Search results for: clinical error
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 5297

Search results for: clinical error

5177 The Preceptorship Experience and Clinical Competence of Final Year Nursing Students

Authors: Susan Ka Yee Chow

Abstract:

Effective clinical preceptorship is affecting students’ competence and fostering their growth in applying theoretical knowledge and skills in clinical settings. Any difference between the expected and actual learning experience will reduce nursing students’ interest in clinical practices and having a negative consequence with their clinical performance. This cross-sectional study is an attempt to compare the differences between preferred and actual preceptorship experience of final year nursing students, and to examine the relationship between the actual preceptorship experience and perceived clinical competence of the students in a tertiary institution. Participants of the study were final year bachelor nursing students of a self-financing tertiary institution in Hong Kong. The instruments used to measure the effectiveness of clinical preceptorship was developed by the participating institution. The scale consisted of five items in a 5-point likert scale. The questions including goals development, critical thinking, learning objectives, asking questions and providing feedback to students. The “Clinical Competence Questionnaire” by Liou & Cheng (2014) was used to examine students’ perceived clinical competences. The scale consisted of 47 items categorized into four domains, namely nursing professional behaviours; skill competence: general performance; skill competence: core nursing skills and skill competence: advanced nursing skills. There were 193 questionnaires returned with a response rate of 89%. The paired t-test was used to compare the differences between preferred and actual preceptorship experiences of students. The results showed significant differences (p<0.001) for the five questions. The mean for the preferred scores is higher than the actual scores resulting statistically significance. The maximum mean difference was accepted goal and the highest mean different was giving feedback. The Pearson Correlation Coefficient was used to examine the relationship. The results showed moderate correlations between nursing professional behaviours with asking questions and providing feedback. Providing useful feedback to students is having moderate correlations with all domains of the Clinical Competence Questionnaire (r=0.269 – 0.345). It is concluded that nursing students do not have a positive perception of the clinical preceptorship. Their perceptions are significantly different from their expected preceptorship. If students were given more opportunities to ask questions in a pedagogical atmosphere, their perceived clinical competence and learning outcomes could be improved as a result.

Keywords: clinical preceptor, clinical competence, clinical practicum, nursing students

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5176 Channel Estimation for LTE Downlink

Authors: Rashi Jain

Abstract:

The LTE systems employ Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) as the multiple access technology for the Downlink channels. For enhanced performance, accurate channel estimation is required. Various algorithms such as Least Squares (LS), Minimum Mean Square Error (MMSE) and Recursive Least Squares (RLS) can be employed for the purpose. The paper proposes channel estimation algorithm based on Kalman Filter for LTE-Downlink system. Using the frequency domain pilots, the initial channel response is obtained using the LS criterion. Then Kalman Filter is employed to track the channel variations in time-domain. To suppress the noise within a symbol, threshold processing is employed. The paper draws comparison between the LS, MMSE, RLS and Kalman filter for channel estimation. The parameters for evaluation are Bit Error Rate (BER), Mean Square Error (MSE) and run-time.

Keywords: LTE, channel estimation, OFDM, RLS, Kalman filter, threshold

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5175 Contribution of Automated Early Warning Score Usage to Patient Safety

Authors: Phang Moon Leng

Abstract:

Automated Early Warning Scores is a newly developed clinical decision tool that is used to streamline and improve the process of obtaining a patient’s vital signs so a clinical decision can be made at an earlier stage to prevent the patient from further deterioration. This technology provides immediate update on the score and clinical decision to be taken based on the outcome. This paper aims to study the use of an automated early warning score system on whether the technology has assisted the hospital in early detection and escalation of clinical condition and improve patient outcome. The hospital adopted the Modified Early Warning Scores (MEWS) Scoring System and MEWS Clinical Response into Philips IntelliVue Guardian Automated Early Warning Score equipment and studied whether the process has been leaned, whether the use of technology improved the usage & experience of the nurses, and whether the technology has improved patient care and outcome. It was found the steps required to obtain vital signs has been significantly reduced and is used more frequently to obtain patient vital signs. The number of deaths, and length of stay has significantly decreased as clinical decisions can be made and escalated more quickly with the Automated EWS. The automated early warning score equipment has helped improve work efficiency by removing the need for documenting into patient’s EMR. The technology streamlines clinical decision-making and allows faster care and intervention to be carried out and improves overall patient outcome which translates to better care for patient.

Keywords: automated early warning score, clinical quality and safety, patient safety, medical technology

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5174 A Novel Approach to Design of EDDR Architecture for High Speed Motion Estimation Testing Applications

Authors: T. Gangadhararao, K. Krishna Kishore

Abstract:

Motion Estimation (ME) plays a critical role in a video coder, testing such a module is of priority concern. While focusing on the testing of ME in a video coding system, this work presents an error detection and data recovery (EDDR) design, based on the residue-and-quotient (RQ) code, to embed into ME for video coding testing applications. An error in processing Elements (PEs), i.e. key components of a ME, can be detected and recovered effectively by using the proposed EDDR design. The proposed EDDR design for ME testing can detect errors and recover data with an acceptable area overhead and timing penalty.

