 2) in X-direction (Maximum = 2.51 mm, Mean = 0.52 mm, Standard deviation = 0.39 mm, > 2.5 mm (%) = 0) and in Y-direction (Maximum = 13. 1 mm , Mean = 2.38 mm, Standard deviation = 2.45 mm, > 2.5 mm (%) = 34) in Z-direction and < 1 mm distortion at a head-sized region of interest. MR images acquired using a Leksell G frame and localization devices showed a mean absolute deviation of 2.3 mm from isocenter. The results of modified ACR tests were all within recommended limits, and baseline measurements have been defined for regular weekly QC tests. Conclusions With appropriate QC procedures in place, it is possible to routinely obtain clinically useful MR images suitable for SRS treatment planning purposes. MRI examination for SRS planning can benefit from the improved localization and planning

The quality control program for an Ontario Hydro operated thermoluminescence dosimetry service at nuclear generating stations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Orr, B.H.; Walsh, M.L.

1975-11-01

An essential aspect of the Ontario Hydro TLD service is the operation of an acceptable quality control (QC) program. The QC program which has been generally accepted by the A.E.C.B. is presented in this document. The aims of the program are as follows: (1) to ensure that Ontario Hydro maintains an acceptable standard of dosimetry; (2) to be able to demonstrate to any interested party that the dose measurements for individual workers have a high degree of credibility. (author)

Research of quality control during development of NPP DCS 1E classified software

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shi Weihua; Lu Zhenguo; Xie Qi

2012-01-01

The Nuclear safety depends on right behavior of 1E software, which is a important part of 1E DCS system. Nowadays, user focus on good function of 1E system, but pay little attention to quality control of 1E software. In fact, it's declared in IEC61513 and IEC60880 that 1E software should under strict quality control during all stages of development. This article is related to the practice of 1E DCS system quality control and explores the QC surveillance for 1E software from the user's point of view. (authors)

Quality control in the design, fabrication and operation of the ITER magnets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mitchell, N.

2006-01-01

The ITER magnets are a complex system involving interfaces between many advanced technologies (superconductors, forging/welding/machining of massive structures, cryogenics, composites and moulding, high voltage electrical), yet at the same time form part of the ITER 'basic machine' which is required to operate at the design parameters, broadly failure free, for the design life of the tokamak. This imposes special quality control problems for the ITER project integration by the ITER International Team (IT) through the design, fabrication and operation. The magnets are not a test bed for new technology but in spite of this must use it, successfully. There is little previous experience of such a system but full functionality is required from the start, with limited opportunity for adjustment. And, finally, costs and schedule must be contained. The procurement strategy for the machine, with magnet components being supplied 'in kind', requires particular attention to the specifications, scheduling and quality control (QC). Special issues here are the testing requirements on magnet components, especially before final installation but also at critical intermediate stages. Unnecessary or ineffective quality control procedures cause delay and high costs, and divert attention from critical items. The main points of the magnet QC programme are summarised, including the use of codes and standards, qualification, manufacturing quality assurance, commissioning and in-service inspection

Quality Assurance and Quality Control in TLD Measurement

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bhuiyan, S.I.; Qronfla, M.M.; Abulfaraj, W.H.; Kinsara, A.A.; Taha, T.M.; Molla, N.I.; Elmohr, S.M.

2008-01-01

TLD technique characterized by high precision and reproducibility of dose measurement is presented by addressing pre-readout annealing, group sorting, dose evaluation, blind tests, internal dose quality audit and external quality control audits. Two hundred and forty TLD chips were annealed for 1 hour at 4000 degree C followed by 2 h at 1000 degree C. After exposure of 1 mGy from 90 Sr irradiator TLDs were subjected to pre-readout annealing at 1000 degree C, then readout, sorted into groups each with nearly equal sensitivity. Upon repeating the procedures, TLDs having response >3.5% from group mean were dropped to assuring group stability. Effect of pre-readout annealing has been studied. Series of repeated measurements were conducted to stabilize calibration procedures and DCF generation using SSDL level 137 Cs calibrator, dose master, ionization chambers. Performed internal dose quality audits, blind tests and validated by external QC tests with King Abdulaziz City of Science and Technology

External quality control in ground-water sampling and analysis at the Hanford Site

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hall, S.H.; Juracich, S.P.

1991-11-01

At the US Department of Energy's Hanford Site, external Quality Control (QC) for ground-water monitoring is extensive and has included routine submittal of intra- and interlaboratory duplicate samples, blind samples, and several kinds of blank samples. Examination of the resulting QC data for nine of the constituents found in ground water at the Hanford Site shows that the quality of analysis has generally been within the expectations of precision and accuracy that have been established by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The constituents subjected to review were nitrate, chromium, sodium, fluoride, carbon tetrachloride, tritium, ammonium, trichloroethylene, and cyanide. Of these, the fluoride measurements were notable exceptions and were poor by EPA standards. The review has shown that interlaboratory analysis of duplicate samples yields the most useful QC data for evaluating laboratory performance in determining commonly encountered constituents. For rarely encountered constituents, interlaboratory comparisons may be augmented with blind samples (synthetic samples of known composition). Intralaboratory comparisons, blanks, and spikes should be generally restricted to studies of suspected or known sample contamination and to studies of the adequacy of sampling and analytical procedures

MO-AB-210-00: Diagnostic Ultrasound Imaging Quality Control and High Intensity Focused Ultrasound Therapy Hands-On Workshop

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2015-01-01

The goal of this ultrasound hands-on workshop is to demonstrate advancements in high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) and to demonstrate quality control (QC) testing in diagnostic ultrasound. HIFU is a therapeutic modality that uses ultrasound waves as carriers of energy. HIFU is used to focus a beam of ultrasound energy into a small volume at specific target locations within the body. The focused beam causes localized high temperatures and produces a well-defined regions of necrosis. This completely non-invasive technology has great potential for tumor ablation and targeted drug delivery. At the workshop, attendees will see configurations, applications, and hands-on demonstrations with on-site instructors at separate stations. The involvement of medical physicists in diagnostic ultrasound imaging service is increasing due to QC and accreditation requirements. At the workshop, an array of ultrasound testing phantoms and ultrasound scanners will be provided for attendees to learn diagnostic ultrasound QC in a hands-on environment with live demonstrations of the techniques. Target audience: Medical physicists and other medical professionals in diagnostic imaging and radiation oncology with interest in high-intensity focused ultrasound and in diagnostic ultrasound QC. Learning Objectives: Learn ultrasound physics and safety for HIFU applications through live demonstrations Get an overview of the state-of-the art in HIFU technologies and equipment Gain familiarity with common elements of a quality control program for diagnostic ultrasound imaging Identify QC tools available for testing diagnostic ultrasound systems and learn how to use these tools List of supporting vendors for HIFU and diagnostic ultrasound QC hands-on workshop: Philips Healthcare Alpinion Medical Systems Verasonics, Inc Zonare Medical Systems, Inc Computerized Imaging Reference Systems (CIRS), Inc. GAMMEX, Inc., Cablon Medical BV Steffen Sammet: NIH/NCI grant 5R25CA132822, NIH/NINDS grant 5R25NS

MO-AB-210-00: Diagnostic Ultrasound Imaging Quality Control and High Intensity Focused Ultrasound Therapy Hands-On Workshop

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2015-06-15

The goal of this ultrasound hands-on workshop is to demonstrate advancements in high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) and to demonstrate quality control (QC) testing in diagnostic ultrasound. HIFU is a therapeutic modality that uses ultrasound waves as carriers of energy. HIFU is used to focus a beam of ultrasound energy into a small volume at specific target locations within the body. The focused beam causes localized high temperatures and produces a well-defined regions of necrosis. This completely non-invasive technology has great potential for tumor ablation and targeted drug delivery. At the workshop, attendees will see configurations, applications, and hands-on demonstrations with on-site instructors at separate stations. The involvement of medical physicists in diagnostic ultrasound imaging service is increasing due to QC and accreditation requirements. At the workshop, an array of ultrasound testing phantoms and ultrasound scanners will be provided for attendees to learn diagnostic ultrasound QC in a hands-on environment with live demonstrations of the techniques. Target audience: Medical physicists and other medical professionals in diagnostic imaging and radiation oncology with interest in high-intensity focused ultrasound and in diagnostic ultrasound QC. Learning Objectives: Learn ultrasound physics and safety for HIFU applications through live demonstrations Get an overview of the state-of-the art in HIFU technologies and equipment Gain familiarity with common elements of a quality control program for diagnostic ultrasound imaging Identify QC tools available for testing diagnostic ultrasound systems and learn how to use these tools List of supporting vendors for HIFU and diagnostic ultrasound QC hands-on workshop: Philips Healthcare Alpinion Medical Systems Verasonics, Inc Zonare Medical Systems, Inc Computerized Imaging Reference Systems (CIRS), Inc. GAMMEX, Inc., Cablon Medical BV Steffen Sammet: NIH/NCI grant 5R25CA132822, NIH/NINDS grant 5R25NS

SU-E-T-103: Development and Implementation of Web Based Quality Control Software

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Studinski, R; Taylor, R; Angers, C; La Russa, D; Clark, B

2014-01-01

Purpose: Historically many radiation medicine programs have maintained their Quality Control (QC) test results in paper records or Microsoft Excel worksheets. Both these approaches represent significant logistical challenges, and are not predisposed to data review and approval. It has been our group's aim to develop and implement web based software designed not just to record and store QC data in a centralized database, but to provide scheduling and data review tools to help manage a radiation therapy clinics Equipment Quality control program. Methods: The software was written in the Python programming language using the Django web framework. In order to promote collaboration and validation from other centres the code was made open source and is freely available to the public via an online source code repository. The code was written to provide a common user interface for data entry, formalize the review and approval process, and offer automated data trending and process control analysis of test results. Results: As of February 2014, our installation of QAtrack+ has 180 tests defined in its database and has collected ∼22 000 test results, all of which have been reviewed and approved by a physicist via QATrack+'s review tools. These results include records for quality control of Elekta accelerators, CT simulators, our brachytherapy programme, TomoTherapy and Cyberknife units. Currently at least 5 other centres are known to be running QAtrack+ clinically, forming the start of an international user community. Conclusion: QAtrack+ has proven to be an effective tool for collecting radiation therapy QC data, allowing for rapid review and trending of data for a wide variety of treatment units. As free and open source software, all source code, documentation and a bug tracker are available to the public at https://bitbucket.org/tohccmedphys/qatrackplus/

SU-E-T-103: Development and Implementation of Web Based Quality Control Software

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Studinski, R; Taylor, R; Angers, C; La Russa, D; Clark, B [The Ottawa Hospital Regional Cancer Ctr., Ottawa, ON (Canada)

2014-06-01

Purpose: Historically many radiation medicine programs have maintained their Quality Control (QC) test results in paper records or Microsoft Excel worksheets. Both these approaches represent significant logistical challenges, and are not predisposed to data review and approval. It has been our group's aim to develop and implement web based software designed not just to record and store QC data in a centralized database, but to provide scheduling and data review tools to help manage a radiation therapy clinics Equipment Quality control program. Methods: The software was written in the Python programming language using the Django web framework. In order to promote collaboration and validation from other centres the code was made open source and is freely available to the public via an online source code repository. The code was written to provide a common user interface for data entry, formalize the review and approval process, and offer automated data trending and process control analysis of test results. Results: As of February 2014, our installation of QAtrack+ has 180 tests defined in its database and has collected ∼22 000 test results, all of which have been reviewed and approved by a physicist via QATrack+'s review tools. These results include records for quality control of Elekta accelerators, CT simulators, our brachytherapy programme, TomoTherapy and Cyberknife units. Currently at least 5 other centres are known to be running QAtrack+ clinically, forming the start of an international user community. Conclusion: QAtrack+ has proven to be an effective tool for collecting radiation therapy QC data, allowing for rapid review and trending of data for a wide variety of treatment units. As free and open source software, all source code, documentation and a bug tracker are available to the public at https://bitbucket.org/tohccmedphys/qatrackplus/.

DNA fingerprinting: a quality control case study for human biospecimen authentication.

Science.gov (United States)

Kofanova, Olga A; Mathieson, William; Thomas, Gerry A; Betsou, Fotini

2014-04-01

This case study illustrates the usefulness of the DNA fingerprinting method in biobank quality control (QC) procedures and emphasizes the need for detailed and accurate record keeping during processing of biological samples. It also underlines the value of independent third-party assessment to identify points at which errors are most likely to have occurred when unexpected results are obtained from biospecimens.

Proposed quality control guidelines for National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards Susceptibility Tests using the veterinary antimicrobial agent tiamulin.

Science.gov (United States)

Pfaller, M A; Jones, R N; Walter, D H

2001-01-01

Quality control guidelines for standardized antimicrobial susceptibility test methods are critical for the continuing accuracy of these clinical tests. In this report, quality control limits were proposed for the veterinary antimicrobial agent tiamulin with minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) ranges of three or four log(2) dilution steps in two different medium formulations. Disk diffusion zone diameter ranges were proposed for tiamulin tested against Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae ATCC 27090 (12-18 mm) and Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923 (25-32 mm). The data from eight participating laboratories produced 100% of results within proposed MIC limits (8-32 microg/mL), and 95.8-97.0% of zones were found within suggested zone diameter QC guidelines. These proposed QC ranges should be validated by in-use results from veterinary clinical laboratories.

Internal quality control: planning and implementation strategies.

Science.gov (United States)

Westgard, James O

2003-11-01

The first essential in setting up internal quality control (IQC) of a test procedure in the clinical laboratory is to select the proper IQC procedure to implement, i.e. choosing the statistical criteria or control rules, and the number of control measurements, according to the quality required for the test and the observed performance of the method. Then the right IQC procedure must be properly implemented. This review focuses on strategies for planning and implementing IQC procedures in order to improve the quality of the IQC. A quantitative planning process is described that can be implemented with graphical tools such as power function or critical-error graphs and charts of operating specifications. Finally, a total QC strategy is formulated to minimize cost and maximize quality. A general strategy for IQC implementation is recommended that employs a three-stage design in which the first stage provides high error detection, the second stage low false rejection and the third stage prescribes the length of the analytical run, making use of an algorithm involving the average of normal patients' data.

Moving beyond quality control in diagnostic radiology and the role of the clinically qualified medical physicist.

Science.gov (United States)

Delis, H; Christaki, K; Healy, B; Loreti, G; Poli, G L; Toroi, P; Meghzifene, A

2017-09-01

Quality control (QC), according to ISO definitions, represents the most basic level of quality. It is considered to be the snapshot of the performance or the characteristics of a product or service, in order to verify that it complies with the requirements. Although it is usually believed that "the role of medical physicists in Diagnostic Radiology is QC", this, not only limits the contribution of medical physicists, but is also no longer adequate to meet the needs of Diagnostic Radiology in terms of Quality. In order to assure quality practices more organized activities and efforts are required in the modern era of diagnostic radiology. The complete system of QC is just one element of a comprehensive quality assurance (QA) program that aims at ensuring that the requirements of quality of a product or service will consistently be fulfilled. A comprehensive Quality system, starts even before the procurement of any equipment, as the need analysis and the development of specifications are important components under the QA framework. Further expanding this framework of QA, a comprehensive Quality Management System can provide additional benefits to a Diagnostic Radiology service. Harmonized policies and procedures and elements such as mission statement or job descriptions can provide clarity and consistency in the services provided, enhancing the outcome and representing a solid platform for quality improvement. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) promotes this comprehensive quality approach in diagnostic imaging and especially supports the field of comprehensive clinical audits as a tool for quality improvement. Copyright © 2017 Associazione Italiana di Fisica Medica. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Development of Quality Control Genotyping Approaches: A Case Study Using Elite Maize Lines.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jiafa Chen

Full Text Available Quality control (QC of germplasm identity and purity is a critical component of breeding and conservation activities. SNP genotyping technologies and increased availability of markers provide the opportunity to employ genotyping as a low-cost and robust component of this QC. In the public sector available low-cost SNP QC genotyping methods have been developed from a very limited panel of markers of 1,000 to 1,500 markers without broad selection of the most informative SNPs. Selection of optimal SNPs and definition of appropriate germplasm sampling in addition to platform section impact on logistical and resource-use considerations for breeding and conservation applications when mainstreaming QC. In order to address these issues, we evaluated the selection and use of SNPs for QC applications from large DArTSeq data sets generated from CIMMYT maize inbred lines (CMLs. Two QC genotyping strategies were developed, the first is a "rapid QC", employing a small number of SNPs to identify potential mislabeling of seed packages or plots, the second is a "broad QC", employing a larger number of SNP, used to identify each germplasm entry and to measure heterogeneity. The optimal marker selection strategies combined the selection of markers with high minor allele frequency, sampling of clustered SNP in proportion to marker cluster distance and selecting markers that maintain a uniform genomic distribution. The rapid and broad QC SNP panels selected using this approach were further validated using blind test assessments of related re-generation samples. The influence of sampling within each line was evaluated. Sampling 192 individuals would result in close to 100% possibility of detecting a 5% contamination in the entry, and approximately a 98% probability to detect a 2% contamination of the line. These results provide a framework for the establishment of QC genotyping. A comparison of financial and time costs for use of these approaches across different

Improving of Quality Control and Quality Assurance in 14C and 3H Laboratory; Participation in the IAEA Model Project

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Obelic, B.

2001-01-01

Full text: Users of laboratory's analytical results are increasingly requiring demonstrable proofs of the reliability and credibility of the results using internationally accepted standards, because the economic, ecological, medical and legal decisions based on laboratory results need to be accepted nationally and internationally. Credibility, respect and opportunities of the laboratories are improved when objective evidence on the reliability and quality of the results can be given. This is achieved through inculcation of a quality culture through definition of well-defined procedures and controls and operational checks characteristic of quality assurance and quality control (Q A/QC). IAEA launched in 1999 a two-and-a-half year model project entitled Quality Control and Quality Assurance of Nuclear Analytical Techniques with participation of laboratories using alpha, beta and/or gamma spectrometry from CEE and NIS countries. The project started to introduce and implement QA principles in accordance with the ISO-17025 guide, leading eventually to a level at which the QA system is self-sustainable and might be appropriate for formal accreditation or certification by respective national authorities. Activities within the project consist of semi-annual reports, two training workshops, two inspection visits of the laboratories by IAEA experts and proficiency tests. The following topics were considered: organisation requirements, acceptance criteria and non-conformance management of QC, internal and external method validation, statistical analyses and uncertainty evaluation, standard operation procedures and quality manual documentation. 14 C and 3 H Laboratory of the Rudjer Boskovic Institute has been one of ten laboratories participating in the Project. In the Laboratory all the procedures required in the quality control were included implicitly, while during the Model Project much effort has been devoted to elaboration of explicit documentation. Since the beginning

the research quality plus (rq+) assessment instrument

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

Thomas Schwandt

THE RESEARCH QUALITY PLUS (RQ+) ASSESSMENT INSTRUMENT ... consistent way to allow for further meta-analysis about research quality over time. ... Addresses complex and integrative problems, requiring systems-based approaches ..... benefits or financial costs for participants that might not be appropriate in the ...

Quality control of CT systems by automated monitoring of key performance indicators: a two-year study.

Science.gov (United States)

Nowik, Patrik; Bujila, Robert; Poludniowski, Gavin; Fransson, Annette

2015-07-08

The purpose of this study was to develop a method of performing routine periodical quality controls (QC) of CT systems by automatically analyzing key performance indicators (KPIs), obtainable from images of manufacturers' quality assurance (QA) phantoms. A KPI pertains to a measurable or determinable QC parameter that is influenced by other underlying fundamental QC parameters. The established KPIs are based on relationships between existing QC parameters used in the annual testing program of CT scanners at the Karolinska University Hospital in Stockholm, Sweden. The KPIs include positioning, image noise, uniformity, homogeneity, the CT number of water, and the CT number of air. An application (MonitorCT) was developed to automatically evaluate phantom images in terms of the established KPIs. The developed methodology has been used for two years in clinical routine, where CT technologists perform daily scans of the manufacturer's QA phantom and automatically send the images to MonitorCT for KPI evaluation. In the cases where results were out of tolerance, actions could be initiated in less than 10 min. 900 QC scans from two CT scanners have been collected and analyzed over the two-year period that MonitorCT has been active. Two types of errors have been registered in this period: a ring artifact was discovered with the image noise test, and a calibration error was detected multiple times with the CT number test. In both cases, results were outside the tolerances defined for MonitorCT, as well as by the vendor. Automated monitoring of KPIs is a powerful tool that can be used to supplement established QC methodologies. Medical physicists and other professionals concerned with the performance of a CT system will, using such methods, have access to comprehensive data on the current and historical (trend) status of the system such that swift actions can be taken in order to ensure the quality of the CT examinations, patient safety, and minimal disruption of service.

Quality control of CT systems by automated monitoring of key performance indicators: a two‐year study

Science.gov (United States)

Bujila, Robert; Poludniowski, Gavin; Fransson, Annette

2015-01-01

The purpose of this study was to develop a method of performing routine periodical quality controls (QC) of CT systems by automatically analyzing key performance indicators (KPIs), obtainable from images of manufacturers' quality assurance (QA) phantoms. A KPI pertains to a measurable or determinable QC parameter that is influenced by other underlying fundamental QC parameters. The established KPIs are based on relationships between existing QC parameters used in the annual testing program of CT scanners at the Karolinska University Hospital in Stockholm, Sweden. The KPIs include positioning, image noise, uniformity, homogeneity, the CT number of water, and the CT number of air. An application (MonitorCT) was developed to automatically evaluate phantom images in terms of the established KPIs. The developed methodology has been used for two years in clinical routine, where CT technologists perform daily scans of the manufacturer's QA phantom and automatically send the images to MonitorCT for KPI evaluation. In the cases where results were out of tolerance, actions could be initiated in less than 10 min. 900 QC scans from two CT scanners have been collected and analyzed over the two‐year period that MonitorCT has been active. Two types of errors have been registered in this period: a ring artifact was discovered with the image noise test, and a calibration error was detected multiple times with the CT number test. In both cases, results were outside the tolerances defined for MonitorCT, as well as by the vendor. Automated monitoring of KPIs is a powerful tool that can be used to supplement established QC methodologies. Medical physicists and other professionals concerned with the performance of a CT system will, using such methods, have access to comprehensive data on the current and historical (trend) status of the system such that swift actions can be taken in order to ensure the quality of the CT examinations, patient safety, and minimal disruption of service

Quality control ranges for testing broth microdilution susceptibility of Flavobacterium columnare and F. psychrophilium to nine antimicrobials

Science.gov (United States)

A multi-laboratory broth microdilution method trial was performed to standardize the specialized test conditions required for fish pathogens Flavobacterium columnare and F. pyschrophilum. Nine laboratories tested the quality control (QC) strains Escherichia coli ATCC 25922 and Aeromonas salmonicid...

PACS 2000: quality control using the task allocation chart

Science.gov (United States)

Norton, Gary S.; Romlein, John R.; Lyche, David K.; Richardson, Ronald R., Jr.

2000-05-01

Medical imaging's technological evolution in the next century will continue to include Picture Archive and Communication Systems (PACS) and teleradiology. It is difficult to predict radiology's future in the new millennium with both computed radiography and direct digital capture competing as the primary image acquisition methods for routine radiography. Changes in Computed Axial Tomography (CT) and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) continue to amaze the healthcare community. No matter how the acquisition, display, and archive functions change, Quality Control (QC) of the radiographic imaging chain will remain an important step in the imaging process. The Task Allocation Chart (TAC) is a tool that can be used in a medical facility's QC process to indicate the testing responsibilities of the image stakeholders and the medical informatics department. The TAC shows a grid of equipment to be serviced, tasks to be performed, and the organization assigned to perform each task. Additionally, skills, tasks, time, and references for each task can be provided. QC of the PACS must be stressed as a primary element of a PACS' implementation. The TAC can be used to clarify responsibilities during warranty and paid maintenance periods. Establishing a TAC a part of a PACS implementation has a positive affect on patient care and clinical acceptance.

Quality-Controlled Wind Data from the Kennedy Space Center 915 Megahertz Doppler Radar Wind Profiler Network

Science.gov (United States)

Dryden, Rachel L.

2011-01-01

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration s (NASA) Kennedy Space Center (KSC) has installed a five-instrument 915-Megahertz (MHz) Doppler Radar Wind Profiler (DRWP) system that records atmospheric wind profile properties. The purpose of these profilers is to fill data gaps between the top of the KSC wind tower network and the lowest measurement altitude of the KSC 50-MHz DRWP. The 915-MHz DRWP system has the capability to generate three-dimensional wind data outputs from approximately 150 meters (m) to 6,000 m at roughly 15-minute (min) intervals. NASA s long-term objective is to combine the 915-MHz and 50-MHz DRWP systems to create complete vertical wind profiles up to 18,300 m to be used in trajectory and loads analyses of space vehicles and by forecasters on day-of-launch (DOL). This analysis utilizes automated and manual quality control (QC) processes to remove erroneous and unrealistic wind data returned by the 915-MHz DRWP system. The percentage of data affected by each individual QC check in the period of record (POR) (i.e., January to April 2006) was computed, demonstrating the variability in the amount of data affected by the QC processes. The number of complete wind profiles available at given altitude thresholds for each profiler in the POR was calculated and outputted graphically, followed by an assessment of the number of complete wind profiles available for any profiler in the POR. A case study is also provided to demonstrate the QC process on a day of a known weather event.

Advanced methods of quality control in nuclear fuel fabrication

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Onoufriev, Vladimir

2004-01-01

Under pressure of current economic and electricity market situation utilities implement more demanding fuel utilization schemes including higher burn ups and thermal rates, longer fuel cycles and usage of Mo fuel. Therefore, fuel vendors have recently initiated new R and D programmes aimed at improving fuel quality, design and materials to produce robust and reliable fuel. In the beginning of commercial fuel fabrication, emphasis was given to advancements in Quality Control/Quality Assurance related mainly to product itself. During recent years, emphasis was transferred to improvements in process control and to implementation of overall Total Quality Management (TQM) programmes. In the area of fuel quality control, statistical control methods are now widely implemented replacing 100% inspection. This evolution, some practical examples and IAEA activities are described in the paper. The paper presents major findings of the latest IAEA Technical Meetings (TMs) and training courses in the area with emphasis on information received at the TM and training course held in 1999 and other latest publications to provide an overview of new developments in process/quality control, their implementation and results obtained including new approaches to QC

Patient pools and the use of "patient means" are valuable tools in quality control illustrated by a bone-specific alkaline phosphatase assay

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hinge, Maja; Lund, Erik D.; Brandslund, Ivan

2016-01-01

BACKGROUND: Quality control (QC) is an essential part of clinical biochemistry to ensure that laboratory test results are reliable and correct. Those tests without a defined reference method constitute a special challenge, as is the case with bone-specific alkaline phosphatase (BAP). METHODS...... AND RESULTS: The present study reports an example where a shift in a BAP assay was detected by use of a patient pool and supported by a retrospective calculation of "patient mean", while the external QC and specific assay control material were unaffected by the shift. CONCLUSIONS: Patient pools and the use...

Direct infusion mass spectrometry metabolomics dataset: a benchmark for data processing and quality control

Science.gov (United States)

Kirwan, Jennifer A; Weber, Ralf J M; Broadhurst, David I; Viant, Mark R

2014-01-01

Direct-infusion mass spectrometry (DIMS) metabolomics is an important approach for characterising molecular responses of organisms to disease, drugs and the environment. Increasingly large-scale metabolomics studies are being conducted, necessitating improvements in both bioanalytical and computational workflows to maintain data quality. This dataset represents a systematic evaluation of the reproducibility of a multi-batch DIMS metabolomics study of cardiac tissue extracts. It comprises of twenty biological samples (cow vs. sheep) that were analysed repeatedly, in 8 batches across 7 days, together with a concurrent set of quality control (QC) samples. Data are presented from each step of the workflow and are available in MetaboLights. The strength of the dataset is that intra- and inter-batch variation can be corrected using QC spectra and the quality of this correction assessed independently using the repeatedly-measured biological samples. Originally designed to test the efficacy of a batch-correction algorithm, it will enable others to evaluate novel data processing algorithms. Furthermore, this dataset serves as a benchmark for DIMS metabolomics, derived using best-practice workflows and rigorous quality assessment. PMID:25977770

A Quadrupole Dalton-based multi-attribute method for product characterization, process development, and quality control of therapeutic proteins.

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Weichen; Jimenez, Rod Brian; Mowery, Rachel; Luo, Haibin; Cao, Mingyan; Agarwal, Nitin; Ramos, Irina; Wang, Xiangyang; Wang, Jihong

2017-10-01

During manufacturing and storage process, therapeutic proteins are subject to various post-translational modifications (PTMs), such as isomerization, deamidation, oxidation, disulfide bond modifications and glycosylation. Certain PTMs may affect bioactivity, stability or pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics profile and are therefore classified as potential critical quality attributes (pCQAs). Identifying, monitoring and controlling these PTMs are usually key elements of the Quality by Design (QbD) approach. Traditionally, multiple analytical methods are utilized for these purposes, which is time consuming and costly. In recent years, multi-attribute monitoring methods have been developed in the biopharmaceutical industry. However, these methods combine high-end mass spectrometry with complicated data analysis software, which could pose difficulty when implementing in a quality control (QC) environment. Here we report a multi-attribute method (MAM) using a Quadrupole Dalton (QDa) mass detector to selectively monitor and quantitate PTMs in a therapeutic monoclonal antibody. The result output from the QDa-based MAM is straightforward and automatic. Evaluation results indicate this method provides comparable results to the traditional assays. To ensure future application in the QC environment, this method was qualified according to the International Conference on Harmonization (ICH) guideline and applied in the characterization of drug substance and stability samples. The QDa-based MAM is shown to be an extremely useful tool for product and process characterization studies that facilitates facile understanding of process impact on multiple quality attributes, while being QC friendly and cost-effective.

An effective and optimal quality control approach for green energy manufacturing using design of experiments framework and evolutionary algorithm

Science.gov (United States)

Saavedra, Juan Alejandro

Quality Control (QC) and Quality Assurance (QA) strategies vary significantly across industries in the manufacturing sector depending on the product being built. Such strategies range from simple statistical analysis and process controls, decision-making process of reworking, repairing, or scraping defective product. This study proposes an optimal QC methodology in order to include rework stations during the manufacturing process by identifying the amount and location of these workstations. The factors that are considered to optimize these stations are cost, cycle time, reworkability and rework benefit. The goal is to minimize the cost and cycle time of the process, but increase the reworkability and rework benefit. The specific objectives of this study are: (1) to propose a cost estimation model that includes energy consumption, and (2) to propose an optimal QC methodology to identify quantity and location of rework workstations. The cost estimation model includes energy consumption as part of the product direct cost. The cost estimation model developed allows the user to calculate product direct cost as the quality sigma level of the process changes. This provides a benefit because a complete cost estimation calculation does not need to be performed every time the processes yield changes. This cost estimation model is then used for the QC strategy optimization process. In order to propose a methodology that provides an optimal QC strategy, the possible factors that affect QC were evaluated. A screening Design of Experiments (DOE) was performed on seven initial factors and identified 3 significant factors. It reflected that one response variable was not required for the optimization process. A full factorial DOE was estimated in order to verify the significant factors obtained previously. The QC strategy optimization is performed through a Genetic Algorithm (GA) which allows the evaluation of several solutions in order to obtain feasible optimal solutions. The GA

Development and prospective evaluation of an automated software system for quality control of quantitative 99mTc-MAG3 renal studies.

