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Quality Problems (quality + problem)
Kinds of Quality Problems Selected AbstractsQuality of Care and Racial Health Disparities: A Strategic OverviewMOUNT SINAI JOURNAL OF MEDICINE: A JOURNAL OF PERSONALIZED AND TRANSLATIONAL MEDICINE, Issue 1 2008Mark R. Chassin MD Substantial racial and ethnic disparities in health and health care exist in the United States. The Department of Health Policy at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine has developed a strategy for reducing those disparities that builds upon its quality improvement experience. This article discusses the utility of applying quality improvement principles to the development of interventions to eliminate underuse of effective treatments and reduce the disparities that may arise from this quality problem. We present a conceptual model of racial disparities in health and our underuse hypothesis. Parallels between our disparities research strategy and six sigma quality improvement methods are described. Finally, the article provides an example of how we have been able to successfully implement proven-effective health improvement programs in the Harlem community even after grant funding has ended. Mt Sinai J Med 75:7,12, 2008. © 2008 Mount Sinai School of Medicine [source] Bleeding of anaesthetized and exhausted Atlantic salmon: body cavity inspection and residual blood in pre-rigor and smoked fillets as determined by various analytical methodsAQUACULTURE RESEARCH, Issue 4 2010Ulf Erikson Abstract The bleeding efficiency of anaesthetized and exhausted Atlantic salmon was studied. Unbled fish were used as control groups for both treatments. Several analytical methods (computer vision, Minolta Chroma Meter, transflectance spectroscopy, haemoglobin iron and visual assessment of smoked fillets) were used to evaluate colour or residual blood contents of pre-rigor and smoked fillets. In all cases, the amount of residual blood in the fillets was modest and blood was not considered a quality problem in terms of fillet appearance. Perimortem stress did not affect residual blood contents of pre-rigor fillets. Only salting and smoking had a significant effect on filet colour. The low levels of residual blood was partly attributed to filleting shortly after killing allowing washing before the blood had time to coagulate. In addition, a computer vision method was developed for automated blood inspection of the body cavity after gutting and washing. A classifier (,no blood' or ,blood present') based on linear discriminant analysis was tested and the classification accuracy was over 90% as evaluated with the leave-one-out method. [source] Heavy metal concentrations during storm events in a rehabilitated industrialized catchmentHYDROLOGICAL PROCESSES, Issue 10 2003W. H. Blake Abstract Water quality data collected on a fortnightly or monthly basis are inadequate for assessment and modelling of many water quality problems as storm event samples are underrepresented or missed. This paper examines the stormflow dynamics of heavy metals (Pb, Cu, Cd and Zn) in the Nant-y-Fendrod stream, South Wales, which has been affected by 250 years of metal smelting, followed by 35 years of landscape rehabilitation measures. For storm events of contrasting (very dry and very wet) antecedent conditions in May 2000 and February 2001, respectively, temporal changes in streamwater heavy metal concentrations above and below an in-line flood detention lake are analysed. At the upstream site, peaks in total metal concentration were recorded on the rising limb for Pb (0·150 mg l,1) and Cu (0·038 mg l,1) but on the falling limb for Zn (1·660 mg l,1) and Cd (0·006 mg l,1) in the summer 2000 storm event, yielding clockwise and anticlockwise hysteretic loops respectively. In contrast, metal concentrations, although high throughout the winter storm event, were diluted somewhat during the storm peak itself. The Pb and Cu appear to be supplied by quickflow processes and transported in close association with fine sediment, whereas Zn and Cd are delivered to the channel and lake by slower subsurface seepage in dissolved form. In the winter 2001 event, antecedent soil moisture and shallow groundwater levels were anomalously high and seepage sources of dissolved metals dominated. Downstream of the lake, Pb and Cu levels and suspended sediment were high in the summer storm, but low in the winter storm, suggesting retention with deposition of fine sediment in the lake during the latter. In the winter storm, Zn and Cd levels were higher downstream than upstream of the lake, perhaps because of additional seepage inputs from the surrounding slopes, which failed to have an impact during summer. An understanding of the complex interplay of antecedent soil moisture and the dynamics of subsurface seepage pathways in relation to the three-dimensional distribution of sources is important in modelling heavy metal fluxes and levels in contaminated urban catchments. