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Computerized System (computerized + system)
Selected AbstractsA COMPUTERIZED SYSTEM FOR CONTROLLING AND MEASURING GUSTATORY REACTION TIMESJOURNAL OF SENSORY STUDIES, Issue 4 2000MIGUELINA GUIRAO ABSTRACT Reaction Time (RT) procedures are widely used in cognitive and behavioral experiments. In the sensory realm RT has been traditionally applied to measure visual, auditory or motor responses. The application of the RT method to gustatory stimuli has proved to be difficult. Attempts to develop automatic control techniques have been restrained by difficulties related to the control of variables, e.g. physiochemical characteristics of chemical solutions and the procedure for stimulus presentation. In this report we describe a computer based system that was designed to measure the reaction time to taste solutions dropped on the tongue. The equipment consists of a pumping system, an interface between the computer and the pumping system, the software required to control the interface and to measure reaction time, and a push button to detect the subject's response. The system can be used as a tool for both research and evaluation tests. [source] Accuracy and Efficiency of Computer-Aided Nursing DiagnosisINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF NURSING TERMINOLOGIES AND CLASSIFICATION, Issue 3 2008Sachiko Kurashima MSN PURPOSE.,This study aims to determine whether a computer-aided nursing (CAN) diagnosis system improves diagnostic accuracy and efficiency. METHODS.,A randomized crossover trial was performed using two kinds of case studies with 42 nurses as subjects. The subjects were divided into a group using the CAN diagnosis system and a group using a handbook of nursing diagnosis. Degree of accuracy was judged by using Lunney's seven-point interval scale, while efficiency was evaluated by time required for diagnosis. FINDINGS.,There was no significant difference between the two groups in terms of diagnostic accuracy; however, time required for diagnosis was significantly shorter for subjects who used the CAN diagnosis system than for those who did not. Multiple regression analysis showed that the use of the CAN diagnosis system was the only factor associated with the time required for making the nursing diagnosis. CONCLUSIONS.,The use of the CAN diagnosis system improved the efficiency of the diagnostic process without reducing the level of accuracy of nursing diagnoses. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS.,The use of a computerized system should be a useful tool for implementation of standardized nursing terminologies. [source] Empowering surgical nurses improves compliance rates for antibiotic prophylaxis after caesarean birthJOURNAL OF ADVANCED NURSING, Issue 11 2009Zvi Shimoni Abstract Title.,Empowering surgical nurses improves compliance rates for antibiotic prophylaxis after caesarean birth. Aim., This paper is a report of a study of the effect of empowering surgical nurses to ensure that patients receive antibiotic prophylaxis after caesarean birth. Background., Despite the consensus that single dose antibiotic prophylaxis is beneficial for women have either elective or non-elective caesarean delivery, hospitals need methods to increase compliance rates. Method., In a study in Israel in 2007 surgical nurses were empowered to ensure that a single dose of cefazolin was given to the mother after cord clamping. A computerized system was used to identify women having caesarean births, cultures sent and culture results. Compliance was determined by chart review. Rates of compliance, suspected wound infections, and confirmed wound infections in 2007 were compared to rates in 2006 before the policy change. Relative risks were calculated dividing 2007 rates by those in 2006, and 95% confidence intervals were calculated using Taylor's series that does not assume a normal distribution. Statistical significance was assessed using the chi-square test. Findings., The compliance rate was increased from 25% in 2006 to 100% in 2007 (chi-square test, P < 0·001). Suspected wound infection rates decreased from 16·8% (186/1104) to 12·6% (137/1089) after the intervention (relative risk 0·75, 95% confidence interval, 0·61,0·92). Conclusion., Surgical nurses can ensure universal compliance for antibiotic prophylaxis in women after caesarean birth, leading to a reduction in wound infections. [source] Regression of Alterations in Retinal Microcirculation Following Treatment for Arterial HypertensionJOURNAL OF CLINICAL HYPERTENSION, Issue 8 2006Antonio Pose-Reino MD Evaluation of early hypertension-related alterations in retinal microcirculation has been subjective and poorly reproducible. The authors recently described a semiautomatic computerized system for evaluation of the calibre of retinal blood vessels that has shown very good reproducibility. In the study, this system was used to measure the calibres of retinal arterioles and veins, and their ratio, in a group of 51 hypertensive outpatients before and after 6 months of treatment with losartan or, if required for satisfactory blood pressure control, losartan plus hydrochlorothiazide. Mean retinal arteriole diameter increased from 