Keywords: area overhead, data recovery, error detection, motion estimation, reliability, residue-and-quotient (RQ) code

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5173 Uncertainty Quantification of Corrosion Anomaly Length of Oil and Gas Steel Pipelines Based on Inline Inspection and Field Data

Authors: Tammeen Siraj, Wenxing Zhou, Terry Huang, Mohammad Al-Amin

Abstract:

The high resolution inline inspection (ILI) tool is used extensively in the pipeline industry to identify, locate, and measure metal-loss corrosion anomalies on buried oil and gas steel pipelines. Corrosion anomalies may occur singly (i.e. individual anomalies) or as clusters (i.e. a colony of corrosion anomalies). Although the ILI technology has advanced immensely, there are measurement errors associated with the sizes of corrosion anomalies reported by ILI tools due limitations of the tools and associated sizing algorithms, and detection threshold of the tools (i.e. the minimum detectable feature dimension). Quantifying the measurement error in the ILI data is crucial for corrosion management and developing maintenance strategies that satisfy the safety and economic constraints. Studies on the measurement error associated with the length of the corrosion anomalies (in the longitudinal direction of the pipeline) has been scarcely reported in the literature and will be investigated in the present study. Limitations in the ILI tool and clustering process can sometimes cause clustering error, which is defined as the error introduced during the clustering process by including or excluding a single or group of anomalies in or from a cluster. Clustering error has been found to be one of the biggest contributory factors for relatively high uncertainties associated with ILI reported anomaly length. As such, this study focuses on developing a consistent and comprehensive framework to quantify the measurement errors in the ILI-reported anomaly length by comparing the ILI data and corresponding field measurements for individual and clustered corrosion anomalies. The analysis carried out in this study is based on the ILI and field measurement data for a set of anomalies collected from two segments of a buried natural gas pipeline currently in service in Alberta, Canada. Data analyses showed that the measurement error associated with the ILI-reported length of the anomalies without clustering error, denoted as Type I anomalies is markedly less than that for anomalies with clustering error, denoted as Type II anomalies. A methodology employing data mining techniques is further proposed to classify the Type I and Type II anomalies based on the ILI-reported corrosion anomaly information.

Keywords: clustered corrosion anomaly, corrosion anomaly assessment, corrosion anomaly length, individual corrosion anomaly, metal-loss corrosion, oil and gas steel pipeline

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5172 Synthesis, Antibacterial Activities, and Synergistic Effects of Novel Juglone and Naphthazarin Derivatives Against Clinical Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Strains

Authors: Zohra Benfodda, Valentin Duvauchelle, Chaimae Majdi, David Bénimélis, Catherine Dunyach-Remy, Patrick Meffre

Abstract:

New antibiotics are necessary to treat microbial pathogens, especially ESKAPE pathogens that are becoming increasingly resistant to available treatment. Despite the medical need, the number of newly approved drugs continues to decline. The majority of antibiotics under clinical development are natural products or derivatives thereof. 43 juglone/naphthazarin derivatives were synthesized using Minisci-type direct C–H alkylation and evaluated for their antibacterial properties against various clinical and reference Gram-positive MSSA, clinical Gram-positive MRSA. Different compounds of the synthesized series showed promising activity against clinical and reference MSSA (MIC: 1–8 μg/ml) and good efficacy against clinical MRSA (MIC: 2–8 μg/ml) strains. The synergistic effects of active compounds were evaluated with reference antibiotics (vancomycin and cloxacillin), and it was found that the antibiotic combination with those active compounds efficiently enhanced the antimicrobial activity and consequently the MIC values of reference antibiotics were lowered up to 1/16th of the original MIC. These synthesized compounds did not present hemolytic activity on sheep red blood cells. In addition to the in silico prediction of ADME profile parameter which is promising and encouraging for further development.

Keywords: juglone, naphthazarin, antibacterial, clinical MRSA, synergistic studies, MIC determination

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5171 An Error Analysis of English Communication of Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University Students

Authors: Chantima Wangsomchok

Abstract:

The main purposes of this study are (1) to test the students’ communicative competence within six main functions: greeting, parting, thanking, offering, requesting and suggesting, (2) to employ error analysis in the students’ communicative competence within those functions, and (3) to compare the characteristics of the error found from the investigation. The subjects of the study is 328 first-year undergraduates taking the Foundation English course in the first semester of the 2008 academic year at Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University. This study found that while the subjects showed high communicative competence in the use of the following three functions: greeting, thanking, and offering, they seemed to show poor communicative competence in suggesting, requesting and parting instead. In addition, this study found that the grammatical errors were likely to be most frequently found in the parting function. In the same way, the type of errors which were less frequently found was in the functions of thanking and requesting respectively. Instead, the students tended to have high pragmatic failure in the use of greeting and suggesting functions.