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] The dynamics of unattached benthic macroalgal accumulations in the Swan,Canning EstuaryHYDROLOGICAL PROCESSES, Issue 13 2001Helen Astill Abstract It has been suggested that macroalgal accumulations may impact on benthic nutrient cycling by promoting remineralization of sedimentary nutrients, otherwise inaccessible, and act as sinks/sources for dissolved nutrients in the water column. However, little consideration has been given to the time taken for these impacts to occur, and if accumulations persist long enough in a region for impacts to occur. In this study, accumulations were characterized seasonally, according to biomass, height relative to water depth, and organic content of the underlying sediment, from November 1996 to August 1997, in the Swan,Canning Estuary. Persistence of accumulations was measured from late summer to mid-winter in 1997, by tagging individual plants and recording the time tagged plants persisted at 10 sites. In summer 1998, physicochemical profiles of accumulations were measured over 24 h, at two locations: one with relatively low sediment organic content (SOCn) (1·5% LOI) and one with relatively high SOC (6% LOI). Accumulations rarely exceeded 25 cm in height, regardless of water column depth, and ranged between 100 and 500 g dwt m,2. Macroalgae persisted between one week, in relatively well-flushed regions, to one month in areas with poor flushing. Over the entire diurnal period, almost 100% of incident light was attenuated at the bottom of all accumulations. Dissolved oxygen levels at the bottom of accumulations were generally depressed, particularly at night, with hypoxia (1 mg l,1) recorded at the high SOC site at 03 : 00 h. No significant differences in FRP concentrations (approximately 30,60 µg l,1) were recorded between sites, or within accumulation profiles. Ammonium levels were greatly raised inside accumulations at the high SOC site by 03 : 00 h (10 and 300 µg l,1, inside and outside, respectively). The results show that, where SOC is high, conditions within accumulations are affected. Impacts occurred within 24 h; well within the period for which accumulations persist. These results also indicate that regulation of hydrological regimes in estuarine systems may result in increased persistence of macroalgal accumulations, and associated water quality problems. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] A simple primary care information system featuring feedback to cliniciansINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF HEALTH PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT, Issue 3 2008Gary Gaumer Abstract A simple information system for primary care clinics was designed to support the USAID funded health system strengthening project in the Suez Governorate in Egypt. This system (FACT,Feedback and Analytic Comparison Tool) was implemented in December 2003 in 14 primary care clinics. The MS Access-based system was designed and prototyped in several months, and was easily and cheaply modified several times after implementation. A total of 128,562 persons have been registered in the system (as of June 2005) and 36,083 visits have been documented. A key feature of FACT is the ease with which clinicians can conduct exploratory research about practice patterns, and variations in them across doctors and the other clinics. This analytic feature enables the clinicians to self-diagnose quality problems and take action accordingly. Several of the clinics have used this feature of FACT to identify important gaps in service use among patients, and have taken steps to remove barriers to promote more appropriate patterns of utilization. The paper reviews the design and implementation issues and early evidence of the system's utility in helping support quality improvement (QI) work in the clinics. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Current issues with fish and fisheries: editor's overview and introductionJOURNAL OF APPLIED ECOLOGY, Issue 2 2003S. J. Ormerod Summary 1.,By any measure, fishes are among the world's most important natural resources. Annual exploitation from wild populations exceeds 90 million tonnes, and fish supply over 15% of global protein needs as part of total annual trade exceeding $US 55 billion. Additionally, with over 25 000 known species, the biodiversity and ecological roles of fishes are being increasingly recognised in aquatic conservation, ecosystem management, restoration and aquatic environmental regulation. 2.,At the same time, substantial management problems now affect the production, exploitable stocks, global diversity, trophic structure, habitat quality and local composition of fish communities. 3.,In marine systems, key issues include the direct effects of exploitation on fish, habitats and other organisms, while habitat or water quality problems arise also from the atmospheric, terrestrial and coastal environments to which marine systems are linked. In freshwaters, flow regulation and obstruction by dams, fragmentation, catchment management, pollution, habitat alterations, exotic fish introductions and nursery-reared fish are widespread issues. 4.,Management responses to the problems of fish and fisheries include aquatic reserves in both marine and freshwater habitats, and their effectiveness is now being evaluated. Policies on marine exploitation increasingly emphasise fishes as integral components of aquatic ecosystems rather than individually exploitable stocks, but the rationalisation of fishing pressures presents many challenges. In Europe, North America and elsewhere, policies on freshwaters encourage habitat protection, integrated watershed management and restoration, but pressures on water resources will cause continued change. All these management approaches require development and evaluation, and will benefit from a perspective of ecological understanding with ecologists fully involved. 