Science.gov (United States)

Folks, Russell D; Garcia, Ernest V; Taylor, Andrew T

2007-03-01

Quantitative nuclear renography has numerous potential sources of error. We previously reported the initial development of a computer software module for comprehensively addressing the issue of quality control (QC) in the analysis of radionuclide renal images. The objective of this study was to prospectively test the QC software. The QC software works in conjunction with standard quantitative renal image analysis using a renal quantification program. The software saves a text file that summarizes QC findings as possible errors in user-entered values, calculated values that may be unreliable because of the patient's clinical condition, and problems relating to acquisition or processing. To test the QC software, a technologist not involved in software development processed 83 consecutive nontransplant clinical studies. The QC findings of the software were then tabulated. QC events were defined as technical (study descriptors that were out of range or were entered and then changed, unusually sized or positioned regions of interest, or missing frames in the dynamic image set) or clinical (calculated functional values judged to be erroneous or unreliable). Technical QC events were identified in 36 (43%) of 83 studies. Clinical QC events were identified in 37 (45%) of 83 studies. Specific QC events included starting the camera after the bolus had reached the kidney, dose infiltration, oversubtraction of background activity, and missing frames in the dynamic image set. QC software has been developed to automatically verify user input, monitor calculation of renal functional parameters, summarize QC findings, and flag potentially unreliable values for the nuclear medicine physician. Incorporation of automated QC features into commercial or local renal software can reduce errors and improve technologist performance and should improve the efficiency and accuracy of image interpretation.

An International Coordinated Effort to Further the Documentation & Development of Quality Assurance, Quality Control, and Best Practices for Oceanographic Observations

Science.gov (United States)

Bushnell, M.; Waldmann, C.; Hermes, J.; Tamburri, M.

2017-12-01

Many oceanographic observation groups create and maintain QA, QC, and best practices (BP) to ensure efficient and accurate data collection and quantify quality. Several entities - IOOS® QARTOD, AtlantOS, ACT, WMO/IOC JCOMM OCG - have joined forces to document existing practices, identify gaps, and support development of emerging techniques. While each group has a slightly different focus, many underlying QA/QC/BP needs can be quite common. QARTOD focuses upon real-time data QC, and has produced manuals that address QC tests for eleven ocean variables. AtlantOS is a research and innovation project working towards the integration of ocean-observing activities across all disciplines in the Atlantic Basin. ACT brings together research institutions, resource managers, and private companies to foster the development and adoption of effective and reliable sensors for coastal, freshwater, and ocean environments. JCOMM promotes broad international coordination of oceanographic and marine meteorological observations and data management and services. Leveraging existing efforts of these organizations is an efficient way to consolidate available information, develop new practices, and evaluate the use of ISO standards to judge the quality of measurements. ISO standards may offer accepted support for a framework for an ocean data quality management system, similar to the meteorological standards defined by WMO (https://www.wmo.int/pages/prog/arep/gaw/qassurance.html). We will first cooperatively develop a plan to create a QA/QC/BP manual. The resulting plan will describe the need for such a manual, the extent of the manual, the process used to engage the community in creating it, the maintenance of the resultant document, and how these things will be done. It will also investigate standards for metadata. The plan will subsequently be used to develop the QA/QC/BP manual, providing guidance which advances the standards adopted by IOOS, AtlantOS, JCOMM, and others.

An introduction to statistical process control in research proteomics.

Science.gov (United States)

Bramwell, David

2013-12-16

Statistical process control is a well-established and respected method which provides a general purpose, and consistent framework for monitoring and improving the quality of a process. It is routinely used in many industries where the quality of final products is critical and is often required in clinical diagnostic laboratories [1,2]. To date, the methodology has been little utilised in research proteomics. It has been shown to be capable of delivering quantitative QC procedures for qualitative clinical assays [3] making it an ideal methodology to apply to this area of biological research. To introduce statistical process control as an objective strategy for quality control and show how it could be used to benefit proteomics researchers and enhance the quality of the results they generate. We demonstrate that rules which provide basic quality control are easy to derive and implement and could have a major impact on data quality for many studies. Statistical process control is a powerful tool for investigating and improving proteomics research work-flows. The process of characterising measurement systems and defining control rules forces the exploration of key questions that can lead to significant improvements in performance. This work asserts that QC is essential to proteomics discovery experiments. Every experimenter must know the current capabilities of their measurement system and have an objective means for tracking and ensuring that performance. Proteomic analysis work-flows are complicated and multi-variate. QC is critical for clinical chemistry measurements and huge strides have been made in ensuring the quality and validity of results in clinical biochemistry labs. This work introduces some of these QC concepts and works to bridge their use from single analyte QC to applications in multi-analyte systems. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Standardization and Quality Control in Proteomics. Copyright © 2013 The Author. Published by Elsevier

A Benchmark Study on Error Assessment and Quality Control of CCS Reads Derived from the PacBio RS.

Science.gov (United States)

Jiao, Xiaoli; Zheng, Xin; Ma, Liang; Kutty, Geetha; Gogineni, Emile; Sun, Qiang; Sherman, Brad T; Hu, Xiaojun; Jones, Kristine; Raley, Castle; Tran, Bao; Munroe, David J; Stephens, Robert; Liang, Dun; Imamichi, Tomozumi; Kovacs, Joseph A; Lempicki, Richard A; Huang, Da Wei

2013-07-31

PacBio RS, a newly emerging third-generation DNA sequencing platform, is based on a real-time, single-molecule, nano-nitch sequencing technology that can generate very long reads (up to 20-kb) in contrast to the shorter reads produced by the first and second generation sequencing technologies. As a new platform, it is important to assess the sequencing error rate, as well as the quality control (QC) parameters associated with the PacBio sequence data. In this study, a mixture of 10 prior known, closely related DNA amplicons were sequenced using the PacBio RS sequencing platform. After aligning Circular Consensus Sequence (CCS) reads derived from the above sequencing experiment to the known reference sequences, we found that the median error rate was 2.5% without read QC, and improved to 1.3% with an SVM based multi-parameter QC method. In addition, a De Novo assembly was used as a downstream application to evaluate the effects of different QC approaches. This benchmark study indicates that even though CCS reads are post error-corrected it is still necessary to perform appropriate QC on CCS reads in order to produce successful downstream bioinformatics analytical results.

Patient dosimetry and quality control in diagnostic radiology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Suliman, I. I.

2007-08-01

In the first part of the study, entrance surface doses (ESDs) to patients in radiography were estimated from x-ray tube output parameters for a sample of 346 radiographs. The mean ESDs estimated in the hospitals ranged from 0.17 to 0.27 mGy for chest PA, 1.04-2.26 mGy for skull AP/PA, 0.83-1.32 mGy for skull LAT, 1.31-1.89 mGy for pelvis AP, 1.46-3.33 mGy for Lumbar Spine AP and 2.9-9.9 mGy for Lumbar Spine LAT. With the exception of chest PA examination at two hospitals, mean ESDs were found to be within the established international reference doses. In addition, study was performed to compare two methods used for effective dose calculation in diagnostic radiology. Initially, ED values were calculated from ESD values using NRPB-SR262 Monte Carlo data and XDOSE software. Next, the energy imparted to patients was computed using values for entrance skin exposure-area product and half-value layer. Effective doses were then determined from energy imparted using ED/ε conversion factors proposed in the literature. Mean ED values calculated using the two methods were: 21.3-23.4, 14.1-12.8, 7.9-8.5, 232-226, 215-223 and 91-85.6 μSv for chest PA, Skull AP/PA, Skull LAT, Pelvis AP, Lumbar Spine AP and Lumbar Spine LAT examinations, respectively. The values obtained were in agreement between themselves and with data reported in the literature. In the second part, a protocol for quality control (QC) tests has been drafted based on various national and international recommendations. Tests were included for various parts of the imaging chain, i.e. x-ray tube and generator; x-ray tube control system; laser printer and display station; image quality and patient dose. Preliminary tolerance levels have been set for the various tests, after initial measurements. To check the suitability of the QC tests and the stated tolerance levels, measurements were made at the University Hospital Gasthuisberg in Leuven, the Netherland, for equipment used for paediatric radiology and a unit used

RAID-6Plus: A Comprised Methodology for Extending RAID-6 Codes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ming-Zhu Deng

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Existing RAID-6 code extensions assume that failures are independent and instantaneous, overlooking the underlying mechanism of multifailure occurrences. Also, the effect of reconstruction window is ignored. Additionally, these coding extensions have not been adapted to occurrence patterns of failure in real-world applications. As a result, the third parity drive is set to handle the triple-failure scenario; however, the lower level failure situations have been left unattended. Therefore, a new methodology of extending RAID-6 codes named RAID-6Plus with better compromise has been studied in this paper. RAID-6Plus (Deng et al., 2015 employs short combinations which can greatly reuse overlapped elements during reconstruction to remake the third parity drive. A sample extension code called RDP+ is given based on RDP. Moreover, we extended the study to present another extension example called X-code+ which has better update penalty and load balance. The analysis shows that RAID-6Plus is a balanced tradeoff of reliability, performance, and practicality. For instance, RDP+ could achieve speedups as high as 33.4% in comparison to the RTP with conventional rebuild, 11.9% in comparison to RTP with the optimal rebuild, 47.7% in comparison to STAR with conventional rebuild, and 26.2% for a single failure rebuild.

Quality control in nuclear medicine. Addendum to 'Quality assurance in nuclear medicine', World Health Organization, 1982. Following a training workshop in Neuherberg, Munich, Federal Republic of Germany, November 23-30, 1983

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cradduck, T.D.; Busemann Sokole, E.

2006-01-01

Based on the results of a workshop, sponsored by the German Federal Ministry of the Interior (BMI) and the World Health Organization (WHO), held in Neuherberg, Munich, 1983, a revised concept of quality control (QC) in nuclear medicine is proposed. In a previous document published by the WHO in 1982, a set of rigorous daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly and half-quarterly QC protocols was recommended. The revised concept suggested by the 1983 workshop participants is that of a simple, total system, QC test that can be applied on a frequent, probably daily, basis. Any deviation of the results of such a test from the accepted norm will require further investigation and decision trees can then be applied to localize faults

Quality control of radiolabeled antibodies through simultaneous determination of antibody concentration and specific activity using time-resolved interaction analysis and reverse kinetic fit

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Andersson, K.; Mihaylova, D.; Wang, E.; Abrahamsen, L.; Buijs, J.; Bjoerkelund, H.

2015-01-01

Full text of publication follows. With the advent of efficient methods for producing proteins that bind to a defined target, the number of radiolabeled proteins, and in particular antibodies, used for medical imaging and cancer therapy is increasing rapidly. In line with this increase, focus should be put on methods for the quality control (QC). Proper antibody quality is of fundamental importance to guarantee safety and consistent efficacy for the patient. Adequate QC procedures exist for small radiolabeled synthetic compounds like FDG, but antibody based radiopharmaceuticals are different. Proteins are much more complex and fragile than the synthetic compounds, and hence require new methods for adequate characterization and QC. Yet another complication is the labeling where there is a risk that a subpopulation of the protein is damaged to the level that it no longer binds the target. Therefore, a new toolbox is required to fulfill the quality characterization of radiolabeled antibodies. We have developed a QC assay for the simultaneous determination of antibody function, concentration and specific activity. The assay is based on time-resolved detection of the antibody interaction with antigen-coated magnetic beads in LigandTracer instruments. The resulting binding curve is evaluated using reverse kinetic fits, where the known interaction parameters of the antibody-antigen interaction are set constant while as the concentration and signal level are fitted. The assay takes approximately 2 hours and the majority of the time constitutes automated data collection in the instrument. The QC assay has been tested on multiple antibody-antigen interactions and consistently provides repeatable results for concentration and specific activity, both with coefficient of variation (CV) less than 15%. We believe that this QC assay can improve the quality of radiolabeled therapeutic antibodies. (authors)

Assays for Qualification and Quality Stratification of Clinical Biospecimens Used in Research: A Technical Report from the ISBER Biospecimen Science Working Group.

Science.gov (United States)

Betsou, Fay; Bulla, Alexandre; Cho, Sang Yun; Clements, Judith; Chuaqui, Rodrigo; Coppola, Domenico; De Souza, Yvonne; De Wilde, Annemieke; Grizzle, William; Guadagni, Fiorella; Gunter, Elaine; Heil, Stacey; Hodgkinson, Verity; Kessler, Joseph; Kiehntopf, Michael; Kim, Hee Sung; Koppandi, Iren; Shea, Katheryn; Singh, Rajeev; Sobel, Marc; Somiari, Stella; Spyropoulos, Demetri; Stone, Mars; Tybring, Gunnel; Valyi-Nagy, Klara; Van den Eynden, Gert; Wadhwa, Lalita

2016-10-01

This technical report presents quality control (QC) assays that can be performed in order to qualify clinical biospecimens that have been biobanked for use in research. Some QC assays are specific to a disease area. Some QC assays are specific to a particular downstream analytical platform. When such a qualification is not possible, QC assays are presented that can be performed to stratify clinical biospecimens according to their biomolecular quality.

Construction method of QC-LDPC codes based on multiplicative group of finite field in optical communication

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Sheng; Ao, Xiang; Li, Yuan-yuan; Zhang, Rui

2016-09-01

In order to meet the needs of high-speed development of optical communication system, a construction method of quasi-cyclic low-density parity-check (QC-LDPC) codes based on multiplicative group of finite field is proposed. The Tanner graph of parity check matrix of the code constructed by this method has no cycle of length 4, and it can make sure that the obtained code can get a good distance property. Simulation results show that when the bit error rate ( BER) is 10-6, in the same simulation environment, the net coding gain ( NCG) of the proposed QC-LDPC(3 780, 3 540) code with the code rate of 93.7% in this paper is improved by 2.18 dB and 1.6 dB respectively compared with those of the RS(255, 239) code in ITU-T G.975 and the LDPC(3 2640, 3 0592) code in ITU-T G.975.1. In addition, the NCG of the proposed QC-LDPC(3 780, 3 540) code is respectively 0.2 dB and 0.4 dB higher compared with those of the SG-QC-LDPC(3 780, 3 540) code based on the two different subgroups in finite field and the AS-QC-LDPC(3 780, 3 540) code based on the two arbitrary sets of a finite field. Thus, the proposed QC-LDPC(3 780, 3 540) code in this paper can be well applied in optical communication systems.

Laboratory QA/QC improvements for small drinking water systems at Savannah River Site

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Turner, R.D.

1995-12-01

The Savannah River Site (SRS), a 310 square mile facility located near Aiken, S.C., is operated by Westinghouse Savannah River Company for the US Department of Energy. SRS has 28 separate drinking water systems with average daily demands ranging from 0.0002 to 0.5 MGD. All systems utilize treated groundwater. Until recently, the water laboratories for each system operated independently. As a result, equipment, reagents, chemicals, procedures, personnel, and quality control practices differed from location to location. Due to this inconsistency, and a lack of extensive laboratory OA/QC practices at some locations, SRS auditors were not confident in the accuracy of daily water quality analyses results. The Site`s Water Services Department addressed these concerns by developing and implementing a practical laboratory QA/QC program. Basic changes were made which can be readily adopted by most small drinking water systems. Key features of the program include: Standardized and upgraded laboratory instrumentation and equipment; standardized analytical procedures based on vendor manuals and site requirements; periodic accuracy checks for all instrumentation; creation of a centralized laboratory to perform metals digestions and chlorine colorimeter accuracy checks; off-site and on-site operator training; proper storage, inventory and shelf life monitoring for reagents and chemicals. This program has enhanced the credibility and accuracy of SRS drinking water system analyses results.

Review of models used for determining consequences of UF6 release: Development of model evaluation criteria. Volume 1

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nair, S.K.; Chambers, D.B.; Park, S.H.; Hoffman, F.O.

1997-11-01

The objective of this study is to examine the usefulness and effectiveness of currently existing models that simulate the release of uranium hexafluoride from UF 6 -handling facilities, subsequent reactions of UF 6 with atmospheric moisture, and the dispersion of UF 6 and reaction products in the atmosphere. The study evaluates screening-level and detailed public-domain models that were specifically developed for UF 6 and models that were originally developed for the treatment of dense gases but are applicable to UF 6 release, reaction, and dispersion. The model evaluation process is divided into three specific tasks: model-component evaluation; applicability evaluation; and user interface and quality assurance and quality control (QA/QC) evaluation. Within the model-component evaluation process, a model's treatment of source term, thermodynamics, and atmospheric dispersion are considered and model predictions are compared with actual observations. Within the applicability evaluation process, a model's applicability to Integrated Safety Analysis, Emergency Response Planning, and Post-Accident Analysis, and to site-specific considerations are assessed. Finally, within the user interface and QA/QC evaluation process, a model's user-friendliness, presence and clarity of documentation, ease of use, etc. are assessed, along with its handling of QA/QC. This document presents the complete methodology used in the evaluation process

A novel construction scheme of QC-LDPC codes based on the RU algorithm for optical transmission systems

Science.gov (United States)

Yuan, Jian-guo; Liang, Meng-qi; Wang, Yong; Lin, Jin-zhao; Pang, Yu

2016-03-01

A novel lower-complexity construction scheme of quasi-cyclic low-density parity-check (QC-LDPC) codes for optical transmission systems is proposed based on the structure of the parity-check matrix for the Richardson-Urbanke (RU) algorithm. Furthermore, a novel irregular QC-LDPC(4 288, 4 020) code with high code-rate of 0.937 is constructed by this novel construction scheme. The simulation analyses show that the net coding gain ( NCG) of the novel irregular QC-LDPC(4 288,4 020) code is respectively 2.08 dB, 1.25 dB and 0.29 dB more than those of the classic RS(255, 239) code, the LDPC(32 640, 30 592) code and the irregular QC-LDPC(3 843, 3 603) code at the bit error rate ( BER) of 10-6. The irregular QC-LDPC(4 288, 4 020) code has the lower encoding/decoding complexity compared with the LDPC(32 640, 30 592) code and the irregular QC-LDPC(3 843, 3 603) code. The proposed novel QC-LDPC(4 288, 4 020) code can be more suitable for the increasing development requirements of high-speed optical transmission systems.

A Computerized QC Analysis of TLD Glow Curves for Personal Dosimetry Measurements Using Tag QC Program

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Primo, S.; Datz, H.; Dar, A.

2014-01-01

The External Dosimetry Lab (EDL) at the Radiation Safety Division at Soreq Nuclear Research Center (SNRC) is ISO 17025 certified and provides its services to approximately 13,000 users throughout the country from various sectors such as medical, industrial and academic. About 95% of the users are monitored monthly for X-rays, radiation using Thermoluminescence Dosimeter (TLD) cards that contain three LiF:Mg,Ti elements and the other users, who work also with thermal neutrons, use TLD cards that contain four LiF:Mg,Ti elements. All TLD cards are measured with the Thermo 8800pc reader. Suspicious TLD glow curve (GC) can cause wrong dose estimation so the EDL makes great efforts to ensure that each GC undergoes a careful QC procedure. The current QC procedure is performed manually and through a few steps using different softwares and databases in a long and complicated procedure: EDL staff needs to export all the results/GCs to be checked to an Excel file, followed by finding the suspicious GCs, which is done in a different program (WinREMS), According to the GC shapes (Figure 1 illustrates suitable and suspicious GC shapes) and the ratio between the elements result values, the inspecting technician corrects the data. The motivation for developing the new program is the complicated and time consuming process of our the manual procedure to the large amount of TLDs each month (13,000), similarly to other Dosimetry services that use computerized QC GC analysis. it is important to note that only ~25% of the results are above the EDL recorded level (0.10 mSv) and need to be inspected. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to describe a new program, TagQC, which allows a computerized QC GC analysis that identifies automatically, swiftly, and accurately suspicious TLD GC

Implementation of regional centres for SPECT QC/QA in Brazil

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Robilotta, C.C.; Dias-Neto, A.L.; Abe, R.; Khoury, H.J.; Silva, D.C. da; Martini, J.C.; Brunetto, S.; Ney, C.

2002-01-01

Aims: SPECT technology was introduced in Brazil at the early 80s and, presently, there are more than 230 systems installed in the whole country. In order to establish a quality standard for these systems, a RCP was submitted and received partial support from IAEA for the implementation of regional centres, so that clinics in different regions could be evaluated using the same protocols. Materials and Methods: Six centres were created in 5 public (federal and state) universities and one private philanthropic medical school in: USP-Sao Paulo, UNICAMP-Campinas, CNEN-Rio de Janeiro, UFBA-Salvador, UFPE-Recife and FM/Santa Casa-Porto Alegre. All sites have teaching and technical supports available and there is at least one nuclear medicine physicist in charge. The basic QC/QA set included: 57 Co sheet source, orthogonal hole phantom, quadrant bar phantom, calibrated sources for dose calibrator ( 57 Co, 133 Ba, and 137 Cs) and a DeLuxe SPECT phantom from Data Spectrum Corp. Basic and complete/acceptance protocols were defined as the reference procedures. Measurements and evaluations were performed in 21 (<10%) centres and inter-comparisons were made amongst the groups. Results: Some information about the centres and evaluated systems are presented. A large number of the visited clinics never had any QC tests done except for the manufacturer's installation tests and the daily uniformity test. On the average, most of the cameras needed tuning and one of them had to have the PM tubes re-coupled. The main difficulties encountered by all groups were the lack of physicists in almost all the visited clinics and the inadequate training of many local technologists, especially in the remote areas. In spite of the misunderstanding and scepticism from some of the visited MDs, the majority recognized the importance of proper QC/QA testing. Conclusions: It was shown that regional centres are essential if one aims quality and reliability in the nuclear medicine clinics, especially in a

Visualization and Quality Control Web Tools for CERES Products

Science.gov (United States)

Mitrescu, C.; Doelling, D. R.

2017-12-01

The NASA CERES project continues to provide the scientific communities a wide variety of satellite-derived data products such as observed TOA broadband shortwave and longwave observed fluxes, computed TOA and Surface fluxes, as well as cloud, aerosol, and other atmospheric parameters. They encompass a wide range of temporal and spatial resolutions, suited to specific applications. CERES data is used mostly by climate modeling communities but also by a wide variety of educational institutions. To better serve our users, a web-based Ordering and Visualization Tool (OVT) was developed by using Opens Source Software such as Eclipse, java, javascript, OpenLayer, Flot, Google Maps, python, and others. Due to increased demand by our own scientists, we also implemented a series of specialized functions to be used in the process of CERES Data Quality Control (QC) such as 1- and 2-D histograms, anomalies and differences, temporal and spatial averaging, side-by-side parameter comparison, and others that made the process of QC far easier and faster, but more importantly far more portable. With the integration of ground site observed surface fluxes we further facilitate the CERES project to QC the CERES computed surface fluxes. An overview of the CERES OVT basic functions using Open Source Software, as well as future steps in expanding its capabilities will be presented at the meeting.

QA/QC - Practices and procedures in WWER fuel management

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Keselica, M.

1999-01-01

Construction time schedule and commissioning (unit by unit) of the NPP Dukovany as well as structure of electricity generation in the CEZ in 1998 are reviewed. History of QA/QC system establishment and rules (system standards) as well as organization chart of the NPP Dukovany and quality manual of reactor physics department are presented. Standards of worker's qualification and nuclear fuel inspections are discussed. Fuel reliability indicators are presented

Building a Quality Controlled Database of Meteorological Data from NASA Kennedy Space Center and the United States Air Force's Eastern Range

Science.gov (United States)

Brenton, James C.; Barbre. Robert E., Jr.; Decker, Ryan K.; Orcutt, John M.

2018-01-01

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) Natural Environments Branch (EV44) has provided atmospheric databases and analysis in support of space vehicle design and day-of-launch operations for NASA and commercial launch vehicle programs launching from the NASA Kennedy Space Center (KSC), co-located on the United States Air Force's Eastern Range (ER) at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The ER complex is one of the most heavily instrumented sites in the United States with over 31 towers measuring various atmospheric parameters on a continuous basis. An inherent challenge with large sets of data consists of ensuring erroneous data is removed from databases, and thus excluded from launch vehicle design analyses. EV44 has put forth great effort in developing quality control (QC) procedures for individual meteorological instruments, however no standard QC procedures for all databases currently exists resulting in QC databases that have inconsistencies in variables, methodologies, and periods of record. The goal of this activity is to use the previous efforts by EV44 to develop a standardized set of QC procedures from which to build meteorological databases from KSC and the ER, while maintaining open communication with end users from the launch community to develop ways to improve, adapt and grow the QC database. Details of the QC procedures will be described. As the rate of launches increases with additional launch vehicle programs, it is becoming more important that weather databases are continually updated and checked for data quality before use in launch vehicle design and certification analyses.

References on EPA Quality Assurance Project Plans

Science.gov (United States)

Provides requirements for the conduct of quality management practices, including quality assurance (QA) and quality control (QC) activities, for all environmental data collection and environmental technology programs performed by or for this Agency.

An Austrian framework for PET quality control

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nicoletti, R.; Dobrozemsky, G.; Minear, G.; Bergmann, H.

2002-01-01

Full text: The European patient protection directive (97/43 EURATOM) requires regular routine quality control (QC) of PET imaging devices. Since no standards were available covering this area and in order to comply with the directive a joint working party of the Austrian societies of nuclear medicine and of medical physics have developed a set of procedures suitable for both dedicated PET scanners and gamma cameras operating in coincidence mode (GCPET). The routine procedures proposed include both manufacturer recommended procedures and tests for specific parameters and calibration procedures. Wherever possible, procedures adapted or derived from NEMA standards publication NU 2-2001 were used to permit direct comparison with specified parameters of image quality. For dedicated PET scanners the most important procedures are the checking of detector sensitivities and the attenuation calibration scan. With full ring scanners the attenuation calibration scan is a blank scan, with partial ring devices a special attenuation calibration phantom has to be used. Test protocols are specific to manufacturer and scanner type. They are usually performed automatically overnight. In addition, some instruments require special calibrations, e.g. gain adjustments or coincidence timing calibration. GCPET procedures include the frequent assessment in coincidence mode of detector uniformity, energy resolution and system sensitivity. Common to both dedicated PET and GCPET are the regular quarterly assessment of tomographic spatial resolution and the calibration of the system for quantitative measurements. As a total performance test for both systems assessment of image quality following NU 2-2001 was included, to be carried out after major system changes or repairs. The suite of QC procedures was tested on several dedicated PET and GCPET systems including all major manufacturers' systems. Due to missing hardware or software not all tests could be performed on all systems. Some of the

SNP Data Quality Control in a National Beef and Dairy Cattle System and Highly Accurate SNP Based Parentage Verification and Identification

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Matthew C. McClure

2018-03-01

Full Text Available A major use of genetic data is parentage verification and identification as inaccurate pedigrees negatively affect genetic gain. Since 2012 the international standard for single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP verification in Bos taurus cattle has been the ISAG SNP panels. While these ISAG panels provide an increased level of parentage accuracy over microsatellite markers (MS, they can validate the wrong parent at ≤1% misconcordance rate levels, indicating that more SNP are needed if a more accurate pedigree is required. With rapidly increasing numbers of cattle being genotyped in Ireland that represent 61 B. taurus breeds from a wide range of farm types: beef/dairy, AI/pedigree/commercial, purebred/crossbred, and large to small herd size the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF analyzed different SNP densities to determine that at a minimum ≥500 SNP are needed to consistently predict only one set of parents at a ≤1% misconcordance rate. For parentage validation and prediction ICBF uses 800 SNP (ICBF800 selected based on SNP clustering quality, ISAG200 inclusion, call rate (CR, and minor allele frequency (MAF in the Irish cattle population. Large datasets require sample and SNP quality control (QC. Most publications only deal with SNP QC via CR, MAF, parent-progeny conflicts, and Hardy-Weinberg deviation, but not sample QC. We report here parentage, SNP QC, and a genomic sample QC pipelines to deal with the unique challenges of >1 million genotypes from a national herd such as SNP genotype errors from mis-tagging of animals, lab errors, farm errors, and multiple other issues that can arise. We divide the pipeline into two parts: a Genotype QC and an Animal QC pipeline. The Genotype QC identifies samples with low call rate, missing or mixed genotype classes (no BB genotype or ABTG alleles present, and low genotype frequencies. The Animal QC handles situations where the genotype might not belong to the listed individual by identifying: >1 non

Quality Assurance for a TLD Based Individual Monitoring Service (invited paper)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Julius, H.W.; Van Dijk, J.W.E. [Arnhem (Netherlands)

1999-07-01

Approved Individual Monitoring Services should, in addition to complying with specific national performance requirements, also have implemented a quality assurance (QA) and quality control (QC) programme as an integral part of the operation. Essential elements of a QA/QC programme are discussed. Some practical hints and examples of QA practices are given, focussing on the application of thermoluminescence dosimetry. (author)

Material quality assurance risk assessment : [summary].

Science.gov (United States)

2013-01-01

With the shift from quality control (QC) of materials and placement techniques : to quality assurance (QA) and acceptance over the years, the role of the Office : of Materials Technology (OMT) has been shifting towards assurance of : material quality...

Quality Control in diagnostic radiology according to national regulations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Domienik, J.; Chruscielewski, W.; Jankowski, J.

2006-01-01

The aim of the paper is to review the main aspects of quality control of radiological devices according to the current national regulations. Explanation of the physical principles of image formation by different test phantoms used to measure focal spot sizes is presented in appendix. The obligation for quality assurance (QA) for all X-ray systems which follows European standards was enforced in updated '' Atomic Law Act '' of 29 November 2000 . This document is the main regulatory act which establishes the basic safety standards for radiation protection in Poland. The main modifications introduced by this new Act concerned the issue of radiation protection of individuals undergoing medical examinations with the use of ionizing radiation which is regulated by EC Directive 97/43 Euratom. According to this Directive quality assurance programmes, including quality control measures need to be implemented by the holder of the radiological installation. Therefore, in the above Act the Minister of Health has been obligated to impose specific regulations describing the way of implementation of general principles laid down in the Directive. Some of these regulations, like those concerning QC tests and tolerances, have already been mentioned in the document titled '' On the conditions for safe application of ionizing radiation in medicine ''. For example, the QC program in radiography is being considered; the obligatory tests- acceptance, routine and annual- are discussed and specific procedures are being indicated. The main idea of the document '' On the conditions for safe application of ionizing radiation in medicine '' which concerns radiation protection of patients and staff against ionizing radiation used in medicine is to implement the surveillance of all X-ray systems in form of acceptance tests followed by internal tests (routine and annual) performed in accordance with European standards. (author)

Accelerator based-boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT)-clinical QA and QC

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Suzuki, Minoru; Tanaka, Hiroki; Sakurai, Yoshinori; Yong, Liu; Kashino, Genro; Kinashi, Yuko; Masunaga, Shinichiro; Ono, Koji; Maruhashi, Akira

2009-01-01

Alpha-particle and recoil Li atom yielded by the reaction ( 10 B, n), due to their high LET properties, efficiently and specifically kill the cancer cell that has incorporated the boron. Efficacy of this boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) has been demonstrated mainly in the treatment of recurrent head/neck and malignant brain cancers in Kyoto University Research Reactor Institute (KUR). As the clinical trial of BNCT is to start from 2009 based on an accelerator (not on the Reactor), this paper describes the tentative outline of the standard operation procedure of BNCT for its quality assurance (QA) and quality control (QC) along the flow of its clinical practice. Personnel concerned in the practice involve the attending physician, multiple physicians in charge of BNCT, medical physicists, nurses and reactor stuff. The flow order of the actual BNCT is as follows: Pre-therapeutic evaluation mainly including informed consent and confirmation of the prescription; Therapeutic planning including setting of therapy volume, and of irradiation axes followed by meeting for stuffs' agreement, decision of irradiating field in the irradiation room leading to final decision of the axis, CT for the planning, decision of the final therapeutic plan according to Japan Atomic Energy Agency-Computational Dosimetry System (JCDS) and meeting of all related personnel for the final confirmation of therapeutic plan; and BNCT including the transport of patient to KUR, dripping of boronophenylalanine, setting up of the patient on the machine, blood sampling for pharmacokinetics, boron level measurement for decision of irradiating time, switch on/off of the accelerator, confirmation of patient's movement in the irradiated field after the neutron irradiation, blood sampling for confirmation of the boron level, and patient's leave from the room. The QA/QC check is principally to be conducted with the two-person rule. The purpose of the clinical trial is to establish the usefulness of BNCT

An elementary components of variance analysis for multi-center quality control

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Munson, P.J.; Rodbard, D.

