Delayed discharges and unplanned admissions from the Day Care Unit at Mater Dei Hospital, Malta

Day care units are playing an increasingly important role in healthcare provision, however they require the development of specialised resources to fulfil their role. The rate of unplanned admissions following day-case procedures is considered as one of several indicators of the quality of day-case services available.1 The aim of this study is to identify how often there are delayed discharged or unplanned admissions following day-cases at the Day Care Unit at Mater Dei Hospital (MDH), Malta. A list of patients whose discharge did not go as planned was forwarded daily to the authors by the Bed Management Unit at MDH. The medical files of these patients were then reviewed and data collected. This included demographics, type of procedure carried out and reasons for delayed discharge or unplanned admission. The study was carried out over 45 days.peer-reviewe

The Giant Branches of Open and Globular Clusters in the Infrared as Metallicity Indicators: A Comparison with Theory

We apply the giant branch slope-[Fe/H] relation derived by Kuchinski et al. [AJ, 109, 1131 (1995)] to a sample of open clusters. We find that the slope of the giant branch in K vs. (J-K) color-magnitude diagrams correlates with [Fe/H] for open clusters as it does for metal-rich globular clusters but that the open cluster data are systematically shifted to less negative values of giant branch slope, at constant [Fe/H]. We use isochrone models to examine the theoretical basis for this relationship and find that for a given value of [Fe/H], the slope of the relationship remains constant with decreasing population age but the relation shifts to less negative values of giant branch slope with decreasing age. Both of these theoretical predictions agree with the trends found in the data. Finally, we derive new coefficients for the giant branch slope-[Fe/H] relation for specific members of 3 populations, metal-rich globular clusters, bulge stars and open clusters.Comment: 16 pages including 3 figures (AASTEX), AJ Accepted, also available at http://www.astronomy.ohio-state.edu/~martini/pubs.htm

MICC: A tool for computing short distances in the curve complex

The complex of curves $\mathcal{C}(S_g)$ of a closed orientable surface of genus $g \geq 2$ is the simplicial complex having its vertices, $\mathcal{C}^0(S_g)$, are isotopy classes of essential curves in $S_g$. Two vertices co-bound an edge of the $1$-skeleton, $\mathcal{C}^1(S_g)$, if there are disjoint representatives in $S_g$. A metric is obtained on $\mathcal{C}^0(S_g)$ by assigning unit length to each edge of $\mathcal{C}^1(S_g)$. Thus, the distance between two vertices, $d(v,w)$, corresponds to the length of a geodesic---a shortest edge-path between $v$ and $w$ in $\mathcal{C}^1 (S_g)$. Recently, Birman, Margalit and the second author introduced the concept of {\em initially efficient geodesics} in $\mathcal{C}^1(S_g)$ and used them to give a new algorithm for computing the distance between vertices. In this note we introduce the software package MICC ({\em Metric in the Curve Complex}), a partial implementation of the initially efficient geodesic algorithm. We discuss the mathematics underlying MICC and give applications. In particular, we give examples of distance four vertex pairs, for $g=2$ and 3. Previously, there was only one known example, in genus $2$, due to John Hempel.Comment: 19 pages, 9 figures, Version 2 has updated figures and reference

MapSnapper: Engineering an Efficient Algorithm for Matching Images of Maps from Mobile Phones

The MapSnapper project aimed to develop a system for robust matching of low-quality images of a paper map taken from a mobile phone against a high quality digital raster representation of the same map. The paper presents a novel methodology for performing content-based image retrieval and object recognition from query images that have been degraded by noise and subjected to transformations through the imaging system. In addition the paper also provides an insight into the evaluation-driven development process that was used to incrementally improve the matching performance until the design specifications were met

Spinal fractures in Malta over one year

Spinal fractures, particularly those associated with spinal cord injuries, give rise to significant morbidity and mortality.1 Early recognition and adequate management are paramount to minimalize the two. This descriptive study reviews the cases diagnosed with a vertebral fracture at the Accident and Emergency Department over a one year period including the patients’ demographic characteristics and looks into the management instituted. It also highlights the factors which may be associated with a prolonged hospital stay.peer-reviewe

Credit report accuracy and access to credit

Data that credit-reporting agencies maintain on consumers' credit-related experiences play a central role in U.S. credit markets. Analysts widely agree that the data enable these markets to function more efficiently and at lower cost than would otherwise be possible. Despite the great benefits of the current system, however, some analysts have raised concerns about the accuracy, timeliness, completeness, and consistency of consumer credit records and about the effects of data problems on the availability and cost of credit. ; In this article, the authors expand on the available research by quantifying the effects of credit record limitations on the access to credit. Using the credit records of a nationally representative sample of individuals, the authors examine the possible effects of data problems on consumers by estimating the changes in consumers' credit history scores that would result from "correcting" the problems in their credit records. Moreover, the authors report results for consumer groups segmented by strength of credit history (credit history score range), depth of credit history (number of credit accounts in a credit record), and selected demographic characteristics.Credit cards

General anaesthesia in acute intermittent porphyria

Acute intermittent porphyria (AIP) is caused by the deficiency of porphobilinogen deaminase, a haem synthesis enzyme, giving rise to crises characterized by abdominal pain, tachyarrythmias and psychiatric features. Anaesthesia in AIP is challenging because it has to avoid precipitating an attack. We report a case of a lady with AIP who underwent total abdominal hysterctomy whose anaesthesia was uneventful.peer-reviewe

Joint Constraint Modelling Using Evolved Topology Generalized Multi-Layer Perceptron(GMLP)

The accurate simulation of anatomical joint models is important for both medical diagnosis and realistic animation applications.  Quaternion algebra has been increasingly applied to model rotations providing a compact representation while avoiding singularities.  This paper describes the application of artificial neural networks topologically evolved using genetic algorithms to model joint constraints directly in quaternion space.  These networks are trained (using resilient back propagation) to model discontinuous vector fields that act as corrective functions ensuring invalid joint configurations are accurately corrected.  The results show that complex quaternion-based joint constraints can be learned without resorting to reduced coordinate models or iterative techniques used in other quaternion based joint constraint approaches