5.,Synthesis and applications. Although making a small contribution to the Journal of Applied Ecology in the past, leading work on aquatic problems and fish-related themes appear increasingly in this and other mainstream ecology journals. As this special profile of five papers shows, significant contributions arise on diverse issues that here include the benefit of aquatic reserves, river restoration for fish, the accumulation of contaminants, interactions with predators, and the fitness of salmonids from nurseries. This overview outlines the current context in which papers on the applied ecology of fish and fisheries are emerging, and it identifies scope for further contributions. [source] Development of a molecular method for the typing of Brettanomyces bruxellensis (Dekkera bruxellensis) at the strain levelJOURNAL OF APPLIED MICROBIOLOGY, Issue 2 2007C. Miot-Sertier Abstract Aims:, In recent years, Brettanomyces/Dekkera bruxellensis has caused increasingly severe quality problems in the wine industry. A typing method at the strain level is needed for a better knowledge of the dispersion and the dynamics of these yeasts from grape to wine. Methods and Results:, Three molecular tools, namely random-amplified polymorphic DNA, PCR fingerprinting with microsatellite oligonucleotide primers and SAU-PCR, were explored for their relevance to typing strains of Brettanomyces bruxellensis. The results indicated that discrimination of each individual strain was not possible with a single PCR typing technique. We described a typing method for B. bruxellensis based on restriction enzyme analysis and pulse field gel electrophoresis (REA-PFGE). Results showed that electrophoretic profiles were reproducible and specific for each strain under study. Conclusions:, Consequently, REA-PFGE should be considered for the discrimination of B. bruxellensis strains. This technique allowed a fine discrimination of B. bruxellensis, as strains were identified by a particular profile. Significance and Impact of the Study:, This study constitutes a prerequisite for accurate and appropriate investigations on the diversity of strains throughout the winemaking and ageing process. Such studies will probably give clearer and more up-to-date information on the origin of the presence of Brettanomyces in wine after vinification when they are latent spoilage agents. [source] Evidence that channel catfish, Ictalurus punctatus (Rafinesque), mortality is not linked to ingestion of the hepatotoxin microcystin-LRJOURNAL OF FISH DISEASES, Issue 5 2002G S Snyder Catfish farms located in the south-eastern USA using brackish (3,5 g NaCl L,1) well water experience sporadic fish kills sometimes with high mortality. An investigation of three catastrophic losses occurring in this region identified no involvement of infectious diseases or traditional water quality problems, including oxygen, ammonia or nitrite. The high mortality and time course of the problem was indicative of exposure to a toxin. Attempts by other workers to explain the cause of this unique syndrome (high chloride associated toxicosis of catfish, HCTC), suggested that the losses might be because of microcystin-producing blooms of Microcystis aeruginosa, but our investigations failed to support this conclusion. We found that (1) the liver histology of catfish experimentally exposed to pure microcystin-LR is very different from that of catfish sampled during outbreaks of HCTC; (2) measurements of microcystin-LR concentrations in the three cases were far lower than the concentration required to kill catfish by experimental immersion; (3) the HCTC toxin appears to have a short half-life, whereas microcystin-LR does not; (4) experimental gavage of catfish with massive amounts of microcystin-LR does not cause the acute mortality typical of HCTC; (5) outbreaks of HCTC appear to be associated with heavy blooms of Anacystis marina, a halophytic cyanobacteria, not with blooms of M. aeruginosa. [source] THE ROLE OF PERIPHYTON IN PHOSPHORUS RETENTION IN SHALLOW FRESHWATER AQUATIC SYSTEMSJOURNAL OF PHYCOLOGY, Issue 5 2003Article first published online: 26 SEP 200, Walter K. Dodds Eutrophication caused by phosphorus (P) leads to water quality problems in aquatic systems, particularly freshwaters, worldwide. Processing of nutrients in shallow habitats removes P from water naturally and periphyton influences P removal from the water column in flowing waters and wetlands. Periphyton plays several roles in removing P from the water column, including P uptake and deposition, filtering particulate P from the water, and attenuating flow, which decreases advective transport of particulate and dissolved P from sediments. Furthermore, periphyton photosynthesis locally increases pH by up to 1 unit, which can lead to increased precipitation of calcium phosphate, concurrent deposition of carbonate-phosphate complexes, and long-term burial of P. Actively photosynthesizing periphyton can cause super-saturated O2 concentrations near the sediment surface encouraging deposition of metal phosphates. However, anoxia associated with periphyton respiration at night may offset this effect. Linking the small-scale functional role of periphyton to ecosystem-level P retention will require more detailed studies in a variety of ecosystems or large mesocosms. A case study from the Everglades illustrates the importance of considering the role of periphyton in P removal from wetlands. In general, periphyton tends to increase P retention and deposition. In pilot-scale constructed periphyton-dominated wetlands in South Florida, about half of the inflowing total P was removed. [source] EVALUATION OF COASTAL