1977-01-01

The serious variability of RIA results from different laboratories indicates the need for multi-laboratory collaborative quality control (QC) studies. Statistical analysis methods for such studies using an 'analysis of variance with components of variance estimation' are discussed. This technique allocates the total variance into components corresponding to between-laboratory, between-assay, and residual or within-assay variability. Components of variance analysis also provides an intelligent way to combine the results of several QC samples run at different evels, from which we may decide if any component varies systematically with dose level; if not, pooling of estimates becomes possible. We consider several possible relationships of standard deviation to the laboratory mean. Each relationship corresponds to an underlying statistical model, and an appropriate analysis technique. Tests for homogeneity of variance may be used to determine if an appropriate model has been chosen, although the exact functional relationship of standard deviation to lab mean may be difficult to establish. Appropriate graphical display of the data aids in visual understanding of the data. A plot of the ranked standard deviation vs. ranked laboratory mean is a convenient way to summarize a QC study. This plot also allows determination of the rank correlation, which indicates a net relationship of variance to laboratory mean. (orig.) [de

TU-F-CAMPUS-I-05: Semi-Automated, Open Source MRI Quality Assurance and Quality Control Program for Multi-Unit Institution

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yung, J; Stefan, W; Reeve, D; Stafford, RJ

2015-01-01

Purpose: Phantom measurements allow for the performance of magnetic resonance (MR) systems to be evaluated. Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) Report No. 100 Acceptance Testing and Quality Assurance Procedures for MR Imaging Facilities, American College of Radiology (ACR) MR Accreditation Program MR phantom testing, and ACR MRI quality control (QC) program documents help to outline specific tests for establishing system performance baselines as well as system stability over time. Analyzing and processing tests from multiple systems can be time-consuming for medical physicists. Besides determining whether tests are within predetermined limits or criteria, monitoring longitudinal trends can also help prevent costly downtime of systems during clinical operation. In this work, a semi-automated QC program was developed to analyze and record measurements in a database that allowed for easy access to historical data. Methods: Image analysis was performed on 27 different MR systems of 1.5T and 3.0T field strengths from GE and Siemens manufacturers. Recommended measurements involved the ACR MRI Accreditation Phantom, spherical homogenous phantoms, and a phantom with an uniform hole pattern. Measurements assessed geometric accuracy and linearity, position accuracy, image uniformity, signal, noise, ghosting, transmit gain, center frequency, and magnetic field drift. The program was designed with open source tools, employing Linux, Apache, MySQL database and Python programming language for the front and backend. Results: Processing time for each image is <2 seconds. Figures are produced to show regions of interests (ROIs) for analysis. Historical data can be reviewed to compare previous year data and to inspect for trends. Conclusion: A MRI quality assurance and QC program is necessary for maintaining high quality, ACR MRI Accredited MR programs. A reviewable database of phantom measurements assists medical physicists with processing and monitoring of large datasets

TU-F-CAMPUS-I-05: Semi-Automated, Open Source MRI Quality Assurance and Quality Control Program for Multi-Unit Institution

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yung, J; Stefan, W; Reeve, D; Stafford, RJ [UT MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX (United States)

2015-06-15

Purpose: Phantom measurements allow for the performance of magnetic resonance (MR) systems to be evaluated. Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) Report No. 100 Acceptance Testing and Quality Assurance Procedures for MR Imaging Facilities, American College of Radiology (ACR) MR Accreditation Program MR phantom testing, and ACR MRI quality control (QC) program documents help to outline specific tests for establishing system performance baselines as well as system stability over time. Analyzing and processing tests from multiple systems can be time-consuming for medical physicists. Besides determining whether tests are within predetermined limits or criteria, monitoring longitudinal trends can also help prevent costly downtime of systems during clinical operation. In this work, a semi-automated QC program was developed to analyze and record measurements in a database that allowed for easy access to historical data. Methods: Image analysis was performed on 27 different MR systems of 1.5T and 3.0T field strengths from GE and Siemens manufacturers. Recommended measurements involved the ACR MRI Accreditation Phantom, spherical homogenous phantoms, and a phantom with an uniform hole pattern. Measurements assessed geometric accuracy and linearity, position accuracy, image uniformity, signal, noise, ghosting, transmit gain, center frequency, and magnetic field drift. The program was designed with open source tools, employing Linux, Apache, MySQL database and Python programming language for the front and backend. Results: Processing time for each image is <2 seconds. Figures are produced to show regions of interests (ROIs) for analysis. Historical data can be reviewed to compare previous year data and to inspect for trends. Conclusion: A MRI quality assurance and QC program is necessary for maintaining high quality, ACR MRI Accredited MR programs. A reviewable database of phantom measurements assists medical physicists with processing and monitoring of large datasets

Workshop on measurement quality assurance for ionizing radiation: Proceedings

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Heath, J.A.; Swinth, K.L. [comps.

1993-12-31

This workshop was held to review the status of secondary level calibration accreditation programs, review related measurement accreditation programs, document lessons learned, and to present changes in programs due to new national priorities involving radioactivity measurements. Contents include: fundamentals of measurement quality assurance (MQA), standards for MQA programs; perspectives and policies; complete MQA programs; future MQA programs; QA/QC programs--radioactivity; QA/QC programs--dosimetry; laboratory procedures for QA/QC; in-house control of reference dosimetry laboratories; in-house controls of radioactivity laboratories; and poster session. Selected papers are indexed separately for inclusion in the Energy Science and Technology Database.

Workshop on measurement quality assurance for ionizing radiation: Proceedings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Heath, J.A.; Swinth, K.L.

1993-01-01

This workshop was held to review the status of secondary level calibration accreditation programs, review related measurement accreditation programs, document lessons learned, and to present changes in programs due to new national priorities involving radioactivity measurements. Contents include: fundamentals of measurement quality assurance (MQA), standards for MQA programs; perspectives and policies; complete MQA programs; future MQA programs; QA/QC programs--radioactivity; QA/QC programs--dosimetry; laboratory procedures for QA/QC; in-house control of reference dosimetry laboratories; in-house controls of radioactivity laboratories; and poster session. Selected papers are indexed separately for inclusion in the Energy Science and Technology Database

Results of a two-year quality control program for a helical tomotherapy unit

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Broggi, Sara; Mauro Cattaneo, Giovanni; Molinelli, Silvia; Maggiulli, Eleonora; Del Vecchio, Antonella; Longobardi, Barbara; Perna, Lucia; Fazio, Ferruccio; Calandrino, Riccardo

2008-01-01

Background and purpose: Image-guided helical tomotherapy (HT) is a new modality for delivering intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) with helical irradiation: the slip ring continuously rotates while the couch moves into the bore. The radiation source (Linac, 6 MV) is collimated into a fan beam and modulated by means of a binary multileaf collimator (MLC). A xenon detector array, opposite the radiation source, allows a megavoltage-CT (MVCT) acquisition of patient images for set-up verification. The aim of this paper is to report the results of a two-year quality control (QC) program for the physical and dosimetric characterization of an HT unit installed at our Institute and clinically activated in November 2004, in order to monitor and verify the stability and the reliability of this promising radiation treatment unit. Materials and methods: Conventional Linac acceptance protocols (ATP) and QC protocols were adapted to HT with the addition of specific items reflecting important differences between the two irradiation modalities. QC tests can be summarized as: (a) mechanical and geometrical characterization of the system's components: evaluation of alignment among radiation source-gantry rotation plan-jaws-MLC-MVCT; (b) treatment beam configuration in static condition: depth dose curves (PDD) and profiles, output factors, output reproducibility and linearity; (c) dynamic component characterization: accuracy and reproducibility of MLC positioning; rotational output reproducibility and linearity, leaf latency, couch movement constancy; (d) gantry-couch and MLC-gantry synchronization; and (e) MVCT image quality. Peculiar periodicity specific tolerance and action levels were defined. Ionization chambers (Exradin A1SL 0.056 cc), films (XOmat-V/EDR2), water and solid water phantoms were used to perform quality assurance measurements. Results: Over a two-year period the final average output variation after possible beam output adjustment was -0.2 ± 1% for the

Quality Control Guidelines for Disk Diffusion and Broth Microdilution Antimicrobial Susceptibility Tests with Seven Drugs for Veterinary Applications

Science.gov (United States)

Odland, Brant A.; Erwin, Meredith E.; Jones, Ronald N.

2000-01-01

This multicenter study proposes antimicrobial susceptibility (MIC and disk diffusion methods) quality control (QC) parameters for seven compounds utilized in veterinary health. Alexomycin, apramycin, tiamulin, tilmicosin, and tylosin were tested by broth microdilution against various National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards (NCCLS)-recommended QC organisms (Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 29213, Enterococcus faecalis ATCC 29212, Streptococcus pneumoniae ATCC 49619, Escherichia coli ATCC 25922, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 27853). In addition, disk diffusion zone diameter QC limits were determined for apramycin, enrofloxacin, and premafloxacin by using E. coli ATCC 25922, P. aeruginosa ATCC 27853, and S. aureus ATCC 25923. The results from five or six participating laboratories produced ≥99.0% of MICs and ≥95.0% of the zone diameters within suggested guidelines. The NCCLS Subcommittee for Veterinary Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing has recently approved these ranges for publication in the next M31 document. PMID:10618141

A real-time automated quality control of rain gauge data based on multiple sensors

Science.gov (United States)

qi, Y.; Zhang, J.

2013-12-01

Precipitation is one of the most important meteorological and hydrological variables. Automated rain gauge networks provide direct measurements of precipitation and have been used for numerous applications such as generating regional and national precipitation maps, calibrating remote sensing data, and validating hydrological and meteorological model predictions. Automated gauge observations are prone to a variety of error sources (instrument malfunction, transmission errors, format changes), and require careful quality controls (QC). Many previous gauge QC techniques were based on neighborhood checks within the gauge network itself and the effectiveness is dependent on gauge densities and precipitation regimes. The current study takes advantage of the multi-sensor data sources in the National Mosaic and Multi-Sensor QPE (NMQ/Q2) system and developes an automated gauge QC scheme based the consistency of radar hourly QPEs and gauge observations. Error characteristics of radar and gauge as a function of the radar sampling geometry, precipitation regimes, and the freezing level height are considered. The new scheme was evaluated by comparing an NMQ national gauge-based precipitation product with independent manual gauge observations. Twelve heavy rainfall events from different seasons and areas of the United States are selected for the evaluation, and the results show that the new NMQ product with QC'ed gauges has a more physically spatial distribution than the old product. And the new product agrees much better statistically with the independent gauges.

The German quality system for waste repositories

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Beckmerhagen, I.; Berg, H.P.; Brennecke, P.

1993-01-01

The Bundesamt fuer Strahlenschutz (BfS)--Federal Office for Radiation protection--has to guarantee that the requirements resulting from different regulations concerning planning, design, construction, operation and decommissioning of a waste repository are fulfilled. In addition, the results of the safety assessments lead to nuclear-specific requirements on the design of the plant as well as to requirements on the radioactive waste packages intended to be disposed of. Therefore, the implementation of a quality assurance (QA) and quality control (QC) system is an essential task in order to ensure that the designed quality is achieved so that the necessary precaution against damage is taken. In this paper, a detailed description of QA and QC to be applied to the planned Konrad repository as well as the basic principles and the present status of the waste package QC are indicated and discussed

Evaluation of the Quality Control Program for Diagnostic Radiography and Fluoroscopy Devices in Syria during 2005-2013

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. H. Kharita

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Extensive use of diagnostic radiology is the largest contributor to total population radiation doses. Thus, appropriate equipment and safe practice are necessary for good-quality images with optimal doses. This study aimed to perform quality control (QC audit for radiography and fluoroscopy devices owned by private sector in Syria (2005-2013 to verify compliance of performance of X-ray machines with the regulatory requirements stipulated by the national regulatory body. Materials and Methods: In this study, QC audit included 487 X-ray diagnostic machines, (363 radiography and 124 fluoroscopy devices, installed in 306 medical diagnostic radiology centers in 14 provinces in Syria. We employed an X-ray beam analyzer device (NERO model 8000, Victoreen, USA, which was tested and calibrated at the National Secondary Standard Dosimetry Laboratory traceable to the IAEA Network of Secondary Standard Dosimetry Laboratories. Standard QC tool kits were used to evaluate tube and generator of the X-ray machines, which constituted potential (kVp, timer accuracy, radiation output consistency, tube filtration, small and large focal spot sizes, X-ray beam collimation and alignment, as well as high- and low-resolution and entrance surface dose in fluoroscopy. Results: According to our results, most of the assessed operating parameters were in compliance with the standards stipulated by the National Regulatory Authority. In cases of noncompliance for the assessed parameters, maximum value (28.77% pertained to accuracy of kVp calibration for radiography units, while the lowest value (2.42% belonged to entrance surface dose in fluoroscopy systems. Conclusion: Effective QC program in diagnostic radiology leads to obtaining information regarding quality of radiology devices used for medical diagnosis and minimizing the doses received by patients and medical personnel. The findings of this QC program, as the main part of QA program, illustrated that most

Quality management in BNCT at a nuclear research reactor

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sauerwein, Wolfgang, E-mail: w.sauerwein@uni-due.de [NCTeam, Department of Radiation Oncology, University Hospital Essen, University Duisburg-Essen, Hufelandstrasse 55, 45122 Essen (Germany); Moss, Raymond [ESE Unit, Institute for Energy, Joint Research Centre, European Commission, Westerduinweg 3, P.O. Box 2 NL-1755ZG Petten (Netherlands); Stecher-Rasmussen, Finn [NCT Physics, Nassaulaan 12, 1815GK Alkmaar (Netherlands); Rassow, Juergen [NCTeam, Department of Radiation Oncology, University Hospital Essen, University Duisburg-Essen, Hufelandstrasse 55, 45122 Essen (Germany); Wittig, Andrea [Department of Radiotherapy and Radiation Oncology, University Hospital Marburg, Philipps-University Marburg, Baldingerstrasse, 35043 Marburg (Germany)

2011-12-15

Each medical intervention must be performed respecting Health Protection directives, with special attention to Quality Assurance (QA) and Quality Control (QC). This is the basis of safe and reliable treatments. BNCT must apply QA programs as required for performance and safety in (conventional) radiotherapy facilities, including regular testing of performance characteristics (QC). Furthermore, the well-established Quality Management (QM) system of the nuclear reactor used has to be followed. Organization of these complex QM procedures is offered by the international standard ISO 9001:2008.

Material quality assurance risk assessment.

Science.gov (United States)

2013-01-01

Over the past two decades the role of SHA has shifted from quality control (QC) of materials and : placement techniques to quality assurance (QA) and acceptance. The role of the Office of Materials : Technology (OMT) has been shifting towards assuran...

Efficacy and safety of albendazole plus ivermectin, albendazole plus mebendazole, albendazole plus oxantel pamoate, and mebendazole alone against Trichuris trichiura and concomitant soil-transmitted helminth infections: a four-arm, randomised controlled trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Speich, Benjamin; Ali, Said M; Ame, Shaali M; Bogoch, Isaac I; Alles, Rainer; Huwyler, Jörg; Albonico, Marco; Hattendorf, Jan; Utzinger, Jürg; Keiser, Jennifer

2015-03-01

Existing anthelmintic drugs (eg, albendazole and mebendazole) have low efficacy against the intestinal nematode species Trichuris trichiura and the drug pipeline is exhausted. We aimed to investigate the strategy of combination chemotherapy with existing drugs to establish whether their efficacy could be enhanced and broadened. In this randomised controlled trial, we compared three drug combinations and one standard drug alone in children aged 6-14 years in two schools on Pemba Island, Tanzania infected with T trichiura and concomitant intestinal nematodes. We assigned children, via a randomisation list with block sizes of either four or eight, to orally receive albendazole (400 mg) plus ivermectin (200 μg/kg); albendazole (400 mg) plus mebendazole (500 mg); albendazole (400 mg) plus oxantel pamoate (20 mg/kg); or mebendazole (500 mg) alone. The primary endpoints were the proportion of children cured of T trichiura infection and the reduction of T trichiura eggs in stool based on geometric means, both analysed by available case. This study is registered with ISRCTN, number ISRCTN80245406. We randomly assigned 440 eligible children infected with T trichiura between Sept 2, and Oct 18, 2013, to one of the four treatment groups (110 children per group). Data for 431 children were included in the analysis for the primary endpoints. Albendazole plus oxantel pamoate (74 of 108 children cured [68·5%, 95% CI 59·6-77·4]; egg reduction 99·2%, 98·7-99·6) and albendazole plus ivermectin (30 of 109 cured [27·5%, 19·0-36·0]; egg reduction 94·5%, 91·7-96·3) were significantly more effective against T trichiura than mebendazole alone (nine of 107 cured [8·4%, 3·1-13·8]; egg reduction 58·5%, 45·2-70·9). Albendazole plus mebendazole had similar low efficacy (nine of 107 cured [8·4%, 3·1-13·8; egg reduction 51·6%, 35·0-65·3) to mebendazole alone. About a fifth of the children reported adverse events, which were mainly mild. Abdominal cramps and headache were

[Does implementation of benchmarking in quality circles improve the quality of care of patients with asthma and reduce drug interaction?].

Science.gov (United States)

Kaufmann-Kolle, Petra; Szecsenyi, Joachim; Broge, Björn; Haefeli, Walter Emil; Schneider, Antonius

2011-01-01

The purpose of this cluster-randomised controlled trial was to evaluate the efficacy of quality circles (QCs) working either with general data-based feedback or with an open benchmark within the field of asthma care and drug-drug interactions. Twelve QCs, involving 96 general practitioners from 85 practices, were randomised. Six QCs worked with traditional anonymous feedback and six with an open benchmark. Two QC meetings supported with feedback reports were held covering the topics "drug-drug interactions" and "asthma"; in both cases discussions were guided by a trained moderator. Outcome measures included health-related quality of life and patient satisfaction with treatment, asthma severity and number of potentially inappropriate drug combinations as well as the general practitioners' satisfaction in relation to the performance of the QC. A significant improvement in the treatment of asthma was observed in both trial arms. However, there was only a slight improvement regarding inappropriate drug combinations. There were no relevant differences between the group with open benchmark (B-QC) and traditional quality circles (T-QC). The physicians' satisfaction with the QC performance was significantly higher in the T-QCs. General practitioners seem to take a critical perspective about open benchmarking in quality circles. Caution should be used when implementing benchmarking in a quality circle as it did not improve healthcare when compared to the traditional procedure with anonymised comparisons. Copyright © 2011. Published by Elsevier GmbH.

A Clustered Randomized Controlled Trial of the Positive Prevention PLUS Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Program.

Science.gov (United States)

LaChausse, Robert G

2016-09-01

To determine the impact of Positive Prevention PLUS, a school-based adolescent pregnancy prevention program on delaying sexual intercourse, birth control use, and pregnancy. I randomly assigned a diverse sample of ninth grade students in 21 suburban public high schools in California into treatment (n = 2483) and control (n = 1784) groups that participated in a clustered randomized controlled trial. Between October 2013 and May 2014, participants completed baseline and 6-month follow-up surveys regarding sexual behavior and pregnancy. Participants in the treatment group were offered Positive Prevention PLUS, an 11-lesson adolescent pregnancy prevention program. The program had statistically significant impacts on delaying sexual intercourse and increasing the use of birth control. However, I detected no program effect on pregnancy rates at 6-month follow-up. The Positive Prevention PLUS program demonstrated positive impacts on adolescent sexual behavior. This suggests that programs that focus on having students practice risk reduction skills may delay sexual activity and increase birth control use.

Encoding of QC-LDPC Codes of Rank Deficient Parity Matrix

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohammed Kasim Mohammed Al-Haddad

2016-05-01

Full Text Available the encoding of long low density parity check (LDPC codes presents a challenge compared to its decoding. The Quasi Cyclic (QC LDPC codes offer the advantage for reducing the complexity for both encoding and decoding due to its QC structure. Most QC-LDPC codes have rank deficient parity matrix and this introduces extra complexity over the codes with full rank parity matrix. In this paper an encoding scheme of QC-LDPC codes is presented that is suitable for codes with full rank parity matrix and rank deficient parity matrx. The extra effort required by the codes with rank deficient parity matrix over the codes of full rank parity matrix is investigated.

Data exploration, quality control and statistical analysis of ChIP-exo/nexus experiments.

Science.gov (United States)

Welch, Rene; Chung, Dongjun; Grass, Jeffrey; Landick, Robert; Keles, Sündüz

2017-09-06

ChIP-exo/nexus experiments rely on innovative modifications of the commonly used ChIP-seq protocol for high resolution mapping of transcription factor binding sites. Although many aspects of the ChIP-exo data analysis are similar to those of ChIP-seq, these high throughput experiments pose a number of unique quality control and analysis challenges. We develop a novel statistical quality control pipeline and accompanying R/Bioconductor package, ChIPexoQual, to enable exploration and analysis of ChIP-exo and related experiments. ChIPexoQual evaluates a number of key issues including strand imbalance, library complexity, and signal enrichment of data. Assessment of these features are facilitated through diagnostic plots and summary statistics computed over regions of the genome with varying levels of coverage. We evaluated our QC pipeline with both large collections of public ChIP-exo/nexus data and multiple, new ChIP-exo datasets from Escherichia coli. ChIPexoQual analysis of these datasets resulted in guidelines for using these QC metrics across a wide range of sequencing depths and provided further insights for modelling ChIP-exo data. © The Author(s) 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Nucleic Acids Research.

The development of quality assurance program for cyberknife

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jang, Ji Sun; Lee, Dong Han; Kang, Young Nam

2006-01-01

Standardization quality assurance (QA)program of Cyberknife for suitable circumstances in Korea has not been established. In this research, we investigated the development of QA program for Cyberknife and evaluation of the feasibility under applications. Considering the feature of constitution for systems and the therapeutic methodology of Cyberknife, the list of quality control (QC) was established and divided dependent on the each period of operations. And then all these developed QC lists were categorized into three groups such as basic QC, delivery specific QC, and patient specific QC based on the each purpose of QA. In order to verify the validity of the established QA program, this QC lists was applied to two Cyberknife centers. The acceptable tolerance was based on the undertaking inspection list from the Cyberknife manufacturer and the QC results during last three years of two Cyberknife centers in Korea. The acquired measurement results were evaluated for the analysis of the current QA status and the verification of the propriety for the developed QA program. The current QA status of two Cyberknife centers was evaluated from the accuracy of all measurements in relation with application of the established QA program. Each measurement result was verified having a good agreement within the acceptable tolerance limit of the developed QA program. It is considered that the developed QA program in this research could be established the standardization of QC methods for Cyberknife and confirmed the accuracy and stability for the image-guided stereotactic radiotherapy

Impact of Case Mix Severity on Quality Improvement in a Patient-centered Medical Home (PCMH) in the Maryland Multi-Payor Program.

Science.gov (United States)

Khanna, Niharika; Shaya, Fadia T; Chirikov, Viktor V; Sharp, David; Steffen, Ben

2016-01-01

We present data on quality of care (QC) improvement in 35 of 45 National Quality Forum metrics reported annually by 52 primary care practices recognized as patient-centered medical homes (PCMHs) that participated in the Maryland Multi-Payor Program from 2011 to 2013. We assigned QC metrics to (1) chronic, (2) preventive, and (3) mental health care domains. The study used a panel data design with no control group. Using longitudinal fixed-effects regressions, we modeled QC and case mix severity in a PCMH. Overall, 35 of 45 quality metrics reported by 52 PCMHs demonstrated improvement over 3 years, and case mix severity did not affect the achievement of quality improvement. From 2011 to 2012, QC increased by 0.14 (P case mix severity did not correlate with QC. In multivariate analyses, higher QC correlated with larger practices, greater proportion of older patients, and readmission visits. Rural practices had higher proportions of Medicaid patients, lower QC, and higher QC improvement in interaction analyses with time. The gains in QC in the chronic disease domain, the preventive care domain, and, most significantly, the mental health care domain were observed over time regardless of patient case mix severity. QC improvement was generally not modified by practice characteristics, except for rurality. © Copyright 2016 by the American Board of Family Medicine.

Quality assurance and quality control procedures in river water radioecological monitoring

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nalbandyan, A.; Stepanyan, A.

2006-01-01

For recent decades the issue of radioactive pollution of environmental components has acquired a global character as a result of nuclear weapon testing, accidents in NPPs, development of nuclear technologies and so on. A study object of this research is river water as it is known to be radionuclide transport and accumulation mediums and radioactive elements in river water are available as radioactive salts and mechanic and biological pollutants. Moreover, river water is widely used for various economic and commercial purposes and serves a drinking water supply source as well. The ongoing research is performed in the frame of a NATO/OSCE project 'South Caucasus River Monitoring'. The topicality of the problem dictates a necessity of getting credible and compatible results. For adequate radioactive pollution assessment, decisive are the application and keeping standard QA/QC procedures at all the stages of radioecological monitoring. In our research we apply the following ISO standard-based QA/QC procedures: sampling (emphasizing sample identification: sample collection site, date and method), sample transportation (keeping sample conservation and storing requirements), sample treatment and preparation in the lab, radiometric measurements of samples with regard for the time that past from sampling moment to analysis, control and calibration of analytic instruments, control analysis of samples. The obtained data are processed through standard statistic methods of QC to check measurement errors. Gamma-spectrometric measurements are maid using a Genie-2000 (Canberra) software that includes a separate program for measurement QC. The ultimate outcomes are arranged in special protocols (analysis and sampling tasks protocols, sampling task form, field measurement protocol, sample chain of custody form, sample analysis protocol) and compiled in appropriate databases

Managing the Quality of Environmental Data in EPA Region 9

Science.gov (United States)

EPA Pacific Southwest, Region 9's Quality Assurance (QA) section's primary mission is to effectively oversee and carry out the Quality System and Quality Management Plan, and project-level quality assurance and quality control (QA/QC) activities.

Quality control of scintillation cameras (planar and SPECT)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shaekhoon, E.S.

2008-01-01

Regular quality control is one of the corner stones of nuclear medicine and a prerequisite for adequate diagnostic imaging. Many papers have been published on quality control of planar and SPECT imaging system up to now, however only minor attenuation has been given to the assessment of the performance of imaging systems. In this research we are going to discuss a comprehensive set of test procedures including regular quality control. Our purpose is to go through analysis of the methods and results then to test our hypothesis which state that there is strong relationship between regular and proper evaluation of quality control and the continuity of better medical services in nuclear medicine department. The selection of the tests is discussed and the tests are described, then results are presented. In addition action thresholds are proposed. The quality control tests can be applied to systems with either a moving detector or a moving image table, and to both detector with a large field of view and detectors with a small field of view. The tests presented on this research do not required special phantoms or sources other than those used for quality control of stationary gamma camera and SPECT. They can be applied for acceptance testing and for performance testing in a regular quality assurance program. The data has been evaluated based on me diso software in comparing with IAEA expert software and system specification within the reference values. Our final results confirm our hypothesis, there are some comments about the characteristics and performance of this system that being observed and solved, then a departmental protocol for routine quality control (Q.C) has being established.(Author)

Utility view on QA/QC of WWER-440 fuel design and manufacture

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vesely, P.

1999-01-01

In this lecture the legislation implements in the Czech Republic, QA/QC system at CEZ, demonstration and development program (purchaser point of view), audit of QA/QC system for fuel design and manufacturing as well as QA/QC records are discussed

Evaluation of capillary zone electrophoresis for the quality control of complex biologic samples: Application to snake venoms.

Science.gov (United States)

Kpaibe, André P S; Ben-Ameur, Randa; Coussot, Gaëlle; Ladner, Yoann; Montels, Jérôme; Ake, Michèle; Perrin, Catherine

2017-08-01

Snake venoms constitute a very promising resource for the development of new medicines. They are mainly composed of very complex peptide and protein mixtures, which composition may vary significantly from batch to batch. This latter consideration is a challenge for routine quality control (QC) in the pharmaceutical industry. In this paper, we report the use of capillary zone electrophoresis for the development of an analytical fingerprint methodology to assess the quality of snake venoms. The analytical fingerprint concept is being widely used for the QC of herbal drugs but rarely for venoms QC so far. CZE was chosen for its intrinsic efficiency in the separation of protein and peptide mixtures. The analytical fingerprint methodology was first developed and evaluated for a particular snake venom, Lachesis muta. Optimal analysis conditions required the use of PDADMAC capillary coating to avoid protein and peptide adsorption. Same analytical conditions were then applied to other snake venom species. Different electrophoretic profiles were obtained for each venom. Excellent repeatability and intermediate precision was observed for each batch. Analysis of different batches of the same species revealed inherent qualitative and quantitative composition variations of the venoms between individuals. © 2017 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Nuclear analytical methods in quality control of microanalysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tian Weizhi

2004-01-01

Quantitative calibration and quality control have been a major bottleneck in microanalysis due to the lack of natural-matrix CRMs certified at sample sizes compatible with those of unknown samples. A solution is described to characterize sampling behavior for individual elements, so as to identify elements homogeneous enough at stated sample size levels in given CRMs/RMs. By using a combination of several nuclear analytical techniques, INAA-EDXRF-μPIXE, sampling behavior for individual elements can be characterized at sample size levels from grams down to pg. Natural-matrix CRMs specifically for QC of microanalysis may thus be created. Additional information in certificates of these new generation CRMs is imagined. (author)

Mammography practice in Serbia: Evaluation and optimisation of image quality and the technical aspects of the mammographic imaging chain

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kosutic, D.; Ciraj-Bjelac, O.; Arandjic, D.