Keywords: error analysis, functions of English language, communicative competence, cognitive science

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5170 A Script for Presentation to the Management of a Teaching Hospital on DXplain Clinical Decision Support System

Authors: Jacob Nortey

Abstract:

Introduction: In recent years, there has been an enormous success in discoveries of scientific knowledge in medicine coupled with the advancement of technology. Despite all these successes, diagnoses and treatment of diseases have become complex. According to the Ibero – American Study of Adverse Effects (IBEAS), about 10% of hospital patients suffer from secondary damage during the care process, and approximately 2% die from this process. Many clinical decision support systems have been developed to help mitigate some healthcare medical errors. Method: Relevant databases were searched, including ones that were peculiar to the clinical decision support system (that is, using google scholar, Pub Med and general google searches). The articles were then screened for a comprehensive overview of the functionality, consultative style and statistical usage of Dxplain Clinical decision support systems. Results: Inferences drawn from the articles showed high usage of Dxplain clinical decision support system for problem-based learning among students in developed countries as against little or no usage among students in Low – and Middle – income Countries. The results also indicated high usage among general practitioners. Conclusion: Despite the challenges Dxplain presents, the benefits of its usage to clinicians and students are enormous.

Keywords: dxplain, clinical decision support sytem, diagnosis, support systems

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5169 Exploring Bidirectional Encoder Representations from the Transformers’ Capabilities to Detect English Preposition Errors

Authors: Dylan Elliott, Katya Pertsova

Abstract:

Preposition errors are some of the most common errors created by L2 speakers. In addition, improving error correction and detection methods remains an open issue in the realm of Natural Language Processing (NLP). This research investigates whether the bidirectional encoder representations from the transformers model (BERT) have the potential to correct preposition errors accurately enough to be useful in error correction software. This research finds that BERT performs strongly when the scope of its error correction is limited to preposition choice. The researchers used an open-source BERT model and over three hundred thousand edited sentences from Wikipedia, tagged for part of speech, where only a preposition edit had occurred. To test BERT’s ability to detect errors, a technique known as multi-level masking was used to generate suggestions based on sentence context for every prepositional environment in the test data. These suggestions were compared with the original errors in the data and their known corrections to evaluate BERT’s performance. The suggestions were further analyzed to determine if BERT more often agreed with the judgements of the Wikipedia editors. Both the untrained and fined-tuned models were compared. Finetuning led to a greater rate of error-detection which significantly improved recall, but lowered precision due to an increase in false positives or falsely flagged errors. However, in most cases, these false positives were not errors in preposition usage but merely cases where more than one preposition was possible. Furthermore, when BERT correctly identified an error, the model largely agreed with the Wikipedia editors, suggesting that BERT’s ability to detect misused prepositions is better than previously believed. To evaluate to what extent BERT’s false positives were grammatical suggestions, we plan to do a further crowd-sourcing study to test the grammaticality of BERT’s suggested sentence corrections against native speakers’ judgments.

Keywords: BERT, grammatical error correction, preposition error detection, prepositions

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5168 Knowledge Required for Avoiding Lexical Errors at Machine Translation

Authors: Yukiko Sasaki Alam

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This research aims at finding out the causes that led to wrong lexical selections in machine translation (MT) rather than categorizing lexical errors, which has been a main practice in error analysis. By manually examining and analyzing lexical errors outputted by a MT system, it suggests what knowledge would help the system reduce lexical errors.

Keywords: machine translation, error analysis, lexical errors, evaluation

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5167 Pattern of Refractive Error, Knowledge, Attitude and Practice about Eye Health among the Primary School Children in Bangladesh

Authors: Husain Rajib, K. S. Kishor, D. G. Jewel

Abstract:

Background: Uncorrected refractive error is a common cause of preventable visual impairment in pediatric age group which can be lead to blindness but early detection of visual impairment can reduce the problem that will have good effective in education and more involve in social activities. Glasses are the cheapest and commonest form of correction of refractive errors. To achieve this, patient must exhibit good compliance to spectacle wear. Patient’s attitude and perception of glasses and eye health could affect compliance. Material and method: A Prospective community based cross sectional study was designed in order to evaluate the knowledge, attitude and practices about refractive errors and eye health amongst the primary school going children. Result: Among 140 respondents, 72 were males and 68 were females. We found 50 children were myopic and out of them 26 were male and 24 were female, 27 children were hyperopic and out of them 14 were male and 13 were female. About 63 children were astigmatic and out of them 32 were male and 31 were female. The level of knowledge, attitude was satisfactory. The attitude of the students, teachers and parents was cooperative which helps to do cycloplegic refraction. Practice was not satisfactory due to social stigma and information gap. Conclusion: Knowledge of refractive error and acceptance of glasses for the correction of uncorrected refractive error. Public awareness program such as vision screening program, eye camp, and teachers training program are more beneficial for wearing and prescribing spectacle.

