Home About us Contact
|
Home About us Contact | ||
|
|
||
Quality Monitoring (quality + monitoring)
Kinds of Quality Monitoring Selected AbstractsSENSORY QUALITY CRITERIA FOR FIVE FISH SPECIES PREDICTED FROM NEAR-INFRARED (NIR) REFLECTANCE MEASUREMENTJOURNAL OF FOOD QUALITY, Issue 5 2001KARIN WARM ABSTRACT Sensory profiling and Near-Infrared (NIR) reflectance analysis were carried out on cod (Gadus morhua), saithe (Pollachius virens), rainbow trout (Salmo gardineri), herring (Clupea harengus) and flounder (Platichthys flessus). A nine-member trained panel performed the profiling on cooked fillet samples and NIR was measured on the same material as whole, raw fish and raw fillet. For each species, samples varied in storage time (1,11 days in ice at OC) and season (spring, autumn and winter). One descriptive vocabulary was developed, containing 46 descriptive words altogether: 7 for appearance, 15, odor, 16, taste and 8 texture words. Multivariate data analysis was used to reduce the 46 words to 18, covering the main systematic variations in appearance, odor, taste and texture in conformance with a previous study. The same 18 sensory attributes were modeled by NIR measurements on whole, new fish and fillet. The predictive results showed explained variances to be higher for appearance and texture rhan for odor, and lowest for taste. The results indicate that NIR spectroscopy of raw fish as a supplement to sensory analysis might be useful as a rapid tool in Quality Monitoring for measuring the sensory parameters of appearance and texture of cooked fish. [source] The Impact of Medicaid Managed Care on Pregnant Women in Ohio: A Cohort AnalysisHEALTH SERVICES RESEARCH, Issue 4p1 2004Embry M. Howell Objective. To examine the impact of mandatory HMO enrollment for Medicaid-covered pregnant women on prenatal care use, smoking, Cesarean section (C-section) use, and birth weight. Data Sources/Study Setting. Linked birth certificate and Medicaid enrollment data from July 1993 to June 1998 in 10 Ohio counties, 6 that implemented mandatory HMO enrollment, and 4 with low levels of voluntary enrollment (under 15 percent). Cuyahoga County (Cleveland) is analyzed separately; the other mandatory counties and the voluntary counties are grouped for analysis, due to small sample sizes. Study Design. Women serve as their own controls, which helps to overcome the bias from unmeasured variables such as health beliefs and behavior. Changes in key outcomes between the first and second birth are compared between women who reside in mandatory HMO enrollment counties and those in voluntary enrollment counties. County of residence is the primary indicator of managed care status, since, in Ohio, women are allowed to "opt out" of HMO enrollment in mandatory counties in certain circumstances, leading to selection. As a secondary analysis, we compare women according to their HMO enrollment status at the first and second birth. Data Collection/Extraction Methods. Linked birth certificate/enrollment data were used to identify 4,917 women with two deliveries covered by Medicaid, one prior to the implementation of mandatory HMO enrollment (mid-1996) and one following implementation. Data for individual births were linked over time using a scrambled maternal Medicaid identification number. Principal Findings. The effects of HMO enrollment on prenatal care use and smoking were confined to Cuyahoga County, Ohio's largest county. In Cuyahoga, the implementation of mandatory enrollment was related to a significant deterioration in the timing of initiation of care, but an improvement in the number of prenatal visits. In that county also, women who smoked in their first pregnancy were less likely to smoke during the second pregnancy, compared to women in voluntary counties. Women residing in all the mandatory counties were less likely to have a repeat C-section. There were no effects on infant birth weight. The effects of women's own managed care status were inconsistent depending on the outcome examined; an interpretation of these results is hampered by selection issues. Changes over time in outcomes, both positive and negative, were more pronounced for African American women. Conclusions. With careful implementation and attention to women's individual differences as in Ohio, outcomes for pregnant women may improve with Medicaid managed care implementation. Quality monitoring should continue as Medicaid managed care becomes more widespread. More research is needed to identify the types of health maintenance organization activities that lead to improved outcomes. [source] Quality monitoring in thyroid surgery using the Shewhart control chart,BRITISH