2010-01-01

The purpose of this work was to assess mammography practice in Serbia and its appropriateness for both diagnostic service and potential screening by implementing quality control (QC) protocol in three large teaching hospitals. Corrective actions were suggested, accordingly. In addition to technical aspects of QC, image quality was assessed using image grading before and after the introduction of corrective measures. The survey demonstrated considerable variations in technical parameters that affect image quality and patients doses. Average glandular doses ranged from 1.8 to 2.8 mGy, while reference optical density (OD) ranged from 1.0 to 2.6. Image grading resulted in a very high percentage of images with poor quality (12-70% for cranio-caudal projection and 8-66% for medio-lateral oblique projection). Main problems were associated with film processing, viewing conditions and OD control. Following introduction of corrective measures, the image grading results were improved in some hospitals, so the percentage of images without any remarks has been increased. (authors)

US quality control in Italy: present and future

Science.gov (United States)

Balbis, S.; Musacchio, C.; Guiot, C.; Spagnolo, R.

2011-02-01

US diagnostic equipments are widely diffused in Italy but, in spite of recommendations (e.g. ISPESL-Ministry of Health (1999) and SIRM (Società Italiana di Radiologia Medica, 2004), US quality controls are restricted to only a few public sanitary structure and a national (or even regional) quality assurance program for testing the performances of the US equipments is still missing. A joint Research Centre among the three Piedmontese Universities and INRIM, partially funded by Regione Piemonte, has been established in 2009 as Reference Centre for Medical Ultrasounds (CRUM). In addition to research, development and training tasks, the Centre aims at the local diffusion of the quality assurance in clinical US equipments. According to data from the Ministry of Health (2006), around 7 % of the Italian US diagnostic equipments (946 over 13526) are located in Piedmont: mostly (75.6%) in public hospitals, 9.3 % in conventionated hospitals, 4.3% in public and 10.8% in private territorial structures. The goal is the provision of a regional database, which progressively includes data related to acceptance test, status and QC tests and maintenance, in order to drive equipment turnover and carefully monitoring the overall equipment efficiency. Moreover, facilities are available at CRUM for monitoring both beam geometry and acoustic power and performing quantitative assessment of the delivered energy intensity.

Results from 15years of quality surveillance for a National Indigenous Point-of-Care Testing Program for diabetes.

Science.gov (United States)

Shephard, Mark; Shephard, Anne; McAteer, Bridgit; Regnier, Tamika; Barancek, Kristina

2017-12-01

Diabetes is a major health problem for Australia's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Point-of-care testing for haemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) has been the cornerstone of a long-standing program (QAAMS) to manage glycaemic control in Indigenous people with diabetes and recently, to diagnose diabetes. The QAAMS quality management framework includes monthly testing of quality control (QC) and external quality assurance (EQA) samples. Key performance indicators of quality include imprecision (coefficient of variation [CV%]) and percentage acceptable results. This paper reports on the past 15years of quality testing in QAAMS and examines the performance of HbA1c POC testing at the 6.5% cut-off recommended for diagnosis. The total number of HbA1c EQA results submitted from 2002 to 2016 was 29,093. The median imprecision for EQA testing by QAAMS device operators averaged 2.81% (SD 0.50; range 2.2 to 3.9%) from 2002 to 2016 and 2.44% (SD 0.22; range 2.2 to 2.9%) from 2009 to 2016. No significant difference was observed between the median imprecision achieved in QAAMS and by Australasian laboratories from 2002 to 2016 (p=0.05; two-tailed paired t-test) and from 2009 to 2016 (p=0.17; two-tailed paired t-test). For QC testing from 2009 to 2016, imprecision averaged 2.5% and 3.0% for the two levels of QC tested. Percentage acceptable results averaged 90% for QA testing from 2002 to 2016 and 96% for QC testing from 2009 to 2016. The DCA Vantage was able to measure a patient and an EQA sample with an HbA1c value close to 6.5% both accurately and precisely. HbA1c POC testing in QAAMS has remained analytically sound, matched the quality achieved by Australasian laboratories and met profession-derived analytical goals for 15years. Copyright © 2017 The Canadian Society of Clinical Chemists. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Quality manual for the Danish greenhouse gas inventory

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Ole-Kenneth; Plejdrup, Marlene Schmidt; Winther, Morten

The report outlines the quality work undertaken by the emission inventory group at the Department of Environmental Science, Aarhus University in connection with the preparation and reporting of the Danish greenhouse gas inventory. The report updates and expands on the first version of the quality...... manual published in 2005. The report fulfils the mandatory requirements for a quality assurance/quality control (QA/QC) plan as lined out in the UNFCCC reporting guidelines and the specifications related to reporting under the Kyoto Protocol. The report describes all elements of the internal QC...... procedures as well as the QA and verification activities carried out in connection with the Danish greenhouse gas inventory....

A novel QC-LDPC code based on the finite field multiplicative group for optical communications

Science.gov (United States)

Yuan, Jian-guo; Xu, Liang; Tong, Qing-zhen

2013-09-01

A novel construction method of quasi-cyclic low-density parity-check (QC-LDPC) code is proposed based on the finite field multiplicative group, which has easier construction, more flexible code-length code-rate adjustment and lower encoding/decoding complexity. Moreover, a regular QC-LDPC(5334,4962) code is constructed. The simulation results show that the constructed QC-LDPC(5334,4962) code can gain better error correction performance under the condition of the additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) channel with iterative decoding sum-product algorithm (SPA). At the bit error rate (BER) of 10-6, the net coding gain (NCG) of the constructed QC-LDPC(5334,4962) code is 1.8 dB, 0.9 dB and 0.2 dB more than that of the classic RS(255,239) code in ITU-T G.975, the LDPC(32640,30592) code in ITU-T G.975.1 and the SCG-LDPC(3969,3720) code constructed by the random method, respectively. So it is more suitable for optical communication systems.

Accuracy and Quality Assessment of EUS-FNA: A Single-Center Large Cohort of Biopsies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Benjamin Ephraim Bluen

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Introduction. Thorough quality control (QC study with systemic monitoring and evaluation is crucial to optimizing the effectiveness of EUS-FNA. Methods. Retrospective analysis was composed of investigating consecutive patient files that underwent EUS-FNA. QC specifically focused on diagnostic accuracy, impacts on preexisting diagnoses, and case management. Results. 268 patient files were evaluated. EUS-FNA cytology helped establish accurate diagnoses in 92.54% (248/268 of patients. Sensitivity, specificity, PPV, NPV, and accuracy were 83%, 100%, 100%, 91.6%, and 94%, respectively. The most common biopsy site was the pancreas (68%. The most accurate location for EUS-FNA was the esophagus, 13/13 (100%, followed by the pancreas (89.6%. EUS-FNA was least informative for abdominal lymph nodes (70.5%. After FNA and followup, eight false negatives for tumors were found (3%, while 7.5% of samples still lacked a definitive diagnosis. Discussion. QC suggests that the diagnostic accuracy of EUS-FNA might be improved further by (1 taking more FNA passes from suspected lesions, (2 optimizing needle selection (3 having an experienced echo-endoscopist available during the learning curve, and (4 having a cytologist present during the procedure. QC also identified remediable reporting errors. In conclusion, QC study is valuable in identifying weaknesses and thereby augmenting the effectiveness of EUS-FNA.

Accounting for human factor in QC and QA inspections

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Goodman, J.

1986-01-01

Two types of human error during QC/QA inspection have been identified. The method of accounting for the effects of human error in QC/QA inspections was developed. The result of evaluation of the proportion of discrepant items in the population is affected significantly by human factor

222-S Laboratory Quality Assurance Plan. Revision 1

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Meznarich, H.K.

1995-01-01

This Quality Assurance Plan provides,quality assurance (QA) guidance, regulatory QA requirements (e.g., 10 CFR 830.120), and quality control (QC) specifications for analytical service. This document follows the U.S Department of Energy (DOE) issued Hanford Analytical Services Quality Assurance Plan (HASQAP). In addition, this document meets the objectives of the Quality Assurance Program provided in the WHC-CM-4-2, Section 2.1. Quality assurance elements required in the Guidelines and Specifications for Preparing Quality Assurance Program Plans (QAMS-004) and Interim Guidelines and Specifications for Preparing Quality Assurance Project Plans (QAMS-005) from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) are covered throughout this document. A quality assurance index is provided in the Appendix A. This document also provides and/or identifies the procedural information that governs laboratory operations. The personnel of the 222-S Laboratory and the Standards Laboratory including managers, analysts, QA/QC staff, auditors, and support staff shall use this document as guidance and instructions for their operational and quality assurance activities. Other organizations that conduct activities described in this document for the 222-S Laboratory shall follow this QA/QC document

Effect of the treatment with myo-inositol plus folic acid plus melatonin in comparison with a treatment with myo-inositol plus folic acid on oocyte quality and pregnancy outcome in IVF cycles. A prospective, clinical trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Rizzo, P; Raffone, E; Benedetto, V

2010-06-01

The aim of the study was to evaluate the efficacy of a treatment with myo-inositol plus folic acid plus melatonin compared with myo-inositol plus folic acid alone on oocyte quality in women underwent in vitro fertilization (IVF) cycles. A prospective, clinical trial. Starting on the day of GnRH administration, 65 women undergoing IVF cycles were randomized in two groups to receive myo-inositol plus folic acid plus melatonin (32 women, group A), and myo-inositol plus folic acid (33 women, group B), administered continuously. Primary endpoints were number of morphologically mature oocytes retrieved (MII oocytes), embryo quality, and pregnancy rate. Secondary endpoints were the total number of oocytes retrieved (immature and mature oocytes), fertilization rate per number of retrieved oocytes and embryo cleavage rate. The mean number of oocytes retrieved did not differ between the two groups (7.88 +/- 1.76 vs 7.67 +/- 1.88; P=0.65). Whereas the group cotreated with melatonin reported a significantly greater mean number of mature oocytes (6.56 +/- 1.64 vs 5.76 +/- 1.56; P=0.047) and a lower mean number of immature oocytes (1.31 +/- 0.74 vs. 1.91 +/- 0.68; P=0.001). The mean number of embyos of top-quality (class 1 and 2) resulted higher in the group A (1.69 +/- 0.64 vs 1.24 +/- 0.75; P=0.01). Fertilization rate did not differ between the two groups. A total of 22 pregnancies were obtained (13 in group A and 9 in group B; P=0.26). Clinical pregnancy rate and implantation rate were in tendency higher in the group cotreated with melatonin, although the differences did not reach statistical significance. Biochemical pregnancy rate and abortion rate were similar in both groups. melatonin ameliorates the activity of myo-inositol and folic acid by improving oocyte quality and pregnancy outcome in women with low oocyte quality history.

Quality assurance and quality control for radiotherapy/medical oncology in Europe: guideline development and implementation.

Science.gov (United States)

Valentini, V; Glimelius, B; Frascino, V

2013-09-01

The past two decades have brought tremendous changes to the practice of radiation oncology and medical oncology. To manage all the complexities related to the new technologies and the new drugs, the radiation and medical oncologists have to enhance their clinical action and professional skill profile. To accomplish this they have to find reliable tools in the quality of their medical practice and in future research activities. Quality assurance (QA) and quality control (QC) for radiation and medical oncologists mean to clarify the different components of the clinical decision, to supervise with proper methodology the required steps needed to accomplish the agreed outcomes and to control them. Quality for radiation and medical oncology means to supervise each clinical and technical component of the whole process to guarantee that all steps together will arrive at the final and best possible outcome. Key components are guidelines, specialization and a multidisciplinary approach. The research of global quality could represent a further complexity, but it is the best tool to give a perspective and a chance to further improvements of our disciplines and to promote better outcome in all cancer patients. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Max-Plus Stochastic Control and Risk-Sensitivity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fleming, Wendell H.; Kaise, Hidehiro; Sheu, Shuenn-Jyi

2010-01-01

In the Maslov idempotent probability calculus, expectations of random variables are defined so as to be linear with respect to max-plus addition and scalar multiplication. This paper considers control problems in which the objective is to minimize the max-plus expectation of some max-plus additive running cost. Such problems arise naturally as limits of some types of risk sensitive stochastic control problems. The value function is a viscosity solution to a quasivariational inequality (QVI) of dynamic programming. Equivalence of this QVI to a nonlinear parabolic PDE with discontinuous Hamiltonian is used to prove a comparison theorem for viscosity sub- and super-solutions. An example from mathematical finance is given, and an application in nonlinear H-infinity control is sketched.

Clinical Study on Acupoint Injection plus Acupuncture for Insomnia Due to Heart-kidney Disharmony

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Zheng Qiao-ping; Zhang Bi-meng; Zhou Jun-mei; Hu Qi-long

2014-01-01

Objective: To observe the clinical efficacy of acupoint injection at Neiguan (PC 6) plus acupuncture in treating insomnia due to heart-kidney disharmony. Methods: A hundred patients with insomnia due to heart-kidney disharmony were randomized into an observation group and a control group. Fifty-three cases in the observation group were intervened by acupoint injection at Neiguan (PC 6) plus acupuncture; while 54 cases in the control group were intervened by acupuncture alone. The Pittsburgh sleep quality index (PSQI) was evaluated before and after intervention, and the therapeutic efficacies of the two groups were compared. Results: Acupoint injection at Neiguan (PC 6) plus acupuncture produced significantly higher efficacies in improving sleep quality, shortening sleep latency, and enhancing sleep efficiency than acupuncture alone (P Conclusion: The two groups both can improve the condition of insomnia; acupoint injection at Neiguan (PC 6) has significant advantages, manifested by a higher therapeutic efficacy for insomnia due to heart-kidney disharmony, higher safety evaluation, efficiency, and less adverse events, thus proper for clinical application.

Quality assurance and quality control in mammography: a review of available guidance worldwide.

Science.gov (United States)

Reis, Cláudia; Pascoal, Ana; Sakellaris, Taxiarchis; Koutalonis, Manthos

2013-10-01

Review available guidance for quality assurance (QA) in mammography and discuss its contribution to harmonise practices worldwide. Literature search was performed on different sources to identify guidance documents for QA in mammography available worldwide in international bodies, healthcare providers, professional/scientific associations. The guidance documents identified were reviewed and a selection was compared for type of guidance (clinical/technical), technology and proposed QA methodologies focusing on dose and image quality (IQ) performance assessment. Fourteen protocols (targeted at conventional and digital mammography) were reviewed. All included recommendations for testing acquisition, processing and display systems associated with mammographic equipment. All guidance reviewed highlighted the importance of dose assessment and testing the Automatic Exposure Control (AEC) system. Recommended tests for assessment of IQ showed variations in the proposed methodologies. Recommended testing focused on assessment of low-contrast detection, spatial resolution and noise. QC of image display is recommended following the American Association of Physicists in Medicine guidelines. The existing QA guidance for mammography is derived from key documents (American College of Radiology and European Union guidelines) and proposes similar tests despite the variations in detail and methodologies. Studies reported on QA data should provide detail on experimental technique to allow robust data comparison. Countries aiming to implement a mammography/QA program may select/prioritise the tests depending on available technology and resources. •An effective QA program should be practical to implement in a clinical setting. •QA should address the various stages of the imaging chain: acquisition, processing and display. •AEC system QC testing is simple to implement and provides information on equipment performance.

TU-F-18A-01: Preliminary Results of a Prototype Quality Control Process for Spectral CT

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nute, J; Jacobsen, M; Pennington, J; Cody, D; Chandler, A; Imai, Y; Baiu, C

2014-01-01

Purpose: A prototype quality control (QC) phantom and analysis process has been designed specifically to monitor dual-energy CT and address the current lack of quantitative oversight of the spectral capabilities of these scanners. Methods: A prototype solid water phantom was designed with multiple material inserts, and to support both head and body protocols. Inserts included tissue equivalent and material rods (iodine, iron, calcium) at various concentrations. The oval body phantom, measuring 30cm×40cm×15cm, was scanned using four dual-energy protocols with CTDIvol ranges of 19.6–62mGy (0.516 pitch) and 10.3–32.5mGy (0.984 pitch), and rotation times ranging from 0.5-1sec. The circular head phantom, measuring 22cm in diameter by 15cm, was scanned using three dual-energy protocols with CTDIvol ranges of 67–132.6mGy (0.531 pitch) and 36.7–72.7mGy (0.969 pitch), and rotation times ranging from 0.5–0.9sec. All images were reconstructed at 50, 70, 110 and 140 keV, and using a water-iodine material basis pair. The images were evaluated for iodine quantification accuracy and stability of monoenergetic reconstructions. The phantom was scanned twice on ten GE 750HD CT scanners to evaluate inter-scanner agreement, as well as ten times on a single scanner over a oneweek period to evaluate intra-scanner repeatability. Results: Preliminary analysis revealed consistent (inter- and intra-scanner) iodine quantification accuracy within 10% was only achieved for protocols in the upper half of dose levels assessed when grouped by pitch. Although all scanners undergo rigorous daily single-energy QC, iodine quantification accuracy from one scanner unexpectedly deviated from the other nine substantially. In general, inter-scanner agreement and intra-scanner repeatability varied with dose, rotation time and reconstructed keV. Conclusion: Preliminary results indicate the need for a dual-energy QC process to ensure inter-scanner agreement and intra-scanner repeatability. In

Implementation of basic quality control tests for malaria medicines in Amazon Basin countries: results for the 2005-2010 period.

Science.gov (United States)

Pribluda, Victor S; Barojas, Adrian; Añez, Arletta; López, Cecilia G; Figueroa, Ruth; Herrera, Roxana; Nakao, Gladys; Nogueira, Fernando Ha; Pianetti, Gerson A; Povoa, Marinete M; Viana, Giselle Mr; Gomes, Margarete S Mendonça; Escobar, Jose P; Sierra, Olga L Muñoz; Norena, Susana P Rendon; Veloz, Raúl; Bravo, Marcy Silva; Aldás, Martha R; Hindssemple, Alison; Collins, Marilyn; Ceron, Nicolas; Krishnalall, Karanchand; Adhin, Malti; Bretas, Gustavo; Hernandez, Nelly; Mendoza, Marjorie; Smine, Abdelkrim; Chibwe, Kennedy; Lukulay, Patrick; Evans, Lawrence

2012-06-15

collected from the public sector, 1,445/1,663 (86.9%). Results indicate that 193/1,663 (11.6%) were found not to meet quality specifications. Most failures were reported during visual and physical inspection, 142/1663 (8.5%), and most of these were due to expired medicines, 118/142 (83.1%). Samples failing TLC accounted for 27/1,663 (1.6%) and those failing disintegration accounted for 24/1,663 (1.4%). Medicines quality failures decreased significantly during the last two years. Basic tests revealed that the quality of medicines in the public sector improved over the years, since the implementation of this type of quality monitoring programme in 2005. However, the lack of consistent confirmatory tests in the quality control (QC) laboratory, utilizing methods that can also evaluate additional quality attributes, could still mask quality issues. In the future, AMI countries should improve coordination with their health authorities and their QC lab consistently, to provide a more complete picture of malaria medicines quality and support the implementation of corrective actions. Facilities in the private and informal sectors also should be included when these sectors constitute an important source of medicines used by malaria patients.

WE-AB-206-01: Diagnostic Ultrasound Imaging Quality Assurance

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zagzebski, J. [University of Wisconsin (United States)

2016-06-15

The involvement of medical physicists in diagnostic ultrasound imaging service is increasing due to QC and accreditation requirements. The goal of this ultrasound hands-on workshop is to demonstrate quality control (QC) testing in diagnostic ultrasound and to provide updates in ACR ultrasound accreditation requirements. The first half of this workshop will include two presentations reviewing diagnostic ultrasound QA/QC and ACR ultrasound accreditation requirements. The second half of the workshop will include live demonstrations of basic QC tests. An array of ultrasound testing phantoms and ultrasound scanners will be available for attendees to learn diagnostic ultrasound QC in a hands-on environment with live demonstrations and on-site instructors. The targeted attendees are medical physicists in diagnostic imaging. Learning Objectives: Gain familiarity with common elements of a QA/QC program for diagnostic ultrasound imaging dentify QC tools available for testing diagnostic ultrasound systems and learn how to use these tools Learn ACR ultrasound accreditation requirements Jennifer Walter is an employee of American College of Radiology on Ultrasound Accreditation.

WE-AB-206-01: Diagnostic Ultrasound Imaging Quality Assurance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zagzebski, J.

2016-01-01

The involvement of medical physicists in diagnostic ultrasound imaging service is increasing due to QC and accreditation requirements. The goal of this ultrasound hands-on workshop is to demonstrate quality control (QC) testing in diagnostic ultrasound and to provide updates in ACR ultrasound accreditation requirements. The first half of this workshop will include two presentations reviewing diagnostic ultrasound QA/QC and ACR ultrasound accreditation requirements. The second half of the workshop will include live demonstrations of basic QC tests. An array of ultrasound testing phantoms and ultrasound scanners will be available for attendees to learn diagnostic ultrasound QC in a hands-on environment with live demonstrations and on-site instructors. The targeted attendees are medical physicists in diagnostic imaging. Learning Objectives: Gain familiarity with common elements of a QA/QC program for diagnostic ultrasound imaging dentify QC tools available for testing diagnostic ultrasound systems and learn how to use these tools Learn ACR ultrasound accreditation requirements Jennifer Walter is an employee of American College of Radiology on Ultrasound Accreditation.

Establishing quality control ranges for antimicrobial susceptibility testing of Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Staphylococcus aureus: a cornerstone to develop reference strains for Korean clinical microbiology laboratories.

Science.gov (United States)

Hong, Sung Kuk; Choi, Seung Jun; Shin, Saeam; Lee, Wonmok; Pinto, Naina; Shin, Nari; Lee, Kwangjun; Hong, Seong Geun; Kim, Young Ah; Lee, Hyukmin; Kim, Heejung; Song, Wonkeun; Lee, Sun Hwa; Yong, Dongeun; Lee, Kyungwon; Chong, Yunsop

2015-11-01

Quality control (QC) processes are being performed in the majority of clinical microbiology laboratories to ensure the performance of microbial identification and antimicrobial susceptibility testing by using ATCC strains. To obtain these ATCC strains, some inconveniences are encountered concerning the purchase cost of the strains and the shipping time required. This study was focused on constructing a database of reference strains for QC processes using domestic bacterial strains, concentrating primarily on antimicrobial susceptibility testing. Three strains (Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Staphylococcus aureus) that showed legible results in preliminary testing were selected. The minimal inhibitory concentrations (MICs) and zone diameters (ZDs) of eight antimicrobials for each strain were determined according to the CLSI M23. All resulting MIC and ZD ranges included at least 95% of the data. The ZD QC ranges obtained by using the CLSI method were less than 12 mm, and the MIC QC ranges extended no more than five dilutions. This study is a preliminary attempt to construct a bank of Korean QC strains. With further studies, a positive outcome toward cost and time reduction can be anticipated.

Requirements for quality control of analytical data for the Environmental Restoration Program

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Engels, J.

1992-12-01

The Environmental Restoration (ER) Program was established for the investigation and remediation of inactive US Department of Energy (DOE) sites and facilities that have been declared surplus in terms of their previous uses. The purpose of this document is to Specify ER requirements for quality control (QC) of analytical data. Activities throughout all phases of the investigation may affect the quality of the final data product, thus are subject to control specifications. Laboratory control is emphasized in this document, and field concerns will be addressed in a companion document Energy Systems, in its role of technical coordinator and at the request of DOE-OR, extends the application of these requirements to all participants in ER activities. Because every instance and concern may not be addressed in this document, participants are encouraged to discuss any questions with the ER Quality Assurance (QA) Office, the Analytical Environmental Support Group (AESG), or the Analytical Project Office (APO)

A national quality control scheme for serum HGH assays

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hunter, W.M.; McKenzie, I.

1979-01-01

In the autumn of 1975 the Supraregional Assay Service established a Quality Control Sub-Committee and the intra-laboratory QC Scheme for Growth Hormone (HGH) assays which is described here has served, in many respects, as a pilot scheme for protein RIA. Major improvements in accuracy, precision and between-laboratory agreement can be brought about by intensively interactive quality control schemes. A common standard is essential and should consist of ampoules used for one or only a small number of assays. Accuracy and agreement were not good enough to allow the overall means to serve as target values but a group of 11 laboratories were sufficiently accurate to provide a 'reference group mean' to so serve. Gross non-specificity was related to poor assay design and was quickly eliminated. Within-laboratory between-batch variability was much worse than that normally claimed for simple protein hormone RIA. A full report on this Scheme will appear shortly in Annals of Clinical Biochemistry. (Auth.)

Joint design of QC-LDPC codes for coded cooperation system with joint iterative decoding

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Shunwai; Yang, Fengfan; Tang, Lei; Ejaz, Saqib; Luo, Lin; Maharaj, B. T.

2016-03-01

In this paper, we investigate joint design of quasi-cyclic low-density-parity-check (QC-LDPC) codes for coded cooperation system with joint iterative decoding in the destination. First, QC-LDPC codes based on the base matrix and exponent matrix are introduced, and then we describe two types of girth-4 cycles in QC-LDPC codes employed by the source and relay. In the equivalent parity-check matrix corresponding to the jointly designed QC-LDPC codes employed by the source and relay, all girth-4 cycles including both type I and type II are cancelled. Theoretical analysis and numerical simulations show that the jointly designed QC-LDPC coded cooperation well combines cooperation gain and channel coding gain, and outperforms the coded non-cooperation under the same conditions. Furthermore, the bit error rate performance of the coded cooperation employing jointly designed QC-LDPC codes is better than those of random LDPC codes and separately designed QC-LDPC codes over AWGN channels.

Quality manual for the Danish greenhouse gas inventory. Version 2

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nielsen, O.-K.; Plejdrup, M.S.; Winther, M. [and others

2013-02-15

This report outlines the quality work undertaken by the emission inventory group at the Department of Environmental Science, Aarhus University in connection with the preparation and reporting of the Danish greenhouse gas inventory. This report updates and expands on the first version of the quality manual published in 2005. The report fulfils the mandatory requirements for a quality assurance/quality control (QA/QC) plan as lined out in the UNFCCC reporting guidelines and the specifications related to reporting under the Kyoto Protocol. The report describes all elements of the internal QC procedures as well as the QA and verification activities carried out in connection with the Danish greenhouse gas inventory. (Author)

Establishment of quality control technology for HTR fuel in Korea

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Young-Woo; Kim, Woong Ki; Kim, Yeon Ku; Cho, Moon Sung

2009-01-01

Korea is currently developing the HTR coated particle fuel technology in view of its long-term Nuclear Hydrogen Production Technology Development and Demonstration (NHDD) Project, which was launched in 2004, of an extensive R and D program on technology development for a hydrogen production by a VHTR. The current NHDD Project essentially covers the R and D works on the core and reactor system analysis, thermo-hydraulics and safety, coated particle fuel technology, material and component aspects and the hydrogen production technology by using the so-called Sulfur-Iodine Process (S-I Process). As a part of the NHDD Project, the fundamental technology for the coated particle fuel has been being developed, which consist of UO 2 kernel fabrication, pyrolytic carbon (PyC) and silicon carbide (SiC) coating technology, an in-reactor performance model development of a coated particle fuel and a preliminary preparative study for the irradiation tests of the coated particle fuel specimens in the HANARO reactor. In parallel with the development of fabrication process technology of the coated particle fuel, namely, kernel fabrication and coating processes, the characterization techniques for the important characteristics and quality control (QC) methods of the products after each process step were established. This paper deals with the works carried out for the development of the characterization technologies and establishment of the QC techniques for the coated fuel particles. Emphasis is given to the selection and development of the laboratory equipment and apparatus for the development of the methods of the characterizations and relevant QC methods

Seismologic study of Los Humeros geothermal field, Puebla, Mexico. Part II: Seismic tomography by attenuation of coda waves (Qc-1) of local earthquakes; Estudio sismologico del campo geotermico de Los Humeros, Puebla, Mexico. Parte II: Tomografia sismica por atenuacion a partir de ondas de coda (Qc-1) de sismos locales

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Antayhua, Yanet; Lermo, Javier [Instituto de Ingenieria, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, D.F (Mexico); Carlos, Vargas [Departamento de Geociencias, Universidad Nacional de Colombia (Colombia)]. E-mail: jles@pumas.iingen.unam.mx

2008-07-15

In the Los Humeros geothermal field, Puebla, seismic tomography has been studied using the attenuation of coda waves (Qc{sup -1}). Ninety-five local earthquakes (Md{<=}3.6) have been used with depths up to 4.0 km registered in the seismic network stations from December 1997 to December 2004. A simple backscattering model was used, filtered in four ranks of frequencies (2, 4, 6, and 8 Hz) and one window of 5 seconds. For the 3D-representation, we used an approximation based on first-order scattering of ellipsoids. The results show that values of Qc for the used frequencies have a frequency dependency shown in the equation: Qc=24{+-}12f{sup 0.86}{+-}{sup 0.06}, where the low values of Qc were observed in the zone of higher seismic and tectonic activity and in the location of injection and production wells. The high values are located in the periphery of the geothermal field. The distribution of the Qc{sup -1} attenuation in 3D and 2D shows the anomalies of high-seismic attenuation are located in the north, south, and southwestern ends of the zone presently under operation, at depths greater than 2.5 km. [Spanish] Para realizar la tomografia sismica por atenuacion de ondas de coda (Qc{sup -1}) en el campo geotermico de Los Humeros, Puebla, se han utilizado 95 sismos locales (Md{<=}3.6) con profundidades hasta 4.0 km, registrados en las estaciones de su red sismica, durante el periodo de diciembre 1997 a diciembre 2004. Se utilizo el modelo de retrodispersion simple, filtrados en cuatro rangos de frecuencias (2, 4, 6, y 8 Hz) y una ventana de 5 segundos. Para la representacion en 3D, se utilizo una aproximacion basada en elipsoides que representan dispersion de primer orden. Los resultados muestran que los valores de Qc para las frecuencias utilizadas tienen una dependencia con la frecuencia de la forma: Qc=24{+-}12f{sup 0.86}{+-}{sup 0.06}, donde los valores bajos de Qc fueron observados en la zona de mayor actividad sismica y en la ubicacion de pozos inyectores y

Creating a comprehensive quality-controlled dataset of severe weather occurrence in Europe

Science.gov (United States)

Groenemeijer, P.; Kühne, T.; Liang, Z.; Holzer, A.; Feuerstein, B.; Dotzek, N.