Keywords: refractive error, stigma, knowledge, attitude, practice

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5166 Ant Lion Optimization in a Fuzzy System for Benchmark Control Problem

Authors: Leticia Cervantes, Edith Garcia, Oscar Castillo

Abstract:

At today, there are several control problems where the main objective is to obtain the best control in the study to decrease the error in the application. Many techniques can use to control these problems such as Neural Networks, PID control, Fuzzy Logic, Optimization techniques and many more. In this case, fuzzy logic with fuzzy system and an optimization technique are used to control the case of study. In this case, Ant Lion Optimization is used to optimize a fuzzy system to control the velocity of a simple treadmill. The main objective is to achieve the control of the velocity in the control problem using the ALO optimization. First, a simple fuzzy system was used to control the velocity of the treadmill it has two inputs (error and error change) and one output (desired speed), then results were obtained but to decrease the error the ALO optimization was developed to optimize the fuzzy system of the treadmill. Having the optimization, the simulation was performed, and results can prove that using the ALO optimization the control of the velocity was better than a conventional fuzzy system. This paper describes some basic concepts to help to understand the idea in this work, the methodology of the investigation (control problem, fuzzy system design, optimization), the results are presented and the optimization is used for the fuzzy system. A comparison between the simple fuzzy system and the optimized fuzzy systems are presented where it can be proving the optimization improved the control with good results the major findings of the study is that ALO optimization is a good alternative to improve the control because it helped to decrease the error in control applications even using any control technique to optimized, As a final statement is important to mentioned that the selected methodology was good because the control of the treadmill was improve using the optimization technique.

Keywords: ant lion optimization, control problem, fuzzy control, fuzzy system

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5165 Random Walks and Option Pricing for European and American Options

Authors: Guillaume Leduc

Abstract:

In this paper, we describe a broad setting under which the error of the approximation can be quantified, controlled, and for which convergence occurs at a speed of n⁻¹ for European and American options. We describe how knowledge of the error allows for arbitrarily fast acceleration of the convergence.

Keywords: random walk approximation, European and American options, rate of convergence, option pricing

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5164 Assessment of Barriers to the Clinical Adoption of Cell-Based Therapeutics

Authors: David Pettitt, Benjamin Davies, Georg Holländer, David Brindley

Abstract:

Cellular based therapies, whose origins can be traced from the intertwined concepts of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine, have the potential to transform the current medical landscape and offer an approach to managing what were once considered untreatable diseases. However, despite a large increase in basic science activity in the cell therapy arena alongside a growing portfolio of cell therapy trials, the number of industry products available for widespread clinical use correlates poorly with such a magnitude of activity, with the number of cell-based therapeutics in mainstream use remaining comparatively low. This research serves to quantitatively assess the barriers to the clinical adoption of cell-based therapeutics through identification of unique barriers, specific challenges and opportunities facing the development and adoption of such therapies.

Keywords: cell therapy, clinical adoption, commercialization, translation

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5163 Clinical Signs of Neonatal Calves in Experimental Colisepticemia

Authors: Samad Lotfollahzadeh

Abstract:

Escherichia coli (E.coli) is the most isolated bacteria from blood circulation of septicemic calves. Given the prevalence of septicemia in animals and its economic importance in veterinary practice, better understanding of changes in clinical signs following disease, may contribute to early detection of the disorder. The present study has been carried out to detect changes of clinical signs in induced sepsis in calves with E.coli. Colisepticemia has been induced in 10 twenty-day old healthy Holstein- Frisian calves with intravenous injection of 1.5 X 109 colony forming units (cfu) of O111: H8 strain of E.coli. Clinical signs including rectal temperature, heart rate, respiratory rate, shock, appetite, sucking reflex, feces consistency, general behavior, dehydration and standing ability were recorded in experimental calves during 24 hours after induction of colisepticemia. Blood culture was also carried out from calves four times during the experiment. ANOVA with repeated measure is used to see changes of calves’ clinical signs to experimental colisepticemia, and values of P≤ 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Mean values of rectal temperature and heart rate as well as median values of respiratory rate, appetite, suckling reflex, standing ability and feces consistency of experimental calves increased significantly during the study (P<0.05). In the present study, median value of shock score was not significantly increased in experimental calves (P> 0.05). The results of present study showed that total score of clinical signs in calves with experimental colisepticemia increased significantly, although the score of some clinical signs such as shock did not change significantly.

Keywords: calves, clinical signs scoring, E. coli O111:H8, experimental colisepticemia

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5162 Evaluating the Learning Outcomes of Physical Therapy Clinical Fieldwork Course

Authors: Hui-Yi Wang, Shu-Mei Chen, Mei-Fang Liu

Abstract:

Background and purpose: Providing clinical experience in medical education is an important discipline method where students can gradually apply their academic knowledge to clinical situations. The purpose of this study was to establish self-assessment questionnaires for students to assess their learning outcomes for two fields of physical therapy, orthopedic physical therapy, and pediatric physical therapy, in a clinical fieldwork course. Methods: The questionnaires were developed based on the core competence dimensions of the course. The content validity of the questionnaires was evaluated and established by expert meetings. Among the third-year undergraduate students who took the clinical fieldwork course, there were 49 students participated in this study. Teachers arranged for the students to study two professional fields, and each professional field conducted a three-week clinical lesson. The students filled out the self-assessment questionnaires before and after each three-week lesson. Results: The self-assessment questionnaires were established by expert meetings that there were six core competency dimensions in each of the two fields, with 20 and 21 item-questions, respectively. After each three-week clinical fieldwork, the self-rating scores in each core competency dimension were higher when compared to those before the course, indicating having better clinical abilities after the lessons. The best self-rating scores were the dimension of attitude and humanistic literacy, and the two lower scores were the dimensions of professional knowledge and skills and problem-solving critical thinking. Conclusions: This study developed questionnaires for clinical fieldwork courses to reflect students' learning outcomes, including the performance of professional knowledge, practice skills, and professional attitudes. The use of self-assessment of learning performance can help students build up their reflective competencies. Teachers can guide students to pay attention to the performance of abilities in each core dimension to enhance the effectiveness of learning through self-reflection and improvement.

Keywords: physical therapy, clinical fieldwork course, learning outcomes assessment, medical education, self-reflection ability

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5161 Lookup Table Reduction and Its Error Analysis of Hall Sensor-Based Rotation Angle Measurement

Authors: Young-San Shin, Seongsoo Lee

Abstract:

Hall sensor is widely used to measure rotation angle. When the Hall voltage is measured for linear displacement, it is converted to angular displacement using arctangent function, which requires a large lookup table. In this paper, a lookup table reduction technique is presented for angle measurement. When the input of the lookup table is small within a certain threshold, the change of the outputs with respect to the change of the inputs is relatively small. Thus, several inputs can share same output, which significantly reduce the lookup table size. Its error analysis was also performed, and the threshold was determined so as to maintain the error less than 1°. When the Hall voltage has 11-bit resolution, the lookup table size is reduced from 1,024 samples to 279 samples.

Keywords: hall sensor, angle measurement, lookup table, arctangent

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5160 The Effectiveness of Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing as Modulation Technique

Authors: Mohamed O. Babana

Abstract:

In wireless channel multipath is the propagation phenomena where the transmitted signal arrive at the receiver side with many of paths, the signal at these paths arrive with different time delay the results is random signal fading due to intersymbols interference(ISI). This paper deals with identification of orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) technology, and how it is used to overcome intersymbol interference due to multipath. Also investigates the effect of Additive White Gaussian Noise Channel (AWGN) on OFDM using multi-level modulation of Phase Shift Keying (PSK), computer simulation to calculate the bit error rate (BER) under AWGN channel is applied. A comparison study is carried out to obtain the Bit Error Rate performance for OFDM to identify the best multi-level modulation of PSK.

Keywords: intersymbol interference(ISI), bit error rate(BER), modulation, multiplexing, simulation

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5159 Automatic Speech Recognition Systems Performance Evaluation Using Word Error Rate Method

Authors: João Rato, Nuno Costa

Abstract:

The human verbal communication is a two-way process which requires a mutual understanding that will result in some considerations. This kind of communication, also called dialogue, besides the supposed human agents it can also be performed between human agents and machines. The interaction between Men and Machines, by means of a natural language, has an important role concerning the improvement of the communication between each other. Aiming at knowing the performance of some speech recognition systems, this document shows the results of the accomplished tests according to the Word Error Rate evaluation method. Besides that, it is also given a set of information linked to the systems of Man-Machine communication. After this work has been made, conclusions were drawn regarding the Speech Recognition Systems, among which it can be mentioned their poor performance concerning the voice interpretation in noisy environments.

Keywords: automatic speech recognition, man-machine conversation, speech recognition, spoken dialogue systems, word error rate

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5158 Comparing the ‘Urgent Community Care Team’ Clinical Referrals in the Community with Suggestions from the Clinical Decision Support Software Dem DX

Authors: R. Tariq, R. Lee

Abstract:

Background: Additional demands placed on senior clinical teams with ongoing COVID-19 management has accelerated the need to harness the wider healthcare professional resources and upskill them to take on greater clinical responsibility safely. The UK NHS Long Term Plan (2019)¹ emphasises the importance of expanding Advanced Practitioners’ (APs) roles to take on more clinical diagnostic responsibilities to cope with increased demand. In acute settings, APs are often the first point of care for patients and require training to take on initial triage responsibilities efficiently and safely. Critically, their roles include determining which onward services the patients may require, and assessing whether they can be treated at home, avoiding unnecessary admissions to the hospital. Dem Dx is a Clinical Reasoning Platform (CRP) that claims to help frontline healthcare professionals independently assess and triage patients. It guides the clinician from presenting complaints through associated symptoms to a running list of differential diagnoses, media, national and institutional guidelines. The objective of this study was to compare the clinical referral rates and guidelines adherence registered by the HMR Urgent Community Care Team (UCCT)² and Dem Dx recommendations using retrospective cases. Methodology: 192 cases seen by the UCCT were anonymised and reassessed using Dem Dx clinical pathways. We compared the UCCT’s performance with Dem Dx regarding the appropriateness of onward referrals. We also compared the clinical assessment regarding adherence to NICE guidelines recorded on the clinical notes and the presence of suitable guidance in each case. The cases were audited by two medical doctors. Results: Dem Dx demonstrated appropriate referrals in 85% of cases, compared to 47% in the UCCT team (p<0.001). Of particular note, Dem Dx demonstrated an almost 65% (p<0.001) improvement in the efficacy and appropriateness of referrals in a highly experienced clinical team. The effectiveness of Dem Dx is in part attributable to the relevant NICE and local guidelines found within the platform's pathways and was found to be suitable in 86% of cases. Conclusion: This study highlights the potential of clinical decision support, as Dem Dx, to improve the quality of onward clinical referrals delivered by a multidisciplinary team in primary care. It demonstrated that it could support healthcare professionals in making appropriate referrals, especially those that may be overlooked by providing suitable clinical guidelines directly embedded into cases and clear referral pathways. Further evaluation in the clinical setting has been planned to confirm those assumptions in a prospective study.