PLAIN CONSERVATION BUFFERS USING THE RIPARIAN ECOSYSTEM MANAGEMENT MODEL,JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN WATER RESOURCES ASSOCIATION, Issue 6 2001Richard Lowrance ABSTRACT: Riparian buffers are increasingly important as watershed management tools and are cost-shared by programs such as Conservation Reserve that are part of the USDA Conservation Buffer Initiative. Riparian buffers as narrow as 4.6m (15ft) are eligible for cost-share by USDA. The Riparian Ecosystem Management Model (REMM) provides a tool to judge water quality improvement by buffers and to set design criteria for nutrient and sediment load reduction. REMM was used for a Coastal Plain site to simulate 14 different buffers ranging from 4.6 m to 51.8 m (15 to 170 ft) with three different types of vegetation (hardwood trees, pine trees, and perennial grass) with two water and nutrient loads. The load cases were low sediment/low nutrient-typical of a well managed agricultural field and low sediment/high nutrient-typical of liquid manure application to perennial forage crops. Simulations showed that the minimum width buffer (4.6 m) was inadequate for control of nutrients under either load case. The minimum width buffer that is eligible for cost share assistance on a field with known water quality problems (10.7 m, 35 ft) was projected to achieve at least 50 percent reduction of N, P, and sediment in the load cases simulated. [source] Effects of Periodic Feed Deprivation on Growth, Feed Efficiency, Processing Yield, and Body Composition of Channel Catfish Ictalurus punctatusJOURNAL OF THE WORLD AQUACULTURE SOCIETY, Issue 4 2005Menghe H. Li Two studies were conducted in 110-L flow-through aquaria and 0.4-ha ponds to evaluate effects of periodic feed deprivation on the growth performance of channel catfish Ictalurus punctatus. Fish were deprived of feed 0, 1, 2, or 3 consecutive d/wk, l d per 5-d period, or 3 consecutive d per 10-d period and fed to satiation on days fish were fed. In Experiment 1, fish fed less frequently than daily consumed significantly less feed (over the experimental period) and gained significantly less weight than fish fed daily, except that feed consumption of fish deprived of feed 1 d/wk was not significantly different from that of fish fed daily. Compared with fish fed daily, fish deprived of feed 2 d/wk had significantly lower feed conversion ratio (FCR). Visceral fat of fish deprived of feed 1 or 2 d/wk was similar to that of fish fed daily, but fish deprived of feed for longer periods had significantly lower visceral fat than fish fed daily. Regression analysis indicated that feed consumption, weight gain, and visceral fat increased linearly as the number of days that fish were fed increased. In Experiment 2, there were no significant differences in the amount of feed fed between fish deprived of feed 1 d/wk and those fed daily. Net production of fish deprived of feed 1 or 2 d/wk or 1 d per 5-d period was not significantly different from that of fish fed daily, but fish deprived of feed for longer periods had significantly lower net production than fish fed daily. Visceral fat of fish deprived of feed 1 d/wk or 1 d per 5-d period was similar to that of fish fed daily, but fish on other treatments had significantly lower visceral fat than fish fed daily. Regression analysis showed that as the number of days fed increased the amount of feed fed and net production increased quadratically. Feed conversion ratio, carcass yield, visceral fat, and fillet fat increased, while fillet moisture decreased linearly as the number of days fed increased. Although feeding less frequently than daily may improve feed efficiency, and fish deprived of feed may demonstrate compensatory growth when a full feeding regime is resumed, it may be difficult to provide enough feed to satiate all size-classes of fish under a multiple-batch cropping system without causing water quality problems. Under normal economic conditions, fish should be fed daily to apparent satiation without waste and without causing water quality problems. However, during periods of unfavorable economic conditions, channel catfish raised from advanced fingerlings to market size may be fed less frequently than daily to reduce production cost. Results from the present study indicated that feeding channel catfish to satiation 5 or 6 d/wk (not feeding on one or two weekend days) could provide some benefits in reducing production cost through reduced feed and labor costs for food-sized channel catfish during periods of low fish prices and high feed prices. [source] A Strategic Analysis of Product Recalls: The Role of Moral Degradation and Organizational ControlMANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATION REVIEW, Issue 2 2008Yadong Luo abstract Although product recalls are neither new nor unique to China, China bears much of the bitter criticism from the media and negative reactions from the public. This essay discusses the reasons behind recalls from a moral degradation perspective, grounded in the larger framework of anomie theory. While making remarkable economic progress, China is also moving toward a society with degraded moral standards. This moral degradation propels illicit and immoral business practices. This essay further presents an analysis of recall from the organizational control perspective, tackling the issue of how safety and quality problems damage a firm's long-term corporate credibility, legitimacy, trust and governance in a competitive environment. Strategic repercussions