0.0842±0.003 mm to 0.0847±0.003 mm (p=0.001). Arteriovenous ratio increased from 0.753±0.03 to 0.756±0.03 (p=0.005). This observation suggests regression of early hypertension-related alterations in retinal microcirculation after 6 months of antihypertensive treatment. [source] Cracking the Code: A Decode Strategy for the International Business Machines Punch Cards of Korean War SoldiersJOURNAL OF FORENSIC SCIENCES, Issue 3 2006Erin M. Mitsunaga B.A. ABSTRACT: During the Korean War, International Business Machines (IBM) punch cards were created for every individual involved in military combat. Each card contained all pertinent personal information about the individual and was utilized to keep track of all soldiers involved. However, at present, all of the information known about these punch cards reveals only their format and their significance; there is little to no information on how these cards were created or how to interpret the information contained without the aid of the computer system used during the war. Today, it is believed there is no one available to explain this computerized system, nor do the original computers exist. This decode strategy is the result of an attempt to decipher the information on these cards through the use of all available medical and dental records for each individual examined. By cross-referencing the relevant personal information with the known format of the cards, a basic guess-and-check method was utilized. After examining hundreds of IBM punch cards, however, it has become clear that the punch card method of recording information was not infallible. In some cases, there are gaps of information on cards where there are data recorded on personal records; in others, information is punched incorrectly onto the cards, perhaps as the result of a transcription error. Taken all together, it is clear that the information contained on each individual's card should be taken solely as another form of personal documentation. [source] Motivations, Goals, Information Search, and Memory about Political CandidatesPOLITICAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 4 2001Li-Ning Huang This study investigated the ways in which motivations and goals affect patterns of political information-seeking and the consequent structure of memory about candidates. Undergraduate participants used a computerized system that displayed different layers of information about fictional political candidates; the system recorded the strategies they used to search through this information. Results showed that motivations to engage in effortful processing produced tendencies to engage in within-candidate searches, better recall, and memory structures clustered by candidate. The goal of forming impressions of the candidates, which was expected to lead to within-candidate searching, was in fact modestly associated with weaker tendencies to do so, once effort was taken into account. Impression-formation goals, however, were associated with less attribute-based memory structures. The findings confirm that the manner in which people acquire candidate information has important consequences for the way they store that information in memory, and that these processes vary according to individual motivations and goals. [source] Quality assurance implications for computerized systems following the Able Laboratories FDA InspectionQUALITY ASSURANCE JOURNAL, Issue 1 2006R. D. McDowall Abstract The quality assurance implications for hybrid systems (electronic records with handwritten signatures on the paper copies) following an inspection of a computerized system by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are explored. The major compliance problem occurred because the paper copies differed, sometime radically, from the electronic records contained within a chromatography data system. These non-compliances ultimately caused the inspected company to go bankrupt. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Added Value of a Resting ECG Neural Network That Predicts Cardiovascular MortalityANNALS OF NONINVASIVE ELECTROCARDIOLOGY, Issue 1 2009Marco V. Perez M.D. Background: The resting 12-lead electrocardiogram (ECG) remains the most commonly used test in evaluating patients with suspected cardiovascular disease. Prognostic values of individual findings on the ECG have been reported but may be of limited use. Methods: The characteristics of 45,855 ECGs ordered by physician's discretion were first recorded and analyzed using a computerized system. Ninety percent of these ECGs were used to train an artifical neural network (ANN) to predict cardiovascular mortality (CVM) based on 132 ECG and four demographic characteristics. The ANN generated a Resting ECG Neural Network (RENN) score that was then tested in the remaining ECGs. The RENN score was finally assessed in a cohort of 2189 patients who underwent exercise treadmill testing and were followed for CVM. Results: The RENN score was able to better predict CVM compared to individual ECG markers or a traditional Cox regression model in the testing cohort. Over a mean of 8.6 years, there were 156 cardiovascular deaths in the treadmill cohort. Among the patients who were classified as intermediate risk by