Keywords: advanced practitioner, clinical reasoning, clinical decision-making, management, multidisciplinary team, referrals, triage

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5157 Statistical Tools for SFRA Diagnosis in Power Transformers

Authors: Rahul Srivastava, Priti Pundir, Y. R. Sood, Rajnish Shrivastava

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For the interpretation of the signatures of sweep frequency response analysis(SFRA) of transformer different types of statistical techniques serves as an effective tool for doing either phase to phase comparison or sister unit comparison. In this paper with the discussion on SFRA several statistics techniques like cross correlation coefficient (CCF), root square error (RSQ), comparative standard deviation (CSD), Absolute difference, mean square error(MSE),Min-Max ratio(MM) are presented through several case studies. These methods require sample data size and spot frequencies of SFRA signatures that are being compared. The techniques used are based on power signal processing tools that can simplify result and limits can be created for the severity of the fault occurring in the transformer due to several short circuit forces or due to ageing. The advantages of using statistics techniques for analyzing of SFRA result are being indicated through several case studies and hence the results are obtained which determines the state of the transformer.

Keywords: absolute difference (DABS), cross correlation coefficient (CCF), mean square error (MSE), min-max ratio (MM-ratio), root square error (RSQ), standard deviation (CSD), sweep frequency response analysis (SFRA)

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5156 [Keynote Talk]: From Clinical Practice to Academic Setup, 'Quality Circles' for Quality Outputs in Both

Authors: Vandita Mishra

Abstract:

From the management of patients, reception, record, and assistants in a clinical practice; to the management of ongoing research, clinical cases and department profile in an academic setup, the healthcare provider has to deal with all of it. The victory lies in smooth running of the show in both the above situations with an apt solution of problems encountered and smooth management of crisis faced. Thus this paper amalgamates dental science with health administration by means of introduction of a concept for practice management and problem-solving called 'Quality Circles'. This concept uses various tools for problem solving given by experts from different fields. QC tools can be applied in both clinical and academic settings in dentistry for better productivity and for scientifically approaching the process of continuous improvement in both the categories. When approached through QC, our organization showed better patient outcomes and more patient satisfaction. Introduced in 1962 by Kaoru Ishikawa, this tool has been extensively applied in certain fields outside dentistry and healthcare. By exemplification of some clinical cases and virtual scenarios, the tools of Quality circles will be elaborated and discussed upon.

Keywords: academics, dentistry, healthcare, quality

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5155 A Comparative Study of Various Control Methods for Rendezvous of a Satellite Couple

Authors: Hasan Basaran, Emre Unal

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Formation flying of satellites is a mission that involves a relative position keeping of different satellites in the constellation. In this study, different control algorithms are compared with one another in terms of ΔV, velocity increment, and tracking error. Various control methods, covering continuous and impulsive approaches are implemented and tested for satellites flying in low Earth orbit. Feedback linearization, sliding mode control, and model predictive control are designed and compared with an impulsive feedback law, which is based on mean orbital elements. Feedback linearization and sliding mode control approaches have identical mathematical models that include second order Earth oblateness effects. The model predictive control, on the other hand, does not include any perturbations and assumes circular chief orbit. The comparison is done with 4 different initial errors and achieved with velocity increment, root mean square error, maximum steady state error, and settling time. It was observed that impulsive law consumed the least ΔV, while produced the highest maximum error in the steady state. The continuous control laws, however, consumed higher velocity increments and produced lower amounts of tracking errors. Finally, the inversely proportional relationship between tracking error and velocity increment was established.

Keywords: chief-deputy satellites, feedback linearization, follower-leader satellites, formation flight, fuel consumption, model predictive control, rendezvous, sliding mode

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5154 Solar Radiation Studies for Islamabad, Pakistan

Authors: Sidra A. Shaikh, M. A. Ahmed, M. W. Akhtar

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Global and diffuse solar radiation studies have been carried out for Islamabad (Lat: 330 43’ N, Long: 370 71’) to access the solar potential of the area using sunshine hour data. A detailed analysis of global solar radiation values measured using several methods is presented. These values are then compared with the NASA SSE model. The variation in direct and diffuse components of solar radiation is observed in summer and winter months for Islamabad along with the clearness index KT. The diffuse solar radiation is found maximum in the month of July. Direct and beam radiation is found to be high in the month of April to June. From the results it appears that with the exception of monsoon months, July and August, solar radiation for electricity generation can be utilized very efficiently throughout the year. Finally, the mean bias error (MBE), root mean square error (RMSE) and mean percent error (MPE) for global solar radiation are also presented.