2010-09-01

Ground-truth quality-controlled data on severe weather occurrence is required for meaningful research on severe weather hazards. Such data are collected by observation networks of several authorities in Europe, most prominently the National Hydrometeorological Institutes (NHMS). However, some events challenge the capabilities of such conventional networks by their isolated and short-lived nature. These rare and very localized but extreme events include thunderstorm wind gusts, large hail and tornadoes and are poorly resolved by synoptic observations. Moreover, their detection by remote-sensing techniques such as radar and satellites is in development and has proven to be difficult. Using the fact that all across across Europe there are many people with a special personal or professional interest in such events, who are typically organized in associations, allows pursuing a different strategy. Data delivered to the European Severe Weather Database is recorded and quality controlled by ESSL and a large number of partners including the Hydrometeorological Institutes of Germany, Finland, Austria, Italy and Bulgaria. Additionally, nine associations of storm spotters and centres of expertise in these and other countries are involved. The two categories of organizations (NHMSes/other) each have different privileges in the quality control procedure, which involves assigning a quality level of QC0+ (plausibility checked), QC1 (confirmed by reliable sources) or QC2 (verified) to each of the reports. Within the EWENT project funded by the EU 7th framework programme, the RegioExakt project funded by the German Ministry of Education and Research, and with support from the German Weather Service (DWD), several enhancements of the ESWD have been and will be carried out. Completed enhancements include the creation of an interface that allows partner organizations to upload data automatically, in the case of our German partner "Skywarn Germany" in near-real time. Moreover, the

Quality control in diagnostic radiology: software (Visual Basic 6) and database applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Md Saion Salikin; Muhammad Farid Abdul Khalid

2002-01-01

Quality Assurance programme in diagnostic Radiology is being implemented by the Ministry of Health (MoH) in Malaysia. Under this program the performance of an x-ray machine used for diagnostic purpose is tested by using the approved procedure which is commonly known as Quality Control in diagnostic radiology. The quality control or performance tests are carried out b a class H licence holder issued the Atomic Energy Licensing Act 1984. There are a few computer applications (software) that are available in the market which can be used for this purpose. A computer application (software) using Visual Basics 6 and Microsoft Access, is being developed to expedite data handling, analysis and storage as well as report writing of the quality control tests. In this paper important features of the software for quality control tests are explained in brief. A simple database is being established for this purpose which is linked to the software. Problems encountered in the preparation of database are discussed in this paper. A few examples of practical usage of the software and database applications are presented in brief. (Author)

Quality control of flow cytometry data analysis for evaluation of minimal residual disease in bone marrow from acute leukemia patients during treatment

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bjorklund, E.; Matinlauri, I.; Tierens, A.

2009-01-01

before implementation of MRD at cutoff level 10 as one of stratifying parameters in next Nordic Society of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology (NOPHO) treatment program for ALL. In 4 quality control (QC) rounds 15 laboratories determined the MRD levels in 48 follow-up samples from 12 ALL patients treated...... according to NOPHO 2000. Analysis procedures were standardized. For each QC round a compact disc containing data in list-mode files was sent out and results were submitted to a central laboratory. At cutoff level 10, which will be applied for clinical decisions, laboratories obtained a high concordance (91......Low levels of leukemia cells in the bone marrow, minimal residual disease (MRD), are considered to be a powerful indicator of treatment response in acute lymphatic leukemia (ALL). A Nordic quality assurance program, aimed on standardization of the flow cytometry MRD analysis, has been established...

Development of QC Procedures for Ocean Data Obtained by National Research Projects of Korea

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, S. D.; Park, H. M.

2017-12-01

To establish data management system for ocean data obtained by national research projects of Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries of Korea, KIOST conducted standardization and development of QC procedures. After reviewing and analyzing the existing international and domestic ocean-data standards and QC procedures, the draft version of standards and QC procedures were prepared. The proposed standards and QC procedures were reviewed and revised by experts in the field of oceanography and academic societies several times. A technical report on the standards of 25 data items and 12 QC procedures for physical, chemical, biological and geological data items. The QC procedure for temperature and salinity data was set up by referring the manuals published by GTSPP, ARGO and IOOS QARTOD. It consists of 16 QC tests applicable for vertical profile data and time series data obtained in real-time mode and delay mode. Three regional range tests to inspect annual, seasonal and monthly variations were included in the procedure. Three programs were developed to calculate and provide upper limit and lower limit of temperature and salinity at depth from 0 to 1550m. TS data of World Ocean Database, ARGO, GTSPP and in-house data of KIOST were analysed statistically to calculate regional limit of Northwest Pacific area. Based on statistical analysis, the programs calculate regional ranges using mean and standard deviation at 3 kind of grid systems (3° grid, 1° grid and 0.5° grid) and provide recommendation. The QC procedures for 12 data items were set up during 1st phase of national program for data management (2012-2015) and are being applied to national research projects practically at 2nd phase (2016-2019). The QC procedures will be revised by reviewing the result of QC application when the 2nd phase of data management programs is completed.

Performance Analysis for Cooperative Communication System with QC-LDPC Codes Constructed with Integer Sequences

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yan Zhang

2015-01-01

Full Text Available This paper presents four different integer sequences to construct quasi-cyclic low-density parity-check (QC-LDPC codes with mathematical theory. The paper introduces the procedure of the coding principle and coding. Four different integer sequences constructing QC-LDPC code are compared with LDPC codes by using PEG algorithm, array codes, and the Mackey codes, respectively. Then, the integer sequence QC-LDPC codes are used in coded cooperative communication. Simulation results show that the integer sequence constructed QC-LDPC codes are effective, and overall performance is better than that of other types of LDPC codes in the coded cooperative communication. The performance of Dayan integer sequence constructed QC-LDPC is the most excellent performance.

Quality assurance during fabrication of high-damping rubber isolation bearings

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Way, D.; Greaves, W.C. [Base Isolation Consultants, Inc., San Francisco, CA (United States)

1995-12-01

Successful implementation of a high-damping rubber (HDR) base isolation project requires the application of Quality Assurance/Quality Control (QA/QC) methodology through all phases of the bearing fabrication process. HDR base isolation bearings must be fabricated with uniform physical characteristics while being produced in large quantities. To satisfy this requirement, manufacturing processes must be controlled. Prototype tests that include dynamic testing of small samples of rubber are necessary. Stringent full scale bearing testing must be carried out prior to beginning production, during which manufacturing is strictly regulated by small rubber sample and production bearing testing. All such activities should be supervised and continuously inspected by independent and experienced QA/QC personnel.

Control of mitochondrial integrity in ageing and disease

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Szklarczyk, R.J.; Nooteboom, M.; Osiewacz, H.D.

2014-01-01

Various molecular and cellular pathways are active in eukaryotes to control the quality and integrity of mitochondria. These pathways are involved in keeping a 'healthy' population of this essential organelle during the lifetime of the organism. Quality control (QC) systems counteract processes that

Quality assurance programme at Slovak mammography departments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Horvathova, M.; Nikodemova, D.

2004-01-01

A co-ordinated research program (CRP) for optimisation of image quality in mammography in some Eastern European countries has been initiated by IAEA between 1999 and 2001 and the Slovak Republic took part in this program. The aim of this program was to implement the European QA/QC protocol in a sample of mammography departments and to achieve improvement of the image quality and patient dose reduction. On the national level 28 mammography units were chosen in accordance with equipment performance for quality control programme at this departments, for the first part of the mammography audit in the years 2002-2004. Realisation of CRP project contains: 1) Collection and evaluation of clinical images in agreement with EC criteria; 2) Evaluation of the image quality using mammography test phantom; 3) Measurements of the ESD at patients using TLD; 4) Intercomparison of TLD system calibration with IAEA laboratory; 5) Film reject analysis; 6) Implementation of QC program to the mammography units. The measurements of ESD on patients were performed with TLD (LiF 700 Harshaw). In the 6 month period were collected the results of measurements of: 1) object thickness compensation (measured weekly); 2) long time reproducibility (measured daily); 3) phantom image quality on the standard RMI 156 phantom (measured weekly); 4) ESD on phantom with TLD (once during the audit). Automatic Exposure Control compensation for the object thickness variation was measured by exposing different PMMA plates of thickness ranging from 20 to 60 mm, using the clinical settings. The long term reproducibility has been assessed from the measurements of the optical density and mAs product resulted from the exposure on the PMMA plates. In order to estimate the quality of the images the RMI 156 mammography accreditation phantom was chosen. The accreditation phantom contains test objects which simulate small structures seen in the breast (microcalcifications, fibrils, and tumor like masses). Results of

The Quality Control Algorithms Used in the Creation of NASA Kennedy Space Center Lightning Protection System Towers Meteorological Database

Science.gov (United States)

Orcutt, John M.; Brenton, James C.

2016-01-01

An accurate database of meteorological data is essential for designing any aerospace vehicle and for preparing launch commit criteria. Meteorological instrumentation were recently placed on the three Lightning Protection System (LPS) towers at Kennedy Space Center (KSC) launch complex 39B (LC-39B), which provide a unique meteorological dataset existing at the launch complex over an extensive altitude range. Data records of temperature, dew point, relative humidity, wind speed, and wind direction are produced at 40, 78, 116, and 139 m at each tower. The Marshall Space Flight Center Natural Environments Branch (EV44) received an archive that consists of one-minute averaged measurements for the period of record of January 2011 - April 2015. However, before the received database could be used EV44 needed to remove any erroneous data from within the database through a comprehensive quality control (QC) process. The QC process applied to the LPS towers' meteorological data is similar to other QC processes developed by EV44, which were used in the creation of meteorological databases for other towers at KSC. The QC process utilized in this study has been modified specifically for use with the LPS tower database. The QC process first includes a check of each individual sensor. This check includes removing any unrealistic data and checking the temporal consistency of each variable. Next, data from all three sensors at each height are checked against each other, checked against climatology, and checked for sensors that erroneously report a constant value. Then, a vertical consistency check of each variable at each tower is completed. Last, the upwind sensor at each level is selected to minimize the influence of the towers and other structures at LC-39B on the measurements. The selection process for the upwind sensor implemented a study of tower-induced turbulence. This paper describes in detail the QC process, QC results, and the attributes of the LPS towers meteorological

Moderate Exercise Plus Sleep Education Improves Self-Reported Sleep Quality, Daytime Mood, and Vitality in Adults with Chronic Sleep Complaints: A Waiting List-Controlled Trial

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Carmen Gebhart

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Research indicates that physical exercise can contribute to better sleep quality. This study investigates the six-week influence of a combined intervention on self-rated sleep quality, daytime mood, and quality of life. A nonclinical sample of 114 adults with chronic initiating and the maintaining of sleep complaints participated in the study. The intervention group of 70 adults underwent moderate physical exercise, conducted weekly, plus sleep education sessions. Improvements among participants assigned to the intervention group relative to the waiting-list control group (n=44 were noted for subjective sleep quality, daytime mood, depressive symptoms and vitality. Derived from PSQI subscores, the intervention group reported increased sleep duration, shortened sleep latency, fewer awakenings after sleep onset, and overall better sleep efficiency compared to controls. The attained scores were well sustained and enhanced over a time that lasted through to the follow-up 18 weeks later. These findings have implications in treatment programs concerning healthy lifestyle approaches for adults with chronic sleep complaints.

Moderate Exercise Plus Sleep Education Improves Self-Reported Sleep Quality, Daytime Mood, and Vitality in Adults with Chronic Sleep Complaints: A Waiting List-Controlled Trial

Science.gov (United States)

Gebhart, Carmen; Erlacher, Daniel; Schredl, Michael

2011-01-01

Research indicates that physical exercise can contribute to better sleep quality. This study investigates the six-week influence of a combined intervention on self-rated sleep quality, daytime mood, and quality of life. A nonclinical sample of 114 adults with chronic initiating and the maintaining of sleep complaints participated in the study. The intervention group of 70 adults underwent moderate physical exercise, conducted weekly, plus sleep education sessions. Improvements among participants assigned to the intervention group relative to the waiting-list control group (n = 44) were noted for subjective sleep quality, daytime mood, depressive symptoms and vitality. Derived from PSQI subscores, the intervention group reported increased sleep duration, shortened sleep latency, fewer awakenings after sleep onset, and overall better sleep efficiency compared to controls. The attained scores were well sustained and enhanced over a time that lasted through to the follow-up 18 weeks later. These findings have implications in treatment programs concerning healthy lifestyle approaches for adults with chronic sleep complaints. PMID:23471095

Moderate exercise plus sleep education improves self-reported sleep quality, daytime mood, and vitality in adults with chronic sleep complaints: a waiting list-controlled trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Gebhart, Carmen; Erlacher, Daniel; Schredl, Michael

2011-01-01

Research indicates that physical exercise can contribute to better sleep quality. This study investigates the six-week influence of a combined intervention on self-rated sleep quality, daytime mood, and quality of life. A nonclinical sample of 114 adults with chronic initiating and the maintaining of sleep complaints participated in the study. The intervention group of 70 adults underwent moderate physical exercise, conducted weekly, plus sleep education sessions. Improvements among participants assigned to the intervention group relative to the waiting-list control group (n = 44) were noted for subjective sleep quality, daytime mood, depressive symptoms and vitality. Derived from PSQI subscores, the intervention group reported increased sleep duration, shortened sleep latency, fewer awakenings after sleep onset, and overall better sleep efficiency compared to controls. The attained scores were well sustained and enhanced over a time that lasted through to the follow-up 18 weeks later. These findings have implications in treatment programs concerning healthy lifestyle approaches for adults with chronic sleep complaints.

Dehydroabietic Acid Derivative QC4 Induces Gastric Cancer Cell Death via Oncosis and Apoptosis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dongjun Luo

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Aim. QC4 is the derivative of rosin’s main components dehydroabietic acid (DHA. We investigated the cytotoxic effect of QC4 on gastric cancer cells and revealed the mechanisms beneath the induction of cell death. Methods. The cytotoxic effect of QC4 on gastric cancer cells was evaluated by CCK-8 assay and flow cytometry. The underlying mechanisms were tested by administration of cell death related inhibitors and detection of apoptotic and oncosis related proteins. Cytomembrane integrity and organelles damage were confirmed by lactate dehydrogenase (LDH leakage assay, mitochondrial function test, and cytosolic free Ca2+ concentration detection. Results. QC4 inhibited cell proliferation dose- and time-dependently and destroyed cell membrane integrity, activated calpain-1 autolysis, and induced apoptotic protein cleavage in gastric cancer cells. The detection of decreased ATP and mitochondrial membrane potential, ROS accumulation, and cytosolic free Ca2+ elevation confirmed organelles damage in QC4-treated gastric cancer cells. Conclusions. DHA derivative QC4 induced the damage of cytomembrane and organelles which finally lead to oncosis and apoptosis in gastric cancer cells. Therefore, as a derivative of plant derived small molecule DHA, QC4 might become a promising agent in gastric cancer therapy.

MedlinePlus FAQ: What's the difference between MedlinePlus and MedlinePlus Connect?

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... MedlinePlus Connect is a free service that allows electronic health record (EHR) systems to easily link users to MedlinePlus, ... updates Subscribe to RSS Follow us Disclaimers Copyright Privacy Accessibility Quality Guidelines Viewers & Players MedlinePlus Connect for ...

Quality assurance guidance for low-level radioactive waste disposal facility: Final report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pittiglio, C.L. Jr.

1989-01-01

This document provides guidance to an applicant on meeting the quality control (QC) requirements for a low-level waste (LLW) disposal facility. The QC requirements are the basis for developing of a quality assurance (QA) program and for the guidance provided herein. The criteria are basic to any QA program. The document specifically establishes QA guidance for the design, construction, and operation of those structures, systems, components, as well as, for site characterization activities necessary to meet the performance objectives and to limit exposure to our release of radioactivity. 7 refs

Implementation of basic quality control tests for malaria medicines in Amazon Basin countries: results for the 2005–2010 period

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pribluda Victor S

2012-06-01

from seven AMI countries was evaluated, mostly collected from the public sector, 1,445/1,663 (86.9%. Results indicate that 193/1,663 (11.6% were found not to meet quality specifications. Most failures were reported during visual and physical inspection, 142/1663 (8.5%, and most of these were due to expired medicines, 118/142 (83.1%. Samples failing TLC accounted for 27/1,663 (1.6% and those failing disintegration accounted for 24/1,663 (1.4%. Medicines quality failures decreased significantly during the last two years. Conclusions Basic tests revealed that the quality of medicines in the public sector improved over the years, since the implementation of this type of quality monitoring programme in 2005. However, the lack of consistent confirmatory tests in the quality control (QC laboratory, utilizing methods that can also evaluate additional quality attributes, could still mask quality issues. In the future, AMI countries should improve coordination with their health authorities and their QC lab consistently, to provide a more complete picture of malaria medicines quality and support the implementation of corrective actions. Facilities in the private and informal sectors also should be included when these sectors constitute an important source of medicines used by malaria patients.

A Randomized Controlled Trial of Cognitive-Behavior Therapy Plus Bright Light Therapy for Adolescent Delayed Sleep Phase Disorder

Science.gov (United States)

Gradisar, Michael; Dohnt, Hayley; Gardner, Greg; Paine, Sarah; Starkey, Karina; Menne, Annemarie; Slater, Amy; Wright, Helen; Hudson, Jennifer L.; Weaver, Edward; Trenowden, Sophie

2011-01-01

Objective: To evaluate cognitive-behavior therapy plus bright light therapy (CBT plus BLT) for adolescents diagnosed with delayed sleep phase disorder (DSPD). Design: Randomized controlled trial of CBT plus BLT vs. waitlist (WL) control with comparisons at pre- and post-treatment. There was 6-month follow-up for the CBT plus BLT group only. Setting: Flinders University Child & Adolescent Sleep Clinic, Adelaide, South Australia. Patients: 49 adolescents (mean age 14.6 ± 1.0 y, 53% males) diagnosed with DSPD; mean chronicity 4 y 8 months; 16% not attending school. Eighteen percent of adolescents dropped out of the study (CBT plus BLT: N = 23 vs WL: N = 17). Interventions: CBT plus BLT consisted of 6 individual sessions, including morning bright light therapy to advance adolescents' circadian rhythms, and cognitive restructuring and sleep education to target associated insomnia and sleep hygiene. Measurements and Results: DSPD diagnosis was performed via a clinical interview and 7-day sleep diary. Measurements at each time-point included online sleep diaries and scales measuring sleepiness, fatigue, and depression symptoms. Compared to WL, moderate-to-large improvements (d = 0.65-1.24) were found at post-treatment for CBT plus BLT adolescents, including reduced sleep latency, earlier sleep onset and rise times, total sleep time (school nights), wake after sleep onset, sleepiness, and fatigue. At 6-month follow-up (N = 15), small-to-large improvements (d = 0.24-1.53) continued for CBT plus BLT adolescents, with effects found for all measures. Significantly fewer adolescents receiving CBT plus BLT met DPSD criteria at post-treatment (WL = 82% vs. CBT plus BLT = 13%, P sleep and daytime impairments in the immediate and long-term. Studies evaluating the treatment effectiveness of each treatment component are needed. Clinical Trial Information: Australia – New Zealand Trials Registry Number: ACTRN12610001041044. Citation: Gradisar M; Dohnt H; Gardner G; Paine S; Starkey

Impact and payback of a QA/QC program for steam-water chemistry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lerman, S.I.; Wilson, D.

1992-01-01

QA/QC programs for analytical laboratories and in-line instrumentation are essential if we are to have any faith in the data they produce. When the analytes are at trace levels, as they frequently are in a steam-water cycle, the importance of QA/QC increases by an order of magnitude. The cost and resources of such a program, although worth it, are frequently underestimated. QA/QC is much more than running a standard several times a week. This paper will discuss some of the essential elements of such a program, compare them to the cost, and point out the impact of not having such a program. RP-2712-3 showed how essential QA/QC is to understand the limitations of instruments doing trace analysis of water. What it did not do, nor was it intended to, is discuss how good reliability can be in your own plant. QA programs that include training of personnel, written procedures, and comprehensive maintenance and inventory programs ensure optimum performance of chemical monitors. QC samples run regularly allow plant personnel to respond to poor performance in a timely manner, appropriate to plant demands. Proper data management establishes precision information necessary to determine how good our measurements are. Generally, the plant has the advantage of a central laboratory to perform corroborative analysis, and a comprehensive QA/QC program will integrate the plant monitoring operations with the central lab. Where trace analysis is concerned, attention to detail becomes paramount. Instrument performance may be below expected levels, and instruments are probably being run at the bottom end of their optimum range. Without QA/QC the plant manager can have no confidence in analytical results. Poor steam-water chemistry can go unnoticed, causing system deterioration. We can't afford to wait for another RP-2712-3 to tell us how good our data is

Quality planning for major plant design modifications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dulee, R.J.

1988-01-01

This paper reviews the approach and activities undertaken by Public Service Electric and Gas Company's (PSE and G's) nuclear quality assurance (QA) department to support major plant design modifications conducted during refueling outages at Salem Generating Station. It includes the planning and implementation of quality plans developed to provide both QA and quality control (QC) coverage of modification performed by contracted service organizations

Guidance on the application of quality assurance for characterizing a low-level radioactive waste disposal site

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pittiglio, C.L. Jr.; Starmer, R.J.; Hedges, D.

1990-10-01

This document provides the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's staff guidance to an applicant on meeting the quality control (QC) requirements of Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Part 61, Section 61.12 (10 CFR 61.12), for a low-level waste disposal facility. The QC requirements combined with the requirements for managerial controls and audits are the basis for developing a quality assurance (QA) program and for the guidance provided herein. QA guidance is specified for site characterization activities necessary to meet the performance objectives of 10 CFR Part 61 and to limit exposure to or the release of radioactivity. 1 tab

Infection Control: MedlinePlus Health Topic

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... Staph infections - hospital (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish Topic Image MedlinePlus Email Updates Get Infection Control updates ... infections when visiting Staph infections - hospital Related Health Topics Hepatitis HIV/AIDS MRSA National Institutes of Health ...

A free-volume modification of GEM-QC to correlate VLE and LLE in polymer solutions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Radfarnia, H.R.; Taghikhani, V.; Ghotbi, C.; Khoshkbarchi, M.K.

2004-01-01

The generalized quasi-chemical (GEM-QC) model proposed by Wang and Vera is modified to correlate better the phase equilibrium and to overcome the shortcoming of the original model to predict the lower critical solution temperature (LCST) of binary polymer solutions. This shortcoming is mainly because the GEM-QC model does not consider the effect of free-volume, which is important in systems containing molecules with large size differences. The proposed modification is based on replacing the combinatorial term of the GEM-QC model by a term proposed by Kontogerogis et al., which includes the effect of the free-volume. The main advantage of the free volume generalized quasi-chemical (GEM-QC-FV) model over the original GEM-QC is its ability to predict the phase behaviour of binary polymer solutions with LCST behaviour. In addition, the free volume UNIQUAC (UNIQUAC-FV) model is used to correlate VLE and LLE experimental data for binary polymer solutions. The comparison of the results obtained from the GEM-QC-FV model and the UNIQUAC-FV model shows the superiority of the GEM-QC-FV model in correlating the VLE and LLE experimental data for binary polymer solutions

PET/CT Atlas on Quality Control and Image Artefacts

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2014-01-01

Combined positron emission tomography (PET)/computed tomography (CT) imaging has become a routine procedure in diagnostic radiology and nuclear medicine. The clinical review of both PET and PET/CT images requires a thorough understanding of the basics of image formation as well as an appreciation of variations of inter-patient and intra-patient image appearance. Such variations may be caused by variations in tracer accumulation and metabolism, and, perhaps more importantly, by image artefacts related to methodological pitfalls of the two modalities. This atlas on quality control (QC) and PET/CT artefacts provides guidance on typical image distortions in clinical PET/CT usage scenarios. A number of cases are presented to provide nuclear medicine and radiology professionals with an assortment of examples of possible image distortions and errors in order to support the correct interpretation of images. About 70 typical PET and PET/CT cases, comprised of image sets and cases, have been collected in this book, and all have been catalogued and have explanations as to the causes of and solutions to each individual image problem. This atlas is intended to be used as a guide on how to take proper QC measures, on performing situation and problem analysis, and on problem prevention. This book will be especially useful to medical physicists, physicians, technologists and service engineers in the clinical field

Study on the internal quality control of thyroid hormones assays in a hospital laboratory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hu Haiqiang; Chu Shaolin; Ye Peihong; Lei Qiufang; Chai Luhua; Xia Wei

2004-01-01

Objective: With the aim of providing more reliable information for clinical diagnosis, this study investigated the possible causes of the occasional instability of thyroid hormones (T 3 , T 4 , FT 3 , FT 4 TSH) assays in this laboratory and tried to seek plausible explanation for some seemingly contradictory (mismatching) readings of the laboratory reports. Methods: Regular monitoring and checks were enforced on laboratory equipment from sampling pipet to gamma-counters. Results of separation with PR reagent and solid - phase coated tube were compared for superiority (FT 3 ). Collected specimens were tested in monthly sets; this study consisted of 10 sets with total 964 specimens. Serum T 3 , T 4 , FT 3 , FT 4 levels were measured with RIA. For every hormone tested, values of parameters of the standard cure (B 0 , NSB, a, b, r, ED 20 , ED 50 , ED 80 , ABCV) were recorded in detail, from which the QC (quality control) table was derived. For complementary sake , mean level in patients' sera was noted along with the quality control sera. Shewart control chart was drawn for quick reference. Serum TSH levels were measured with IRMA; the parameters involved were: B 0 NSB, ED 80 , ED 50 , ED 20 , standard point deviation. Results: Among the 964 specimens tested, there were 154 specimens with seemingly contradictory (mismatching) results, of which, the majority (n=145) were not erroneous and were compatible with the clinical manifestations of thyroid dysfunction other than plain simple hyper-or hypothyroidism. Only 9 (5.8% of the 154) were due to technical errors (defective technic in removing the supernatant n=7, lipid blood separated with PR reagent n=2). Conclusion: Faulty technic in separation is the main source of random error. From the data of this laboratory, authors believe that solid-phase separation method is better than the conventional homogenous-phase separation method and is the preferred one. With meticulous adherence to standard laboratory procedures and

[Current situations and problems of quality control for medical imaging display systems].

Science.gov (United States)

Shibutani, Takayuki; Setojima, Tsuyoshi; Ueda, Katsumi; Takada, Katsumi; Okuno, Teiichi; Onoguchi, Masahisa; Nakajima, Tadashi; Fujisawa, Ichiro

2015-04-01

Diagnostic imaging has been shifted rapidly from film to monitor diagnostic. Consequently, Japan medical imaging and radiological systems industries association (JIRA) have recommended methods of quality control (QC) for medical imaging display systems. However, in spite of its need by majority of people, executing rate is low. The purpose of this study was to validate the problem including check items about QC for medical imaging display systems. We performed acceptance test of medical imaging display monitors based on Japanese engineering standards of radiological apparatus (JESRA) X-0093*A-2005 to 2009, and performed constancy test based on JESRA X-0093*A-2010 from 2010 to 2012. Furthermore, we investigated the cause of trouble and repaired number. Medical imaging display monitors had 23 inappropriate monitors about visual estimation, and all these monitors were not criteria of JESRA about luminance uniformity. Max luminance was significantly lower year-by-year about measurement estimation, and the 29 monitors did not meet the criteria of JESRA about luminance deviation. Repaired number of medical imaging display monitors had 25, and the cause was failure liquid crystal panel. We suggested the problems about medical imaging display systems.

5-Fluorouracil, leucovorin, and oxaliplatin (mFOLFOX6) plus sunitinib or bevacizumab as first-line treatment for metastatic colorectal cancer: a randomized Phase IIb study

Science.gov (United States)

Hecht, J Randolph; Mitchell, Edith P; Yoshino, Takayuki; Welslau, Manfred; Lin, Xun; Chow Maneval, Edna; Paolini, Jolanda; Lechuga, Maria Jose; Kretzschmar, Albrecht

2015-01-01

Background Sunitinib is an oral inhibitor of tyrosine kinase receptors implicated in tumor proliferation, angiogenesis, and metastasis. In this randomized, multicenter, open-label Phase IIb study, sunitinib plus mFOLFOX6 (oxaliplatin plus leucovorin plus 5-fluorouracil) was compared with bevacizumab plus mFOLFOX6 as first-line therapy in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer. Methods Patients were stratified by performance status, baseline lactate dehydrogenase level, and prior adjuvant treatment, and randomized 1:1 to receive sunitinib 37.5 mg/day for 4 weeks on and 2 weeks off plus mFOLFOX6 every 2 weeks or bevacizumab 5 mg/kg every 2 weeks plus mFOLFOX6 every 2 weeks. The primary endpoint was progression-free survival. Secondary endpoints included objective response rate, overall survival, safety, and quality of life. Results Enrollment was closed early following accrual of 191 patients, based on an interim analysis showing an inferior trend in the primary progression-free survival efficacy endpoint for sunitinib. Ninety-six patients were randomized to sunitinib plus mFOLFOX6 and 95 to bevacizumab plus mFOLFOX6. Median progression-free survival was 9.3 months and 15.4 months, respectively, but the objective response rate was similar between the study arms. Median overall survival was 23.7 months and 34.1 months, respectively. Dose reductions and interruptions were more common with sunitinib. Hematologic toxicity was more common in the sunitinib arm. Conclusion While the results of the sunitinib arm are comparable with those of previously reported FOLFOX combinations, the sunitinib-based combination was associated with more toxicity than that observed with bevacizumab and mFOLFOX6. The bevacizumab arm had an unexpectedly good outcome, and was much better than that seen in the Phase III trials. Combination therapy with sunitinib plus mFOLFOX6 is not recommended for patients with metastatic colorectal cancer. PMID:26109878

5-Fluorouracil, leucovorin, and oxaliplatin (mFOLFOX6) plus sunitinib or bevacizumab as first-line treatment for metastatic colorectal cancer: a randomized Phase IIb study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hecht, J Randolph; Mitchell, Edith P; Yoshino, Takayuki; Welslau, Manfred; Lin, Xun; Chow Maneval, Edna; Paolini, Jolanda; Lechuga, Maria Jose; Kretzschmar, Albrecht

2015-01-01

Sunitinib is an oral inhibitor of tyrosine kinase receptors implicated in tumor proliferation, angiogenesis, and metastasis. In this randomized, multicenter, open-label Phase IIb study, sunitinib plus mFOLFOX6 (oxaliplatin plus leucovorin plus 5-fluorouracil) was compared with bevacizumab plus mFOLFOX6 as first-line therapy in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer. Patients were stratified by performance status, baseline lactate dehydrogenase level, and prior adjuvant treatment, and randomized 1:1 to receive sunitinib 37.5 mg/day for 4 weeks on and 2 weeks off plus mFOLFOX6 every 2 weeks or bevacizumab 5 mg/kg every 2 weeks plus mFOLFOX6 every 2 weeks. The primary endpoint was progression-free survival. Secondary endpoints included objective response rate, overall survival, safety, and quality of life. Enrollment was closed early following accrual of 191 patients, based on an interim analysis showing an inferior trend in the primary progression-free survival efficacy endpoint for sunitinib. Ninety-six patients were randomized to sunitinib plus mFOLFOX6 and 95 to bevacizumab plus mFOLFOX6. Median progression-free survival was 9.3 months and 15.4 months, respectively, but the objective response rate was similar between the study arms. Median overall survival was 23.7 months and 34.1 months, respectively. Dose reductions and interruptions were more common with sunitinib. Hematologic toxicity was more common in the sunitinib arm. While the results of the sunitinib arm are comparable with those of previously reported FOLFOX combinations, the sunitinib-based combination was associated with more toxicity than that observed with bevacizumab and mFOLFOX6. The bevacizumab arm had an unexpectedly good outcome, and was much better than that seen in the Phase III trials. Combination therapy with sunitinib plus mFOLFOX6 is not recommended for patients with metastatic colorectal cancer

Quality control of conventional diagnostic radiology equipment in Serbia and Montenegro

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ciraj, O.; Kosutic, D.; Markovic, S.