JOURNAL OF SURGERY (NOW INCLUDES EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF SURGERY), Issue 2 2009A. Duclos Background: A control chart can help to interpret and reduce sources of variability in patient safety by continuously monitoring indicators. The aim of this study was to monitor the outcome of thyroid surgery using control charts. Methods: Patients who had thyroid surgery during 2006,2007 were included in the study. Safety was monitored based on postoperative complications of recurrent laryngeal nerve palsy and hypocalcaemia. Indicators were extracted prospectively from the hospital information system and plotted each month on a P-control chart. Performance of the surgical team was also measured retrospectively for 2004,2005 (baseline period) to compare surgical outcomes before and after control chart implementation. Electromyographic monitoring of recurrent laryngeal nerves was not used, nor was calcium or vitamin D given routinely. Results: The outcomes of 1114 thyroid procedures were monitored. Although the proportion of patients with recurrent laryngeal nerve palsy was similar for baseline and monitored periods (6·4 and 7·2 per cent respectively), there was a 35·3 per cent decrease in hypocalcaemia after implementation of control charts (P < 0·001). Complications almost doubled during a period when one surgeon was away and operating room renovations took place. Conclusion: Outcome monitoring in thyroid surgery using control charts is useful for identifying potential issues in patient safety. Copyright © 2009 British Journal of Surgery Society Ltd. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Quantitative microbial faecal source tracking with sampling guided by hydrological catchment dynamicsENVIRONMENTAL MICROBIOLOGY, Issue 10 2008G. H. Reischer Summary The impairment of water quality by faecal pollution is a global public health concern. Microbial source tracking methods help to identify faecal sources but the few recent quantitative microbial source tracking applications disregarded catchment hydrology and pollution dynamics. This quantitative microbial source tracking study, conducted in a large karstic spring catchment potentially influenced by humans and ruminant animals, was based on a tiered sampling approach: a 31-month water quality monitoring (Monitoring) covering seasonal hydrological dynamics and an investigation of flood events (Events) as periods of the strongest pollution. The detection of a ruminant-specific and a human-specific faecal Bacteroidetes marker by quantitative real-time PCR was complemented by standard microbiological and on-line hydrological parameters. Both quantitative microbial source tracking markers were detected in spring water during Monitoring and Events, with preponderance of the ruminant-specific marker. Applying multiparametric analysis of all data allowed linking the ruminant-specific marker to general faecal pollution indicators, especially during Events. Up to 80% of the variation of faecal indicator levels during Events could be explained by ruminant-specific marker levels proving the dominance of ruminant faecal sources in the catchment. Furthermore, soil was ruled out as a source of quantitative microbial source tracking markers. This study demonstrates the applicability of quantitative microbial source tracking methods and highlights the prerequisite of considering hydrological catchment dynamics in source tracking study design. [source] Effects of urbanization on stream water quality in the city of Atlanta, Georgia, USA,HYDROLOGICAL PROCESSES, Issue 20 2009Norman E. Peters Abstract A long-term stream water quality monitoring network was established in the city of Atlanta, Georgia during 2003 to assess baseline water quality conditions and the effects of urbanization on stream water quality. Routine hydrologically based manual stream sampling, including several concurrent manual point and equal width increment sampling, was conducted ,12 times annually at 21 stations, with drainage areas ranging from 3·7 to 232 km2. Eleven of the stations are real-time (RT) stations having continuous measures of stream stage/discharge, pH, dissolved oxygen, specific conductance, water temperature and turbidity, and automatic samplers for stormwater collection. Samples were analyzed for field parameters, and a broad suite of water quality and sediment-related constituents. Field parameters and concentrations of major ions, metals, nutrient species and coliform bacteria among stations were evaluated and with respect to watershed characteristics and plausible sources from 2003 through September 2007. Most constituent concentrations are