Keywords: solar potential, global and diffuse solar radiation, Islamabad, errors

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5153 Unit Root Tests Based On the Robust Estimator

Authors: Wararit Panichkitkosolkul

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The unit root tests based on the robust estimator for the first-order autoregressive process are proposed and compared with the unit root tests based on the ordinary least squares (OLS) estimator. The percentiles of the null distributions of the unit root test are also reported. The empirical probabilities of Type I error and powers of the unit root tests are estimated via Monte Carlo simulation. Simulation results show that all unit root tests can control the probability of Type I error for all situations. The empirical power of the unit root tests based on the robust estimator are higher than the unit root tests based on the OLS estimator.

Keywords: autoregressive, ordinary least squares, type i error, power of the test, Monte Carlo simulation

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5152 A Cross-Sectional Study on Clinical Self-Efficacy of Final Year School of Nursing Students among Universities of Tigray Region, Northern Ethiopia

Authors: Awole Seid, Yosef Zenebe, Hadgu Gerensea, Kebede Haile Misgina

Abstract:

Background: Clinical competence is one of the ultimate goals of nursing education. Clinical skills are more than successfully performing tasks; it incorporates client assessment, identification of deficits and the ability to critically think to provide solutions. Assessment of clinical competence, particularly identifying gaps that need improvement and determining the educational needs of nursing students have great importance in nursing education. Thus this study aims determining clinical self-efficacy of final year school of nursing students in three universities of Tigray Region. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 224 final year school of nursing students from department of nursing, psychiatric nursing, and midwifery on three universities of Tigray region. Anonymous self-administered questionnaire was administered to generate data collected on June, 2017. The data were analyzed using SPSS version 20. The result is described using tables and charts as required. Logistic regression was employed to test associations. Result: The mean age of students was 22.94 + 1.44. Generally, 21% of students have been graduated in the department in which they are not interested. The study demonstrated 28.6% had poor and 71.4% had good perceived clinical self-efficacy. Beside this, 43.8% of psychiatric nursing and 32.6% of comprehensive nursing students have poor clinical self-efficacy. Among the four domains, 39.3% and 37.9% have poor clinical self- efficacy with regard to ‘Professional development’ and ‘Management of care’. Place of the institution [AOR=3.480 (1.333 - 9.088), p=0.011], interest during department selection [AOR=2.202 (1.045 - 4.642), p=.038], and theory-practice gap [AOR=0.224 (0.110 - 0.457), p=0.000] were significantly associated with perceived clinical self-efficacy. Conclusion: The magnitude of students with poor clinically self efficacy was high. Place of institution, theory-practice gap, students interest to the discipline were the significant predictors of clinical self-efficacy. Students from youngest universities have good clinical self-efficacy. During department selection, student’s interest should be respected. The universities and other stakeholders should improve the capacity of surrounding affiliate teaching hospitals to set and improve care standards in order to narrow the theory-practice gap. School faculties should provide trainings to hospital staffs and monitor standards of clinical procedures.

Keywords: clinical self-efficacy, nursing students, Tigray, northern Ethiopia

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5151 Quantification of Dispersion Effects in Arterial Spin Labelling Perfusion MRI

Authors: Rutej R. Mehta, Michael A. Chappell

Abstract:

Introduction: Arterial spin labelling (ASL) is an increasingly popular perfusion MRI technique, in which arterial blood water is magnetically labelled in the neck before flowing into the brain, providing a non-invasive measure of cerebral blood flow (CBF). The accuracy of ASL CBF measurements, however, is hampered by dispersion effects; the distortion of the ASL labelled bolus during its transit through the vasculature. In spite of this, the current recommended implementation of ASL – the white paper (Alsop et al., MRM, 73.1 (2015): 102-116) – does not account for dispersion, which leads to the introduction of errors in CBF. Given that the transport time from the labelling region to the tissue – the arterial transit time (ATT) – depends on the region of the brain and the condition of the patient, it is likely that these errors will also vary with the ATT. In this study, various dispersion models are assessed in comparison with the white paper (WP) formula for CBF quantification, enabling the errors introduced by the WP to be quantified. Additionally, this study examines the relationship between the errors associated with the WP and the ATT – and how this is influenced by dispersion. Methods: Data were simulated using the standard model for pseudo-continuous ASL, along with various dispersion models, and then quantified using the formula in the WP. The ATT was varied from 0.5s-1.3s, and the errors associated with noise artefacts were computed in order to define the concept of significant error. The instantaneous slope of the error was also computed as an indicator of the sensitivity of the error with fluctuations in ATT. Finally, a regression analysis was performed to obtain the mean error against ATT. Results: An error of 20.9% was found to be comparable to that introduced by typical measurement noise. The WP formula was shown to introduce errors exceeding 20.9% for ATTs beyond 1.25s even when dispersion effects were ignored. Using a Gaussian dispersion model, a mean error of 16% was introduced by using the WP, and a dispersion threshold of σ=0.6 was determined, beyond which the error was found to increase considerably with ATT. The mean error ranged from 44.5% to 73.5% when other physiologically plausible dispersion models were implemented, and the instantaneous slope varied from 35 to 75 as dispersion levels were varied. Conclusion: It has been shown that the WP quantification formula holds only within an ATT window of 0.5 to 1.25s, and that this window gets narrower as dispersion occurs. Provided that the dispersion levels fall below the threshold evaluated in this study, however, the WP can measure CBF with reasonable accuracy if dispersion is correctly modelled by the Gaussian model. However, substantial errors were observed with other common models for dispersion with dispersion levels similar to those that have been observed in literature.