2003-01-01

There are more than 1500 diagnostic X-ray tubes in service in Serbia and Montenegro. Diagnostic X-ray equipment is checked on annual basis. X-ray equipment Qc protocols have been adopted from several international standards and guidelines [1,2], which have been modified according our practice and measuring equipment. According our inventory, about one half of all installed units is used for conventional X-ray diagnostics, 10% are mobile units, 2% of all in units in operation are mammographic devices an another 2% are computed tomography units. In addition there are about 600 dental X-ray units, which is 36% of all units. It is worth mentioning that almost 30 % of all installed units have single-phase generators, another 25% are tree phase (six and twelve pulse) generators and nearly 9% are high frequency units. Majority of units was installed more than 25 years ago. The Quality Control (QC) in radiography is a central part of QA programme, which deals with equipment maintenance and monitoring. QA in diagnostic radiology is a mean of maintaining standards in imaging and working towards minimizing patient and staff doses. As a part of QA programme in diagnostic radiology, the performance characteristics of 96 conventional X-ray units were measured in six months period during 2003. The diagnostic units were located in hospitals all over the country. They represent 25% of the total conventional diagnostic units of the country. About one half of measured X-ray units were new-installed. QC program has positive effect on X-ray equipment performance in a period of a few years. It is essential to perform QC tests for all installed X-ray units at least on annual basis. This would lead to production of consistent X-ray images, with minimal retake rate and hence, will contribute to decreasing of the patient dose. Patient doses are determined by multitude factors which interact in very complicated manner. It is very important to perform real patient dose measurements in

Fast QC-LDPC code for free space optical communication

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Jin; Zhang, Qi; Udeh, Chinonso Paschal; Wu, Rangzhong

2017-02-01

Free Space Optical (FSO) Communication systems use the atmosphere as a propagation medium. Hence the atmospheric turbulence effects lead to multiplicative noise related with signal intensity. In order to suppress the signal fading induced by multiplicative noise, we propose a fast Quasi-Cyclic (QC) Low-Density Parity-Check (LDPC) code for FSO Communication systems. As a linear block code based on sparse matrix, the performances of QC-LDPC is extremely near to the Shannon limit. Currently, the studies on LDPC code in FSO Communications is mainly focused on Gauss-channel and Rayleigh-channel, respectively. In this study, the LDPC code design over atmospheric turbulence channel which is nether Gauss-channel nor Rayleigh-channel is closer to the practical situation. Based on the characteristics of atmospheric channel, which is modeled as logarithmic-normal distribution and K-distribution, we designed a special QC-LDPC code, and deduced the log-likelihood ratio (LLR). An irregular QC-LDPC code for fast coding, of which the rates are variable, is proposed in this paper. The proposed code achieves excellent performance of LDPC codes and can present the characteristics of high efficiency in low rate, stable in high rate and less number of iteration. The result of belief propagation (BP) decoding shows that the bit error rate (BER) obviously reduced as the Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) increased. Therefore, the LDPC channel coding technology can effectively improve the performance of FSO. At the same time, the BER, after decoding reduces with the increase of SNR arbitrarily, and not having error limitation platform phenomenon with error rate slowing down.

Does quality control matter? Surface urban heat island intensity variations estimated by satellite-derived land surface temperature products

Science.gov (United States)

Lai, Jiameng; Zhan, Wenfeng; Huang, Fan; Quan, Jinling; Hu, Leiqiu; Gao, Lun; Ju, Weimin

2018-05-01

The temporally regular and spatially comprehensive monitoring of surface urban heat islands (SUHIs) have been extremely difficult, until the advent of satellite-based land surface temperature (LST) products. However, these LST products have relatively higher errors compared to in situ measurements. This has resulted in comparatively inaccurate estimations of SUHI indicators and, consequently, may have distorted interpretations of SUHIs. Although reports have shown that LST qualities are important for SUHI interpretations, systematic investigations of the response of SUHI indicators to LST qualities across cities with dissimilar bioclimates are rare. To address this issue, we chose eighty-six major cities across mainland China and analyzed SUHI intensity (SUHII) derived from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) LST data. The LST-based SUHII differences due to inclusion or exclusion of MODIS quality control (QC) flags (i.e., ΔSUHII) were evaluated. Our major findings included, but are not limited to, the following four aspects: (1) SUHIIs can be significantly impacted by MODIS QC flags, and the associated QC-induced ΔSUHIIs generally accounted for 24.3% (29.9%) of the total SUHII value during the day (night); (2) the ΔSUHIIs differed between seasons, with considerable differences between transitional (spring and autumn) and extreme (summer and winter) seasons; (3) significant discrepancies also appeared among cities located in northern and southern regions, with northern cities often possessing higher annual mean ΔSUHIIs. The internal variations of ΔSUHIIs within individual cities also showed high heterogeneity, with ΔSUHII variations that generally exceeded 5.0 K (3.0 K) in northern (southern) cities; (4) ΔSUHIIs were negatively related to SUHIIs and cloud cover percentages (mostly in transitional seasons). No significant relationship was found in the extreme seasons. Our findings highlight the need to be extremely cautious when using LST

FPGA implementation of high-performance QC-LDPC decoder for optical communications

Science.gov (United States)

Zou, Ding; Djordjevic, Ivan B.

2015-01-01

Forward error correction is as one of the key technologies enabling the next-generation high-speed fiber optical communications. Quasi-cyclic (QC) low-density parity-check (LDPC) codes have been considered as one of the promising candidates due to their large coding gain performance and low implementation complexity. In this paper, we present our designed QC-LDPC code with girth 10 and 25% overhead based on pairwise balanced design. By FPGAbased emulation, we demonstrate that the 5-bit soft-decision LDPC decoder can achieve 11.8dB net coding gain with no error floor at BER of 10-15 avoiding using any outer code or post-processing method. We believe that the proposed single QC-LDPC code is a promising solution for 400Gb/s optical communication systems and beyond.

Quality Assurance Plan for Data Collection: Characterizing and Quantifying Local and Regional Particulate Matter Emissions from Department of Defense Installations

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Gillies, J

2000-01-01

...-post regional visibility effects. This document has been assembled to describe the quality assurance plan for data collection for the different components of the proposed research. Quality control (QC...

A windows based automated quality control system for the ICP-AES analysis of Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) brines

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gerth, D.J.

1996-01-01

High sample volume analytical laboratories typically require automation of tasks to maximize efficiency and productivity. Typical approaches target instrument operation and data reporting (LIMS), but frequently ignore the data evaluation and run time QC aspects. Automation of these steps can save up to 50% of the time it takes to analyze, evaluate, and report data from a typical ICP-AES run. The program developed in this project addresses this need by performing a CLP-style evaluation of the run time QC data included in an instrument run. Written in Microcraft Visual Basic 3.0, it makes use of a Microsoft Access database to store method parameters and QC sample results for control charting. In operation, the analyst enters method background data (e.g., control samples types and acceptance criteria for each analyte), which is then stored in the method database. Once the method parameters are entered, instrument data files may be imported for review. Upon import, the run is automatically checked against desired QC criteria, QC sample data are added to the database, and failing samples flagged appropriately. Analytes passing all QC checks are flagged for upload to the laboratory LIMS. The analyst may then review the run sample by sample, and, if desired, override the computer upload flag. An exception report may be generated detailing samples that require reanalysis

Pilot studies for the North American Soil Geochemical Landscapes Project - Site selection, sampling protocols, analytical methods, and quality control protocols

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, D.B.; Woodruff, L.G.; O'Leary, R. M.; Cannon, W.F.; Garrett, R.G.; Kilburn, J.E.; Goldhaber, M.B.

2009-01-01

In 2004, the US Geological Survey (USGS) and the Geological Survey of Canada sampled and chemically analyzed soils along two transects across Canada and the USA in preparation for a planned soil geochemical survey of North America. This effort was a pilot study to test and refine sampling protocols, analytical methods, quality control protocols, and field logistics for the continental survey. A total of 220 sample sites were selected at approximately 40-km intervals along the two transects. The ideal sampling protocol at each site called for a sample from a depth of 0-5 cm and a composite of each of the O, A, and C horizons. The Ca, Fe, K, Mg, Na, S, Ti, Ag, As, Ba, Be, Bi, Cd, Ce, Co, Cr, Cs, Cu, Ga, In, La, Li, Mn, Mo, Nb, Ni, P, Pb, Rb, Sb, Sc, Sn, Sr, Te, Th, Tl, U, V, W, Y, and Zn by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry and inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry following a near-total digestion in a mixture of HCl, HNO3, HClO4, and HF. Separate methods were used for Hg, Se, total C, and carbonate-C on this same size fraction. Only Ag, In, and Te had a large percentage of concentrations below the detection limit. Quality control (QC) of the analyses was monitored at three levels: the laboratory performing the analysis, the USGS QC officer, and the principal investigator for the study. This level of review resulted in an average of one QC sample for every 20 field samples, which proved to be minimally adequate for such a large-scale survey. Additional QC samples should be added to monitor within-batch quality to the extent that no more than 10 samples are analyzed between a QC sample. Only Cr (77%), Y (82%), and Sb (80%) fell outside the acceptable limits of accuracy (% recovery between 85 and 115%) because of likely residence in mineral phases resistant to the acid digestion. A separate sample of 0-5-cm material was collected at each site for determination of organic compounds. A subset of 73 of these samples was analyzed for a suite of

Haloperidol plus promethazine for psychosis-induced aggression.

Science.gov (United States)

Huf, Gisele; Alexander, Jacob; Gandhi, Pinky; Allen, Michael H

2016-11-25

Health services often manage agitated or violent people, and such behaviour is particularly prevalent in emergency psychiatric services (10%). The drugs used in such situations should ensure that the person becomes calm swiftly and safely. To examine whether haloperidol plus promethazine is an effective treatment for psychosis-induced aggression. On 6 May 2015 we searched the Cochrane Schizophrenia Group's Register of Trials, which is compiled by systematic searches of major resources (including MEDLINE, EMBASE, AMED, BIOSIS, CINAHL, PsycINFO, PubMed, and registries of clinical trials) and their monthly updates, handsearches, grey literature, and conference proceedings. All randomised clinical trials with useable data focusing on haloperidol plus promethazine for psychosis-induced aggression. We independently extracted data. For binary outcomes, we calculated risk ratio (RR) and its 95% confidence interval (CI), on an intention-to-treat basis. For continuous data, we estimated the mean difference (MD) between groups and its 95% CI. We employed a fixed-effect model for analyses. We assessed risk of bias for included studies and created 'Summary of findings' tables using GRADE. We found two new randomised controlled trials (RCTs) from the 2015 update searching. The review now includes six studies, randomising 1367 participants and presenting data relevant to six comparisons.When haloperidol plus promethazine was compared with haloperidol alone for psychosis-induced aggression for the outcome not tranquil or asleep at 30 minutes, the combination treatment was clearly more effective (n=316, 1 RCT, RR 0.65, 95% CI 0.49 to 0.87, high-quality evidence). There were 10 occurrences of acute dystonia in the haloperidol alone arm and none in the combination group. The trial was stopped early as haloperidol alone was considered to be too toxic.When haloperidol plus promethazine was compared with olanzapine, high-quality data showed both approaches to be tranquillising. It was

Effects of switching from prandial premixed insulin therapy to basal plus two times bolus insulin therapy on glycemic control and quality of life in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ito H

2014-04-01

Full Text Available Hiroyuki Ito, Mariko Abe, Shinichi Antoku, Takashi Omoto, Masahiro Shinozaki, Shinya Nishio, Mizuo Mifune, Michiko ToganeDepartment of Diabetes, Metabolism and Kidney Disease, Edogawa Hospital, Tokyo, JapanBackground: The effects of switching from prandial premixed insulin therapy (PPT injected three times a day to basal plus two times bolus insulin therapy (B2B on glycemic control and quality of life were investigated in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.Methods: The clinical course was prospectively observed during the first 16 weeks after switching to B2B (insulin glargine plus insulin glulisine before breakfast and dinner in 27 subjects previously treated with PPT using 50/50 premixed insulin. The Diabetes Treatment Satisfaction Questionnaire (DTSQ was administered at the start and end of the study.Results: The glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c level (8.3%±1.8% to 8.2%±1.1% and the DTSQ score did not change between the start and end of the study. An improvement in HbA1c level was found in nine (33% subjects. The change in HbA1c showed a significant negative correlation with baseline HbA1c, and was significantly better in patients with a baseline HbA1c >8.0% than in those with an HbA1c ≤8.0% (−0.9±2.0 versus 0.3±0.6, respectively, P=0.02. The change in DTSQ score representing treatment satisfaction was significantly greater in patients whose HbA1c level was improved than in those in whom it was not (2.7±3.6 versus −0.8±3.5, P=0.04.Conclusion: B2B was noninferior to PPT with regard to HbA1c levels in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. B2B should be considered particularly for subjects whose glycemic control is poor despite PPT.Keywords: type 2 diabetes mellitus, insulin therapy, basal plus two times bolus insulin therapy, prandial premixed insulin therapy, Diabetes Treatment Satisfaction Questionnaire

Efficacy and Safety of Tazarotene 0.1% Plus Clindamycin 1% Gel Versus Adapalene 0.1% Plus Clindamycin 1% Gel in Facial Acne Vulgaris: A Randomized, Controlled Clinical Trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Maiti, Rituparna; Sirka, Chandra Sekhar; Ashique Rahman, M A; Srinivasan, Anand; Parida, Sansita; Hota, Debasish

2017-11-01

Acne vulgaris is a multifactorial disorder which is ideally treated with combination therapy with topical retinoids and antibiotics. The present study was conducted to compare the efficacy and safety of tazarotene plus clindamycin against adapalene plus clindamycin in facial acne vulgaris. This study is a randomized, open-label, parallel design clinical trial conducted on 60 patients with facial acne at the outpatient dermatology department in a tertiary healthcare center. The main outcome measures were change in the acne lesion count, Investigator's Static Global Assessment (ISGA) score, Global Acne Grading System (GAGS) score, and Acne-Specific Quality of Life Questionnaire (Acne-QoL) at the end of 4 weeks of therapy. After randomization one group (n = 30) received tazarotene 0.1% plus clindamycin 1% gel and another group (n = 30) received adapalene 0.1% plus clindamycin 1% gel for 1 month. At follow-up, all the parameter were reassessed. In both treatment regimens the total number of facial acne lesions decreased significantly. The difference in the change in the total count between the two combination regimens was also significant [6.51, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.91-11.09, p = 0.007]. A ≥50% reduction in the total lesion count from the baseline levels was achieved by 71% of patients in the tazarotene plus clindamycin group and 22% of patients in the adapalene plus clindamycin group (p = 0.0012). The difference in the change of inflammatory (p = 0.017) and non-inflammatory (p = 0.039) lesion counts in the tazarotene plus clindamycin group were significantly higher than the adapalene plus clindamycin group. The difference in change of the GAGS score was also significantly higher in the tazarotene plus clindamycin group (p = 0.003). The ISGA score improved in 17 patients in the tazarotene plus clindamycin group versusnine patients in the adapalene plus clindamycin group (p = 0.04). The change of total quality-of-life score was found to be

Development of statistical and analytical techniques for use in national quality control schemes for steroid hormones

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wilson, D.W.; Gaskell, S.J.; Fahmy, D.R.; Joyce, B.G.; Groom, G.V.; Griffiths, K.; Kemp, K.W.; Nix, A.B.J.; Rowlands, R.J.

1979-01-01

Adopting the rationale that the improvement of intra-laboratory performance of immunometric assays will enable the assessment of national QC schemes to become more meaningful, the group of participating laboratories has developed statistical and analytical techniques for the improvement of accuracy, precision and monitoring of error for the determination of steroid hormones. These developments are now described and their relevance to NQC schemes discussed. Attention has been focussed on some of the factors necessary for improving standards of quality in immunometric assays and their relevance to laboratories participating in NQC schemes as described. These have included the 'accuracy', precision and robustness of assay procedures as well as improved methods for internal quality control. (Auth.)

Quality control of analyses of mercury in hair

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lind, B.; Friberg, L.; Bigras, L.; Kirkbride, J.; Kennedy, P.; Kjellstroem, T.

1988-01-01

A quality control programme for mercury determinations in hair was developed within a study of 'Mental effects of prenatal methylmercury exposure in New Zealand children'. Hair was obtained from seven females with a mercury concentration of about 0.5-4 μg Hg/g. The hair was cut into 1-5 cm pieces and pulverized by liquid nitrogen grinding using a ring mill. In order to obtain a series of QC samples with varying Hg concentrations, different amounts of powder from all the samples and a reference sample of pulverized hair (11.2 μg Hg/g) were mixed. The mercury concentrations in the original samples and the mixtures were determined by radiochemical neutron activation analysis (RNAA). In total four laboratories participated in the interlaboratory comparison. All laboratories used the cold vapor AAS technique and Hg monitor model 1235, LDC for determinations after wet digestion of the samples. (orig./RB)

Integrated multi-level quality control for proteomic profiling studies using mass spectrometry

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Barrett Jennifer H

2008-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Proteomic profiling using mass spectrometry (MS is one of the most promising methods for the analysis of complex biological samples such as urine, serum and tissue for biomarker discovery. Such experiments are often conducted using MALDI-TOF (matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionisation time-of-flight and SELDI-TOF (surface-enhanced laser desorption/ionisation time-of-flight MS. Using such profiling methods it is possible to identify changes in protein expression that differentiate disease states and individual proteins or patterns that may be useful as potential biomarkers. However, the incorporation of quality control (QC processes that allow the identification of low quality spectra reliably and hence allow the removal of such data before further analysis is often overlooked. In this paper we describe rigorous methods for the assessment of quality of spectral data. These procedures are presented in a user-friendly, web-based program. The data obtained post-QC is then examined using variance components analysis to quantify the amount of variance due to some of the factors in the experimental design. Results Using data from a SELDI profiling study of serum from patients with different levels of renal function, we show how the algorithms described in this paper may be used to detect systematic variability within and between sample replicates, pooled samples and SELDI chips and spots. Manual inspection of those spectral data that were identified as being of poor quality confirmed the efficacy of the algorithms. Variance components analysis demonstrated the relatively small amount of technical variance attributable to day of profile generation and experimental array. Conclusion Using the techniques described in this paper it is possible to reliably detect poor quality data within proteomic profiling experiments undertaken by MS. The removal of these spectra at the initial stages of the analysis substantially improves the

Embankment quality and assessment of moisture control implementation : tech transfer summary.

Science.gov (United States)

2016-02-01

The motivation for this project was based on work by : Iowa State University (ISU) researchers at a few recent : grading projects that demonstrated embankments were : being constructed outside moisture control limits, even : though the contractor QC ...

Multi-Site Quality Assurance Project Plan for Wisconsin Public Service Corporation, Peoples Gas Light and Coke Company, and North Shore Gas

Science.gov (United States)

This Multi-Site QAPP presents the organization, data quality objectives (DQOs), a set of anticipated activities, sample analysis, data handling and specific Quality Assurance/Quality Control (QA/QC) procedures associated with Studies done in EPA Region 5

Analisa Beban Kerja Fisik dan Mental dengan Menggunakan Work Sampling dan NASA-TLX Untuk Menentukan Jumlah Operator

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anton Maretno

2015-04-01

Full Text Available Perbedaan sistem kerja yang ada di antara operator Quality Control dan operator produksi pada divisi Particle Board menyebabkan adanya perbedaan nilai beban kerja. Hal tersebut dapat dilihat dari perbedaan jumlah jam lembur pada kedua bagian tersebut dimana jumlah jam lembur pada operator Quality Control lebih besar. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menganalisa beban kerja operator Quality Control serta menganalisa jumlah operator yang optimal untuk menyelesaikan pekerjaan Quality Control.Penelitian ini menggunakan metode pengukuran beban kerja fisik (Work sampling dan pengukuran beban kerja Mental NASA - Task Load Index (NASA-TLX. Menurut perhitungan beban kerja fisik dan mental, pelaksana yang memiliki load paling tinggi adalah pekerjaanQuality Control ( QC Finish board (108.1%, sedangkan terendah ada pada pekerjaan Quality Control ( QC Produk (72.3%. Setelah penambahan pelaksana  Quality Control ( QC Finish board sebanyak 1 orang, beban kerja fisik untuk pekerjaanQuality Control ( QC Finish board menjadi 71.1%. Sedangkan untuk pekerjaan Quality Control yang lain tidak membutuhkan tambahan operator karena bisa memanfaatkan waktu idle yang dimiliki pelaksana Quality Control ( QC Produk untuk membantu pekerjaan lain

Regorafenib plus modified FOLFOX6 as first-line treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer: A phase II trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Argilés, Guillem; Saunders, Mark P; Rivera, Fernando; Sobrero, Alberto; Benson, Al; Guillén Ponce, Carmen; Cascinu, Stefano; Van Cutsem, Eric; Macpherson, Iain R; Strumberg, Dirk; Köhne, Claus-Henning; Zalcberg, John; Wagner, Andrea; Luigi Garosi, Vittorio; Grunert, Julia; Tabernero, Josep; Ciardiello, Fortunato

2015-05-01

The oral multikinase inhibitor regorafenib improves overall survival (OS) in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (CRC) for which all standard treatments have failed. This study investigated regorafenib plus modified FOLFOX (mFOLFOX6) as first-line treatment of metastatic CRC. In this single-arm, open-label, multicentre, phase II study, patients received mFOLFOX6 on days 1 and 15, and regorafenib 160 mg orally once daily on days 4-10 and 18-24 of each 28-day cycle. The primary end-point was centrally assessed objective response rate (ORR). Secondary end-points included disease control rate (DCR), OS, progression-free survival (PFS) and safety. Median overall treatment duration with any study drug was 9.9 months (range 0.6-19.6); median treatment duration with regorafenib was 7.7 months (range 0.1-19.5); six patients remained on regorafenib for more than 1 year. Fifty-three patients received at least one dose of regorafenib. ORR was 43.9% (all partial responses); DCR was 85.4%; median OS was not reached; median PFS was 8.5months. Treatment-emergent adverse events were experienced by all patients but were manageable with dose modifications. Regorafenib+mFOLFOX6 as first-line treatment in patients with metastatic CRC did not improve ORR over historical controls. Regorafenib plus mFOLFOX6 did not appear to be associated with a markedly worse tolerability profile versus mFOLFOX6 alone. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Quality control methods for linear accelerator radiation and mechanical axes alignment.

Science.gov (United States)

Létourneau, Daniel; Keller, Harald; Becker, Nathan; Amin, Md Nurul; Norrlinger, Bernhard; Jaffray, David A

2018-06-01

The delivery accuracy of highly conformal dose distributions generated using intensity modulation and collimator, gantry, and couch degrees of freedom is directly affected by the quality of the alignment between the radiation beam and the mechanical axes of a linear accelerator. For this purpose, quality control (QC) guidelines recommend a tolerance of ±1 mm for the coincidence of the radiation and mechanical isocenters. Traditional QC methods for assessment of radiation and mechanical axes alignment (based on pointer alignment) are time consuming and complex tasks that provide limited accuracy. In this work, an automated test suite based on an analytical model of the linear accelerator motions was developed to streamline the QC of radiation and mechanical axes alignment. The proposed method used the automated analysis of megavoltage images of two simple task-specific phantoms acquired at different linear accelerator settings to determine the coincidence of the radiation and mechanical isocenters. The sensitivity and accuracy of the test suite were validated by introducing actual misalignments on a linear accelerator between the radiation axis and the mechanical axes using both beam steering and mechanical adjustments of the gantry and couch. The validation demonstrated that the new QC method can detect sub-millimeter misalignment between the radiation axis and the three mechanical axes of rotation. A displacement of the radiation source of 0.2 mm using beam steering parameters was easily detectable with the proposed collimator rotation axis test. Mechanical misalignments of the gantry and couch rotation axes of the same magnitude (0.2 mm) were also detectable using the new gantry and couch rotation axis tests. For the couch rotation axis, the phantom and test design allow detection of both translational and tilt misalignments with the radiation beam axis. For the collimator rotation axis, the test can isolate the misalignment between the beam radiation axis

Potential of dynamically harmonized Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance cell for high-throughput metabolomics fingerprinting: control of data quality.

Science.gov (United States)

Habchi, Baninia; Alves, Sandra; Jouan-Rimbaud Bouveresse, Delphine; Appenzeller, Brice; Paris, Alain; Rutledge, Douglas N; Rathahao-Paris, Estelle

2018-01-01

Due to the presence of pollutants in the environment and food, the assessment of human exposure is required. This necessitates high-throughput approaches enabling large-scale analysis and, as a consequence, the use of high-performance analytical instruments to obtain highly informative metabolomic profiles. In this study, direct introduction mass spectrometry (DIMS) was performed using a Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance (FT-ICR) instrument equipped with a dynamically harmonized cell. Data quality was evaluated based on mass resolving power (RP), mass measurement accuracy, and ion intensity drifts from the repeated injections of quality control sample (QC) along the analytical process. The large DIMS data size entails the use of bioinformatic tools for the automatic selection of common ions found in all QC injections and for robustness assessment and correction of eventual technical drifts. RP values greater than 10 6 and mass measurement accuracy of lower than 1 ppm were obtained using broadband mode resulting in the detection of isotopic fine structure. Hence, a very accurate relative isotopic mass defect (RΔm) value was calculated. This reduces significantly the number of elemental composition (EC) candidates and greatly improves compound annotation. A very satisfactory estimate of repeatability of both peak intensity and mass measurement was demonstrated. Although, a non negligible ion intensity drift was observed for negative ion mode data, a normalization procedure was easily applied to correct this phenomenon. This study illustrates the performance and robustness of the dynamically harmonized FT-ICR cell to perform large-scale high-throughput metabolomic analyses in routine conditions. Graphical abstract Analytical performance of FT-ICR instrument equipped with a dynamically harmonized cell.

Controlled ovarian stimulation with r-FSH plus r-LH vs. HMG plus r-FSH in patients candidate for IVF/ICSI cycles: An RCT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ensieh Shahrokh Tehraninejad

2017-08-01

Full Text Available Background: Different combination of gonadotropin preparation has been introduced with no definite superiority of one over others in in vitro fertilization (IVF, but individualized regimens for each patient are needed. Objective: The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of controlled ovarian stimulation with recombinant- follicle stimulating hormone (r-FSH plus recombinant-luteinizing hormone (rLH versus human menopausal gonadotropin (HMG plus r-FSH on fertility outcomes in IVF patients. Materials and Methods: This is a randomized clinical trial study that was performed from October 2014-April 2016 on 140 infertile patients with a set of inclusion criteria that referred to infertility clinics in Vali- asr and Gandhi Hospital in Tehran. The women were randomly divided into two treatment groups. The first group (n=70 received rFSH from the second day of cycle and was added HMG in 6th day and the 2nd group (n=70, received rFSH from the second day of cycle and was added recombinant-LH in 6th day. Then ovum Pick-Up and embryo transfer were performed. In this study, we assessed the outcomes such as; chemical and clinical pregnancy rate, live birth and abortion rate. Results: Number of follicles in ovaries, total number of oocytes or M2 oocytes and quality of fetuses has no significant differences between two groups (p>0.05. Total number of fetuses were significantly higher in patients who received rFSH + HMG (p=0.02. Fertility outcomes consisted of: live birth rate, chemical pregnancy and clinical pregnancy rate were higher in rFSH + HMG group in comparison to rFSH +r-LH group (p<0.05. Conclusion: It seems that in IVF patients, HMG + rFSH used for controlled ovarian hyperstimulation have better effects on fertility outcomes, but in order to verify the results, it is recommended to implement studies on more patients.

A novel construction method of QC-LDPC codes based on CRT for optical communications

Science.gov (United States)

Yuan, Jian-guo; Liang, Meng-qi; Wang, Yong; Lin, Jin-zhao; Pang, Yu

2016-05-01

A novel construction method of quasi-cyclic low-density parity-check (QC-LDPC) codes is proposed based on Chinese remainder theory (CRT). The method can not only increase the code length without reducing the girth, but also greatly enhance the code rate, so it is easy to construct a high-rate code. The simulation results show that at the bit error rate ( BER) of 10-7, the net coding gain ( NCG) of the regular QC-LDPC(4 851, 4 546) code is respectively 2.06 dB, 1.36 dB, 0.53 dB and 0.31 dB more than those of the classic RS(255, 239) code in ITU-T G.975, the LDPC(32 640, 30 592) code in ITU-T G.975.1, the QC-LDPC(3 664, 3 436) code constructed by the improved combining construction method based on CRT and the irregular QC-LDPC(3 843, 3 603) code constructed by the construction method based on the Galois field ( GF( q)) multiplicative group. Furthermore, all these five codes have the same code rate of 0.937. Therefore, the regular QC-LDPC(4 851, 4 546) code constructed by the proposed construction method has excellent error-correction performance, and can be more suitable for optical transmission systems.

[Perineal urethrostomy plus secondary urethroplasty for ultralong urethral stricture: clinical outcomes and influence on the patient's quality of life].

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Yong-Quan; Zhang, Heng; Shen, Wen-Hao; Li, Long-Kun; Li, Wei-Bing; Xiong, En-Qing

2012-04-01

To investigate the outcomes of perineal urethrostomy plus secondary urethroplasty for ultralong urethral stricture and assess its influence on the patient's quality of life. We retrospectively analyzed 54 cases of ultralong urethral stricture treated by perineal urethrostomy from 2000 to 2010. The mean age of the patients was 40 years, and the average length of stricture was 6.5 cm. We evaluated the patients'quality of life by questionnaire investigation and the clinical outcomes based on IPSS, Qmax, the necessity of urethral dilation and satisfaction of the patients. The mean Qmax of the 54 patients was (14.0 +/- 4.7) ml/min. Of the 34 cases that underwent secondary urethroplasty, 22 (64.7%) achieved a mean Qmax of (12.0 +/- 3.5) ml/min, 8 (23.5%) needed regular urethral dilatation and 4 (11.8%) received internal urethrotomy because of restenosis. IPSS scores were 5.4 +/- 2.1 and 8.5 +/- 5.8 after perineal urethrostomy and secondary urethroplasty, respectively. Fifty of the total number of patients (92.6%) were satisfied with the results of perineal urethrostomy, and 22 of the 34 (64.7%) with the results of secondary urethroplasty. Perineal urethrostomy plus secondary urethroplasty is safe and effective for ultralong urethral stricture, and affects very little the patient's quality of life.

Quality control of next-generation sequencing library through an integrative digital microfluidic platform.