of recalls include impairing capability building, organizational learning and resource allocation. The essay ends with a call for action by the Chinese government, firms and management researchers to address and further understand this complex issue. [source] Print uniformity of corrugated board in flexo printing: effects of corrugated board and halftone dot deformationsPACKAGING TECHNOLOGY AND SCIENCE, Issue 7 2008Martin Holmvall Abstract Print non-uniformity is a major concern for flexo post-printers. Many of these non-uniformities are suspected to be caused by the corrugated board structure itself. Striping is the most obvious one, but also other print quality problems might be structure-related. This work focuses on how deformations of the board might lead to print non-uniformities, and if the deformation of halftone dots is the mechanism behind striping in halftone flexo post-printing. Finite element models were used to analyse the effects of deformations of corrugated boards and compressed halftone dots in the printing nip. Distortions of the board due to non-uniform hygro-thermal strains were shown to be a potential cause of print non-uniformities. Striping in halftone prints was found to be caused by differences in dot gain between areas above ridges and valleys of the flute structure. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Employers as Mediating Institutions for Public Policy: The Case of Commute Options ProgramsPOLICY STUDIES JOURNAL, Issue 4 2005Leisha DeHart-Davis Scholars have recently noted the role that employers can play as "mediating institutions" for public policy. Mediating institutions connect the private lives of individuals with public policy concerns by communicating societal norms to members and providing social contexts that encourage a commitment to these norms. Despite the potential importance of employers as mediating institutions for public policy, little scholarly attention has been devoted to employer mediation behavior. Accordingly, this study examines two research questions. What factors influence an employer's willingness to mediate policy problems? And how effective are employers as mediating institutions? The mediation behaviors of interest relate to employer efforts to mitigate traffic congestion and air quality problems by enabling employee "commute options," which are alternatives to single-occupancy vehicle commuting to work. Drawing on theories of organization behavior, the study hypothesizes that self-interest, organizational control, and association membership will affect willingness to provide commute options. The study also hypothesizes that employers providing commute options will have lower percentages of employees that drive to work alone. Both sets of hypotheses are supported by statistical analyses of data from a cross-sectional mail survey of metropolitan Atlanta organizations. [source] Comparison of linear predictors obtained by data transformation, generalized linear models (GLM) and response modeling methodology (RMM)QUALITY AND RELIABILITY ENGINEERING INTERNATIONAL, Issue 4 2008Haim Shore Abstract The data-transformation approach and generalized linear modeling both require specification of a transformation prior to deriving the linear predictor (LP). By contrast, response modeling methodology (RMM) requires no such specifications. Furthermore, RMM effectively decouples modeling of the LP from modeling its relationship to the response. It may therefore be of interest to compare LPs obtained by the three approaches. Based on numerical quality problems that have appeared in the literature, these approaches are compared in terms of both the derived structure of the LPs and goodness-of-fit statistics. The relative advantages of RMM are discussed. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Attack,norm separation for detecting attack-induced quality problems on computers and networksQUALITY AND RELIABILITY ENGINEERING INTERNATIONAL, Issue 5 2007Nong Ye Abstract Cyber attacks on computer and network systems induce system quality and reliability problems, and present a significant threat to the computer and network systems that we are heavily dependent on. Cyber attack detection involves monitoring system data and detecting the attack-induced quality and reliability problems of computer and network systems caused by cyber attacks. Usually there are ongoing normal user activities on computer and network systems when an attack occurs. As a result, the observed system data may be a mixture of attack data and normal use data (norm data). We have established a novel attack,norm separation approach to cyber attack detection that includes norm data cancelation to improve the data quality as an important part of this approach. Aiming at demonstrating the importance of norm data cancelation, this paper presents a set of data modeling and analysis techniques developed to perform norm data cancelation before applying an existing technique of anomaly detection, the chi-square distance monitoring (CSDM), to residual data obtained after norm data cancelation for cyber attack detection. Specifically, a Markov chain model of norm data and an artificial neural network (ANN) of norm data cancelation are developed and tested. This set of techniques is compared with using CSDM alone for cyber attack detection. The results show a significant improvement of detection performance by CSDM with norm data cancelation over CSDM alone. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] | |||||||||||||||||||