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Quality Metrics (quality + metric)
Selected AbstractsMeeting the 12 lymph node (LN) benchmark in colon cancer,JOURNAL OF SURGICAL ONCOLOGY, Issue 1 2010A. Rajput MD Abstract Background Examining ,12 LN in colon cancer has been suggested as a quality metric. The purpose of this study was to determine whether the 12 LN benchmark is achieved at NCCN centers compared to a US population-based sample. Methods Patients with stage I,III disease resected at NCCN centers were identified from a prospective database (n,=,718) and were compared to 12,845 stage I,III patients diagnosed in a SEER region. Age, gender, location, stage, number of positive nodes were compared for NCCN and SEER data in regards to number of nodes evaluated. Multivariate logistic regression models were developed to identify factors associated with evaluating 12 LNs. Results 92% of NCCN and 58% of SEER patients had ,12 LN evaluated. For patients treated at NCCN centers, factors associated with not meeting the 12 LN target were left-sided tumors, stage I disease and BMI >30. Conclusions ,12 LN are almost always evaluated in NCCN patients. In contrast, this target is achieved in 58% of SEER patients. With longer follow-up of the NCCN cohort we will be able to link this quality metric to patterns of recurrence and survival and thereby better understand whether increasing the number of nodes evaluated is a priority for cancer control. J. Surg. Oncol. 2010;102:3,9. © 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] The Relationship Between the Emergent Primary Percutaneous Coronary Intervention Quality Measure and Inpatient Myocardial Infarction MortalityACADEMIC EMERGENCY MEDICINE, Issue 8 2010Rahul K. Khare MD ACADEMIC EMERGENCY MEDICINE 2010; 17:793,800 © 2010 by the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine Abstract Background:, In the setting of acute ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), reperfusion therapy with emergent primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) significantly reduces mortality. It is unknown whether a hospital's performance on the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) quality metric for time from patient arrival to angioplasty is associated with its overall hospital acute myocardial infarction (AMI) mortality rate. Objectives:, The objective of this study was to evaluate if hospitals with higher performance on the time-to-PCI quality measure are more likely to achieve lower mortality for patients admitted for any type of AMI. Methods:, Using merged 2006 data from the Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS), the American Hospital Association (AHA) annual survey, and CMS Hospital Compare quality indicator data, we examined 69,101 admissions with an International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (ICD-9)-coded principal diagnosis of AMI in the 116 hospitals that reported more than 24 emergent primary PCI admissions in that year. Hospitals were categorized into quartiles according to percentage of admissions in 2006 that achieved the primary PCI timeliness threshold (time-to-PCI quality measure). Using a random effects logistic regression model of inpatient mortality, we examined the significance of the hospital time-to-PCI quality measure after adjustment for other hospital and individual patient sociodemographic and clinical characteristics. Results:, The unadjusted inpatient AMI mortality rate at the 27 top quartile hospitals was 4.3%, compared to 5.1% at the 32 bottom quartile (worst performing) hospitals. The risk-adjusted odds ratio (OR) of inpatient death was 0.83 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.72 to 0.95), or 17% lower odds of inpatient death, among patients admitted to hospitals in the top quartile for the time-to-PCI quality measure compared to the case if the hospitals were in the bottom 25th percentile. Conclusions:, Hospitals with the highest and second highest quartiles of time-to-PCI quality measure had a significantly lower overall AMI mortality rate than the lowest quartile hospitals. Despite the fact that a minority of all patients with AMI get an emergent primary PCI, hospitals that perform this more efficiently also had a significantly lower mortality rate for all their patients admitted with AMI. The time-to-PCI quality measure in 2006 was a potentially important proxy measure for overall AMI quality of care. [source] Liquid-Phase Exfoliation of Nanotubes and GrapheneADVANCED FUNCTIONAL MATERIALS, Issue 23 2009Jonathan N. Coleman Abstract Many applications of carbon nanotubes require the exfoliation of the nanotubes to give individual tubes in the liquid phase. This requires the dispersion, exfoliation, and stabilization of nanotubes in a variety of liquids. In this paper recent work in this area is reviewed, focusing on results from the author's group. It begins by reviewing stabilization mechanisms before exploring research into the exfoliation of nanotubes in solvents, by using surfactants or biomolecules and by covalent attachment of molecules. The concentration dependence of the degree of exfoliation in each case will be highlighted. In addition research into the dispersion mechanism for each dispersant type is discussed. Most importantly, dispersion quality metrics for all dispersants are compared. From this analysis, it is concluded that functionalized nanotubes can be exfoliated to the greatest degree. Finally, the extension of this work to the liquid phase exfoliation of graphite to give graphene is reviewed. [source] Automated Gripper Jaw Design and Grasp Planning for Sets of 3D ObjectsJOURNAL OF FIELD ROBOTICS (FORMERLY JOURNAL OF ROBOTIC SYSTEMS), Issue 3 2003Lucian Balan An algorithm for automatically generating a common jaw design and planning grasps for a given set of polyhedral objects is presented. The algorithm is suitable for a parallel-jaw gripper equipped with three cylindrical fingers. The common jaw design eliminates the need for custom made grippers and tool changing. The proposed jaw configuration and planning approach reduces the search associated with locating the finger contacts from six degrees-of-freedom to one degree-of-freedom. Closed-form algorithms for checking force closure and for predicting jamming are developed. Three quality metrics are introduced to improve the quality of the planned grasps. The first is a measure of the sensitivity of the grasp to errors between the actual and planned finger locations. The second is a measure of the efficiency of the grasp in terms of the contact forces. The third is a measure of the dependence of force closure on friction. These quality metrics are not restricted to cylindrical fingers and can be applied to n finger grasps. Running on a standard PC, the algorithm generated a solution in less than five minutes for a set of five objects with a total of 456 triangular facets. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source] Quality of protein crystal structuresACTA CRYSTALLOGRAPHICA SECTION D, Issue 9 2007Eric N. Brown The genomics era has seen the propagation of numerous databases containing easily accessible data that are routinely used by investigators to interpret results and generate new ideas. Most investigators consider data extracted from scientific databases to be error-free. However, data generated by all experimental techniques contain errors and some, including the coordinates in the Protein Data Bank (PDB), also integrate the subjective interpretations of experimentalists. This paper explores the determinants of protein structure quality metrics used routinely by protein crystallographers. These metrics are available for most structures in the database, including the R factor, Rfree, real-space correlation coefficient, Ramachandran violations etc. All structures in the PDB were analyzed for their overall quality based on nine different quality metrics. Multivariate statistical analysis revealed that while technological improvements have increased the number of structures determined, the overall quality of structures has remained constant. The quality of structures deposited by structural genomics initiatives are generally better than the quality of structures from individual investigator laboratories. The most striking result is the association between structure quality and the journal in which the structure was first published. The worst offenders are the apparently high-impact general science journals. The rush to publish high-impact work in the competitive atmosphere may have led to the proliferation of poor-quality structures. [source] | ||||||||||