Science.gov (United States)

Thaitrong, Numrin; Kim, Hanyoup; Renzi, Ronald F; Bartsch, Michael S; Meagher, Robert J; Patel, Kamlesh D

2012-12-01

We have developed an automated quality control (QC) platform for next-generation sequencing (NGS) library characterization by integrating a droplet-based digital microfluidic (DMF) system with a capillary-based reagent delivery unit and a quantitative CE module. Using an in-plane capillary-DMF interface, a prepared sample droplet was actuated into position between the ground electrode and the inlet of the separation capillary to complete the circuit for an electrokinetic injection. Using a DNA ladder as an internal standard, the CE module with a compact LIF detector was capable of detecting dsDNA in the range of 5-100 pg/μL, suitable for the amount of DNA required by the Illumina Genome Analyzer sequencing platform. This DMF-CE platform consumes tenfold less sample volume than the current Agilent BioAnalyzer QC technique, preserving precious sample while providing necessary sensitivity and accuracy for optimal sequencing performance. The ability of this microfluidic system to validate NGS library preparation was demonstrated by examining the effects of limited-cycle PCR amplification on the size distribution and the yield of Illumina-compatible libraries, demonstrating that as few as ten cycles of PCR bias the size distribution of the library toward undesirable larger fragments. © 2012 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

A quality control system for digital elevation data

Science.gov (United States)

Knudsen, Thomas; Kokkendorf, Simon; Flatman, Andrew; Nielsen, Thorbjørn; Rosenkranz, Brigitte; Keller, Kristian

2015-04-01

In connection with the introduction of a new version of the Danish national coverage Digital Elevation Model (DK-DEM), the Danish Geodata Agency has developed a comprehensive quality control (QC) and metadata production (MP) system for LiDAR point cloud data. The architecture of the system reflects its origin in a national mapping organization where raw data deliveries are typically outsourced to external suppliers. It also reflects a design decision of aiming at, whenever conceivable, doing full spatial coverage tests, rather than scattered sample checks. Hence, the QC procedure is split in two phases: A reception phase and an acceptance phase. The primary aim of the reception phase is to do a quick assessment of things that can typically go wrong, and which are relatively simple to check: Data coverage, data density, strip adjustment. If a data delivery passes the reception phase, the QC continues with the acceptance phase, which checks five different aspects of the point cloud data: Vertical accuracy Vertical precision Horizontal accuracy Horizontal precision Point classification correctness The vertical descriptors are comparatively simple to measure: The vertical accuracy is checked by direct comparison with previously surveyed patches. The vertical precision is derived from the observed variance on well defined flat surface patches. These patches are automatically derived from the road centerlines registered in FOT, the official Danish map data base. The horizontal descriptors are less straightforward to measure, since potential reference material for direct comparison is typically expected to be less accurate than the LiDAR data. The solution selected is to compare photogrammetrically derived roof centerlines from FOT with LiDAR derived roof centerlines. These are constructed by taking the 3D Hough transform of a point cloud patch defined by the photogrammetrical roof polygon. The LiDAR derived roof centerline is then the intersection line of the two primary

A Computerized QC Analysis of TLD Glow Curves for Personal Dosimetry Measurements Using TagQC Program

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Primo, S.; Datz, H.; Dar, A.

2014-01-01

The External Dosimetry Lab (EDL) at the Radiation Safety Division at Soreq Nuclear Research Center (SNRC) is ISO 17025 certified and provides its services to approximately 13,000 users throughout the country from various sectors such as medical, industrial and academic. About 95% of the users are monitored monthly for X-rays, and radiation using Thermoluminescence Dosimeter (TLD) cards that contain three LiF:Mg,Ti elements and the other users, who work also with thermal neutrons, use TLD cards that contain four LiF:Mg,Ti elements. All TLD cards are measured with the Thermo 8800pc reader.Suspicious TLD glow curve (GC) can cause wrong dose estimation so the EDL makes great efforts to ensure that each GC undergoes a careful QC procedure. The current QC procedure is performed manually and through a few steps using different softwares and databases in a long and complicated procedure: EDL staff needs to export all the results/GCs to be checked to an Excel file, followed by finding the suspicious GCs, which is done in a different program (WinREMS), According to the GC shapes (Figure 1 illustrates suitable and suspicious GC shapes) and the ratio between the elements result values, the inspecting technician corrects the data

Reinforcing of QA/QC programs in radiotherapy departments in Croatia: Results of treatment planning system verification

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jurković, Slaven; Švabić, Manda; Diklić, Ana; Smilović Radojčić, Đeni; Dundara, Dea [Clinic for Radiotherapy and Oncology, Physics Division, University Hospital Rijeka, Rijeka (Croatia); Kasabašić, Mladen; Ivković, Ana [Department for Radiotherapy and Oncology, University Hospital Osijek, Osijek (Croatia); Faj, Dario, E-mail: dariofaj@mefos.hr [Department of Physics, School of Medicine, University of Osijek, Osijek (Croatia)

2013-04-01

Implementation of advanced techniques in clinical practice can greatly improve the outcome of radiation therapy, but it also makes the process much more complex with a lot of room for errors. An important part of the quality assurance program is verification of treatment planning system (TPS). Dosimetric verifications in anthropomorphic phantom were performed in 4 centers where new systems were installed. A total of 14 tests for 2 photon energies and multigrid superposition algorithms were conducted using the CMS XiO TPS. Evaluation criteria as specified in the International Atomic Energy Agency Technical Reports Series (IAEA TRS) 430 were employed. Results of measurements are grouped according to the placement of the measuring point and the beam energy. The majority of differences between calculated and measured doses in the water-equivalent part of the phantom were in tolerance. Significantly more out-of-tolerance values were observed in “nonwater-equivalent” parts of the phantom, especially for higher-energy photon beams. This survey was done as a part of continuous effort to build up awareness of quality assurance/quality control (QA/QC) importance in the Croatian radiotherapy community. Understanding the limitations of different parts of the various systems used in radiation therapy can systematically improve quality as well.

THE MAQC PROJECT: ESTABLISHING QC METRICS AND THRESHOLDS FOR MICROARRAY QUALITY CONTROL

Science.gov (United States)

Microarrays represent a core technology in pharmacogenomics and toxicogenomics; however, before this technology can successfully and reliably be applied in clinical practice and regulatory decision-making, standards and quality measures need to be developed. The Microarray Qualit...

Decision theory applied to image quality control in radiology.

Science.gov (United States)

Lessa, Patrícia S; Caous, Cristofer A; Arantes, Paula R; Amaro, Edson; de Souza, Fernando M Campello

2008-11-13

The present work aims at the application of the decision theory to radiological image quality control (QC) in diagnostic routine. The main problem addressed in the framework of decision theory is to accept or reject a film lot of a radiology service. The probability of each decision of a determined set of variables was obtained from the selected films. Based on a radiology service routine a decision probability function was determined for each considered group of combination characteristics. These characteristics were related to the film quality control. These parameters were also framed in a set of 8 possibilities, resulting in 256 possible decision rules. In order to determine a general utility application function to access the decision risk, we have used a simple unique parameter called r. The payoffs chosen were: diagnostic's result (correct/incorrect), cost (high/low), and patient satisfaction (yes/no) resulting in eight possible combinations. Depending on the value of r, more or less risk will occur related to the decision-making. The utility function was evaluated in order to determine the probability of a decision. The decision was made with patients or administrators' opinions from a radiology service center. The model is a formal quantitative approach to make a decision related to the medical imaging quality, providing an instrument to discriminate what is really necessary to accept or reject a film or a film lot. The method presented herein can help to access the risk level of an incorrect radiological diagnosis decision.

Effects of switching from prandial premixed insulin therapy to basal plus two times bolus insulin therapy on glycemic control and quality of life in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Science.gov (United States)

Ito, Hiroyuki; Abe, Mariko; Antoku, Shinichi; Omoto, Takashi; Shinozaki, Masahiro; Nishio, Shinya; Mifune, Mizuo; Togane, Michiko

2014-01-01

The effects of switching from prandial premixed insulin therapy (PPT) injected three times a day to basal plus two times bolus insulin therapy (B2B) on glycemic control and quality of life were investigated in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. The clinical course was prospectively observed during the first 16 weeks after switching to B2B (insulin glargine plus insulin glulisine before breakfast and dinner) in 27 subjects previously treated with PPT using 50/50 premixed insulin. The Diabetes Treatment Satisfaction Questionnaire (DTSQ) was administered at the start and end of the study. The glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) level (8.3% ± 1.8% to 8.2% ± 1.1%) and the DTSQ score did not change between the start and end of the study. An improvement in HbA1c level was found in nine (33%) subjects. The change in HbA1c showed a significant negative correlation with baseline HbA1c, and was significantly better in patients with a baseline HbA1c >8.0% than in those with an HbA1c ≤ 8.0% (-0.9 ± 2.0 versus 0.3 ± 0.6, respectively, P = 0.02). The change in DTSQ score representing treatment satisfaction was significantly greater in patients whose HbA1c level was improved than in those in whom it was not (2.7 ± 3.6 versus -0.8 ± 3.5, P = 0.04). B2B was noninferior to PPT with regard to HbA1c levels in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. B2B should be considered particularly for subjects whose glycemic control is poor despite PPT.

Efficacy and safety of solifenacin plus tamsulosin oral controlled absorption system in men with lower urinary tract symptoms: a meta-analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ming-Chao Li

2015-02-01

Full Text Available We performed a meta-analysis to compare treatment with a combination of solifenacin plus tamsulosin oral controlled absorption system (TOCAS with placebo or TOCAS monotherapy. The aim of the meta-analysis was to clarify the efficacy and safety of the combination treatments method for lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS. We searched for trials of men with LUTS that were randomized to combination treatment compared with TOCAS monotherapy or placebo. We pooled data from three placebo-controlled trials meeting inclusion criteria. Primary outcomes of interest included changes in International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS and urinary frequency. We also assessed postvoid residual, maximum urinary flow rate, incidence of urinary retention (UR, adverse events. Data were pooled using random or fixed effect models for continuous outcomes and the Mantel-Haenszel method to generate risk ratio. Reductions in IPSS storage subscore and total urgency and frequency score (TUFS were observed with solifenacin 6 mg plus TOCAS compared with placebo (P< 0.0001 and P< 0.0001, respectively. Reductions in IPSS storage subscore and TUFS were observed with solifenacin 9 mg plus TOCAS compared with placebo (P = 0.003 and P= 0.0006, respectively. Reductions in TUFS was observed with solifenacin 6 mg plus TOCAS compared with TOCAS (P = 0.01. Both combination treatments were well tolerated, with low incidence of UR. Solifenacin 6 mg plus TOCAS significantly improved total IPSS, storage and voiding symptoms compared with placebo. Solifenacin 6 mg plus TOCAS also improved storage symptoms compared with TOCAS alone. There was no additional benefit of solifenacin 9 mg compared with 6 mg when used in combination with TOCAS.

Health-related quality of life in women with newly diagnosed polycystic ovary syndrome randomized between clomifene citrate plus metformin or clomifene citrate plus placebo

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Moll, E.; van Wely, M.; Lambalk, C. B.; Bossuyt, P. M. M.; van der Veen, F.

2012-01-01

What is the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) undergoing ovulation induction with clomifene citrate (CC) combined with metformin compared with those using CC combined with placebo? Overall quality of life in women with PCOS treated with CC plus

222-S laboratory quality assurance plan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Meznarich, H.K.

1995-01-01

This document provides quality assurance guidelines and quality control requirements for analytical services. This document is designed on the basis of Hanford Analytical Services Quality Assurance Plan (HASQAP) technical guidelines and is used for governing 222-S and 222-SA analytical and quality control activities. The 222-S Laboratory provides analytical services to various clients including, but not limited to, waste characterization for the Tank Waste Remediation Systems (TWRS), waste characterization for regulatory waste treatment, storage, and disposal (TSD), regulatory compliance samples, radiation screening, process samples, and TPA samples. A graded approach is applied on the level of sample custody, QC, data verification, and data reporting to meet the specific needs of the client

Planning Risk-Based SQC Schedules for Bracketed Operation of Continuous Production Analyzers.

Science.gov (United States)

Westgard, James O; Bayat, Hassan; Westgard, Sten A

2018-02-01

To minimize patient risk, "bracketed" statistical quality control (SQC) is recommended in the new CLSI guidelines for SQC (C24-Ed4). Bracketed SQC requires that a QC event both precedes and follows (brackets) a group of patient samples. In optimizing a QC schedule, the frequency of QC or run size becomes an important planning consideration to maintain quality and also facilitate responsive reporting of results from continuous operation of high production analytic systems. Different plans for optimizing a bracketed SQC schedule were investigated on the basis of Parvin's model for patient risk and CLSI C24-Ed4's recommendations for establishing QC schedules. A Sigma-metric run size nomogram was used to evaluate different QC schedules for processes of different sigma performance. For high Sigma performance, an effective SQC approach is to employ a multistage QC procedure utilizing a "startup" design at the beginning of production and a "monitor" design periodically throughout production. Example QC schedules are illustrated for applications with measurement procedures having 6-σ, 5-σ, and 4-σ performance. Continuous production analyzers that demonstrate high σ performance can be effectively controlled with multistage SQC designs that employ a startup QC event followed by periodic monitoring or bracketing QC events. Such designs can be optimized to minimize the risk of harm to patients. © 2017 American Association for Clinical Chemistry.

Quality Assurance Program Plan for the Waste Sampling and Characterization Facility

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Grabbe, R.R.

1995-01-01

The objective of this Quality Assurance Plan is to provide quality assurance (QA) guidance, implementation of regulatory QA requirements, and quality control (QC) specifications for analytical service. This document follows the Department of Energy (DOE)-issued Hanford Analytical Services Quality Assurance Plan (HASQAP) and additional federal [10 US Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 830.120] QA requirements that HASQAP does not cover. This document describes how the laboratory implements QA requirements to meet the federal or state requirements, provides what are the default QC specifications, and/or identifies the procedural information that governs how the laboratory operates. In addition, this document meets the objectives of the Quality Assurance Program provided in the WHC-CM-4-2, Section 2.1. This document also covers QA elements that are required in the Guidelines and Specifications for Preparing Quality Assurance Program Plans (QAPPs), (QAMS-004), and Interim Guidelines and Specifications for Preparing Quality Assurance Product Plans (QAMS-005) from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). A QA Index is provided in the Appendix A

Results of The Excreta Bioassay Quality Control Program For April 1, 2010 Through March 31, 2011

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Antonio, Cheryl L.

2012-07-19

A total of 76 urine samples and 10 spiked fecal samples were submitted during the report period (April 1, 2010 through March 31, 2011) to GEL Laboratories, LLC in South Carolina by the Hanford Internal Dosimetry Program (IDP) to check the accuracy, precision, and detection levels of their analyses. Urine analyses for 14C, Sr, for 238Pu, 239Pu, 241Am, 243Am, 235U, 238U, 238U-mass and fecal analyses for 241Am, 238Pu and 239Pu were tested this year. The number of QC urine samples submitted during the report period represented 1.1% of the total samples submitted. In addition to the samples provided by IDP, GEL was also required to conduct their own QC program, and submit the results of analyses to IDP. About 31% of the analyses processed by GEL during the first year of contract 112512 were quality control samples. GEL tested the performance of 23 radioisotopes, all of which met or exceeded the specifications in the Statement of Work within statistical uncertainty except the slightly elevated relative bias for 243,244Cm (Table 4).

Results of the Excreta Bioassay Quality Control Program for April 1, 2009 through March 31, 2010

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Antonio, Cheryl L.

2012-07-19

A total of 58 urine samples and 10 fecal samples were submitted during the report period (April 1, 2009 through March 31, 2010) to General Engineering Laboratories, South Carolina by the Hanford Internal Dosimetry Program (IDP) to check the accuracy, precision, and detection levels of their analyses. Urine analyses for Sr, 238Pu, 239Pu, 241Am, 243Am 235U, 238U, elemental uranium and fecal analyses for 241Am, 238Pu and 239Pu were tested this year as well as four tissue samples for 238Pu, 239Pu, 241Am and 241Pu. The number of QC urine samples submitted during the report period represented 1.3% of the total samples submitted. In addition to the samples provided by IDP, GEL was also required to conduct their own QC program, and submit the results of analyses to IDP. About 33% of the analyses processed by GEL during the third year of this contract were quality control samples. GEL tested the performance of 21 radioisotopes, all of which met or exceeded the specifications in the Statement of Work within statistical uncertainty (Table 4).

The parametric open-plus-closed-loop control of chaotic maps and its robustness

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen Liqun

2004-01-01

This paper proposes a parametric open-plus-closed-loop control approach to controlling chaos. The logistic map is treated as an example to demonstrate the application of the proposed approach. It is proved that the approach is robust to the model error. Its relations to the open-plus-closed-loop control and the parametric entrainment control are discussed

6 sigma quality performance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yu, Yeong Hak

2000-03-01

This deals with 6 sigma quality performance introducing company which has 6 sigma quality management, 6 sigma quality activity and customer, secret of success of 6 sigma quality management, what 6 sigma is, 6 sigma quality management propel system 5 propel steps of project like point of 6 sigma, flow of problem solution, tool for propel of project, performance of CTQ and total customer satisfaction, and quality management system and 6 sigma quality.

Modern requirements to quality assurance and control in nuclear fuel fabrication

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Weidinger, H.G.

1999-01-01

This lecture have shown a new type of quality assurance management has already successfully introduced in various industries and now starts to be used increasingly in the nuclear fuel industry. Static authority regulations and a tendency to bureaucratic understanding and handling of these regulations lead to a delayed start and a relatively slow progress of these quality strategies in the nuclear fuel technology. However, the economic pressure of strong competition and increasing demands of the utilities as the user of nuclear fuel result in a more determined introduction also to this area. The different use of statistical methods of two different fuel vendors are shown. Vendor A uses old fashioned methods. The focus is on the expensive final product control and few emphasis is on design of experiments and process control. Consequently, this vendor will have high costs, not only for QC and rejection but also for repair and replace actions after delivery. To the contrary, vendor B invests primarily in the design of experiments and process control. This vendor will profit only from lower direct costs but also from being at the front line of technical development and from enjoying a satisfied and happy customer. Many well examined quality management tools are available today which help not only to improve the quality but also decrease the costs. Still, the progress in using these techniques in nuclear fuel technology is limited and not comparable to the progress in other industries like automobile production or the electronic industry. (author)

Groundwater quality assessment for the Upper East Fork Poplar Creek Hydrogeologic Regime at the Y-12 Plant. 1991 groundwater quality data and calculated rate of contaminant migration

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1992-02-01

This report contains groundwater quality data obtained during the 1991 calendar year at several waste management facilities and petroleum fuel underground storage tank (UST) sites associated with the Y-12 Plant. These sites are within the Upper East Fork Poplar Creek Hydrogeologic Regime (UEFPCHR), which is one of three regimes defined for the purposes of groundwater and surface-water quality monitoring and remediation. This report was prepared for informational purposes. Included are the analytical data for groundwater samples collected from selected monitoring wells during 1991 and the results for quality assurance/quality control (QA/QC) samples associated with each groundwater sample. This report also contains summaries of selected data, including ion-charge balances for each groundwater sample, a summary of analytical results for nitrate (a principle contaminant in the UEFPCHR), results of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) analyses validated using the associated QA/QC sample data, a summary of trace metal concentrations which exceeded drinking-water standards, and a summary of radiochemical analyses and associated counting errors.

Quality of life with palbociclib plus fulvestrant in previously treated hormone receptor-positive, HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer: patient-reported outcomes from the PALOMA-3 trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Harbeck, N; Iyer, S; Turner, N; Cristofanilli, M; Ro, J; André, F; Loi, S; Verma, S; Iwata, H; Bhattacharyya, H; Puyana Theall, K; Bartlett, C H; Loibl, S

2016-06-01

In the PALOMA-3 study, palbociclib plus fulvestrant demonstrated improved progression-free survival compared with fulvestrant plus placebo in hormone receptor-positive, HER2- endocrine-resistant metastatic breast cancer (MBC). This analysis compared patient-reported outcomes (PROs) between the two treatment groups. Patients were randomized 2 : 1 to receive palbociclib 125 mg/day orally for 3 weeks followed by 1 week off (n = 347) plus fulvestrant (500 mg i.m. per standard of care) or placebo plus fulvestrant (n = 174). PROs were assessed on day 1 of cycles 1-4 and of every other subsequent cycle starting with cycle 6 using the EORTC QLQ-C30 and its breast cancer module, QLQ-BR23. High scores (range 0-100) could indicate better functioning/quality of life (QoL) or worse symptom severity. Repeated-measures mixed-effect analyses were carried out to compare on-treatment overall scores and changes from baseline between treatment groups while controlling for baseline. Between-group comparisons of time to deterioration in global QoL and pain were made using an unstratified log-rank test and Cox proportional hazards model. Questionnaire completion rates were high at baseline and during treatment (from baseline to cycle 14, ≥95.8% in each group completed ≥1 question on the EORTC QLQ-C30). On treatment, estimated overall global QoL scores significantly favored the palbociclib plus fulvestrant group [66.1, 95% confidence interval (CI) 64.5-67.7 versus 63.0, 95% CI 60.6-65.3; P = 0.0313]. Significantly greater improvement from baseline in pain was also observed in this group (-3.3, 95% CI -5.1 to -1.5 versus 2.0, 95% CI -0.6 to 4.6; P = 0.0011). No significant differences were observed for other QLQ-BR23 functioning domains, breast or arm symptoms. Treatment with palbociclib plus fulvestrant significantly delayed deterioration in global QoL (P < 0.025) and pain (P < 0.001) compared with fulvestrant alone. Palbociclib plus fulvestrant allowed patients to maintain good Qo

Linking to MedlinePlus

Science.gov (United States)

... want to link patients or healthcare providers from electronic health record (EHR) systems to relevant MedlinePlus information, use MedlinePlus ... updates Subscribe to RSS Follow us Disclaimers Copyright Privacy Accessibility Quality Guidelines Viewers & Players MedlinePlus Connect for ...

Improved GMP-compliant multi-dose production and quality control of 6-[18F]fluoro-L-DOPA.

Science.gov (United States)

Luurtsema, G; Boersma, H H; Schepers, M; de Vries, A M T; Maas, B; Zijlma, R; de Vries, E F J; Elsinga, P H

2017-01-01

6-[ 18 F]Fluoro-L-3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (FDOPA) is a frequently used radiopharmaceutical for detecting neuroendocrine and brain tumors and for the differential diagnosis of Parkinson's disease. To meet the demand for FDOPA, a high-yield GMP-compliant production method is required. Therefore, this study aimed to improve the FDOPA production and quality control procedures to enable distribution of the radiopharmaceutical over distances.FDOPA was prepared by electrophilic fluorination of the trimethylstannyl precursor with [ 18 F]F 2 , produced from [ 18 O] 2 via the double-shoot approach, leading to FDOPA with higher specific activity as compared to FDOPA which was synthesized, using [ 18 F]F 2 produced from 20 Ne, leading to FDOPA with a lower specific activity. The quality control of the product was performed using a validated UPLC system and compared with quality control with a conventional HPLC system. Impurities were identified using UPLC-MS. The [ 18 O] 2 double-shoot radionuclide production method yielded significantly more [ 18 F]F 2 with less carrier F 2 than the conventional method starting from 20 Ne. After adjustment of radiolabeling parameters substantially higher amounts of FDOPA with higher specific activity could be obtained. Quality control by UPLC was much faster and detected more side-products than HPLC. UPLC-MS showed that the most important side-product was FDOPA-quinone, rather than 6-hydroxydopa as suggested by the European Pharmacopoeia. The production and quality control of FDOPA were significantly improved by introducing the [ 18 O] 2 double-shoot radionuclide production method, and product analysis by UPLC, respectively. As a result, FDOPA is now routinely available for clinical practice and for distribution over distances.

Vosaroxin plus cytarabine versus placebo plus cytarabine in patients with first relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukaemia (VALOR): a randomised, controlled, double-blind, multinational, phase 3 study.

Science.gov (United States)

Ravandi, Farhad; Ritchie, Ellen K; Sayar, Hamid; Lancet, Jeffrey E; Craig, Michael D; Vey, Norbert; Strickland, Stephen A; Schiller, Gary J; Jabbour, Elias; Erba, Harry P; Pigneux, Arnaud; Horst, Heinz-August; Recher, Christian; Klimek, Virginia M; Cortes, Jorge; Roboz, Gail J; Odenike, Olatoyosi; Thomas, Xavier; Havelange, Violaine; Maertens, Johan; Derigs, Hans-Günter; Heuser, Michael; Damon, Lloyd; Powell, Bayard L; Gaidano, Gianluca; Carella, Angelo-Michele; Wei, Andrew; Hogge, Donna; Craig, Adam R; Fox, Judith A; Ward, Renee; Smith, Jennifer A; Acton, Gary; Mehta, Cyrus; Stuart, Robert K; Kantarjian, Hagop M

2015-09-01

Safe and effective treatments are urgently needed for patients with relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukaemia. We investigated the efficacy and safety of vosaroxin, a first-in-class anticancer quinolone derivative, plus cytarabine in patients with relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukaemia. This phase 3, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial was undertaken at 101 international sites. Eligible patients with acute myeloid leukaemia were aged 18 years of age or older and had refractory disease or were in first relapse after one or two cycles of previous induction chemotherapy, including at least one cycle of anthracycline (or anthracenedione) plus cytarabine. Patients were randomly assigned 1:1 to vosaroxin (90 mg/m(2) intravenously on days 1 and 4 in a first cycle; 70 mg/m(2) in subsequent cycles) plus cytarabine (1 g/m(2) intravenously on days 1-5) or placebo plus cytarabine through a central interactive voice system with a permuted block procedure stratified by disease status, age, and geographical location. All participants were masked to treatment assignment. The primary efficacy endpoint was overall survival and the primary safety endpoint was 30-day and 60-day all-cause mortality. Efficacy analyses were done by intention to treat; safety analyses included all treated patients. This study is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT01191801. Between Dec 17, 2010, and Sept 25, 2013, 711 patients were randomly assigned to vosaroxin plus cytarabine (n=356) or placebo plus cytarabine (n=355). At the final analysis, median overall survival was 7·5 months (95% CI 6·4-8·5) in the vosaroxin plus cytarabine group and 6·1 months (5·2-7·1) in the placebo plus cytarabine group (hazard ratio 0·87, 95% CI 0·73-1·02; unstratified log-rank p=0·061; stratified p=0·024). A higher proportion of patients achieved complete remission in the vosaroxin plus cytarabine group than in the placebo plus cytarabine group (107 [30%] of 356 patients vs 58 [16%] of 355

Quality Assurance of Real-Time Oceanographic Data from the Cabled Array of the Ocean Observatories Initiative

Science.gov (United States)

Kawka, O. E.; Nelson, J. S.; Manalang, D.; Kelley, D. S.

2016-02-01

The Cabled Array component of the NSF-funded Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI) provides access to real-time physical, chemical, geological, and biological data from water column and seafloor platforms/instruments at sites spanning the southern half of the Juan de Fuca Plate. The Quality Assurance (QA) program for OOI data is designed to ensure that data products meet OOI science requirements. This overall data QA plan establishes the guidelines for assuring OOI data quality and summarizes Quality Control (QC) protocols and procedures, based on best practices, which can be utilized to ensure the highest quality data across the OOI program. This presentation will highlight, specifically, the QA/QC approach being utilized for the OOI Cabled Array infrastructure and data and will include a summary of both shipboard and shore-based protocols currently in use. Aspects addressed will be pre-deployment instrument testing and calibration checks, post-deployment and pre-recovery field verification of data, and post-recovery "as-found" testing of instruments. Examples of QA/QC data will be presented and specific cases of cabled data will be discussed in the context of quality assessments and adjustment/correction of OOI datasets overall for inherent sensor drift and/or instrument fouling.

Moderate Exercise Plus Sleep Education Improves Self-Reported Sleep Quality, Daytime Mood, and Vitality in Adults with Chronic Sleep Complaints: A Waiting List-Controlled Trial

OpenAIRE

Gebhart, Carmen; Erlacher, Daniel; Schredl, Michael

2011-01-01

Research indicates that physical exercise can contribute to better sleep quality. This study investigates the six-week influence of a combined intervention on self-rated sleep quality, daytime mood, and quality of life. A nonclinical sample of 114 adults with chronic initiating and the maintaining of sleep complaints participated in the study. The intervention group of 70 adults underwent moderate physical exercise, conducted weekly, plus sleep education sessions. Improvements among participa...

Laboratory quality management system: Road to accreditation and beyond

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

V Wadhwa

2012-01-01

Full Text Available This review attempts to clarify the concepts of Laboratory Quality Management System (Lab QMS for a medical testing and diagnostic laboratory in a holistic way and hopes to expand the horizon beyond quality control (QC and quality assurance. It provides an insight on accreditation bodies and highlights a glimpse of existing laboratory practices but essentially it takes the reader through the journey of accreditation and during the course of reading and understanding this document, prepares the laboratory for the same. Some of the areas which have not been highlighted previously include: requirement for accreditation consultants, laboratory infrastructure and scope, applying for accreditation, document preparation. This section is well supported with practical illustrations and necessary tables and exhaustive details like preparation of a standard operating procedure and a quality manual. Concept of training and privileging of staff has been clarified and a few of the QC exercises have been dealt with in a novel way. Finally, a practical advice for facing an actual third party assessment and caution needed to prevent post-assessment pitfalls has been dealt with.

Survey of image quality and patient dose in simple radiographic examinations: establishing guidance levels and comparison with international standards

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Manatrakul, N.; Bunsoong, T.; Krisanachinda, A.; Suwanpradit, P.; Rungruengthanakit, P.; Kanchart, S.; Chaiwong, Rajikorn; Tsapakig, V.A.

2008-01-01

Purpose: To investigate image quality and patient dose for commonly radiographic examinations in Thailand, to establish national reference or guidance levels (GL) and compare with international standards, as part of an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) project on Radiation Protection of Patients and Medical Exposure Control (RAS/9/034 and RAS/9/047). Materials and Methods: Film reject rate analysis, image quality and patient dose assessment before and after Quality Control (QC) implementation were investigated in 8 X-ray machines in 4 hospitals. Air kerma (in mGy) at 1 meter focus-detector-distance for different kVp settings for each X-ray machines were measured using an ionization chamber under standardized condition. The entrance skin air kerma (ESAK) for Chest PA, Lumbar spine AP, Lumbar spine LAT, Pelvis AP, Abdomen AP, Skull AP and Skull LAT were calculated for at least 10 adult patients of average body mass (60 to 80 kg) for each projection. The obtained values were compared with international standards. Results: The highest film rejection rate reduction recorded after corrective actions from 9.15% to 6.8%. Mean ESAK values were less than international standards both before and after QC implementation in all projections but Chest PA projection. Maximum ESAK in Chest PA projection before corrective action was 0.55 mGy which was higher than the IAEA GL of 0.2 mGy. However, it was reduced to 0.25 mGy after QC tests on X- ray machine and using high kilovoltage (kV) technique. Conclusion: Proposed national GL of Thailand were obtained by estimating the 3rd quartile of the whole sample: Chest PA: 0.1 mGy, Lumbar Spine AP: 2.1 mGy, Lumbar Spine LAT: 6.3 mGy, Pelvis AP: 1.8 mGy, Abdomen: 1.5 mGy, Skull PA: 1.3 mGy and Skull LAT: 0.9 mGy. (author)

The need for a formalised system of Quality Control for environmental policy-science.

Science.gov (United States)

Larcombe, Piers; Ridd, Peter

2018-01-01

Research science used to inform public policy decisions, herein defined as "Policy-Science", is rarely subjected to rigorous checking, testing and replication. Studies of biomedical and other sciences indicate that a considerable fraction of published peer-reviewed scientific literature, perhaps half, has significant flaws. To demonstrate the potential failings of the present approaches to scientific Quality Control (QC), we describe examples of science associated with perceived threats to the Great Barrier Reef (GBR), Australia. There appears a serious risk of efforts to improve the health of the GBR being directed inefficiently and/or away from the more serious threats. We suggest the need for a new organisation to undertake quality reviews and audits of important scientific results that underpin government spending decisions on the environment. Logically, such a body could also examine policy science in other key areas where governments rely heavily upon scientific results, such as education, health and criminology. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Survey of mammography practice in Croatia: Equipment performance, image quality and dose

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Faj, D.; Stimac, D.; Ivezic, Z.; Kasabasic, M.; Ivkovic, A.; Posedel, D.; Kubelka, D.; Ilakovac, V.; Brnic, Z.; Bjelac, O.C.