Keywords: arterial spin labelling, dispersion, MRI, perfusion

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5150 Knowledge-Attitude-Practice Survey Regarding High Alert Medication in a Teaching Hospital in Eastern India

Authors: D. S. Chakraborty, S. Ghosh, A. Hazra

Abstract:

Objective: Medication errors are a reality in all settings where medicines are prescribed, dispensed and used. High Alert Medications (HAM) are those that bear a heightened risk of causing significant patient harm when used in error. We conducted a knowledge-attitude-practice survey, among residents working in a teaching hospital, to assess the ground situation with regard to the handling of HAM. Methods: We plan to approach 242 residents among the approximately 600 currently working in the hospital through purposive sampling. Residents in all disciplines (clinical, paraclinical and preclinical) are being targeted. A structured questionnaire that has been pretested on 5 volunteer residents is being used for data collection. The questionnaire is being administered to residents individually through face-to-face interview, by two raters, while they are on duty but not during rush hours. Results: Of the 156 residents approached so far, data from 140 have been analyzed, the rest having refused participation. Although background knowledge exists for the majority of respondents, awareness levels regarding HAM are moderate, and attitude is non-uniform. The number of respondents correctly able to identify most ( > 80%) HAM in three common settings– accident and emergency, obstetrics and intensive care unit are less than 70%. Several potential errors in practice have been identified. The study is ongoing. Conclusions: Situation requires corrective action. There is an urgent need for improving awareness regarding HAM for the sake of patient safety. The pharmacology department can take the lead in designing awareness campaign with support from the hospital administration.

Keywords: high alert medication, medication error, questionnaire, resident

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5149 Comparative Evaluation of Pharmacologically Guided Approaches (PGA) to Determine Maximum Recommended Starting Dose (MRSD) of Monoclonal Antibodies for First Clinical Trial

Authors: Ibraheem Husain, Abul Kalam Najmi, Karishma Chester

Abstract:

First-in-human (FIH) studies are a critical step in clinical development of any molecule that has shown therapeutic promise in preclinical evaluations, since preclinical research and safety studies into clinical development is a crucial step for successful development of monoclonal antibodies for guidance in pharmaceutical industry for the treatment of human diseases. Therefore, comparison between USFDA and nine pharmacologically guided approaches (PGA) (simple allometry, maximum life span potential, brain weight, rule of exponent (ROE), two species methods and one species methods) were made to determine maximum recommended starting dose (MRSD) for first in human clinical trials using four drugs namely Denosumab, Bevacizumab, Anakinra and Omalizumab. In our study, the predicted pharmacokinetic (pk) parameters and the estimated first-in-human dose of antibodies were compared with the observed human values. The study indicated that the clearance and volume of distribution of antibodies can be predicted with reasonable accuracy in human and a good estimate of first human dose can be obtained from the predicted human clearance and volume of distribution. A pictorial method evaluation chart was also developed based on fold errors for simultaneous evaluation of various methods.

Keywords: clinical pharmacology (CPH), clinical research (CRE), clinical trials (CTR), maximum recommended starting dose (MRSD), clearance and volume of distribution

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5148 Resistance of Mycobacterium tuberculosis to Daptomycin

Authors: Ji-Chan Jang

Abstract:

Tuberculosis is still major health problem because there is an increase of multidrug-resistant and extensively drug-resistant forms of the disease. Therefore, the most urgent clinical need is to discover potent agents and develop novel drug combination capable of reducing the duration of MDR and XDR tuberculosis therapy. Three reference strains H37Rv, CDC1551, W-Beijing GC1237 and six clinical isolates of MDRTB were tested to daptomycin in the range of 0.013 to 256 mg/L. Daptomycin is resistant to all tested M. tuberculosis strains not only laboratory strains but also clinical MDR strains that were isolated at different source. Daptomycin will not be an antibiotic of choice for treating infection of Gram positive atypical slowly growing M. tuberculosis.

Keywords: tuberculosis, daptomycin, resistance, Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Procedia PDF Downloads 348