much higher than nearby reference streams. Concentrations are statistically different among stations for several constituents, despite high variability both within and among stations. Routine manual sampling, automatic sampling during stormflows and RT water quality monitoring provided sufficient information about urban stream water quality variability to evaluate causes of water quality differences among streams. Fecal coliform bacteria concentrations of most samples exceeded Georgia's water quality standard for any water-usage class. High chloride concentrations occur at three stations and are hypothesized to be associated with discharges of chlorinated combined sewer overflows, drainage of swimming pool(s) and dissolution and transport during rainstorms of CaCl2, a deicing salt applied to roads during winter storms. One stream was affected by dissolution and transport of ammonium alum [NH4Al(SO4)2] from an alum-manufacturing plant; streamwater has low pH (<5), low alkalinity and high metals concentrations. Several trace metals exceed acute and chronic water quality standards and high concentrations are attributed to washoff from impervious surfaces. Published in 2009 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Delineating runoff processes and critical runoff source areas in a pasture hillslope of the Ozark HighlandsHYDROLOGICAL PROCESSES, Issue 21 2008M. D. Leh Abstract The identification of runoff contributing areas would provide the ideal focal points for water quality monitoring and Best Management Practice (BMP) implementation. The objective of this study was to use a field-scale approach to delineate critical runoff source areas and to determine the runoff mechanisms in a pasture hillslope of the Ozark Highlands in the USA. Three adjacent hillslope plots located at the Savoy Experimental Watershed, north-west Arkansas, were bermed to isolate runoff. Each plot was equipped with paired subsurface saturation and surface runoff sensors, shallow groundwater wells, H-flumes and rain gauges to quantify runoff mechanisms and rainfall characteristics at continuous 5-minute intervals. The spatial extent of runoff source areas was determined by incorporating sensor data into a geographic information-based system and performing geostatistical computations (inverse distance weighting method). Results indicate that both infiltration excess runoff and saturation excess runoff mechanisms occur to varying extents (0,58% for infiltration excess and 0,26% for saturation excess) across the plots. Rainfall events that occurred 1,5 January 2005 are used to illustrate the spatial and temporal dynamics of the critical runoff source areas. The methodology presented can serve as a framework upon which critical runoff source areas can be identified and managed for water quality protection in other watersheds. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] A framework for network quality monitoring in the VoIP environmentINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF NETWORK MANAGEMENT, Issue 4 2007Ana Fląvia M. de Lima Monitoring speech quality in Voice over IP (VoIP) networks is important to ensure a minimal acceptable level of speech quality for IP calls running through a managed network. Information such as packet loss, codec type, jitter, end-to-end delay and overall speech quality enables the network manager to verify and accurately tune parameters in order to adjust network problems. The present article proposes the deployment of a monitoring architecture that collects, stores and displays speech quality information about concluded voice calls. This architecture is based on our proposed MIB (Management Information Base) VOIPQOS, deployed for speech quality monitoring purposes. Currently, the architecture is totally implemented, but under adjustment and validation tests. In the future, the VOIPQOS MIB can be expanded to automatically analyze collected data and control VoIP clients and network parameters for tuning the overall speech quality of ongoing calls. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Noncontact photo-acoustic defect detection in drug tabletsJOURNAL OF PHARMACEUTICAL SCIENCES, Issue 8 2007Ivin Varghese Abstract Quality assurance monitoring is of great importance in the pharmaceutical industry for the reason that if defects such as coating layer irregularities, internal cracks, and delamination are present in a drug tablet, the desired dose delivery and bioavailability can be compromised. