Pilot Programs in Medical Research

Listeners were presented with two simultaneous tones of different frequencies (more than one octave apart) and asked to identify the tone that was amplitude-modulated while a tonal precursor was presented to cue the frequency of the lower frequency tone. Performance thresholds were estimated based o …

Participatory design includes engaging in large-scale information-systems development where participatory design approaches have been applied throughout design and organizational implementation. The keynote suggest to extend the iterative prototyping approach by (1) emphasizing participatory design …

We describe a pilot project to standardize local laboratory test names to Logical Observation Identifier Names and Codes (LOINC) at five Indian Health Service (IHS) medical facilities. An automated mapping tool was developed to assign LOINC codes. The laboratory test names not mapped to LOINC by the …

This paper, the first of three, examines previous research undertaken in the area of self-administration of medicines and the reuse of patients' own medicine in hospital. Advantages of such schemes are discussed, and the Working Together with Medicines project, undertaken at Queens Medical Centre, N …

The effect of land cover change, from natural to anthropogenic, on physical geography conditions has been studied in Kayisdagi Mountain. Land degradation is the most important environmental issue involved in this study. Most forms of land degradation are natural processes accelerated by human activi …

This paper reports a pilot study of a hybrid radar-camera system that simultaneously monitors the respiration of two subjects. A prototype system was built involving a low-cost impulse-radio ultra-wideband (IR-UWB) radar module and an optical and depth-sensing camera module. The system detects subje …

Municipal solid waste (MSW) is one of the most important environmental problems arising from rapid urbanization and industrialization. The use of alternative fuels in rotary kilns of cement plants is very important for reducing cost, saving fossil fuels and also eliminating waste materials, accumula …

Despite its abundant supply, tobacco stem has not been exploited as an energy source in large scale. This study investigates the combustion behaviours of tobacco stem in a thermogravimetric analyser (TGA) and a pilot-scale fluidized bed (FB). Combustion characteristics, including ignition and burnou …

A successful pilot study of a videoconferenced multidisciplinary genitourinary tumor board involving 21 physicians over six geographic sites for a 6-month period is reported. The majority of cases presented at the tumor board were of prostate or bladder origin. Specific recommendations around manage …

Functional health pattern assessment may be useful for predicting accidents.

Only about 20% of consultations with new patients resulted in a further face-to-face appointment. The majority of patients found the telelink acceptable. The data supported the continuation and possible expansion of the dermatology telemedicine service. However, improved image quality is desirable.

Despite some areas of improvement we believe that our results justify a careful display of the computer-calculated assessment scores as feedback to the learners. It will be important to emphasize that the rating is an approximation and give learners the possibility to complain about supposedly incor …

The production of granules by wet granulation in a fluidized bed was assessed after the construction of a quality index based on a file of attributes (relevant factors). These attributes are combined by a methodology relying on Correspondence Analysis, as a discriminant procedure, using two extreme …

In this paper a method to determine the cycle time for sequencing batch membrane bioreactors (SBMBRs) is introduced. One of the advantages of SBMBRs is the simplicity of adapting them to varying wastewater composition. The benefit of this flexibility can only be fully utilised if the cycle times are …

Impacts of individual behavior on personal exposure to particulate matter (PM) and the associated individual health effects are still not well understood. As outdoor PM concentrations exhibit highly temporal and spatial variations, personal PM exposure depends strongly on individual trajectories and …

The Human Liver Proteome Project (HLPP) is the first initiative of the Human Proteome Organisation (HUPO) to target a human organ/tissue and aims at the establishment of a biological atlas of the liver to advance our understanding of liver functions and to provide the tools to develop new diagnostic …

We developed and evaluated a model for predicting the flow packing of nonrigid chromatographic resins. The model is based on elasticity theory and accounts for resin rigidity and column diameter. When a modulus determined from a standard mechanical compression (consolidation) test is used, the model …

The Improving Access to Psychological Therapies initiative has a reported 50 percent recovery rate. Recently, Scott published a scathing report asserting that 9.2 percent is the correct rate. This alarming assertion requires a closer look and further scrutiny of the Improving Access to Psychological …

In performing neurosurgical operation on peripheral nervous system, the most important first step is to robustly hold the target nerve, since the nerve-holding stability and reliability significantly affect the result of surgical operation. However it is not straightforward to robustly hold peripher …

In anaerobic digestion, the production of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) can be beneficial or harmful to the overall process, depending on the concentration of accumulated acids. Therefore, the accurate determination of the SCFA concentration in both fresh and stored sludge hydrolysates is importan …

The Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award was established in 1987. Although primarily an award for business and industry, pilot criteria for healthcare settings have been developed. These criteria can be used by healthcare organizations to conduct internal evaluations of their institutions. Benefi …