Duke Treadmill Scoring (DTS), the third tertile of the RENN score demonstrated an adjusted Cox hazard ratio of 5.4 (95% CI 2.0,15.2) compared to the first RENN tertile. The 10-year CVM was 2.8%, 8.6% and 22% in the first, second and third RENN tertiles, respectively. Conclusions: An ANN that uses the resting ECG and demographic variables to predict CVM was created. The RENN score can further risk stratify patients deemed at moderate risk on exercise treadmill testing. [source] A 3-year study of medication incidents in an acute general hospitalJOURNAL OF CLINICAL PHARMACY & THERAPEUTICS, Issue 2 2008L. Song MPhil Summary Background and objective:, Inappropriate medication use may harm patients. We analysed medication incident reports (MIRs) as part of the feedback loop for quality assurance. Methods:, From all MIRs in a university-affiliated acute general hospital in Hong Kong in the period January 2004,December 2006, we analysed the time, nature, source and severity of medication errors. Results:, There were 1278 MIRs with 36 (range 15,107) MIRs per month on average. The number of MIRs fell from 649 in 2004, to 353 in 2005, and to 276 in 2006. The most common type was wrong strength/dosage (36·5%), followed by wrong drug (16·7%), wrong frequency (7·7%), wrong formulation (7·0%), wrong patient (6·9%) and wrong instruction (3·1%). 60·9%, 53·7% and 84·0% of MIRs arose from handwritten prescription (HP) rather than the computerized medication order entry in 2004, 2005 and 2006 respectively. In 43·1% of MIRs, preregistration house officers were involved. Most errors (80·2%) were detected before any drug was wrongly administered. The medications were administered in 212 cases (19·7%), which resulted in an untoward effect in nine cases (0·8%). Conclusions:, The most common errors were wrong dosage and wrong drug. Many incidents involved preregistration house officers and HPs. Our computerized systems appeared to reduce medication incidents. [source] Quality assurance implications for computerized systems following the Able Laboratories FDA InspectionQUALITY ASSURANCE JOURNAL, Issue 1 2006R. D. McDowall Abstract The quality assurance implications for hybrid systems (electronic records with handwritten signatures on the paper copies) following an inspection of a computerized system by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are explored. The major compliance problem occurred because the paper copies differed, sometime radically, from the electronic records contained within a chromatography data system. These non-compliances ultimately caused the inspected company to go bankrupt. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] A journey along the 21 CFR Part 11 Life Cycle,QUALITY ASSURANCE JOURNAL, Issue 3 2005Richard M. Siconolfi Abstract The Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) Guidance to Industry on 21 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 11 attempts to explain how industry can develop work processes that allow flexibility with this regulation without compromising compliance. However, to take advantage of this flexibility, our company needed to clearly understand the impact this guidance could have on our current work processes. We focused our attention on two specific areas: (1) developing and deploying a risk assessment and management process, and (2) revising our Part 11 Life Cycle for computerized systems. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Will Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine-Clinical Terms improve our understanding of the disease burden posed by allergic disorders?CLINICAL & EXPERIMENTAL ALLERGY, Issue 11 2007C. R. Simpson Summary Analysis of data collected through the use of high-quality computerized systems is vital if we are to understand the health burden from allergic disease. Coding systems currently used, such as the World Health Organization's International Classification of Diseases and the Read system, have however been criticized as being unduly restrictive and hence inadequate for the detailed coding of allergic problems. Greater granularity of coding can be achieved by using the Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine-Clinical Terms (SNOMED-CT) system, which will be adopted by several countries including the United States and United Kingdom. Before the introduction of SNOMED-CT, it is important that several issues are resolved, including ensuring that adequate mapping occurs from existing systems, that the SNOMED-CT is trialled before general implementation, and that training is provided for users new to coding as part of their clinical practice. Of particular importance is that the allergy fraternity bring to light any gaps in allergy coding through the creation of a working group to advise the newly formed International Healthcare Terminology Standards Development Organisation. There is also a role for allergy experts, working in conjunction with government agencies and professional bodies, to determine a recommended set of codes, which will obviate some of the inevitable challenges raised by a very fluid coding structure for those wishing to undertake secondary analysis of health care datasets. [source] | ||||||||||||||||||||||