Prospective Evaluation of a Hospital Epidemiologist's Activities at a European Tertiary-Care Medical Center

Abstract Objective: Assessment of the distribution of tasks and consultations provided by the hospital epidemiologist (HE) at University Hospital of Zurich (UHZ). Design: Prospective collection of data on hospital epidemiology consultations over a 3-year period (1995-1997). Time spent per consultation and activities of infection control practitioners were not recorded. Setting: A 1,040-bed tertiary-care university hospital in Zurich, Switzerland. Results: Between January 1, 1995, and December 31, 1997, the HE received 1,660 requests for consultation. Advice or action was sought in the following areas: epidemiology (27.5% of requests); quality assurance, including antibiotic utilization and technology assessment (24.8%); infection control and practice guidelines (22.5%); disinfection and sterilization (11.6%); clinical infectious diseases (13.4%). During 1997, 35% of epidemiology consults were related to methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and 5.8% to tuberculosis. Public or private hospitals not affiliated with UHZ requested 40% of all consults. Conclusions: This study shows that HEs are involved in many different activities. Only 27.5% of hospital epidemiology consultations were directly related to issues of epidemiology. Practical knowledge of the methodologies for continuous quality improvement and assessment of various new technologies is important for HEs. The results of this study may be useful in discussions between HEs and administrators about allocation of resources or issues of reimbursemen

Vicarious Methodologies to Assess and Improve the Quality of the Optical Remote Sensing Images: A Critical Review

Over the past decade, number of optical Earth observing satellites performing remote sensing has increased substantially, dramatically increasing the capability to monitor the Earth. The quantity of remote sensing satellite increase is primarily driven by improved technology, miniaturization of components, reduced manufacturing, and launch cost. These satellites often lack on-board calibrators that a large satellite utilizes to ensure high quality (e.g., radiometric, geometric, spatial quality, etc.) scientific measurement. To address this issue, this work presents “best” vicarious image quality assessment and improvement techniques for those kinds of optical satellites which lacks on-board calibration system. In this article, image quality categories have been explored, and essential quality parameters (e.g., absolute and relative calibration, aliasing, etc.) have been identified. For each of the parameters, appropriate characterization methods are identified along with its specifications or requirements. In cases of multiple methods, recommendation has been made based-on the strengths and weaknesses of each method. Furthermore, processing steps have been presented, including examples. Essentially, this paper provides a comprehensive study of the criteria that needs to be assessed to evaluate remote sensing satellite data quality, and best vicarious methodologies to evaluate identified quality parameters such as coherent noise, ground sample distance, etc