2008-01-01

A national audit of mammography equipment performance, image quality and dose has been conducted in Croatia. Film-processing parameters, optical density (OD), average glandular dose (AGD) to the standard breast, viewing conditions and image quality were examined using TOR(MAM) test object. Average film gradient ranged from 2.6 to 3.7, with a mean of 3.1. Tube voltage used for imaging of the standard 45 mm polymethylmethacrylate phantom ranged from 24 to 34 kV, and OD ranged from 0.75 to 1.94 with a mean of 1.26. AGD to the standard breast ranged from 0.4 to 2.3 mGy with a mean of 1.1 mGy. Besides clinical conditions, the authors have imaged the standard phantom in the referent conditions with 28 kV and OD as close as possible to 1.5. Then, AGD ranged from 0.5 to 2.6 mGy with a mean of 1.3 mGy. Image viewing conditions were generally unsatisfying with ambient light up to 500 lx and most of the viewing boxes with luminance between 1000 and 2000 cd per m 2 . TOR(MAM) scoring of images taken in clinical and referent conditions was done by local radiologists in local image viewing conditions and by the referent radiologist in good image viewing conditions. Importance of OD and image viewing conditions for diagnostic information were analysed. The survey showed that the main problem in Croatia is the lack of written quality assurance/quality control (QA/QC) procedures. Consequently, equipment performance, image quality and dose are unstable and activities to improve image quality or to reduce the dose are not evidence-based. This survey also had an educational purpose, introducing in Croatia the QC based on European Commission Guidelines. (authors)

QA/QC For Radon Concentration Measurement With Charcoal Canister

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pantelic, G.; Zivanovic, M.; Rajacic, M.; Krneta Nikolic, J.; Todorovic, D.

2015-01-01

The primary concern of any measuring of radon or radon progeny must be the quality of the results. A good quality assurance program, when properly designed and diligently followed, ensures that laboratory staff will be able to produce the type and quality of measurement results which is needed and expected. Active charcoal detectors are used for testing the concentration of radon in dwellings. The method of measurement is based on radon adsorption on coal and measurement of gamma radiation of radon daughters. Upon closing the detectors, the measurement was carried out after achieving the equilibrium between radon and its daughters (at least 3 hours) using NaI or HPGe detector. Radon concentrations as well as measurement uncertainties were calculated according to US EPA protocol 520/5-87-005. Detectors used for the measurements were calibrated by 226Ra standard of known activity in the same geometry. Standard and background canisters are used for QA and QC, as well as for the calibration of the measurement equipment. Standard canister is a sealed canister with the same matrix and geometry as the canisters used for measurements, but with the known activity of radon. Background canister is a regular radon measurement canister, which has never been exposed. The detector background and detector efficiency are measured to ascertain whether they are within the warning and acceptance limits. (author).

KWARTA (Quality Assurance in the Radiotherapy centres of the Antwerp province): Quality control of the contract therapy machine and treatment planning system

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

De Ost, B; Schaeken, B; Vanregemorter, J [Algemeen Ziekenhuis Middelheim, Antwerp (Belgium); Bellekens, L [Sint-Vincentius Ziekenhuis, Antwerp (Belgium); Cardoen, R; Pieters, D [Medisch Instituut Sint Augustinus, Wilrijk (Belgium); Goossens, H [Sint-Elisabeth Ziekenhuis, Turnhout (Belgium); Haest, K; Mertens, N [Sint Norbertus Ziekenhuis, Duffel (Belgium)

1995-12-01

During the first year of the provincial QA project, joint procedures were set up for the routine quality control of linear accelerators, Cobalt treatment machines and simulators. A set of standard forms was produced for use in all centres, respecting the differences in each individual machine. Since forms are now in use in all centres, the second year of the project mainly focused on the QA/QC of the contract therapy machine and treatment planning system. QC measurements for the contract therapy machines were performed in air or in a phantom. Since the output was checked with the same ionisation chamber (0.33 cc flat chamber calibrated for 50 kV) and the same type of electrometer in all centres, the results could be compared mutually and with the reference values. The major parameter groups, tested for the treatment planning system were: isodose distribution (visual control of all square fields in the database of the system), PDD data (analysing of 10 x 10 cm{sup 2}, 20 x 20 cm{sup 2}, 30 x 30 cm{sup 2} and 40 x 40 cm{sup 2} open or wedged fields), output factors, wedge and tray factors, inverse square law, geometrical testing of the digitizer - screen - printer and geometrical and densitometrical testing of the CT images - screen - printer. Between 496 and 1243 parameters were investigated in the different centres (depending on the presence of the electron data). Irregularities (0 % to 4 % of the total investigated parameters) were reported to the respective physicist.

Quality guaranteed theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hwang, Ui Cheol

1988-08-01

This book tells of introduction of quality guaranteed theory like definition of quality and quality management, quality guaranteed, requirement of quality guaranteed, contrast of QA and QC, quality of guaranteed object, activity of quality guaranteed, set-up of quality that is naturally supposed such as quality guaranteed in plan and design, check of quality guaranteed, order of claim processing and cases of claim management.

Image processing and Quality Control for the first 10,000 brain imaging datasets from UK Biobank.

Science.gov (United States)

Alfaro-Almagro, Fidel; Jenkinson, Mark; Bangerter, Neal K; Andersson, Jesper L R; Griffanti, Ludovica; Douaud, Gwenaëlle; Sotiropoulos, Stamatios N; Jbabdi, Saad; Hernandez-Fernandez, Moises; Vallee, Emmanuel; Vidaurre, Diego; Webster, Matthew; McCarthy, Paul; Rorden, Christopher; Daducci, Alessandro; Alexander, Daniel C; Zhang, Hui; Dragonu, Iulius; Matthews, Paul M; Miller, Karla L; Smith, Stephen M

2018-02-01

UK Biobank is a large-scale prospective epidemiological study with all data accessible to researchers worldwide. It is currently in the process of bringing back 100,000 of the original participants for brain, heart and body MRI, carotid ultrasound and low-dose bone/fat x-ray. The brain imaging component covers 6 modalities (T1, T2 FLAIR, susceptibility weighted MRI, Resting fMRI, Task fMRI and Diffusion MRI). Raw and processed data from the first 10,000 imaged subjects has recently been released for general research access. To help convert this data into useful summary information we have developed an automated processing and QC (Quality Control) pipeline that is available for use by other researchers. In this paper we describe the pipeline in detail, following a brief overview of UK Biobank brain imaging and the acquisition protocol. We also describe several quantitative investigations carried out as part of the development of both the imaging protocol and the processing pipeline. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

40 CFR 98.164 - Monitoring and QA/QC requirements.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... Methods for Instrumental Determination of Carbon, Hydrogen, and Nitrogen in Petroleum Products and... Determination of Carbon, Hydrogen, and Nitrogen in Laboratory Samples of Coal (incorporated by reference, see... (CONTINUED) MANDATORY GREENHOUSE GAS REPORTING Hydrogen Production § 98.164 Monitoring and QA/QC requirements...

Improved parthenogenetic development of vitrified-warmed bovine oocytes activated with 9% ethanol plus 6-DMAP

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hou, Y -p; Liu, Ying; Dai, Y -p

2009-01-01

The objective was to compare various activation protocols on developmental potential of vitrified bovine oocytes. Bovine oocytes matured in vitro for 23 h were vitrified with EDFSF30 in open pulled straws. After warming, they were cultured in vitro for 1 h, followed by parthenogenetic activation....... Vitrified-warmed oocytes had a morphologically normal rate similar to that of controls (nonvitrified oocytes cultured in vitro for 24 h; 98.6% vs. 100%, P > 0.05). When vitrified-warmed oocytes were first activated with 7% ethanol for 5 min and then incubated in 6-dimethylaminopurin (6-DMAP) for 4 h...... (for 5 min) or in combination with 6-DMAP (4 h) was used to activate vitrified-warmed oocytes, cleavage rates ranged from 22.3% to 61.1% and blastocyst rates ranged from 1.1% to 30.6%. These rates were optimized when oocytes were treated with 9% ethanol plus 6-DMAP; this was verified in experiments...

Educational intervention together with an on-line quality control program achieve recommended analytical goals for bedside blood glucose monitoring in a 1200-bed university hospital.

Science.gov (United States)

Sánchez-Margalet, Víctor; Rodriguez-Oliva, Manuel; Sánchez-Pozo, Cristina; Fernández-Gallardo, María Francisca; Goberna, Raimundo

2005-01-01

Portable meters for blood glucose concentrations are used at the patients bedside, as well as by patients for self-monitoring of blood glucose. Even though most devices have important technological advances that decrease operator error, the analytical goals proposed for the performance of glucose meters have been recently changed by the American Diabetes Association (ADA) to reach nurses in a 1200-bed University Hospital to achieve recommended analytical goals, so that we could improve the quality of diabetes care. We used portable glucose meters connected on-line to the laboratory after an educational program for nurses with responsibilities in point-of-care testing. We evaluated the system by assessing total error of the glucometers using high- and low-level glucose control solutions. In a period of 6 months, we collected data from 5642 control samples obtained by 14 devices (Precision PCx) directly from the control program (QC manager). The average total error for the low-level glucose control (2.77 mmol/l) was 6.3% (range 5.5-7.6%), and even lower for the high-level glucose control (16.66 mmol/l), at 4.8% (range 4.1-6.5%). In conclusion, the performance of glucose meters used in our University Hospital with more than 1000 beds not only improved after the intervention, but the meters achieved the analytical goals of the suggested ADA/National Academy of Clinical Biochemistry criteria for total error (<7.9% in the range 2.77-16.66 mmol/l glucose) and optimal total error for high glucose concentrations of <5%, which will improve the quality of care of our patients.

Image Quality in Screening Mammography in Croatia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brnic, Z.; Klasic, B.; Popic-Ramac, J.; Ljevar, A.

2011-01-01

Mortality reduction through screening mammography (SMG) is possible only with examination of high image quality (IQ), which should be performed with acceptable patient breast radiation dose (BRD). Besides film processing control, equipment assessment with breast phantom and dosimetry, periodical external mammographic IQ assessment (MIQA) is needed, including image labelling (L), breast positioning (BP), exposure (EX) and artefacts (AR) assessment. The nationwide breast cancer screening program (NBSP) has been introduced in Croatia in 2006, and the MIQA is initiated as the first step in establishing quality assurance/quality control (QA/QC) framework in breast imaging in Croatia. The current study was aimed: (1) to provide objective evidence about the technical MIQ in NBSP in Croatia, (2) to compare MIQ between different types of mammographic units (MUs), (3) to identify the common deficiencies, and (4) to propose corrective activities. Mammograms (MGs) for IQA were collected from a total of 84 MUs which participate in NBSP, which represents 70 % of all MUs nationwide: A total of 420 MG examinations were reviewed. Each MU was requested to submit ''what they consider to be their five best representative MGs, each one performed in one of five consecutive workdays''. Mean age of MG machines was 7.76 years (range 2 - 21), with no difference between four MU types. This very first study of MIQ in Croatia corroborated our intuitive impression of inadequate IQ, staff training and equipment in many MUs nationwide. As MIQ strongly influences BC detection rate, suboptimal QA/QC always carries a risk to compromise the success of NBSP. Deficiencies in SMG, especially in ID and BP reflect different level of competency of radiological staff in Croatia. Differences in MIQ in various MU types are determined by their organization, equipment, education, working habits and motivation. More efforts are needed to train both RTs and radiologists to implement and maintain QA/QC in their

Application of QC_DR software for acceptance testing and routine quality control of direct digital radiography systems: initial experiences using the Italian Association of Physicist in Medicine quality control protocol.

Science.gov (United States)

Nitrosi, Andrea; Bertolini, Marco; Borasi, Giovanni; Botti, Andrea; Barani, Adriana; Rivetti, Stefano; Pierotti, Luisa

2009-12-01

Ideally, medical x-ray imaging systems should be designed to deliver maximum image quality at an acceptable radiation risk to the patient. Quality assurance procedures are employed to ensure that these standards are maintained. A quality control protocol for direct digital radiography (DDR) systems is described and discussed. Software to automatically process and analyze the required images was developed. In this paper, the initial results obtained on equipment of different DDR manufacturers were reported. The protocol was developed to highlight even small discrepancies in standard operating performance.

Enhancing quality of construction on nuclear facilities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Buchert, K.P.

1984-01-01

From the author's viewpoint and the viewpoint of others, the quality of construction on both nuclear projects and many other non-nuclear projects has decreased. The trend toward recent QA and QC methods of contractors doing their own inspection has not only tended to reduce the quality of construction, but also has discouraged qualified inspectors from accepting positions where this type of QA and QC is practiced. In addition, the methods have decreased the desired interaction between design engineers and construction management. The paper contains detailed recommendations on how the quality of construction can be enhanced on nuclear projects. It is also shown that construction quality must be obtained by different methods than those used to obtain manufacturing quality

An elementary components of variance analysis for multi-centre quality control

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Munson, P.J.; Rodbard, D.

1978-01-01

The serious variability of RIA results from different laboratories indicates the need for multi-laboratory collaborative quality-control (QC) studies. Simple graphical display of data in the form of histograms is useful but insufficient. The paper discusses statistical analysis methods for such studies using an ''analysis of variance with components of variance estimation''. This technique allocates the total variance into components corresponding to between-laboratory, between-assay, and residual or within-assay variability. Problems with RIA data, e.g. severe non-uniformity of variance and/or departure from a normal distribution violate some of the usual assumptions underlying analysis of variance. In order to correct these problems, it is often necessary to transform the data before analysis by using a logarithmic, square-root, percentile, ranking, RIDIT, ''Studentizing'' or other transformation. Ametric transformations such as ranks or percentiles protect against the undue influence of outlying observations, but discard much intrinsic information. Several possible relationships of standard deviation to the laboratory mean are considered. Each relationship corresponds to an underlying statistical model and an appropriate analysis technique. Tests for homogeneity of variance may be used to determine whether an appropriate model has been chosen, although the exact functional relationship of standard deviation to laboratory mean may be difficult to establish. Appropriate graphical display aids visual understanding of the data. A plot of the ranked standard deviation versus ranked laboratory mean is a convenient way to summarize a QC study. This plot also allows determination of the rank correlation, which indicates a net relationship of variance to laboratory mean

40 CFR 98.414 - Monitoring and QA/QC requirements.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 20 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Monitoring and QA/QC requirements. 98.414 Section 98.414 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) AIR PROGRAMS (CONTINUED) MANDATORY GREENHOUSE GAS REPORTING Suppliers of Industrial Greenhouse Gases § 98.414 Monitoring...

40 CFR 98.214 - Monitoring and QA/QC requirements.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 20 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Monitoring and QA/QC requirements. 98.214 Section 98.214 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) AIR PROGRAMS... standard method or other enhanced industry consensus standard method published by an industry consensus...

An Improvement over PBOA MAC Protocol by Considering Link Quality in MANET

OpenAIRE

Shariati, Nafiseh; Shirazinia, Amirpasha

2008-01-01

We propose a methodology for improving theperformance of Progressive Back Off Algorithm (PBOA)which is a protocol that performs medium access controljointly with power control in Ad-hoc networks.Our method selects the optimum SNR thresholds based onlink quality. It adjusts the role of nodes’ mobility in network throughput. Simulation results show that the improvedprotocol outperforms PBOA without adaptation taken from link quality. Qc 20120131

Clopidogrel plus aspirin versus aspirin alone for preventing cardiovascular events.

Science.gov (United States)

Squizzato, Alessandro; Bellesini, Marta; Takeda, Andrea; Middeldorp, Saskia; Donadini, Marco Paolo

2017-12-14

Aspirin is the prophylactic antiplatelet drug of choice for people with cardiovascular disease. Adding a second antiplatelet drug to aspirin may produce additional benefit for people at high risk and people with established cardiovascular disease. This is an update to a previously published review from 2011. To review the benefit and harm of adding clopidogrel to aspirin therapy for preventing cardiovascular events in people who have coronary disease, ischaemic cerebrovascular disease, peripheral arterial disease, or were at high risk of atherothrombotic disease, but did not have a coronary stent. We updated the searches of CENTRAL (2017, Issue 6), MEDLINE (Ovid, 1946 to 4 July 2017) and Embase (Ovid, 1947 to 3 July 2017) on 4 July 2017. We also searched ClinicalTrials.gov and the WHO ICTRP portal, and handsearched reference lists. We applied no language restrictions. We included all randomised controlled trials comparing over 30 days use of aspirin plus clopidogrel with aspirin plus placebo or aspirin alone in people with coronary disease, ischaemic cerebrovascular disease, peripheral arterial disease, or at high risk of atherothrombotic disease. We excluded studies including only people with coronary drug-eluting stent (DES) or non-DES, or both. We collected data on mortality from cardiovascular causes, all-cause mortality, fatal and non-fatal myocardial infarction, fatal and non-fatal ischaemic stroke, major and minor bleeding. The overall treatment effect was estimated by the pooled risk ratio (RR) with 95% confidence interval (CI), using a fixed-effect model (Mantel-Haenszel); we used a random-effects model in cases of moderate or severe heterogeneity (I 2 ≥ 30%). We assessed the quality of the evidence using the GRADE approach. We used GRADE profiler (GRADE Pro) to import data from Review Manager to create a 'Summary of findings' table. The search identified 13 studies in addition to the two studies in the previous version of our systematic review. Overall

QC operator’s nonneutral posture against musculoskeletal disorder’s (MSDs) risks

Science.gov (United States)

Kautsar, F.; Gustopo, D.; Achmadi, F.

2018-04-01

Musculoskeletal disorders refer to a gamut of inflammatory and degenerative disorders aggravated largely by the performance of work. It is the major cause of pain, disability, absenteeism and reduced productivity among workers worldwide. Although it is not fatal, MSDs have the potential to develop into serious injuries in the musculoskeletal system if ignored. QC operators work in nonneutral body posture. This cross-sectional study was condusted in order to investigate correlation between risk assessment results of QEC and body posture calculation of mannequin pro. Statistical analysis was condusted using SPSS version 16.0. Validity test, Reliability test and Regression analysis were conducted to compare the risk assessment output of applied method and nonneutral body posture simulation. All of QEC’s indicator classified as valid and reliable. The result of simple regression anlysis are back (0.3264.32), wrist/hand (4.86 >4.32) and neck (1.298 <4.32). Result of this study shows that there is an influence between nonneutral body posture of the QC operator during work with risk of musculoskeletal disorders. The potential risk of musculoskeletal disorders is in the shoulder/arm and wrist/hand of the QC operator, whereas the back and neck are not affected.

40 CFR 98.394 - Monitoring and QA/QC requirements.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 20 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Monitoring and QA/QC requirements. 98... by a consensus-based standards organization exists, such a method shall be used. Consensus-based... (NAESB). (ii) Where no appropriate standard method developed by a consensus-based standards organization...

40 CFR 98.424 - Monitoring and QA/QC requirements.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 20 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Monitoring and QA/QC requirements. 98... published by a consensus-based standards organization if such a method exists. Consensus-based standards...). (ii) Where no appropriate standard method developed by a consensus-based standards organization exists...

Casscf/ci Calculations for First Row Transition Metal Hydrides - the TIH(4-PHI), VH(5-DELTA), CRH(6-SIGMA-PLUS), MNH(7-SIGMA-PLUS), FEH(4,6-DELTA) and NIH(2-DELTA) States

Science.gov (United States)

Walch, S. P.; Bauschlicher, C. W., Jr.

1983-04-01

Calculations are performed for the predicted ground states of TiH(4-phi), VH(5-delta), CrH(6-sigma-plus), MnH(7-sigma-plus), Fett(4,6-delta) and NiH(2-delta). For FeH both the 6-delta and 4-delta states are studied, since both are likely candidates for the ground state. The ground state symmetries are predicted based on a combination of atomic coupling arguments and coupling of 4s(2)3d(n) and 4s(1)3d(n+1) terms in the molecular system. Electron correlation is included by a CASSCF/CI (SD) treatment. The CASSCF includes near-degeneracy effects, while correlation of the 3d electrons in included at the CI level.

QA/QC Reflected in ISO 11137; The Role of Dosimetry in the Validation Process

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kovacs, A.

2007-01-01

Standardized dosimetry (ISO/ASTM standards) - as a tool of QC - has got key role for the validation of the sterilization and ford irradiation processes, as well as to control the radiation processing of polymer products. In radiation processing, validation and process control (e.g. sterilization, food irradiation) depend on the measurement of absorbed dose. These measurements shall be performed using a dosimetric system or systems having a known level of accuracy and precision (European standard EN552:1994). In presented lecture different aspects of the operational qualification during the radiation processing of polymer products are described

40 CFR 98.144 - Monitoring and QA/QC requirements.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 20 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Monitoring and QA/QC requirements. 98... fraction for each carbonate consumed based on sampling and chemical analysis using an industry consensus... testing method published by an industry consensus standards organization (e.g., ASTM, ASME, API, etc.). ...

40 CFR 98.404 - Monitoring and QA/QC requirements.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 20 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Monitoring and QA/QC requirements. 98... published by a consensus-based standards organization exists, such a method shall be used. Consensus-based... (NAESB). (ii) Where no appropriate standard method developed by a consensus-based standards organization...

Identification of Performance Problems in a Commercial Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Enzyme Immunoassay by Multiuser External Quality Control Monitoring and Real-Time Data Analysis▿ †

OpenAIRE

Kim, J.; Swantee, C.; Lee, B.; Gunning, H.; Chow, A.; Sidaway, F.; Sherlock, C.; Garceau, R.; Dimech, W.; Malloch, L.

2009-01-01

In June 2005, a pilot program was implemented in Canadian laboratories to monitor the performance of the Abbott human immunodeficiency virus types 1 and 2 (HIV-1/2) gO enzyme immunoassay (EIA). Two different external quality control (QC) reagents and a “real-time” software analysis program were evaluated. In November 2005, higher-than-expected calibrator rate values in these kits were first reported at the Ontario Ministry of Health (Etobicoke), followed by the Alberta Provincial Public Healt...

Quality assurance/quality control summary report on phase 2 of the Clinch River remedial investigation at the Oak Ridge Reservation, Oak Ridge, Tennessee

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Holladay, S.K.; Anderson, H.M.; Benson, S.B.; Bevelhimer, M.S.; Brandt, C.C.; Chavannes, C.M.; Cook, R.B.; Evans, D.A.; Ford, C.J.; Harris, R.A.; Horwedel, B.M.; Jackson, B.L.

1996-12-01

Quality assurance (QA) objectives for Phase 2 were that (1) scientific data generated would withstand scientific and legal scrutiny; (2) data would be gathered using appropriate procedures for sample collection, sample handling and security, chain of custody, laboratory analyses, and data reporting; (3) data would be of known precision and accuracy; and (4) data would meet data quality objectives defined in the Phase 2 Sampling and Analysis Plan. A review of the QA systems and quality control (QC) data associated with the Phase 2 investigation is presented to evaluate whether the data were of sufficient quality to satisfy Phase 2 objectives. The data quality indicators of precision, accuracy, representativeness, comparability, completeness, and sensitivity were evaluated to determine any limitations associated with the data. Data were flagged with qualifiers that were associated with appropriate reason codes and documentation relating the qualifiers to the reviewer of the data. These qualifiers were then consolidated into an overall final qualifier to represent the quality of the data to the end user. In summary, reproducible, precise, and accurate measurements consistent with CRRI objectives and the limitations of the sampling and analytical procedures used were obtained for the data collected in support of the Phase 2 Remedial Investigation.

Quality assurance/quality control summary report on phase 2 of the Clinch River remedial investigation at the Oak Ridge Reservation, Oak Ridge, Tennessee

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Holladay, S.K.; Anderson, H.M.; Benson, S.B.; Bevelhimer, M.S.; Brandt, C.C.; Chavannes, C.M.; Cook, R.B.; Evans, D.A.; Ford, C.J.; Harris, R.A.; Horwedel, B.M.; Jackson, B.L.

1996-12-01

Quality assurance (QA) objectives for Phase 2 were that (1) scientific data generated would withstand scientific and legal scrutiny; (2) data would be gathered using appropriate procedures for sample collection, sample handling and security, chain of custody, laboratory analyses, and data reporting; (3) data would be of known precision and accuracy; and (4) data would meet data quality objectives defined in the Phase 2 Sampling and Analysis Plan. A review of the QA systems and quality control (QC) data associated with the Phase 2 investigation is presented to evaluate whether the data were of sufficient quality to satisfy Phase 2 objectives. The data quality indicators of precision, accuracy, representativeness, comparability, completeness, and sensitivity were evaluated to determine any limitations associated with the data. Data were flagged with qualifiers that were associated with appropriate reason codes and documentation relating the qualifiers to the reviewer of the data. These qualifiers were then consolidated into an overall final qualifier to represent the quality of the data to the end user. In summary, reproducible, precise, and accurate measurements consistent with CRRI objectives and the limitations of the sampling and analytical procedures used were obtained for the data collected in support of the Phase 2 Remedial Investigation

Research Quality Plus (RQ+) A Holistic Approach to Evaluating Research

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

McLean, R.K.D.; Feinstein, O.N.

2016-07-01

The International Development Research Centre (IDRC) strives to fund excellence in research - defining excellence as, {sup m}ethodologically sound, evidence-based, and scientifically robust{sup .} But how is the concept of excellence identified and evaluated across the diverse range of research the IDRC supports? The Research Quality Plus (RQ+) Assessment Framework was developed in order to address these complex issues. It provides a systems-informed approach to defining and evaluating the quality of research, and its positioning for use and impact. It allows tailoring to context, values, mandate and purpose, and can support planning, management and learning processes at any stage in the lifetime of a research project, program or grants portfolio. This paper presents: 1) the rationale for RQ+ creation, 2) the RQ+ Assessment Framework, and how it can be adapted and used, 3) our early experiences applying it in a series of extenal evaluations of research quality. The paper is presented by an RQ+ designer and an external user. (Author)

The National Shipbuilding Research Program. Proceedings of the IREAPS Technical Symposium. Paper No. 20: The Utility of Quality Circles and Productivity Teams in U.S. Shipbuilding

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Harper, Stephen E

1982-01-01

.... The average return on investment for quality circles is 6 to 1. QC's are a simple, but effective, technique for problem solving which involves employees and increases motivation, communication, and productivity...

Quality control and performance evaluation of k0-based neutron activation analysis at the Portuguese research reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dung, H.M.; Freitas, M.C.; Blaauw, M.; Almeida, S.M.; Dionisio, I.; Canha, N.H.

2010-01-01

The quality control (QC) and performance evaluation for the k 0 -based neutron activation analysis (k 0 -NAA) at the Portuguese research reactor (RPI) has been developed with the intention of using the method to meet the demands of trace element analysis for the applications in environmental, epidemiological and nutritional studies amongst others. The QC and performance evaluation include the following aspects: (1) estimation of the overall/combined standard uncertainty from the primary uncertainty sources; (2) validation of the method using a synthetic multi-element standard (SMELS); and (3) analysis of the certified reference materials from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (USA): NIST-SRM-1633a and NIST-SRM-1648 and the reference material from the International Atomic Energy Agency: IAEA-RM-336, for the purpose of controlling the overall accuracy and precision of the analytical results. The obtained results revealed that the k 0 -NAA method established at the RPI was fit for the purpose. The overall/combined standard uncertainty was estimated for elements of interest in the intended applications. The laboratory's analytical results as compared to the assigned values with the bias were less than 12% for most elements, except for a few elements which biased within 13-18%. The u-score values for most elements were less than |1.64|, except for Co, La and Ti within |1.64|-|1.96| and Sc, Cr, K and Sb within |1.96|-|2.58|. The NIST-1633a was also analyzed over 14 months for the purpose of evaluating the reproducibility of the method. The quality factors of k 0 -NAA established at RPI were evaluated, proving that the method meets the requirements of trace element analysis, which is also considering the method's performance for which the k 0 -NAA affords a specific, rapid and convenient capability for the intended applications.

Automated dried blood spots standard and QC sample preparation using a robotic liquid handler.

Science.gov (United States)

Yuan, Long; Zhang, Duxi; Aubry, Anne-Francoise; Arnold, Mark E

2012-12-01

A dried blood spot (DBS) bioanalysis assay involves many steps, such as the preparation of standard (STD) and QC samples in blood, the spotting onto DBS cards, and the cutting-out of the spots. These steps are labor intensive and time consuming if done manually, which, therefore, makes automation very desirable in DBS bioanalysis. A robotic liquid handler was successfully applied to the preparation of STD and QC samples in blood and to spot the blood samples onto DBS cards using buspirone as the model compound. This automated preparation was demonstrated to be accurate and consistent. However the accuracy and precision of automated preparation were similar to those from manual preparation. The effect of spotting volume on accuracy was evaluated and a trend of increasing concentrations of buspirone with increasing spotting volumes was observed. The automated STD and QC sample preparation process significantly improved the efficiency, robustness and safety of DBS bioanalysis.

PRACTICAL APPLICATION OF QUALITY TOOLS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Duško Pavletić

2008-09-01

Full Text Available The paper is dealing with one segment of broader research of universality an systematicness in application of seven basic quality tools (7QC tools, which is possible to use in different areas: power plant, process industry, government, health and tourism services. The aim of the paper was to show on practical examples that there is real possibility of application of 7QC tools. Furthermore, the research has to show to what extent are selected tools in usage and what reasons of avoiding their broader application are. The simple example of successful application of the quality tools are shown on selected company in process industry.

40 CFR 98.174 - Monitoring and QA/QC requirements.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... (CONTINUED) MANDATORY GREENHOUSE GAS REPORTING Iron and Steel Production § 98.174 Monitoring and QA/QC... moisture content of the stack gas. (5) Determine the mass rate of process feed or process production (as... Fusion Techniques (incorporated by reference, see § 98.7) for iron and ferrous scrap. (v) ASM CS-104 UNS...

The Use of Signal Dimensionality for Automatic QC of Seismic Array Data

Science.gov (United States)

Rowe, C. A.; Stead, R. J.; Begnaud, M. L.; Draganov, D.; Maceira, M.; Gomez, M.

2014-12-01

A significant problem in seismic array analysis is the inclusion of bad sensor channels in the beam-forming process. We are testing an approach to automated, on-the-fly quality control (QC) to aid in the identification of poorly performing sensor channels prior to beam-forming in routine event detection or location processing. The idea stems from methods used for large computer servers, when monitoring traffic at enormous numbers of nodes is impractical on a node-by-node basis, so the dimensionality of the node traffic is instead monitored for anomalies that could represent malware, cyber-attacks or other problems. The technique relies upon the use of subspace dimensionality or principal components of the overall system traffic. The subspace technique is not new to seismology, but its most common application has been limited to comparing waveforms to an a priori collection of templates for detecting highly similar events in a swarm or seismic cluster. We examine the signal dimension in similar way to the method addressing node traffic anomalies in large computer systems. We explore the effects of malfunctioning channels on the dimension of the data and its derivatives, and how to leverage this effect for identifying bad array elements. We show preliminary results applied to arrays in Kazakhstan (Makanchi) and Argentina (Malargue).

Efficacy and duration of benazepril plus amlodipine or hydrochlorothiazide on 24-hour ambulatory systolic blood pressure control.

Science.gov (United States)