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) established the Process Analytical Technology (PAT) initiative, in order to ensure efficient quality monitoring at each stage of the manufacturing process by the integration of analysis systems into the evaluation procedure. Improving consistency and predictability of tablet action by improving quality and uniformity of tablet coatings as well as ensuring core integrity is required. An ideal technique for quality monitoring would be noninvasive, nondestructive, have a short measurement time, intrinsically safe, and relatively inexpensive. In the proposed acoustic system, a pulsed laser is utilized to generate noncontact mechanical excitations and interferometric detection of transient vibrations of the drug tablets is employed for sensing. Two novel methods to excite vibrational modes in drug tablets are developed and employed: (i) a vibration plate excited by a pulsed-laser and (ii) pulsed laser-induced plasma generated shockwave expansion. Damage in coat and/or core of a tablet weakens its mechanical stiffness and, consequently, affects its acoustic response to an external dynamic force field. From the analysis of frequency spectra and the time,frequency spectrograms obtained under both mechanisms, it can be concluded that defective tablets can be effectively differentiated from the defect-free ones and the proposed proof-of-concept techniques have potential to provide a technology platform to be used in the greater PAT effort. © 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc. and the American Pharmacists Association J Pharm Sci 96:2125,2133, 2007 [source] WATER QUALITY IMPACTS AND INDICATORS OF METABOLIC ACTIVITY OF THE ZEBRA MUSSEL INVASION OF THE SENECA RIVER,JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN WATER RESOURCES ASSOCIATION, Issue 3 2004Steven W. Effler ABSTRACT: The conspicuous shifts in summertime values of common measures of water qualify that have persisted for 10 years (1993 to 2002) in the Seneca River, New York, as a result of the zebra mussel invasion are documented. Resolution of patterns in time and space is supported by water quality monitoring that extends back to the late 1970s. Patterns are evaluated to describe the stability of impacts and quantify metabolic activity of the invader. The water quality impacts that have persisted unabated for 10 years since the invasion are the most severe documented for a river in North America. Changes in summer median conditions since the invasion include: (1) a 16-fold decrease in chlorophyll concentration (Chi), (2) a 2.5-fold increase in Secchi disc transparency, (3) a 17-fold increase in soluble reactive phosphorus concentration, (4) a 3.7-fold increase in total ammonia concentration, (5) a greater than 25 percent decrease in dissolved oxygen (DO) concentration, and (6) a decrease in pH of 0.55 units. The strength of these signatures has been driven by anthropogenic influences that include upstream nutrient loading and morphometric modifications of the river, and the functioning of Cross Lake, through which the river flows. This hypereutrophic lake sustains dense zebra mussel populations and related water quality impacts in the river downstream of the lake outflow by acting as a source of veligers and suitable food for this bivalve. Evidence is presented that levels of metabolic activity of the zebra mussel in this river have been resource limited, manifested through increased consumption of Chl and DO with increased delivery of these constituents in the lake's outflow. [source] Observations of the morphology of some known and new fragilarioid diatoms (Bacillariophyceae) from rivers in the USAPHYCOLOGICAL RESEARCH, Issue 2 2005Eduardo A. MoralesArticle first published online: 22 FEB 200 SUMMARY Morphological studies at the light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy levels of selected fragilarioid diatoms occurring in North American streams and lakes are presented herein. The majority of the samples studied were collected by the US Geological Survey's National Water Quality Assessment Program, which concentrates on stream water quality monitoring throughout the continental USA and Hawaii. Two new species (Staurosirella confusa Morales and Punctastriata mimetica Morales) and a new forma (Pseudostaurosiropsis geocollegarum f. triradiatum Morales) are described and two new combinations (Pseudostaurosira subsalina (Hustedt) Morales and Staurosirella olden-burgiana (Hustedt) Morales) are provided. Morphological details of an additional taxon, Staurosira construens var. binodis (Ehrenberg) Hamilton in Hamilton et al. are also presented. The taxonomic affinities of all these taxa, as well as some evolutionary aspects and ecologic characteristics, are discussed in the light of published material. [source] | |||||||||||||||||||